New Nightcore Article Discussion

[rsslayersr]

So guys, a person on Soundcloud runs this site, where he wrote an article about Nightcore:
- http://nesthq.com/nightcore

Now there are a few points the writer discusses. Mostly the Soundcloud movement and the fact Nightcore is a genre in his eyes and the eyes of others. And Nightcore from different genres than we're used to speed up.

Maikel was interviewed, and so was HKO. The writer was briefly online on here, and even I had a long chat with him.

Now, reading it I already had a few points I'd like to discuss. What did you guys think after reading that?
I believe there should've been said more about our point of view. Did it do us justice?
Was Nightcore really that underground? I mean, the millions and millions of views proofs it otherwise, right?

Anyway guys, let's discuss this.

[Zurd]

I love it! It's well written, just a bit too much soundcloud stuff.

Here's the 2 best sentences:

"The rules were set, and then inevitably broken a few years later when nightcore gained popularity and new channels started applying the same method to other styles outside of dance music."

"Nightcore is fast, loud, energetic and most importantly FUN. For those of us who grew up on trance and happy hardore, it feels like a return to our roots."

[emilemil1]

I'll be reading it later for a proper response, but I can say already that Nightcore, at least today, is about on the same level of undeground-ness as a fairly popular meme. That is to say that it isn't underground at all since most people who aren't totally disconnected from internet culture has at least heard about it.

That might not be the case a few years ago though. It was the strong rise of fake Nightcore that really put the name on the map. When me and a few of my friends were shown Nightcore roughly 4 years ago, it was the first time we all had heard about it.

[Fernandez]

I've been reading that article several times now, and I have to say, yes, nightcore really was that underground.

Sure back then, people like Maikel and Shyguyz may have had hundreds of thousands of views on their videos, but even then, nightcore was virtually unknown. There weren't as many big nightcore producers back then as there are now. Not only that, but nightcore was more confined to Youtube back then. No one in the music industry knew what it was and it didn't really spread to other sites (I don't think).

I agree with the article and with Emile's post that both say it was the fake nightcore boom of 2011-12 that made nightcore the popular thing it is today. It's a double-edged sword. Yes, the fake nightcorers are bringing more attention to the nightcore scene, but at the same time, the definition is getting blurred.

[HKO2006]

If you don't like scrolling

So guys, a person on Soundcloud runs this site, where he wrote an article about Nightcore:
- http://nesthq.com/nightcore

Now there are a few points the writer discusses. Mostly the Soundcloud movement and the fact Nightcore is a genre in his eyes and the eyes of others. And Nightcore from different genres than we're used to speed up.

Maikel was interviewed, and so was HKO. The writer was briefly online on here, and even I had a long chat with him.

Now, reading it I already had a few points I'd like to discuss. What did you guys think after reading that?
I believe there should've been said more about our point of view. Did it do us justice?
Was Nightcore really that underground? I mean, the millions and millions of views proofs it otherwise, right?

Anyway guys, let's discuss this.

To be fair, the The Original Nightcore Duo and The Youtube Scene can be compressed to be a lot shorter paragraph (see how other sites did below). And the purposes of the article ain't just introduce nightcore but also his friends and the scene on SoundCloud. It is very nice of him to include so much info about Nightcore, Maikel, KYM and NU and reached out to Maikel and me.

For underground or not I don't have much knowledge so my 2 cents below.
Compare Nightcore, Happy hardcore, Hardcore, Eurodance on Google trend
As Eurodance and Happy hardcore are considered underground now, so the word 'nightcore' was underground until 2012 that angel with shotgun went viral. (Nightcore is still undergroud now for the viral nightcore is mainstream and not nightcore)
Compare to trance too

Bonus
See Google Big Picture - Music Timeline, dance/electronic has a small share.
In Dance/Electronic, you can hardly see hardcore so hardcore don't have a big audience.
Nightocore even made its way to the timeline (with the help of time machine), kind of hilarious and sad
backups
http://imgur.com/b3LdT9A

When searched nightcore
http://imgur.com/UJLr2DP

How others sites explains what is nightore, not necessary to see

The Nightcore Club Origin of Nightcore
http://blog.thenightcore.club/post/1125 ... -nightcore
Text below

