My attempt at hardstyle

[SeanNH94]

http://soundcloud.com/seannh94/hardstyle-thing
I tried to get a hardstyle sound by taking a sine osc and have it slide down into pitch, then equalizing and distorting it. Added a slightly distorted kick, claps, and a catchy little hook. I have no idea how most people get the sound, and what I got isn't as, well, hard as I'd like it to be. Any tips?

[Pinkie Cake]

My lesser version of a critique. Maybe KoR' will give a better one
Both the synth and the kick sound flat, they lack the energy that hardstyle has. The synth could use some variety, same melody different synth, same synth different melody, whatever works. I did a speedcore remix recently and I had the same problem: how to make hard/powerfull kicks and my result sounds like this -- http://dl.dropbox.com/u/36230415/kick.mp3 , I don't know if this helped and I don't know if these kick are good but I like them and they fit my song nicely.

[Whitetail]

Basically take your kick, add tons of overdrive and distortion to get that stronger dominating bass sound
Also note that hardstyle kicks are normally based on oscillator synths, so they're quite often actually pitched to fit the song's progression.

[SeanNH94]

Yeah, I guess I just need a better distortion plug-in. Mayhaps I should ask KoR what he uses. thnx guise

[Facade]

Yeah, I guess I just need a better distortion plug-in. Mayhaps I should ask KoR what he uses. thnx guise

try ohmicide its epic

[Icky]

I use Synapse Hydra for my kicks. But other VSTs that give you the "909 drumkick" sound like Microtonic or Drumazon will also get the job done. What you want to do is overdrive the kick, and then add EQ and distortion. For distortion I use Camelphat3 and Ohmicide.

Altough I'm not great at kicks either, you should try to get something like this: http://www.mediafire.com/?j3n57djju5kk7bl

As for the lead, it needs to be a lot fatter. detune it some more, or add unison or something. Also some reverb wouldnt hurt.

The melody is pretty good, altough a bit short which makes it a bit repetitive after a while.

Good job for an "attempt at"

[SeanNH94]

Thanks KoR. You're actually what started me on wanting to learn hardstyle, after listening to some of your music. Yeah, I didn't work too hard on the melody, I was more just attempting to get that kick sound. I think I have the idea, not I just need to find a good overdrive/distortion and play with equalizers. I'll figure it out eventually. (Probably by the hardstyle is out of style. Ooo, unless I take so long it becomes retro and cool again! )

[Icky]

The kick is probably the hardest part to get right, for a first attempt its a great start!
For overdriving I use "blood overdrive" which comes standard with FL, and like I said in my previous post camelphat3 and omhicide for distortion.

If you need any help at all dont hesitate to pm me!