Gabber (IPA pronunciation: English /gæ.bə/, Dutch /xɑbər/), is a style of
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and a subgenre of
hardcore technoHardcore is a style of electronic music that originated in the early-to-mid-1990s in multiple locations including the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Belgium and the UK...
. "Gabber" is a Dutch word that literally means "buddy" or "friend". Although in the late 1980s a house variant from
DetroitDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
first reached
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country...
(the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
), it was the producers and DJs from
RotterdamRotterdam ; city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the country, with a population of 584,046 as of January 2007...
who evolved it into a harder house variant which we today know as "Gabber" style.
The specific sound of Rotterdam was also created as a reaction to the house scene of Amsterdam which was seen as more "snobby and pretentious". Though house productions from
FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.26 million in 2001...
's Marc Acardipane were quite similar to the Rotterdam style, it was the popularity of this music in the Netherlands which made Rotterdam the cradle of Hardcore Gabber. The essence of the gabber sound is a distorted
kickA bass drum is a relatively large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The bass drums are of variable sizes and are used in several musical genres . Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished: the large orchestral bass drum, the smaller kick' drum, and the...
sound, overdriven to the point where it becomes clipped into a distorted
square waveA square wave is a kind of non-sinusoidal waveform, most typically encountered in electronics and signal processing. An ideal square wave alternates regularly and instantaneously between two levels.- Origins and uses :...
and makes a recognizably melodic tone.
Often the Roland Alpha
JunoThe Roland Juno-106 was a hybrid digital/analogue polyphonic synth manufactured by Roland Corporation in 1984. It featured Digitally-controlled oscillators for tuning stability and digital envelope generation along with analog filters and signal path...
or the kick from a
Roland TR-909The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a partially analog, partially sample-based drum machine built by the Japanese Roland Corporation in 1984. The brainchild of Tadao Kikumoto, the engineer behind the Roland TB-303, it features a 16-step step sequencer and a drum kit that, at that time, aimed for...
was used to create this sound. Gabber tracks typically include
samplesIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song. This is typically done with a sampler, which can be a piece of hardware or a computer program on a digital computer. Sampling is also...
and synthesised melodies with the typical tempo ranging from 150 to 220
bpmBeats per minute is a unit typically used as either a measure of tempo in music, or a measure of one's heart rate. A rate of 60 bpm means that one beat will occur every second....
. Violence, drugs and profanity are common themes in gabber, perceptible through its samples and lyrics, often screamed,
pitch shiftPitch shift is a sound recording technique in which the normal pitch or tone of a sound is altered for effect or for other purposes....
ed, or distorted. By now Gabber is spread over several countries. Key locations include the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
,
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
,
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
and
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. In Germany, Gabberpartys often take place in the Ruhr area, as well as
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
,
HamburgHamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the sixth-largest city in the European Union...
and
FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.26 million in 2001...
.
The origins of the gabber sound
In general the track "We Have Arrived" (1990) by Mescalinum United is considered to be the first gabber track. Hardcore/gabber music is a fusion of techno and
industrialIndustrial music is an experimental music style, often including electronic music, that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s to describe Industrial Records artists...
with a dark, aggressive atmosphere. In the early to mid nineties a clear gabber fashion took form. Between 1993 and 1998 loads of gabber fans dressed in (multiple, layered)
tracksuitA tracksuit is an article of clothing consisting of two parts: trousers and a jacket. It was originally intended for use in sports, mainly as what athletes wore over competition clothing and would take off before competition. In modern times, it has become commonly worn in other contexts...
s,
Nike Air MaxNike Air Max is a line of shoes first released by Nike, Inc. in 1987. Since its introduction, Nike has frequently introduced new and updated models in the same product line.-Overview:...
sport shoes (with punctured air chambers), bomber jackets or leather jackets, and the majority of the male gabbers had shaven heads. Female fans often shaved the sides and back of their head and wore their hair in a pony tail.