The Prologue
Nightcore started out as an artist duo from Alta, Norway; Thomas S Nilsen (a.k.a. DJ TNT) and Steffen Ojala Søderholm (a.k.a. DJ SOS).
Formed in 2002, they have since released five known albums. All composed of electronic tracks with raised tempo and pitch. These tracks are either dance, trance or techno music.
The tracklist of these albums are unknown and not all songs reached the internet. Most of the tracks did not even get distributed outside their hometown — Alta, Norway.
Most information about Nightcore came from their old and defunct website. The Wayback Archive have since removed the backup site after the original host updated their rules.
The duo disappeared shortly after december 2002. There were no news or releases from their website. And there were no known ways to contact them ever since.
Years passed. Web 2.0 dawned on us. YouTube became the hottest video sharing site. Tracks from Nightcore started to appear on YouTube and they started to gain popularity. It is unknown who were the first uploaders and their views climbed to the millions.
The Rebirth
As the popularity of Nightcore rises, people started to realize something about their tracks. They did not produce any of the tracks themselves. Their tracks were mere speed edits of existing tracks from other artists. The duo had failed to mention this before. Anyone with basic sound editors could create tracks exactly like how Nightcore did.
And that’s exactly what people started to do. Electronic tracks editted in Nightcore’s style started to flood YouTube, labelled as Nightcore songs. The practice still continues to this day, and YouTube became home to tens of thousands of fan-made Nightcore songs.
The Epilogue
Recently in 2011, Nightcore reappeared with the help of One Vibe Events, who sought them out to appear at a show in Phoenix, Arizona. Nightcore released a new single, Astral Plane and planned to play a new Norwegian song at this show. Unfortunately, Nightcore did not appear at the event due to scheduling issues. They have not appeared in any other events since. They now also have an official Facebook page — sprouted during the many years they were absent. It is there they interact with their large fanbase.

NightCored What Is Nightcore
http://wayback.archive.org/web/20130918 ... nightcore/
Text below

Nightcore is a genre of music that has increased tempo and pitch. While this defines what “Nightcore” is, strictly speaking only techno, trance and dance tracks are considered real Nightcore by many. To explain why, you need to know where the term Nightcore came from.

Nightcore originated in Alta, norway. The group, comprising of Thomas S Nilsen (a.k.a. DJ TNT) and Steffen Ojala Søderholm (a.k.a. DJ SOS) formed in 2002 and released five known albums. All of the albums created by Nightcore were made from techno, trance and dance tracks. The group unfortunately disappeared in 2003.

As time passed, people began to upload the group’s songs to sites such as youtube, the popularity grew even with the groups absence and so began the evolution of Nightcore.

Today just about any song can be Nightcored. If you wish to learn how to Nightcore a song, check out our guide HERE.

somewhat relevant
nightcore-331 What can be played
http://nightcore-331.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=626

What can be played:

Nightcore: Songs that have increased pitch and tempo. Formerly only applied to songs with techno elements but has extended to all other genres. Serves as the room’s backbone.

Nightstep: The concept of nightcore applied to dubstep. Generally has heavier electronic elements compared to normal.

Nightstyle: Songs that contain nightcore and hardstyle/ jumpstyle elements. Fairly rare to come by.

AMV: Stands for Anime Music Video. To put it simply, a song plays over muted scenes from one or more anime series. AMVs with nudity or overly inappropriate scenes are, and will be, blacklisted.

Anime-Related: Includes opening themes, ending themes, and OST. Extends to include remixes, covers, and parodies of these songs.

VGM: Stands for Video Game Music. In other words, tracks that were made for a video game. Only original soundtracks from fantasy series such as Legend of Zelda and Touhou Project are allowed.

Vocaloid: A voice synthesizer with quite a lot characters. Songs made using this program and feature one or more of its characters are playable.

S3RL: Artist who composes a lot of music with electronic elements. Is more closely related to trance than nightcore but has a special spot in the community.

RWBY: An American animated web series created for Rooster Teeth Productions. Similarities to anime have caused this show to be lumped in the same group as them.

What cannot be played:

Trance: The genre from which nightcore got its start. As nightcore is trying to move away from its trance roots, trance songs will be skipped.

Anti-Nightcore: Basically the exact opposite of nightcore, with lower pitch and tempo, generally sounding really deep. Because of its reverse relation with nightcore, it is not allowed as it would contrast greatly with the room’s general upbeat nature.

