A fan-written "guidebook" about Digital Hardcore Recordings

Books or E-books about Electronic Music, Hardcore, or Experimental stuff are still very hard to come by. So we are happy to announce a new one, this time dedicated to DHR out of Berlin!


All the infos about the book:

It was due time that Digital Hardcore Recordings aka DHR got its own, unofficial guidebook. It was an important part of music history, of 90s culture, and of history.

This book lists and reviews all Digital Hardcore releases; all albums, EPs, and single releases, CDs, Vinyls, including those that got put out on sublabels.

It's not just a dry, music-centered look at the tracks alone. But also mentions the cultural context, the philosophical context, the political context. And goes way off on various ways sometimes - by looking for connections to other media, movies, movements...

The book is for the dreamers, the restless minds, that were looking for a true alternative in the 90s, or are (still) looking for it in today's times.

We put it on Blogspot for the time being, but working to get it into a real .pdf etc.
Note: No AI has been used in any of these texts.

Chapters:

About Digital Hardcore Recordings
All Digital Hardcore Recordings Albums listed, rated, and reviewed
All Digital Hardcore Recordings single and EP releases reviewed and rated
All DHR Limited releases listed, rated, and short-reviewed
A look at DHR Video releases
All Geist releases reviewed
Credits

https://dhrfanbook.blogspot.com/

Free Drum Sample Packs

It's Bandcamp Friday,
And a lot of artists and labels will message you and tell you to download their tracks and releases for you to listen to.
But isn't that a bit boring?
So I will instead let you know about my sample packs. Which help you produce your *own* tracks instead of merely listen to that of others! And they are all free.

Here are the links:

1. https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/low-entropy-sample-pack
2. https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/low-entropy-sample-pack-2-doomcore-gabber-and-speedcore-bassdrums <- try that one first
3. https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/123-hardcore-techno-and-gabber-drums-that-were-used-in-the-90s-sample-pack-3
4. https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/47-hardcore-techno-and-gabber-drums-that-were-played-in-club-and-squat-parties-sample-pack-4
5. https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/121-royalty-free-909-related-drum-samples-for-producing-techno-hardcore-and-more

They might be useful for producing Techno, Hardcore, and other genres.

And here are some example tracks that were made with the sample packs and have been released on actual labels (so you can see this is some legit stuff, and not just some baseless claims (pun intended)).

1. Rotterdam Is Everywhere https://rotjecore.bandcamp.com/track/low-entropy-rotterdam-is-everywhere
2. Acid Chant https://teknolandproduction.bandcamp.com/track/acid-chant
3. Hakken With Wolves https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/hakken-with-wolves-short-mix
4. Gabber *** https://gabbaretrecords.bandcamp.com/track/gabber-sex-extended-edit
5. You Can't Stop Rotterdam https://rotjecore.bandcamp.com/track/low-entropy-you-cant-stop-rotterdam

My Producer's Diary: Sonic Boom Production

Recently, people commented on a claim I made: that I produced the audio material for an album with a runtime of over 60 minutes in only around 30 minutes. Is that really possible, because that means the production time is less than the length of the tracks?

And I think it's an interesting music production topic to explore.

There is a thing I call "sonic boom production", and to me, it is one of the holy grails of the music producer profession, an outstanding achievement. At least if the result is meant to be somewhat audible and meaningful.

But first, we must cross and denounce two popular myths and assumptions.

The first:
Production length is related to the length of the track or the song. But it is not defined or limited by it.
Yes, most of the time, a longer track means "more work".

But if an artist does an album, and it has the tracks:

A 3 minutes
B 4 minutes
C 5 minutes
D 8 minutes
(and so on)

This does not mean the artist *really* spent double the time on the 8 minute track, compared to the 4 minute one
It could even be that the shortest track - A
3 minute - was the most work-intense one.

The second is that music production would be hard work, or takes time, or is complicated, etc.
Yes, it is, but it also is not.
It's like any other activity, being a chef, athlete, tightrope walker, writer, whatever. It might be impossible to some people. But for those for whom it comes natural, it comes natural. And if they're initiated and they're used to it, it's more a rather simplified task, like slicing bread or dicing onions.
Yeah I know, musicians like to wear the halo of being a hard-working martyr, but the truth is that a lot of the famous hit songs you hear on the radio or the tube were conceived, created and completed in bare minutes.

So, if you consider the above facts, it's indeed possible to beat up the clock, and outrun the speed of sound by producing a track in a shorter amount of time then it takes the listener to fully appreciate it from start to finish.

Sonic Boom!