"It's in 5/4 time at 212 bpm with super crunched out sounds": Producers respond with real tracks following viral tweet about made-up genre discovered in dream

matmos
(Image credit: Press/Matmos)

The online music production community has united in an effort to collectively invent a new genre: hit em. 

Drew Daniel of experimental electronic duo Matmos set things in motion earlier this week when he tweeted: "had a dream I was at a rave talking to a girl and she told me about a genre called 'hit em' that is in 5/4 time at 212 bpm with super crunched out sounds thank you dream girl". 

After Daniel's post went unexpectedly viral, racking up over 10,000 likes, the inevitable occurred, and producers began responding with their own hit em tracks - and boy, are they something. Interpretations of Daniel's dreamed-up genre range from inspired to unlistenable, and the combination of a blisteringly fast tempo and an uneven time signature certainly makes for a 'unique' listening experience. 

We're big fans of both @janeplne's heavily Auto-Tuned take on the concept and @smthingspirtual's slightly surreal contribution, but the crown probably has to go to bass music producer Eprom, who imagines hit em as an odd-metered spin-off of breakcore, with devastating results.

Daniel was overjoyed with the response to his original post, writing: "Whoah! I am amazed at the response to this tweet- and it has been a literal 'dream come true' to hear people actually creating 'hit em' tracks (I have started tinkering on some too). Shout out to the mystery girl who started it all. Keep it locked at 5/4 and 212 bpm!"

Producers reading this, you know what to do: get to work. 

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Matt Mullen
Tech Editor

I'm MusicRadar's Tech Editor, working across everything from product news and gear-focused features to artist interviews and tech tutorials. I love electronic music and I'm perpetually fascinated by the tools we use to make it. When I'm not behind my laptop keyboard, you'll probably find me behind a MIDI keyboard, carefully crafting the beginnings of another project that I'll ultimately abandon to the creative graveyard that is my overstuffed hard drive.