Everything else: If a lot more types of songs are allowed than what are allowed now, the room wouldn’t really be a nightcore community. As a result, any songs that belong only in unlisted categories will be skipped.

With the ban on trance songs, it is pretty much 'you can't play nightcore in a nightcore plug.dj room'.

[rsslayersr]

I'm also interested in the interviews. I get the feeling there's a lot of interesting talk inbetween.

Lately people from this site have been making an impact in the Nightcore definition by spreading it to KYM and DI.FM. We've been on the front seat eventhough our numbers are greatly overshadowed by people who don't follow our defined sound.
Soundcloud is not really a community that be taken lightly. And I must admit, it's weird to see something develop without our guidence.

I was hoping for a bit more validation in this article. For someone who has discovered Nightcore for only two years now, some points seemed a bit underresearched. Things like why there is no Wikipedia page.
I wonder of any of these points were discussed during interviews also.

[HKO2006]

As the interview goes, my part isn't too interesting so I will disclose mine.

HKO2006 from NU ***
[10:10:24] *** Fan Fiction has shared contact details with HKO2006. ***
[10:11:23] HKO2006: got a mic but having breakfast so
[10:11:40] HKO2006: ya
[10:12:09] HKO2006: thought it before it too, more easy to do google search
[10:14:20] HKO2006: in late 2013, just before few days before joining NU, I was in my friends house and his brother was playing nightcore - angel of darkness and god is a girl, I thought it was good so I googled the lyrics of it and here we are
[10:14:43] HKO2006: sry should have proofread :P
[10:18:47] HKO2006: make use of advanced search in google? like using google 'nightcore' and limit the time from 2006 to 2007 so I can find the earliest pieces of info about nightcore
and waybackmachine too, good that Nightcore did one interview before too, I got most of the info that interview and their old website <- too bad it is no longer accessable even in waybackmachine
[10:21:06] HKO2006: really wanted to look the KYM page now lol
[10:22:41] HKO2006: irrc, they didn't reveal what project they were working on when the first CD/album ie energized was made, they just refer it as a/the school project
[10:24:12] HKO2006: started off the first track for a school project.[1][2][3][5][6] After being told by the teacher they will score 4+ for one song, they eventually made their first CD Energized which consisted of 13 tracks using the software Dance eJay 3 and they scored 6 for the project.[6]
^ these few lines are pretty much copyed and translated to English (with google translate) from their old website
[10:25:29] HKO2006: well I don't know norwegian so praise google
[10:28:07] HKO2006: the person who made "nightcore ii" was the first to essentially start a nightcore youtube channel?it can be maikel631, but it is unclear so it is not in KYM too, better ask maikel for it, for I'm absent in the community till late 2013
[10:30:39] HKO2006: I wish I knew nightcore back in 2008 and wrote that KYM in 2008
[10:34:22] HKO2006: and they are more channels than Nightcore II in the earlest days of nightcore, namely Nasinocinesino
I believe there are more channels in 2008/09 but they just got deleted when the copyright policy on YouTube was more strictly imposed back then
[10:38:20] HKO2006: again 'there were channels or ppl uploading before maikel' <- would be a question for maikel
but one note I can give you is that, in the earlier version of NU (again I wasn't there just they are no waybackmachine), the title under maikel was 'the source of nightcore'
[10:40:06] HKO2006: for Nightcore II
https://www.youtube.com/user/oShyGuyzo/about
2.They are really just sped-up remixes but it sounds better to say just Nightcore II.
for Nightcore III and more
http://www.nightcoreuniverse.net/viewto ... =17&t=1360
[10:44:26] HKO2006: you can say that but for 'who was the first' I would suggest you to ask them/oldest member of NU, I would like to know the answer too
[10:45:40] HKO2006: there was a 'a following' but never big, not 1/10 of now
http://trends.google.com/trends/explore ... tep&cmpt=q
[10:46:46] HKO2006: not really soundcloud but YouTube, just compare the followers and viewcounts
[10:46:57] HKO2006: but I answer the first question first
[10:48:33] HKO2006: you don't google with yahoo, you google with google
Why Fake Nightcore Makes No Sense https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qovFglOw0iU
[10:51:07] HKO2006: ya
[10:52:16] HKO2006: but in this case, it is alllllllll the genres share the same roof which is a bad thing imo
[10:53:00] HKO2006: more detailed info in http://www.nightcoreuniverse.net/viewto ... =17&t=4939
[10:55:08] HKO2006: she actually
