Following Formulas – Is RAW the new big-room?

Over the years hardstyle has undergone many shifts, trends and waves of popularity within certain sounds and styles. For example, around 2009 that classic, melodic sound was the shit, then there was that stage where everybody remixed house tracks or produced supernatural euphoric tracks with a massive dose of ‘feels’. All in all, trends are inevitable and have been occurring since the beginning of time; they are also a vital factor when it comes to the evolutionary process of music.

As all of you would know by now, since around 2012 raw hardstyle has become the pop-culture of modern hardstyle and is currently boasting a hugely dedicated demographic that spreads throughout Europe and abroad. With the rapid spread of raw hardstyle, comes a huge cohort of raw producers and talents who make the conscious decision to produce raw hardstyle, but of course, this comes with some serious consequences. These consequences entail certain ‘equations’ that are established within the track structure, becoming typically over-used by both the big guys and talents.

Within the past few years, I’ve noticed that there has been one certain ‘equation’ established within the raw sound.

Build up -> vocal scream -> accentuated drop (hardcore kick & dying bird screech)

This formula that producers follow comes in all different shapes and forms and it doesn’t matter whether a producer has a signature sound or not, they too can fall into this dreadful trap. I hear the same fucking build-ups over and over again that are followed by a hip-hop vocal sample or some kind of ‘scream’ before the massive drop takes over.

Vocal samples are another example of how fucking mundane raw hardstyle is becoming, Biggie Smalls (or other random rappers) vocals are merely impressive when it comes to creativity and makes me question “what ever happened to originality?” Why not work on authentic vocals with a rapper/vocalist rather than finding some random sample on the internet? It’s true that raw hardstyle can retain it’s unique and aggressive nature, yet remain original. As producers, it’s important to keep innovating the genre and the minds of the fans; otherwise sadly, raw hardstyle will become a stand-still genre.

Now, I come to the drop. Having a powerful drop is very important and it’s usually a part of the track where things get real brutal or in some cases, beautiful. Something that was heard a lot in 2013 and 2014 was the “repetitive screech.” Producers did all kinds of things with their screeches, including making them sound like dying birds and blaring sirens. The dying bird screech was one of the ugliest moments hardstyle has ever seen, because let’s face it, when you’re at a party and not jacked up on amphetamines it’s pretty painful to listen to a dying bird for 5 hours straight.
Don’t get me wrong, I love plenty of well-produced raw tracks, the energy and vibe it brings is incredible, (especially with those out-of-this-world kicks) however for me, it’s the versatile and original tracks that stand out as opposed to the tracks that play it ‘safe’ and follow a certain pattern.

Something that I noticed is that this formula is becoming dashingly similar to that of big-room house (no hate). You’re probably thinking “what the fuck has AAN been smoking?” but if you listen closely to big-room house and its formula, it can be compared to raw hardstyle in terms of its structure, especially the build up and drop – because that’s pretty much all that big-room house stands for. It’s a little bit disappointing that a load of raw hardstyle producers are basing their tracks all around this fat drop and ignoring the musicality around it, because let’s face it, there’s a huge number of talented hardstyle producers who possess incredible skills and technique in the studio and it’s a bit of a shame if they don’t ‘flaunt it’. However, saying this, the big-room house formula can also be comparable to a lot of hard-drop tracks and euphoric tracks; this is a notion that we will discuss in a later article.

Just like big-room house follows a certain formula, raw hardstyle is also heading in that direction, which in turn doesn’t add any appeal to the genre apart from its brutality and aggression. So before you have a bitch about Martin Garrix and other house artists, take a closer look at what you’re listening to.

Thankfully, a number of producers caught onto this towards the end of last year and many guys actually proceeded to change their style to sound more accessible and appeal to all kinds of hard dance fans. A few examples of artists who have been extremely innovative with their high-quality sound and aim to inject the ‘musical’ aspects back into raw hardstyle are Endymion, B-Front, Frequencerz, Hard Driver, Phuture Noize, Zatox, Atmozfears, Kronos and a few more.

And what actually classifies as ‘rawphoric?’

Rawphoric – a word with intentions of possibly describing hardstyle that’s produced to portray an equal balance between raw and euphoric elements.

Rawphoric is also an overused word that producers throw around to ensure that they’re not looked at as a raw producer, but a ‘versatile’ one who can make a simple melody. Fans also tend to throw around the word rawphoric when attempting to describe a raw track with a melody in it. Sounds pretty straight forward, right? Well, theoretically speaking, it’s not. In the above definition, I highlighted the words ‘equal balance’ because this is the most vital component when creating a raw/melodic crossover track, both elements should come in at 50/50 or even 60/40 both ways.

Nowadays, it’s quite rare to find a track that lets both spectrum’s equally shine, a lot of producers are guilty for making a track that’s hard and brutal as fuck with a tiny melody in the middle and labeling it as rawphoric and a lot of fans will typically catch on and also classify them as rawphoric. A small melody in the middle that composes 20% of the track does NOT make it rawphoric, it is still raw. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with making raw and brutal music (or listening to it), it just phases me why raw producers suddenly think that they’re all euphoric and versatile in order to escape from the mainstream ‘bandwagon’.

Here are a few tunes that are actually rawphoric:

Atmozfears – Singularity: A huge track that combines hard kicks with melodies. A lot of Atmozfears’ raw tracks are quite balanced and great to listen to.

B-Freqz – Divine: What a gorgeous melody! Rawphoric tracks should also bring great emotion and B-Freqz definitely hit the nail on the head when it comes to ‘feels.’

Frontliner & Radical Redemption: One of the biggest classics when it comes to crossing over between euphoric and raw. These two should be looked behind studio doors more often!

Thera – Serendipity: Uplifting melody accompanied with a hard kick – what a versatile bomb!

Dailucia – Rawphoria: The title says it all.

Hyperdrive – The Punishment (Frequencerz Remix): This melody is incredible, big ups to Frequencerz for always doing something different, especially with their newer tracks!

Phuture Noize – Hope: The combination between the melody and those screeches is so refreshing, great track.

Digital Mindz – Resonant Part II: What a track! Quite a beautiful and optimistic atmosphere it brings.

Listen and learn kids, listen and learn.

Anyway, now that we’ve thrown the idea out there, it’s time to hear your ideas. Do you think that raw hardstyle’s formula is becoming too mundane? Do you hope to hear more musicality and creativity in the future? And do you think that artists should just admit that they’re raw instead of calling themselves rawphoric? Let us know in the comments below!