Is this the end for UK Hardcore?

So, I'm feeling pretty down right now, and I can tell you its nothing to do with the sinus infection I've been battling with for the last 2 weeks!

Its actually all the bullshit, name calling and nonsensical arguing going on on every Hardcore forum on the net right now!

There's been rumblings here and there on the forums that hardcore is dying for the last few months, and with this weeks announcement of Nu Energy Collective going under, its all blown up big time. Trouble is, I don't see how hardcore is dying!

Some people are blaming freeform for it, others are just shouting crazy opinions because they have grown out of hardcore, maybe they feel bitter about this and are now doing their hardest to destroy the scene. Whatever it is, there's only one thing I can see that's destroying hardcore right now, and that's these people throwing around all this shit.

A lot of them are comparing now to 12 years ago when hardcore went under. I remember those days, and its nothing like it, in my opinion! We have a mass of new producers and DJ's in the wings, coming out with some really good stuff. Yes it's true that a lot of them aren't getting the exposure they deserve, but it will come in time.

As I see it, as long as we have this new blood pumping into the scene, we can't go under. Sure, popularity may drop for a while, but that sort of thing helps weed out the shite, while the true pioneers maintain their place, to bring hardcore to new heights.

The reason I'm feeling so crappy is two fold. 1 - I love this scene with a passion, can't imagine my life without it, and I will do anything to stop it being damaged! 2 - As an aspiring producer, seeing people shouting their mouths off about how all new hardcore is just crap, sped up trance, and saying all us new producers are just putting out generic crap has really knocked my confidence. I've just finished mastering a track that I have really worked hard on, and was intending to send it to a few record companies, but to be honest I now only see my track as generic crap. I'm quite disheartened about the whole thing.

Having compared my tracks to whats being released, I'm getting the feeling that I'm really not up to scratch. I would never have thought that a few weeks ago, I'm proud of my style of hardcore, and personally, I think its unique to me. But these guys have really knocked me for six now, and I'm losing hope of ever having a release.

So, when all this comes to a head, hardcore goes under, and I stop putting tracks out there, you all know who to blame! And I do apologise for this rambling post, but I'm quite worked up about it all, and needed to vent!!

Watch this space for a more creative and thought provoking post in a few days, rather than the ramblings of a mad man!

Take it easy y'all, and I leave you with this:

I am Hardcore till I die, and as long as I live, Hardcore lives with me!!

TempoSync: Lazy-Evilness, or Creativity-Unleashing Breakthrough?

I first stepped up to a set of decks at the tender young age of 13, and have been hooked ever since (I am now 27!). So, as you might have guessed, I started out on belt driven vinyl decks, with a less than desirable mixer with a leaky crossfader, all linked to an Argos bought £39.99 hi-fi system. Not exactly "Pro" equipment at the time, and by today's standards, prehistoric!
I kept with the vinyl right up until last year, when I blew the motor on my Numark turntables, the death dealing blow in a string of problems I had had with my vinyl setup. I haven't since played a single vinyl record, opting instead to "move with the times", and go digital!
Now, as CD decks, even now, aren't exactly affordable, and it seems are already being made obsolete, I opted to go down the software road, going fully digital, mixing mp3's on my PC. Very quickly, the PC in my studio became not only my DAW, but my Decks as well.
However, due to running an on board sound card at the moment, the master output and the cue mix in my headphones are heavily out of sync, and while not making manual beat matching impossible, it makes it a lot more difficult, and cueing up a mix damn right frustrating! To remedy this situation, I have added to my wish list a Focusrite Saffire 6 USB and a Numark Mixtrack Pro (As much as I would like a Traktor Kontrol S4 or, as Slipmatt seems to be loving his, the Pioneer DDJ-T1, I really can't afford that sort of money!), but until I can gather funds for these, I am stuck with using TempoSync.
 Now, in the years leading up to the demise of my vinyl decks, I outright despised tempo sync! With a passion. And the thought of having to use it to get my mixes out there made me slightly queasy! But, and its a big but, I am now torn between whether or not I think its a good thing.
On the one hand, yes, it is lazy, and I still think all aspiring DJ's should learn to beat match by ear. Yes, its hard to learn, even harder to master, but the rewards and satisfaction are huge!
On the other hand, I can see its uses. When beat matching by ear, most of your time between mixes is spent beat matching and cueing up the next track, or, for me, having a cheeky cigarette if I can get the tracks synced quick enough! But with the tempo sync done automatically by the software, I found myself suddenly getting extremely bored between mixes. To the point where I was checking Twitter and Facebook while waiting for my next cue.
 Suddenly I found myself getting more creative with my mixes. Dropping in bits of this tune or that over the top, or just mixing from one track to another with lightening speed, condensing what would be a 15 track in 1 hour mix, to 20 tracks in 30 minutes. My effects bay had never seen so much use either, as I was using filters, stutters and loops just to alleviate the boredom of not having to beat match!
Take for instance, on of my favorite DJ's, DJ Gammer. I recently listened to his guest mix on the Next Generation Podcast, in which he crammed 21 tracks in 26 minutes. He is known for this type of lightening fast mixing, and by god does he do it well! Now, I don't know if he does use TempoSync, but I can't see anyway he could do it without it to be honest. It seems when you remove the need to spend time beat matching, the creative juices come out, allowing for some serious messing around on the decks!
 So I am now torn between the oldskool and the new, in some messed up limbo between hatred and love of temposync. And one question keeps popping into my mind: Would I rather do long and potentially boring mixes, and say with pride that I beat match by ear, or do I use tempo sync and get really creative, exciting mixes out there? I know the answer, but am hesitant to embrace it! I DJ and Produce for the people. I don't do it for money or fame, or anything other than to get the music I love out to like minded people to enjoy. In that light, TempoSync appears to be a god send!

So, I'd like to know your thoughts on the matter people! As in the title, my question to you stands:

TempoSync: Lazy-Evilness, or Creativity-Unleashing Breakthrough?

~Pathogen

Welcome! (To both you and me!!)

Well, here it is, my first ever Blog. I really feel behind the times!

This will soon fill up with posts from myself, commenting on the trials and tribulations of trying to make it in the UK hardcore scene as both a Producer and DJ. Hopefully giving the average person who has never witnessed any of these things a bit of insight, and maybe aspiring Producers/DJ's a bit of inspiration, motivation and the occassional tip here and there.

So, watch this space for the first of many posts, as soon as I've worked out what I want this place to look like!

Take it squeezy!

~Pathogen