The style began in the late 1980s, but some claim that it was diluted in 1995 by
happy hardcoreHappy Hardcore is a form of dance music typified by a very fast tempo , often coupled with solo vocals, and sentimental lyrics. Its characteristically 4/4 beat "happy" sound distinguishes it from most other forms of breakbeat hardcore, which tend to be "darker"...
and, for hardcore fans, by commercialisation which resulted in a younger crowd being attracted to the scene. The commercial organisation
ID&TID&T is a Dutch entertainment and medium enterprise that was founded in the early 1990s and organizes the largest dance events in the world.ID&T stands for the initials of three founders of the company, Irfan, Duncan and Theo, all residents of Amsterdam...
helped a lot in making the music popular by organising parties (most notable are the
ThunderdomeThunderdome is a famous concept in Hardcore techno and Gabber music, and is mainly used for an ongoing series of parties and CD-albums.-History:...
parties) and selling merchandise. The name gabber is used somewhat less these days to describe this music style, especially due to this stigma created in the mid 1990s. After surviving underground for a number of years, in 2002 the style regained some popularity in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
, although the sound is more mature, darker and
industrialIndustrial music is an experimental music style, often including electronic music, that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s to describe Industrial Records artists...
. Around the world, it never lost its original grip, and music was evolving and creating new subgenres and approaches, from
Digital HardcoreDigital hardcore is a music genre fusing elements of hardcore punk and various forms of electronic music. It developed in Germany during the early 1990s.-Characteristics:...
to
BreakcoreBreakcore is a style of electronic dance music largely influenced by hardcore techno, drum and bass and industrial music that is characterized by its use of heavy kick drums, breaks and a wide pallet of sampling sources, played at high tempos....
, from
NoisecoreNoisecore is a term for three separate music genres:* A subgenre of hardcore techno, similar to power noise or breakcore.* A form of grindcore, also known as noisegrind....
to
SpeedcoreSpeedcore style of techno music, characterised by high of beats per minute and aggressive themes. The name originates from the high BPM, which is always higher than 200 BPM. Earlier Speedcore tracks averaged at about 250 BPM, whereas more recent track sometimes exceed 1000 BPM...
.
Nu style gabber
There was a somewhat decisive split in the hardcore scene starting in the late 1990s. Some producers started embracing a slower style characterized by a deeper, harder bass drum that typically had a longer envelope than was possible in the traditional, faster style. This newer sound was referred to as "Main stream" and "New Skool" and as the tempo got slower and slower it began to become similar to hard house. Many hardcore enthusiasts hated hard house and the
clubA nightclub is a drinking, dancing and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. People who frequent nightclubs are known as clubbers...
scene it typified, and frequently DJs would be booed by one group of fans and cheered for by another at the same party, depending on the tempo and style of music they were playing. This is similar to the rivalry and mutual dislike that surfaced earlier between fans of "regular" hardcore and happy hardcore. Eventually the two styles met in the middle, and most gabber today is produced in a bpm range of 160-170. This is typically a little bit slower than the Rotterdam style of the mid-1990s that evolved into the faster side of hardcore.
Style
Gabber is characterised by its bass drum sound. Essentially, it comes from taking a normal synthesized bass drum and overdriving it heavily. The approximately sinusoidal sample starts to clip into a square wave with a falling pitch. This results in a number of effects: the frequency spectrum spreads out, thus achieving a louder, more aggressive sound. It also changes the amplitude envelope of the sound by increasing the sustain. Due to the distortion, the drum also develops a melodic tone. It is not uncommon for the bass drum pattern to change pitch throughout the song to follow the bass line.
The second frequently used component of gabber tracks is the "
hooverHoover sound refers to a particular synthesizer sound in electronic music, commonly used in Hard House music and other styles. Originally called the "Mentasm" or "Dominator", the name that stuck was the one likening the sound to that of a vacuum cleaner.-The sound:The Hoover is a complex waveform...
", a patch of the
Roland Alpha JunoThe Roland Alpha Juno series of keyboards were analog polyphonic synthesizers with digitally controlled oscillators manufactured by Roland Corporation in 1985....
synthesizer. A "hoover" is typically a distorted, grainy, sweeping sound which, when played on a low key, can create a dark and brooding bass line. Alternatively, when played at higher pitches, the hoover becomes an aggressive, shrieking lead. Faster gabba tracks often apply extremely fast hoover-patterns. The use of the hoover has evolved over the years, and in the nuskool genre, most tracks rely on a cleaner, detuned supersaw lead, similar to trance.
The aforementioned two subgenres of gabber differ in essentially one thing: the tempo.
- Oldskool gabber, staying true to its mentality, defines "hardness" in speed; tracks rarely go under 180 BPM, and bass drum rolls often go up to a speed where the beats themselves are hardly distinguishable from each other.
