I miss ektoplazm...
Psytrance Guide
181–190 of 291 posts
Re: Psytrance Guide
#182Having 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.
Happens probably to anyone loving a genre for an extended amount of time. Trance, Drum & Bass, Psytrance, you hear that sentiment everywhere.
I really wonder if this is
1) Nostalgia.Obviously, the first tracks you heard were your introduction to the genre, so they will have emotional value.
2) First-mover advantage, for the lack of a better word. Obviously you perceive every new track t_i in the context of t_{0..i-1} that you already know. Maybe track t_443, which sounds cheap and commercial now, would have sounded innovative if you heard it as t_33?
3) Genre saturation. How many truly new tracks can be done in psytrance (or any other specific genre) while still being psytrance, before every track sounds like one that was done before? I don't envy the poor souls trying to express individuality in established, specialized genres.
I also wonder whether we could use deep learning to learn representations unbiased by our own history with the genres, and analyze this in a more unbiased way. But I'm also sure you can make the model say whatever you want if you bend the data the right way :)
Re: Psytrance Guide
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
regarding the pumping, I'm not sure if sidechain compression is what most producers are doing. I'd describe it as a gallop rather than a bump. so with 16ths, you'd typically see 1/16 & 2/16 have zero to little amplitude, 3/16 & 4/16 have most of the energy. 4 maybe even a little less so. which can't be done by sidechaining. also phase alignment with the kick is important
Are there any resources out there that you would recommend to learn about this stuff?
Underdog Music School on Youtube is fantastic. Also check out Polarity Music, Andrew Huang, AlexReidStudios, and TachesTeaches.
Re: Psytrance Guide
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
Definitely, but I can still joke about how I didn't understand anything from a comment on something I have no experience with.
It's called (I think) sound design. Changing parameters of a sound wave like filters, resonance, envelope, cutoff, etc, you can achieve desired sounds (you can do that using a real synthesizer or a virtual one). In this case they're explaining how to make a bass sound (which is in the lower frequency of the spectrum)
[deleted]
Re: Psytrance Guide
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is what we're here for.
Definitely, but I can still joke about how I didn't understand anything from a comment on something I have no experience with.
I am an absolute peon relative to most commenters on HN. Perusing this site feeds both my curiosity and my feelings of inadequacy. But this is one of those rare moments when I actually fully understand what the parent comment is describing. I don’t even produce music myself… I’m more of a fanboy, if anything.
Re: Psytrance Guide
#186Something 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…
regarding the pumping, I'm not sure if sidechain compression is what most producers are doing. I'd describe it as a gallop rather than a bump. so with 16ths, you'd typically see 1/16 & 2/16 have zero to little amplitude, 3/16 & 4/16 have most of the energy. 4 maybe even a little less so. which can't be done by sidechaining. also phase alignment with the kick is important
There’s a few ways to skin a cat. The more I research, the less popular side-chaining seems in general. What’s more common is side-chaining with ghost notes or manually ducking by drawing envelopes in automation lanes.
Re: Psytrance Guide
#187Something 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…
Have any examples in mind of the “really good tracks?”
Re: Psytrance Guide
#188This very, very cool and comprehensive!
Notably missing influential artists: GMS, 1200 Micrograms, Shpongle, Infected Mushroom, Captain Hook, Ott… I probably forgot quite a few
Re: Psytrance Guide
#189Something 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…
Can you please give an example?
Re: Psytrance Guide
#190Why is there a sudden interest in psytrance right now? Is it because of terror attack on the music festival in Israel?
Trance in general is on its way back. Even Tiesto just put a trance track out again.