Introduction

Hard house music developed as a fusion of house, trance and hardcore music in the late 1990s. Adopting a faster tempo than most types of house, and slower than that of drum & bass or hardcore, hard house is characterised by the rhythmic repetition of hard synth riffs and samples.

Early Days

Arguably, the genre began to develop around 1994/5, with some UK house producers adopting to use harder synth samples in their tracks (e.g. Artemesia "Bits and Pieces"). At this time, however, the music was mixed in with piano house, vocal house and other tracks in the genre, and did not have an obviously faster tempo. This continued for a while with some DJs gradually beginning to adopt a harder sound. Early pioneers of the harder, bouncy sound include the late Tony De Vit, who brought bouncy house into the UK Top 40 in 1995.

By 1998, the hard house sound had developed to the extent that it was obviously faster and harder than other styles of house music. Old skool hardcore and techno samples were beginning to gain popularity among hard house producers around this time, with the "hoover" sound being especially prevalent. Sped-up rap samples, often repeated and filtered, also appeared in many early hard house tracks. This sound appealed both to house and dance fans who were after a faster, more minimal sound, and ravers, who were moving away from hardcore as it lost popularity towards the millennium. Although featuring trademark rave sounds, hard house differed by using more minimal tunes, build-ups and track arrangements, being influenced by current house and underground dance trends, rather than hardcore.

Commercial Sounds

As the genre became popular, commercial DJs and producers began to play the hard house sound. Artists such as Yomanda and Mauro Picotto were producing tracks which made the UK Top 40, and DJs such as Judge Jules were not averse to dropping a harder house tune in their sets.

2000 was a peak year for hard house, with some DJs mixing the more commercial tracks in with faster trance music. Other DJs were playing a hard, hoover driven house, with plenty of old skool effects. DJs and producers gaining popularity around the turn of the millennium included BK, Fergie (who later moved from hard house), and Andy Farley. By 2001, hard house had truly reached the mainstream, with artists such as Public Domain hitting the charts with commercial hard dance tracks which were not out of place on the dancefloor. By 2001, though, those who did not wish to pursue the commercial avenue were trying to push the music forward by adding different elements to the sound. BK and others began adding trance elements to the sound, and very gradually hard house and trance started to merge. Some producers began adding tribal and rhythmic elements to the music.

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