What’s your favorite electronic genre?
We think of electronic dance music as a multitude of sounds, each with a distinct style, speed and tone. The variety within EDM is truly vast; from the many flavors of house music to the wild savagery of dubstep, and the retro roots of disco to the raw harshness of hardstyle. These genres are all recognizable styles of music with similar, but different pacing. We recognize them as a face of EDM.
The above genres can range from anything to 80 BPM to 160, as one of the many ways to navigate melodies and map out the beats. Unlike these well known styles, one newer, experimental sound may prove difficult for the casual fan to dance to. Extratone exists as an ultra-fast, 1,000 BPM music genre from the reaches of the hardcore community.
What exactly is extratone?
“Extratone is basically a form of extreme sound art,” explained Rick to Bandcamp Daily. Rick is a London-based artist and owner of the record label Slime City. He has many aliases like Zara Skumshot and Skat Injector, and produces the lightning-speed genre, ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 BPM. To him the genre is about “kicks so fast they have morphed into a tonal beast.”
At this speed, many of the drums and beats associated with fast music genres fade away. It becomes a “tonal” sound indeed, buzzing and whirring into a new kind of melody. It’s definitely a genre that takes some getting used to. The tempo and overall structure of the tune is alien to a lot of people. Some wonder if it anyone could enjoy it at all, which a user on reddit answered succinctly:
Extratone is not alone in it’s eccentric speed. Genres like speedcore and gabber bring an industrial and robotic feel to sounds that may appeal to those who surf the hardcore community. Their own subreddits show a vibrant community of music fans sharing their favorite tracks. Speedcore is more similar of the two to extratone, and has a penchant for fast tones that present an overall tune.
Is this type of music really a new thing?
Love it or hate it, the once impossible threshold of 1,000 BPM is now expanding thanks to these pioneers. However these types of music aren’t entirely new. Moby’s own Thousand was one of the first starting points for the world of ultra-fast music, measuring at 1,015 BPM. This intentional testing of production speeds broke the Guinness world record for the fastest tempo of any song.
Extratone stands out as a new and interesting trend in electronic music. Some may find the beat hard to dance to, or the tones difficult to enjoy. The hardcore community on the other hand, revels in this type of experimentation. The success it has among the hardcore circles is a testament to the variety of tastes and creative contributions in EDM.
What do you think? Would you rock out to the world’s fastest music genre? Let us know in the comments!
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