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Psytrance Guide

psytranceguide.com

151–160 of 291 posts

Re: Psytrance Guide

#151
post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stopped listening around the time of Infected Mushroom's Vicious Delicious . The genre seemed to jump the shark around that time. Looking back Goa Trance was the real trance and by 2000 it was already starting to go down the shitter.

Whilst I do like a lot of Infected Mushroom's stuff I've always seen them as the cheesy, commercial, "like it ironically" side of psy-trance. I don't consider them truly representative of psy-trance, at least the eurocentric versions I listen to. Although I do like the variety that has developed, especially when there's multi-room club and it's possible to walk around and find whatever fits your current mood and ener…

They have a really wide range. I don’t listen to the vocal heavy “recent” stuff but they have very good songs and in particular very well orchestrated albums where you barely notice the track changes.

My favorites to put on while focus working are Classical Mushroom and Outdoor Party Vol 3. The latter can be hard to find for some reason but imo is their best.

Re: Psytrance Guide

#152
post #72

Something not said explicitly but to me, is the characteristic sound of psy-x is the synth bass line. It's a very simple sound that you can make in any subtractive synth - you start with a single saw, add a lowpass filter, and instead of using the amplitude envelope to control the dynamics or "pluck" of the sound you modulate the cutoff of the filter by an envelope with a very short attack, quick decay, and low or ze…

Ah yes, of course.

This is what we're here for.

Re: Psytrance Guide

#154
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because DJs don’t want to change the tempo of what they play by too much until it sounds wrong, and most electronic music is produced to be played at clubs And because the dance styles that match ranges of bpm are so different, audiences find ranges they prefer. Try dancing to 125bpm old berghain tracks and compare with how you’re able to move your body in sync with 155bpm hard groove. It’s a completely different exp…

Some of my favorite dancefloor moments have been hearing a track I love played at a wildly different BPM than I'm used to hearing (whether it's playing a 33 as a 45/vice versa, or using a CDJ to really stretch the tempo). The way the vibe of a track can change completely, and shift your perspective of a piece of music, is always super cool to me. I caught Rhadoo a few years back and he spent two hours playing this da…

What you describe is the defining element of FreeTek. A lot of the tracks I danced to in the 90s were 33 played at 45.

Re: Psytrance Guide

#155
post #72

Something not said explicitly but to me, is the characteristic sound of psy-x is the synth bass line. It's a very simple sound that you can make in any subtractive synth - you start with a single saw, add a lowpass filter, and instead of using the amplitude envelope to control the dynamics or "pluck" of the sound you modulate the cutoff of the filter by an envelope with a very short attack, quick decay, and low or ze…

2am? More like 6:30am

Re: Psytrance Guide

#156

As other people have said, it's a shame that so much of psytrance relegates itself to being "electronic dance music", playing off the same clichés and subdividing itself so much such that the most minute production details are catalogued. While you could reasonably say that about any electronic genre, Psytrance really ups the level of having any given median track sounding indistinguishable. Yeah, the sound design ex…

> playing off the same clichés and subdividing itself so much such that the most minute production details are catalogued

Agreed. It’s unnecessary and in my experience the music creators themselves dislike it. It’s largely the hobby of stamp collector and trivia-oriented minds who are inhibited in enjoying the music itself. That said, the terminology can be useful for liberal associative descriptions. But humans love strict hierarchical taxonomies, stuffing artists into single buckets.

Re: Psytrance Guide

#157
post #144

Having grown up with psytrance, I find that 25 years later the modern stuff just sounds like a cheap, low-effort pastiche of what psytrance used to be. And... I just became my Dad.

I'm a new-comer to the genres, myself, despite my age. For some reason the D&B/trances/technos scene never clicked with me back in my metal days, but it fills a gap that needed filling in my life now. That said, there's plenty of great modern artists, too...however, some amazing stuff was happening back in the day that I missed out on, and it is a treat to discover that now.

Simon Posford enters the chat

Re: Psytrance Guide

#158

Dimension 5, read the reviews, https://www.discogs.com/release/145286-Dimension-5-Transdime... eg: Wotzenknecht 1 Dec 2009 "An old classic, fortunately repressed thanks to Suntrip Records. What defines a classic goa record ? 1) Simplicity over complexity Take that, new-schoolers. Hear how simple the dreamy and uplifting "Deep Space 5D" is. Learn how to use space and time instead of adding huge layers of ultra-complex…

Transdimensional is the best album ever made

Re: Psytrance Guide

#159
post #39
post #11

I’ve enjoyed listening to psychedelic electronic music while programming since discovering Shpongle twenty years ago. I feel like it helps my brain get into the right mode somehow. I’m not familiar with the definitions of a lot of these sub-taxonomies but interested in listening to them! I have a coding playlist I’ve put together over the years that is more towards the psybient/chillout end but includes some trance a…

Try Hallucinogen’s In Dub, and In Dub Live. I once saw Simon in a massive rave as Hallucinogen from 4am to 8am and Shpongle from 12pm to 3pm. Those Gamma Goblins still travel trough my spine.

A true connoisseur!

Re: Psytrance Guide

#160
post #73

Interesting that this is on the front page of HN today. Tensions are running high in the psytrance subreddit this week. Psytrance is very popular among Israeli settlers, perhaps because many visit Goa after completing their military service.

The festival in Israel where 250 people were murdered by Palestinians while they were dancing in peace was a Psy Trance festival. One of the greatest Psy Trance bands of all time, Astral Projection, was supposed to play at the festival. You're right that tensions are running high. This was an absolute pogrom on a peace loving community that many people (including myself) have been a part of for 40+ years. Suggesting…

A survivor of this attack claims that IDF open-fired on the hostages https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-t...
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