- Nuskool gabber, however, slows the speed down to 160 BPM, but extends the length of the bass drum so the bass-frequency resonance keeps on longer. (In this aspect, "nugabber" obviously cannot be considered less powerful than its precursor, although slower hardcore is often less energetic. A typical style is one made best known by Rotterdam Terror Corps
Rotterdam Terror Corps is a Dutch gabber group formed in 1993 that is known for its hard beats and is considered by many as a pioneer in the genre, for instance they created landmark songs such as, "God is a gabber", "Masters of Hardcore", "Unleash Hell" and "Rotterdam Hooligan"...
: the beats are divided into triplets and all hoover notes are played in a short, staccatoIn musical notation, the Italian word staccato indicates that notes are separated in a detached and distinctly separate manner or short and separated, with silence making up the latter part of the time allocated to each note. The rhythm is not affected. Notes identified as staccato are often...
-like fashion, giving the song a march-like feel.
Recent developments
In the 2000s, Gabber has again focused on speed, tracks normally go over 200 bpm, and subgenres have developed where scenes (normally headed by record labels) exhibit certain musical traits and are mainly defined by their kick drum sound. These subgenres include:
- Terrorcore, uses same highly distorted kick drum as recent nu-style gabber productions, tracks are normally minimalistic and non-melodic, themes are normally highly aggressive, artists include Delta 9
Dave Rodgers, better known as Delta 9, is a hardcore techno DJ/producer from Chicago.Delta 9 has been producing since 1994, starting with Deep 13 & The Hate Tank on Drop Bass Network Records. His many releases with Industrial Strength Records date back to 1995...
, Lenny Dee, Screamerclauz, Unexist Tieum, and MeatBunnY.
- UK gabber removes the bassline element from the kick drum, in favour of a more natural heavy reverb sound, which is usually affected by a filter, there's usually influence from breakcore
Breakcore is a style of electronic dance music largely influenced by hardcore techno, drum and bass and industrial music that is characterized by its use of heavy kick drums, breaks and a wide pallet of sampling sources, played at high tempos....
that uses distorted breaks over the 4/4 kick, and tracks have a lot of ambient sound and a progressive feel. Artists include DJ Producer, Bryan Fury, Deathmachine, Teknoist, and Detest.
- Speedcore
Speedcore style of techno music, characterised by high of beats per minute and aggressive themes. The name originates from the high BPM, which is always higher than 200 BPM. Earlier Speedcore tracks averaged at about 250 BPM, whereas more recent track sometimes exceed 1000 BPM...
- A faster type of gabber and hardcore usually in the 300 bpm or higher range.
Misconceptions
In the early 1990s, gabber gained a following in the
neo-fascistNeo-fascism is a post-World War II ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. The term neo-fascist may apply to groups that express a specific admiration for Benito Mussolini and Italian fascism or any other fascist leader/state...
rave scenes of
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, The Netherlands,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
and the
American MidwestThe Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
. However, most gabber fans do not belong to the aforementioned groups, and many producers have released tracks that vocally speak out against racism. In addition, many prominent gabber DJs and producers are not white; examples include Bass-D, Loftgroover, DJ Gizmo, The Darkraver and HMS.
Record labels
- Enzyme Records
Enzyme Records is a Netherlands-based hardcore record label. Founded in 2001 by Patrick van Kerckhoven as a continuation of Kerckhoven's previous labels, Gangsta Audiovisuals and Supreme Intelligence Records, to "'restart' his labels and continue in a new style of hardcore without being drowned in...
- Hardsound Music
is a Uk based record label which was first set up in 2002. Its style was Hardcore techno, gabber & gabba. In 2006 the label was closed down by its owners & nothing was produced until early 2009 where Hardsound Music re launched their name as Hardsound records or HSR...
- ID&T
ID&T is a Dutch entertainment and medium enterprise that was founded in the early 1990s and organizes the largest dance events in the world.ID&T stands for the initials of three founders of the company, Irfan, Duncan and Theo, all residents of Amsterdam...
- Mokum Records
Mokum Records is a Dutch independent record label specialising in gabber and hardcore techno releases. They have released about 100 single and EP vinyl records between 1993 and 1999...
- Rotterdam Records
Rotterdam records is a Dutch record label.After almost 10 years of dedication and hard work Paul Elstak decided to quit at Mid-Town Records to start his own label Offensive Records at Rige Entertainment....
- Masters of Hardcore
Masters of Hardcore is currently the biggest and best-known indie gabber music record label.Founded in 1996 in Zaandam, Netherlands, MOH was set out to revive the then stagnating gabber scene, which was considered watered down and blending into other "non-purist" genres like happy hardcore and hard...
- Hard drugs records
- Ruffneck Alliance
- Megarave Records
- Forze Records
- neophyte records
External links