[10:56:42] HKO2006: she was refering the 'find the right song' part, afaik it is trance songs in early/mid 2000s
[10:57:10] HKO2006: ?
[11:01:42] HKO2006: i guess to me, what makes something nightcore is if ur adjusting the pitch / speed a certain degree, to where the vocals are effected and the track sounds different
with that i dont think everything sounds better or needs to be nightcoredya but some ppl just like sped up songs (back in 2006/07), or even chipmunk if you can relate them eg
Trance-Flying High
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ool4gyrJpM0
original
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_btsaiB9D5o
DJ Satomi - Waves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfqX_6o5pUc and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYSYLt14miM
[11:02:07] HKO2006: and Caramelldansen
[11:04:15] HKO2006: Trance-Flying Highwas a sped up of the DJ Splash's remix of DCX - Flying High
[11:04:35] HKO2006: it is essentially a nightcore
[11:05:44] HKO2006: ah so many question to answer lol love it
[11:14:47] HKO2006: why do you think nightcore has been mainly just a youtube thing over the years?has been but it is slowly gaining foothold in the music industry, like
1. having an online radio http://di.fm/nightcore,
2. producer write song about it Nightcore This - S3RL feat Tamika https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcRJGHkpm8s,
3. prodcuer release their own nightcore versions of the songs https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... +nightcore
4. and some songs (even can be just ripped from YouTube) got on iTunes and Spotify <- bad thing IMO http://nightcoreuniverse.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=3975
5. and getting editor write about it : )
[11:16:50] HKO2006: and some prodcuers are happy about it
http://nightcoreuniverse.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4910
[11:17:48] HKO2006: only since early 2014
[11:19:50] HKO2006: whether intentional or not or aware of nightcoresee Regional interest in http://trends.google.com/trends/explore#q=nightcore
and posts
[WIP] Nightcore and night- music in China
http://nightcoreuniverse.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=5295
Nightcore in Russia/East EU (vk.com mostly)
http://nightcoreuniverse.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=5365
some more info can be found in Search volume of Nightcore (Google Trend) and SocialBlade
http://nightcoreuniverse.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=5330
[11:20:27] HKO2006: why do u think it took that jumpbecause I just discovered nightcore in dec 2013 lol
[11:20:42] HKO2006: ah sry
[11:27:40] HKO2006: Ys, there is a small online fan club in China, even they can't access YouTube, they discovered nightcore via osu!
there is an online fan club on vk.com with 11K members so RU is aware too
singapore ppl came up their website and took over the nightc0re reddit so they do aware
JP has a stub wiki page of nightcore too
[11:29:44] HKO2006: channel wise
EU we have maikel as the representive from the Netherlands and channels from German (thx to the hands up culture)
southeast asia has NightcoreFC and all his friends and all the channel with anime songs
US has nightcorereality being the most subed channel with 'nightcore' in their channel name on YouTube
[11:30:00] HKO2006: sry the answer is a mess
[11:31:37] HKO2006: it is like 3 questions
[11:05] Fan Fiction:
<<< whether intentional or not or aware of nightcoregenrealy the ppl on the Internet, the channels and some individuals
[11:33:07] HKO2006: or can just simply put a yes with the google trend with the Regional interest chart
[11:34:29] HKO2006: why do u think it took that jumpsry I read your question as 'why did you (suddenly) started seeing the nightcore scene grow' lol
[11:38:19] HKO2006: why do u think it took that jumpevents, can be explained with the google trend, this is actually one question I am working on with no definate answer yet
in short, copied from Search volume of Nightcore (Google Trend) and SocialBlade
http://nightcoreuniverse.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=5330
Early 2011, Maikel6311
Mid 2012, the shotgun and CUTLoveRx and all the channels in EU and US
After mid 2012, NighTcoreFC and his friends, and all the channels in SEA and channels with anime songs (90% from SEA again)
After mid 2013, LoL videos(Siv) and NightcoreReality
[11:40:21] HKO2006: s nightcore reality the one to start doing pop songs or is every channel starting to do itit can be a continued answer from the last answer, every time the definition of nightcore grows, the number of fans grows
from Trance, Eurodance, Hardcore, Hands up
to dance pop
to pop
[11:41:25] HKO2006: to rock
to house
to dubstep (now as nightstep)
to anime songs
[11:47:20] HKO2006: Nightcore - Angel of Darkness lyrics by BlondDummKaddi 4 years ago17,170,370 views
