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Psytrance Guide

psytranceguide.com

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Re: Psytrance Guide

#251

Post by kingrolo »

commotionfever wrote: post #129
duped wrote: 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…

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

These days in my experience most people don't use a sidechain signal, just chop out, or filter, enough of the first base note so that it doesn't clash with the kick. People still refer to it as "sidechain" just because historically that's what it was. Most popular plugin to achieve this is LFOTool but also Shaperbox is used now too which is nice as it lets you cut in frequency ranges in different amounts. Its all about making it gel with the kick. You want your bass to be powerful but in the modern sound you always want the kick to win.

Yes phase alignment is important too. There's always a sweet spot where it just sounds "right". Plus staring endlessly at an oscilloscope to check they aren't interfering. Then doing it for hours and hours and wondering at the end if it sounded better before you started mucking around with it actually but your ears are so tired of it you can't tell anymore.

This stuff is such a rabbit hole. Lots of fun though.

Re: Psytrance Guide

#252

Post by an_aparallel »

echelon_musk wrote: post #219
an_aparallel wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shulman is one of my favourites - i wish they still made music. Incredible incredible music - not just for psytrance, just in general. Also recommend Bluetech.

In Search of a Meaningful Moment will remain in my top 10. I always enjoyed this review from Discogs [0]: "Just turn off the lights, forget the TV and the computer, close the windows and listen to this album with max volume. Spend some time in a different world created by Shulman. You'll be amazed with the effect this album will have on you, trust me!" Wherever you are Yaniv, I hope you're well. [0] https://www.disco…

agreed - i installed a very very sizeable car audio system in my car years ago - and Shulman as the review states = an incredible sound world, and most probably missed by most - absolutely sublime in the low end...im talking with a 15 inch, 1500W sub powering the show....just jaw dropping augmentation of reality...without drugs :P

Re: Psytrance Guide

#253

Post by I_Am_Nous »

bravura wrote: post #104

I really enjoyed reading Ishkur's hyper-precise, super narrowly focused description of the trance genre, posted again yesterday ( https://music.ishkur.com/ ). I wanted to share it in to see how others react to it. genre: Trance also: Trance scene: Trance emergence: early 90s Trance is the second most misattributed genre in all of electronic music (after Techno). If I asked you to give me a list of the best Trance DJs…

Electronic music is difficult to talk about in general, because anything from the synths used to the BPM becomes a differentiator. Did they sample Amen? Automatically it's Drum and Bass. Does it have a 303? Sweet that means its Acid. Slowed down sample? Vaporwave.

With that mindset it's easy to see how people making music these days mix and match based on what they want to create, which in turn causes reviewers to try to point out all the different genres mashed together in a single/album.

Music has a discernible taxonomy, but since it's a universal language of sorts it's easy to get into confusing positions, not unlike the same word meaning something different between two different languages. So while someone might have "true" historic ties to the original Trance genre, is that a requirement for the music they make to be truly considered Trance? Or does it forever gain the lesser label of "Trance-like"?

In a similar vein, if there is a particular musical technique which is somewhat "required" for a track to be in a certain genre does music that skips that technique sometimes get classified as a different genre? Something like Polka has very particular tempo/beat/bassline - how many of those variables can be changed before it's not Polka anymore?

I can understand how these classifications can be handy (especially BPM sorting as someone said it really helps DJs build a set within a few BPM) but the best I can usually do is compare music to something else I know to consider how they are similar and how they differ. I don't usually hear something and immediately consider which genre that sound effect/technique places that track in, so I guess I'm more put off by the rigidity of Ishkur on the topic than anything. Music is fluid and genres are fluid too, and while there are parallels between evolution, DNA, and musical lineage, it isn't nearly as defined as genetics.

When does a genre "evolve" into another distinct genre?

Re: Psytrance Guide

#254

Post by sharadov »

jesperlang wrote: post #99

I was a psytrance DJ through much of the 00s and what a wonderful and diverse genre this is :) It takes some time getting used to though. My first listening experience I basically denounced it as "too hard" and noisy but my general love for electronic music made me keep listening and all of a sudden I was hooked. I listened to and played mostly goa-trance due to its very melodic nature, it really has something unique…

I agree about full on, that killed it for me in the parties that I was going to in 2004/2005.

I loves the melodic old school goa psytrance, but all everyone seemed to want was that.

Re: Psytrance Guide

#255

Post by cambaceres »

drsnow wrote: post #124
duped wrote: 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…

Bro what the fuck does literally any of that shit mean lol

I knew this was gonna get downvoted and I always do the same for these kind of posts. In this one however, I think the poster put words on a sensation shared by most of us who read the brilliant parent

Re: Psytrance Guide

#256

Post by blackhaz »

joloooo wrote: post #249
blackhaz wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fully agree, and hello from another dad here. There's no more stuff like Paps, Mumbo Jumbo, Double Dragon, Reefer Decree, Ticon, etc, and even the legendary Son Kite and Beat Bizzarre are not the same they've used to be in the heydays of the genre. I think the apogee was in the early 2000s, the early releases of Iboga Records. I've switched to the [dub] techno scene a few years ago, and it looks like there's much mor…

Thanks for all the new recs! Loving what I've heard so far. Ntogn is a vibe

Glad you've liked it! Check out Planetary Assault Systems, Forward Strategy Group, Silent Servant, Xhin, Aes Dana, Function, Cio d'Or. Lots and lots of modern, interesting music! Oh, and how could I have forgotten Rambadu?

Re: Psytrance Guide

#257

Post by lwn »

pseudonamed wrote: post #242
harel wrote: post #229

I'm mostly surprised that a post about psytrance gets over 400 upvotes on HN. I'm a former (goa/psy) trance producer (in another life and century), and recently coming back to the world of producing. Maybe I'm stuck in the 90s, but it still feels to me like that "underground" sound we dance in the forest or desert to. But nope - 400+ upvotes on HN means it's a lot less underground than it is in my head, and even thou…

I’m an engineer who has enjoyed psytrance since the 90's and I’ve sometimes wondered how the two relate, if at all. In some aspects psytrance could be better described as sculpture in motion rather than music. The process of making it also feels more like sculpture than the live, in the moment creation of music on an instrument. Regarding the two, I visualise psytrance as form, motion, colour, etc., with a lot of slo…

To me, coding and making electronic music in the nineties were very similar. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_tracker]

Re: Psytrance Guide

#260

Post by kiviuq »

freeqaz wrote: post #132
commotionfever wrote: post #129

Earlier 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?

https://youtu.be/jQWfzlg9x_4?t=598
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