Is todays Nightcore really a "Nightcore"?

[Namahage]

After reading all of your posts, I would have to say that it's quite difficult to come up with a perfect definition for nightcore -- in fact, I would say it's impossible.

True nightcore has a very precise and specific sound that is hard to describe in words. No matter what definition we try to come up with, there's always going to be flaws and loopholes.

Yes, we keep saying nightcore is sped up techno/dance/trance but Emile searched up those genres and found plenty of songs that won't get the original Nightcore feel when nightcored.

In my opinion, I like the di.fm definition the best: "Pitched up vocals and Happy Hardcore beats!"

But I'm not sure if that definition even cuts it.

Btw Emile, I'm kinda curious about your "oldschool nightcore" label. When I see "oldschool" next to a music genre, I assume that there's a new generation of that genre. Is there supposed to be a new generation of nightcore if you use that label?

[emilemil1]

I just use it to refer to anything that sounds like the original Nightcore songs, not just by which genre it's labeled with, but by actual sound. Because even though we accept modern incarnations of the same genres, they sound very different today compared to then.

For example this original Nightcore (Hands Up): http://youtu.be/qJcWnOb_xOg
Versus this newer Nightcore (also Hands Up): http://youtu.be/jaJ7iVnpr6M

The difference in sound is why I call the former oldschool, but both Nightcore.

[MagicScream]

And from time to time it feels like a real a nightcore is dying, beause a lot of people misunderstood the actual meaning of nightcore.

Yeah, I sometimes feel the original idea of nightcore is dying. NightcoreSlax made a really good post on what the purpose of nightcoring a song is supposed to be.

The point of nightcoring a song (and this is what people often miss) is that sometimes the actual song can sound better speeded up and with pitched voices, because it remembers Nightcore's melodies and atmospheres.(Source)

I also read somewhere (can't remember if it was here or someplace else) that the original Nightcore band used slow electronic songs. Their original intention was to make these songs faster and happier.

Further down in his post, NightcoreSlax says that the term "nightcore" is overused to describe anything sped up.

I'm not pointing any fingers or making any accusations, but I feel that even true nightcore uploaders sometimes miss the original point of nightcoring. I've heard plenty of nightcore songs that would pass our regulations, but the original song would be better off not being nightcored.

A user known as Kitashi also made a good point about nightcoring songs:

The talent in Nightcore comes from being able to find the songs that actually are improved by Nightcore edits, and no, it is not as easy as "low pitched/BPM", other factors such as length, quality of vocals (not all voices take kindly to being Nightcore'd, even if they're low pitched), overall appeal of the song itself (boring? too generic? not well produced?), HAS IT BEEN DONE BEFORE (huge one), etc., etc. (Source)

Indeed, in an ideal world, it's more than just genre when it comes to nightcoring. There's actually a shit ton of factors to take into account. After reading and typing all this, I'm beginning to think that nightcoring is harder than it seems.

But I'm not surprised. I agree with Kitashi that it takes talent to find the right songs for nightcoring. It's not supposed to be easy. I've seen a few posts where people said it takes days, or even weeks to find a good song.

Plus, the original Nightcore group didn't just blindly nightcore every techno/dance song in existance, right? :P

[emilemil1]

The original group probably didn't have an issue finding proper songs, since the style of music they did were commonplace back then, and because they were DJs and had it as their job to know a lot of songs. It's still not hard to find it today if you know which labels and artists to check.

Whether the songs are good or bad, regardless of if they sound right, is pure opinion though. I don't think that all of the original Nightcore tracks are very good for example, so it's not like you can take any song with the right sound and automatically have a hit.

[JumpBoy]

And from time to time it feels like a real a nightcore is dying, beause a lot of people misunderstood the actual meaning of nightcore. I'm not saying that I'm mad at them, I'm just saying that they are doing it totally wrong and that it suppose to be a sped-up, and from time to time they reply to my comments on their songs and they are like.
"y0 man, u dont kno wats teh real nightcore man, the stuff ur nightcoring sounds like ghey shit, leave my nightcores..." bla bla bla.

i tought its already dead.

[rsslayersr]

i tought its already dead.

It is not, but it may seem like this.
The community seems to be growing, rather slow but it's not breaking off. Many channels I know are quick to gaining views and subscriptions, even with Maikel hitting the 100K subscriber milestone and HandzUpNightcore as a real runner-up to delivering the Nightcore as it is supposed to be.

2014 was quite fruitful to the community, with the gain of a good KnowYourMeme page and the quality Nightcore radio on di.fm

I guess real nightcore is growing slowly, but it could've been a lot worse.

[JumpBoy]

i tought its already dead.

It is not, but it may seem like this.
The community seems to be growing, rather slow but it's not breaking off. Many channels I know are quick to gaining views and subscriptions, even with Maikel hitting the 100K subscriber milestone and HandzUpNightcore as a real runner-up to delivering the Nightcore as it is supposed to be.

2014 was quite fruitful to the community, with the gain of a good KnowYourMeme page and the quality Nightcore radio on di.fm

I guess real nightcore is growing slowly, but it could've been a lot worse.

well yeah thats what i ment its dead but coming back to life :D
tou i dont see how "real nightcore" can come back to its full glorry right now cause of the state of handsup/hardtrance/techno and stuff

[rsslayersr]

Of course, Nightcore output is limited to what is released, and a full glory is nothing but a very distant dream.
We're crawling, and maybe one day we may walk again with Happy Hardcore's little sister we know as Nightcore.

[JumpBoy]

one day we may walk again with Happy Hardcore's little sister we know as Nightcore.

this should be the forums motto :D
but anyways real nightcore cant come back in its original form if it wants to be relevent
just look at music genres no genre that went underground came back in its original form
it has evolved then came back

[rsslayersr]

But we're not trying to be a genre. We're trying to lable sped up songs as Nightcore that sounds as Happy Hardcore. I'm fairly sure this kind of Hardcore isn't all that underground, which is why there's a 100K Channel still spreading this music and still benifiting from his popularity.

We probably don't have much say in the evolution of Nightcore though, since we still depend on the original artists.
We can never get to that originality again, but I think most of us don't mind it that much, as long as we don't stay too much from the original sound.

[JumpBoy]

thats the problem for you its just a "label" thats why you got all dem fake nightcores cause its just a label
and if your still depend on the original artists why not let them do all the nightcore then ?

[emilemil1]

Some producers do Nightcore themselves, but in most cases I think that they simply decide on one speed that sounds the best to them and goes with that 100%. Releasing several different versions at different speeds probably feels cheesy to most.

https://soundcloud.com/toxicpulse/norex ... re-version

[rsslayersr]

https://soundcloud.com/official-split-s ... core-maybe

It's still quite fun to see that they don't condemn it all to oblivion. I can see why people think this cheap method is an insult, but these songs did me appreciate some of the original artists too.

[Vitacx97]

Miqz does nightcore versions of his songs every now and then, which is pretty cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHpwNOHkDew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB2rUNz1KoI

[Fernandez]

Sometimes I wonder if it's worth replying to the people who suddenly come in here and post their fake nightcore Youtube channels. Most of them seem to just post their channel and leave, not bothering to reply back or even come back.

[Nightcore4eva]

The short answer: no.
But it all depends on where are you actually looking for them. :p
Sadly, most of the good old songs got nightcored already, and well I feel as if most songs will all run out at some point. But if there are more handsup artists growing up in the underground scene, there won't be a problem. I sometimes can barely imagine how a true nightcore uploader still can provide people with music.

I use remixes. ^_^

So do I :) sometimes even they have already been nightcored :P