Nightcore - God Is A Girl by Maikel6311 3 years ago11,821,412 views
Nightcore - Anima Libera by Twisterase 4 years ago11,324,232 views
Nightcore - Poison by Maikel6311 4 years ago10,289,815 views
Nightcore - Everytime We Touch by Arkadion of Toast 4 years ago9,052,316 views
Nightcore - Dam Dadi Do by jakobn123 6 years ago8,830,982 views
Nightcore Moonlight Shadow by Mertie1000 4 years ago8,311,071 views
[11:47:48] HKO2006: just searched nighcore in YouTube and picked the most viewed ones
[11:47:58] HKO2006: sort by viewcount
[11:52:03] HKO2006: so u think it really started to get big when it got paired with lol?not entirely but it does, see and compare the bottom chart
http://socialblade.com/youtube/user/nightcorereality
to the jump in late 2014
http://trends.google.com/trends/explore#q=nightcore
[11:55:50] HKO2006: do u know when it started to shift outside of just original style?another question I have no definate answer yet, but we can say it is even before angel of shotgun, according to the post on NU about the members do not appreciate nigthcore
http://nightcoreuniverse.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1316
literally the post on 06 Feb 2012 vs the video on Feb 15, 2012, which brought the first jump
[11:56:56] HKO2006: like when did pop, rock, hip hop etc nightcore start showing upyou can dig deep in user upload in NU (which even me didn't it yet so don't bother) and Nightcore General
[11:57:55] HKO2006: didn't itdidn't do it yet
[11:58:51] HKO2006: the current KYM is a half cut version of the original that contain much more ino
[11:58:53] HKO2006: info
[12:01:21] HKO2006: they got removed by mods for being too long, but info like the origin of the idea of Nightcore got removed too
[12:02:39] HKO2006: ya
[12:03:20] HKO2006: the ealiest edits http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nightcore/edits/page/19
[12:04:24] HKO2006: over 300 edits now, so dont bother
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nightcore/edits/
[12:06:19] HKO2006: I can restore the orignal version but the last time I didn't I got kicked from editors
so I will do it in a sneaky way, restore it, use waybackmachine to archive it then reverse to the current version, then you can view the original in the archive
[12:08:21] HKO2006: last time I did
[12:15:15] HKO2006: ok,
[12:17:55] HKO2006: the format can be a bit mess tho for being copy/paste mutiple times
[12:18:38] HKO2006: and will be a bit laggy for I embed so many youtube videos
[12:19:48] HKO2006: ctrl R now
[12:22:39] HKO2006: np, it is being archived now, I just hope I can fix the formatting and really remove the less relevant parts
[12:23:03] HKO2006: and move them to the nightcore wikia
[12:23:47] HKO2006: you read the BPM of all original Nightcore songs post on NU?
[12:24:23] HKO2006: the thread
http://www.nightcoreuniverse.net/viewto ... =17&t=4012
[12:25:05] HKO2006: so ya, it is around 170/175, for usually the trance songs are 140, x1.25=175
[12:25:19] HKO2006: ya
[12:26:39] HKO2006: the archives
http://web.archive.org/web/201508060421 ... /nightcore
and https://archive.is/A7kpf
[12:28:06] HKO2006: mostly 25 (maikel), some 20 (Svetlana89), few more like Question! Double Nightcore!
http://www.nightcoreuniverse.net/viewto ... 353#p26353
[12:29:30] HKO2006: ya that's the 'standard' but now songs got faster so need less % to achieve 170-175 BPM
[12:32:54] HKO2006: ya that's something I haven't done yet that I feel sry for another half (90% actually) of fans under the banners of 'nightcore'
[12:34:20] HKO2006: IMO they are all diffient things just happened to didn't have separated names like nightstep and share the name even now
[12:36:18] HKO2006: wrote a line but rather not press enter lol
[12:36:53] HKO2006: but ya they are not really a big part in the current scence
[12:37:53] HKO2006: idk, check they FB maybe?
[12:39:09] HKO2006: a sec
[12:39:25] HKO2006: edit back the kym lol
[12:40:00] HKO2006: done, so
[12:43:43] HKO2006: I like the beat, the synth melody, the lyrics
I feel some songs are rather slow so I sped them up so it sound more engerized, like the two in my profile in NU
[12:45:27] HKO2006: sure
[12:47:56] HKO2006: the two in profile
http://nightcoreuniverse.net/memberlist ... ile&u=4393
and the others favs
Nightcore - Find My Way To You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktN9Odp ... WW&index=1
Nightcore - Sending SOS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDsTvC1 ... WW&index=8
Nightcore - Walk Alone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czuKa5X ... W&index=35
Nightcore - Don't You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBQ0UrU ... W&index=20
[12:52:54] HKO2006: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... =522787742
see right hand side
[12:55:59] HKO2006: brb

