How to Make Your Own Music With Hardstyle

You can create your drum loops and bass lines with a MIDI controller.

Hardstyle is a niche dance music genre characterized by a distinctive, bass-heavy kick drum sound and a moderately fast tempo of around 140 beats per minute. It originated in Germany as a sub-genre of trance. Due to the electronic nature of the genre, it is a convenient type of music to create using a digital audio workstation, or DAW. These workstations, such as Logic, Pro Tools and Mixcraft, enable you to make music using just your computer.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with minimum 2GB RAM
• MIDI controller
• USB cable

Instructions

1. Double-click the desktop icon for your preferred DAW. It may take a few seconds for the program to fully launch. Depending on which program you use, either the last edited session or a brand new session opens automatically. In cases where the last edited sessions opens, click "File," "Open" and "New" to launch a new session.

2. Connect the external MIDI controller to the computer with a USB cable. The MIDI controller lets you play MIDI tracks intuitively, as if playing a regular keyboard.

3. Click "File" and "New MIDI." When prompted, set the number of MIDI channels required by typing the number where it says "1." The number of required channels depends on how many instrument tracks you intend to record. You can always add more later if required. By selecting MIDI as opposed to audio, you assign the connected hardware controller as the primary input device. If you don't have a hardware MIDI controller, you can assign your typing keyboard as the input device. The method varies according to which program you use. For example, in Mixcraft click "Help," "Musical Typing Keyboard." In Logic, click "Window," "Musical Typing."

4. Set the tempo. The default tempo of a blank session is typically 120 beats per minute, or bpm. Hardstyle has a tempo of between 140 and 160 bpm. Because you're recording in MIDI, you can adjust this later if you feel the tempo is too fast or slow.

5. Double-click on MIDI track 1 and rename it "Kick." Click "Instruments" and select an electronic kick drum, such as a Roland TR 909. This assigns the instrument sound to that channel.

6. Hit "Record" and play a straight kick drum beat using the MIDI controller for eight bars. Once recorded, click "Tools" and select "Quantize." This moves any out-of-time beats back in time.

7. Click "Effects" and select "Distortion." Adjust the "Drive" setting to around 80 percent. Distortion gives the kick drum the characteristic heavy and dense Hardstyle sound.

8. Click on the second MIDI channel and name it "Bass Line." Click "Instruments" and select a suitable, low synthesizer sound from the menu.

9. Click "Record" and play the melody over the beat. Use the same process to add melody. This forms the foundation of a Hardstyle track, which you can loop and add to using the copy tool.

Tips & Warnings

• Record two kick drums to add extra depth.

• Add a higher click sound to the kick drum to create a punchier sound.

References

• The University of Arizona: The German Techno Experience: From Minimal to Hardstyle
• Dance MIDI Samples: Hardstyle Kick Drum Tutorial with Nutty