The Strange Science of Breakcore

Breakcore appears to be antithetical to music as being any sort of science. But all music, no matter how it is dissed or dismissed, comes "From the broad scope of musical culture [which] has arisen the science of music, which studies and evaluates the manifestations of man's music, especially the media of musical expression" (Cselenyi). If this is the case, all music made is a manifestation of the science of music. All genres can be studied with a great deal of depth, all musical genres can be equally studied, and this, of course, includes the genre of breakcore. But if breakcore is a part of the musical sciences, what sort of science does breakcore fall under?

What music falls under the genre of breakcore? Breakcore is an electronic music genre but not an electronic dance music genre: it is characterized by its calm leads and hyper-chaotic drums. Breakcore can be framed as embodying the yin and yang, necessary opposites that come together and form one thing. Opposites are often framed as conflicting with one another, but high is not in conflict with low; to have something high, there needs to be a low, and vice versa.

The same goes with breakcore, the contrasting conflicting opposites of calm leads and chaotic drums are not against one another but come together to form an unorthodox harmony. But the drums in breakcore aren't just typically chaotic but inhumanly so; breakcore must use artificially fast drumming only offered by music-making software, yet breakcore can play or sample from human leads as long as they are calm. In this sense, breakcore also embodies the yin and yang as people usually put man up against machines, but breakcore shows a harmony between the two. Without the human, without the machine together, breakcore could not be made.

Who are the humans making breakcore? Within the niche of breakcore, there are artists of note. However, given the nook that breakcore belongs in, breakcore artists are not massively known; famous breakcore artists are known-unknowns, especially since breakcore artists always use an alias. Artists such as usedcvnt, 68+1, hkmori, and Izar have songs with millions of plays while also providing the best example of breakcore music. Yet, who are these artists? They are not known in the way that we just know the difference between high and low. To know breakcore, one must experience breakcore, in the same way a mountain climber truly knows what high and low mean.

Breakcore is not a genre that can be measured mathematically. Pythagoras thought that music could only be of high quality if said music followed mathematical ratios. But breakcore does anything but follow mathematical ratios, especially in its drumming. Instead, breakcore is a non-objective but a subjective science. How is science then being defined here? A science is any formal study of something. Even breakcore, a relatively obscure internet genre, can be formally studied in a manner akin to jazz or baroque music. And breakcore, from its use of joint necessary opposites, commonly subjectively draws out the feeling of dissociation.

Breakcore cover art on releases by (clockwise from top left) 68+1, usedcvnt, 4evrx, and nacho

A good deal of popular YouTube mixes have the words "dissociate" or "dissociation" in the title. The track title of any breakcore song is either seemingly nonsense or depressive. We can use "cyberia lyr1" by sewerslvt as an example of a seeming nonsense title. Which is the artist, and which is the track title? In terms of depressive titles, we can use as an example arguably the most famous breakcore track: hkmori's "anybody can find love (except you)." I highlight the absurd and depressive titles as both absurdity and depression are regularly accompanied by dissociation.

"Depression and PTSS also show significant direct relationships with dissociation" (Černis et al.) and "As we dig past the surface of dissociation, there is an absurdity" (O'Connell). Furthermore, "We can observe the absurdity of the dissociation" (Bal et al.), that sense in which we are both present and distant. With this connection between breakcore and dissociation, we can see breakcore is far more interpersonal than any mathematical science. Instead, breakcore is an expression of the sciences, phenomenology, and psychology.

In simplest terms, phenomenology is the science of what can be known through conscious experience. As is the case with all music, I can use all the words in the world to describe a song, but the words will never match the experience of listening to a song. No matter what descriptors I use to explain breakcore, it can only be fully understood as a phenomenological experience. Breakcore can also induce the phenomenon of dissociation, and so, in some sense, is the phenomenological experience of sonic dissociation.

Here also, we can see the clear linkage between phenomenology and psychology. Breakcore expresses the experience of psychological duality. The very science of music as simply a formal study of music connects to formal sciences such as phenomenology and psychology. In this sense, music can never be separated from science, especially the sciences of math, phenomenology, and psychology, even if a given music acts in rebellion against science. While breakcore appears antithetical to the science of music, it may be the most scientific of all musical genres.