And well if you google enough, you will find so much is going on about nightcore around the world, even a scam by a guy in Singapore claimed he to be the CEO of Nightcore and scam friends' money, google "nightcore ceo" should do but the article is in Chinese. So it is really not much we can do other than doing KYM, wikia, uploading/sharing songs.

Eg There is a thread of helping identifying nightcore songs in the Chinese nightcore Baidu Tieba (a forum platform) because there was a flood of new thread asking 'what is this song/where to download'. The reason why people don't know the songs is because they are reupload and/or used in LoL videos. And only a few out of few dozens of requests are nightcore, others are mostly NightcoreReality songs.

I youtube-mp3 for them anyways and tell them the songs are not nightcore, link them di.fm/nightcore and nightcore wiki in Chinese. But TBH I do ask myself from time to time, why I am even doing this, they ain't even nightcore fans.

For points being underresearched, like the wiki one, I think it is ok not to include 'there were multiple attempts to create a wiki page but they are all speed deleted for lack of notability'. <- whether Fan Fiction knows this does not matter, the fact is we don't have a wiki page and that's enough I think.

infodump
https://www.google.com.hk/search?q=%22N ... ghtcore%22
https://soundcloud.com/babeisland
https://soundcloud.com/tags/nxc

[rsslayersr]

I enjoy reading that transcript, gives a more fulfilling experience.

The KYM page has doen some great stuff, you should for sure archive the less abridged page and share it.

I must admit, it was still a nice piece of Fan Fiction, my need for complete statements does not make this unworthy of a read.

Now, if only we had some more pro-conservative nightcore articles to citate too!

[HKO2006]

more followups
http://nesthq.com/tag/nightcore

Interview: Ducky on nightcore | Dummy Mag
http://www.dummymag.com/features/ducky- ... -interview

Ducky: “Nightcore is the nicest scene I’ve ever participated in.”
Ducky professes her love for the hyper-fast genre that's driving L.A. wild.

Published: 23/03/16

Words by: Kristy Barker

Photo by: Quasar Media

AddThis Sharing Buttons5
Read an interview with rising DJ and producer Ducky, discussing her love for the hyper-fast nightcore genre.
Los Angeles’ very own Ducky is the leading lady in the nightcore scene right now. One of the most hyped new underground DJs and producers of recent times - she’s never not putting in work. As well as releasing a new track every week, Ducky is also a co-founder of the new label, Club Aerobics, along with Bianca Oblivion and Suspect Bitch.

Her exciting approach to production and her 160 bpm (and rising) sets have seen Ducky catch the attention of big names in the dance world such as Anna Lunoe, Skrillex, Mija and nightcore royalty, Fan Fiction. She has been hand picked to play parties such as the NEST HQ showcase at SXSW, Anna Lunoe’s recent Hyperhouse party, JACK LA, and this Wednesday she will play the Dummy Presents: Activia Benz party in Los Angeles alongside Slugabed, Sega Bodega and Jerry Paper.

Whilst Ducky has been playing shows non-stop and building her arsenal of supporters, we caught up with the hyperactive producer to find out more about the growing nightcore movement, her favourite 160 bpm tracks, and more.

How would you describe the nightcore scene as a whole to people who aren’t familiar with it?

Ducky: "Honestly it’s the nicest scene I’ve ever participated in. It’s just a bunch of genuinely nice and enthusiastic kids on the internet who like to make and hear fast music."

What makes a song nightcore in your opinion?

Ducky: "At this point nightcore generally refers to other people’s songs that have been sped up. some people add additional production, extra percussion, etc. but that’s the foundation. I think that it’s going to become a broader term and we’ll start seeing “original nightcore” as well - original productions inspired by the sound of nightcore in its current form."

