Crossbreed
Breaks · 2010 · 170 to 190 BPM · also known as Cross Breed, Crossbreed DnB
Crossbreed is the formalized pact between hard drum and bass and industrial hardcore, struck around 2010: gabber kicks driving underneath neurofunk-style breaks at 175 to 180 BPM. The Outside Agency and the PRSPCT label turned it into a solid bridge between two audiences that had previously ignored each other. The name says it all: a deliberate, effective crossbreeding of two hard-edged scenes rather than a subtle fusion. Tracks typically alternate between the two engines within the same drop, switching from a rolling breakbeat to a pounding four-on-the-floor gabber kick and back, built above all to be mixed and played loud in a club.
12 reference tracks
- The Outside Agency: Motherfucking Ants (2011)
- Katharsys: Zero (2012)
- The Outside Agency & Counterstrike: My Friends (2012)
- The Outside Agency & Current Value: They Are Human (2011)
- Sinister Souls: Beat the Drum Hard (2012)
- Donny: Symptomless Coma (Counterstrike Remix) (2010)
- The Outside Agency & Switch Technique: Senseless Society
- The Outside Agency: Godspeed
- The Outside Agency: Headphone Wisdom
- Switch Technique & Forbidden Society: Blood Extract
- Switch Technique: Intelligence VIP
- Sinister Souls & C-Netik: Therapy
At a glance
- Tempo: 170 to 190 BPM
- First appeared: around 2010
- Machines: Ableton Live, Native Instruments Massive, Xfer Serum
- The sound: Kicks hardcore distordus, Breaks DnB durcis, Basses neuro, Production loudness
- Labels: PRSPCT Recordings, Genosha Recordings, Othercide, Union Recordings, Genosha One Seven Five
- Key artists: The Outside Agency, Katharsys, Switch Technique, Sinister Souls
Producing Crossbreed
Crossbreed runs 175 to 180 BPM, above drum and bass so its gabber kicks keep their violence, built in square 4/4 bars for mixing, alternating two drum engines: a hardened two-step neurofunk pattern, kick on beat 1 and the and of 3, snare on 2 and 4, and a straight 4/4 gabber kick whose decay is pushed to 400 ms and distorted until the tail becomes a note. In the drop, alternate four bars of two-step with four of the 4/4 kick, then combine both, the hardcore kick on the beats with the break on top. The bass, a resampled Reese or FM bass, works around the tuned kick tail, high-passed in the midrange during two-step, falling silent once the 4/4 kick takes over, heavily sidechained. A synthesized gabber kick and industrial screeches round out a palette built for impact.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Crossbreed?
Crossbreed is the formalized pact between hard drum and bass and industrial hardcore, struck around 2010: gabber kicks driving underneath neurofunk-style breaks at 175 to 180 BPM. The Outside Agency and the PRSPCT label turned it into a solid bridge between two audiences that had previously…
What tempo is Crossbreed played at?
Between 170 and 190 BPM.
Who are the key Crossbreed artists?
The Outside Agency, Katharsys, Switch Technique, Sinister Souls.