How long have you been working with nightcore and how did you get into it?

Ducky: "I was introduced to nightcore maybe eight months ago by Fan Fiction, a leader of the scene and one of nightcore's biggest advocates. I grew up going to raves in San Francisco that had gabber, hardstyle or D&B rooms, so I’ve been immersed and interested in hard and fast music for a long time. I’d been playing 160bpm tracks in my sets for a few years, but in NYC I could basically only get away with it if it was juke or footwork. Moving to L.A., I found a more open space to experiment with the harder and faster music I had always wanted to play."

"I grew up going to raves in San Francisco that had gabber, hardstyle or D&B rooms, so I’ve been immersed and interested in hard and fast music for a long time." - Ducky

Who are your favourite nightcore artists?

Ducky: "Fan Fiction, YONEDA, and Sign Offline."

For people just getting into nightcore, who are three people they should follow on soundcloud for all the best reposts?

Ducky: "nxc island, NITE CORP., and FAN FICTION."

Your favourite 160 bpm tracks right now?

Banvox Summer (Getter remix)

Nahiba, Moti Turn Me Up (Ducky 160 edit)

Drezzo Bodies (Fan Fiction 160 edit)

Nightcore is super easy to find online, where is a good place to hear it IRL?

Ducky: "It’s not exactly easy to find IRL at the moment. If you want a guarantee that you’re going to hear nxc, you can catch one of my or Fan Fiction’s sets, you can hit the radio JACK/NONSTOPPOP parties if they come to your city, or you can definitely tune in to live streams URL. It’s starting to sneak into more and more DJ sets - Mija played a Sign Offline track at OWSLA’s SXSQ showcase last week."

I don’t think I've ever heard a set of pure nxc. I don’t do them myself. There are lots of fire 160+ bpm tracks that don’t fall under that category, why exclude those?"


Do you have a nightcore staple that you play in every set?

Ducky: "Moksi Blow Ya Mind (ducky 160 edit)."

You pump out a new Rave Tool every Friday! How long do they take to make?

Ducky: "I do! it kind of depends on the track… they’re rarely pure nxc’s, I’m generally making a more involved edit and chopping things up or sewing them together. Occasionally, I drop original productions as Rave Toolz when they fit the vibe. There’s no real plan or strategy, it’s just for fun - I often find myself making them the week of."


What’s one thing you want to see happen in the nightcore world or is there anything you'd like to change?

Ducky: "I’ve never thought of myself a leader of the scene so it feels a bit funny to answer this question. In my eyes the entire point is to have fun with fast music, so like… what could really be wrong? I’m just enjoying myself, digging for tracks that sound better at 160, and playing fun, hyper sets."

Do you feel like the whole nightcore movement is starting to crossover into a more general audience? Why?

Ducky: "It’s definitely getting there, especially in L.A.. Obviously support from more established artists has an effect. I think the strong core community helps as well - there’s a really solid, friendly scene and it’s very inviting. It helps that they’re generally pretty active on Twitter, so it’s visible. People also just seem to be more and more receptive to higher tempos. I’ve heard theories about how it mimics the speed of information, but it’s not something I’ve thought about in depth. I’m usually in my own world digging through Beatport, or producing, you know?"

Do you have a set planned for the Activia Benz party or will you just go with the flow?

Ducky: "No plan! I maintain a big playlist of my favorites that I update regularly, about 300 tracks at the moment, going from 100 to 216 bpm. Every three months I start a new one. I also keep some genre playlists on my usbs in case i end up in a situation that calls for like, all techno."

"Make good shit, release it regularly, don’t feel limited or defined by genres, be active on Soundcloud and Twitter, find small labels you like and send tracks to them without spamming them." Ducky

Do you have any advice to young producers trying to break into the scene?

Ducky: "Make good shit, release it regularly, don’t feel limited or defined by genres, be active on Soundcloud and Twitter, find small labels you like and send tracks to them without spamming them. Try to find a community of likeminded people to interact with and build each other up, but the music comes first."

Any last words or shout outs?

Ducky: "Keep an eye on Trekkie Trax for some new 160 originals from me next month."

Ducky plays Dummy Presents: Activia Benz upstairs at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles on March 23rd (free with RSVP).