| Psychedelic trance | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1990s,[1]Goa (India)[3] and Europe[4] |
| Derivative forms | Psybient |
| Subgenres | |
| |
| Fusion genres | |
| |
Psychedelic trance,psytrance, orpsy is a subgenre oftrance music characterized by arrangements ofrhythms and layeredmelodies created by high temporiffs.[2][5] The genre offers variety in terms of mood, tempo, and style. Some examples include full on,darkpsy, forest, minimal (Zenonesque), hitech psy, progressive,suomi, psy-chill, psycore (fusion of psychedelic trance andhardcore), psybient (fusion of psychedelic trance and ambient), psybreaks, or "adapted" tracks from other music genres.Goa trance preceded psytrance; when digital media became more commonly used, psytrance evolved. Goa continues to develop alongside the other genres.[2]
The firsthippies who arrived inGoa,India (a former Portuguese colony)[6] in the mid-1960s were drawn there for many reasons, including the beaches, the low cost of living, the friendly locals, the Indian religious and spiritual practices and the readily available Indian cannabis, which, until the mid-1970s, was legal.[7] During the 1970s, the first Goa DJs were generally playingpsychedelic rock bands such as theGrateful Dead,Pink Floyd andThe Doors. In 1979, the beginnings ofelectronic dance music could occasionally be heard in Goa in the form of tracks by artists such asKraftwerk, but it was not until 1983 that DJs Laurent and Fred Disko, closely followed byGoa Gil, began switching the Goa style over toelectro-industrial/EBM which was now flooding out of Europe from artists such asFront 242 andNitzer Ebb as well asEurobeat.[8][9]
The tracks were remixed, removing the lyrics, looping the melodies and beats and generally manipulating the sounds in all manner of ways before the tracks were finally presented to the dancers as custom Goa-style mixes.[10]
By 1990–91, Goa was beginning to attract attention and had become a popular destination for partying. As the scene grew bigger, Goa-style parties spread like a diaspora all over the world from 1993. Parties like Pangaea andMegatripolis in the UK helped spawn a multitude of labels in various countries (U.K., Australia, Japan, Germany and Israel) to promote psychedelic electronic music that reflected the ethos of Goa parties, Goa music, and Goa-specific artists, producers, and DJs.[11] Goa Trance as a commercial scene began gaining global traction in 1994. The golden age of the first wave of Goa psy trance as a generally agreed upon genre[according to whom?] was between 1994 and 1997.
By 1992, the Goa trance scene had established an independent dynamic, though the term "Goa trance" did not become the characterization of the genre until around 1994.[12] The Goa trance sound, which, by the late 1990s, was being used interchangeably with the term psychedelic trance, retained its popularity at outdoorraves and festivals,[citation needed] but also permanent psytrance nightclubs emerged such asNatraj Temple in Munich.[4] New artists were appearing from all over the world and it was in this year that the first Goa trance festivals began, including the Gaia Festival in France and the still-running VooV festival in Germany.
In 1993, the first Goa trance album was released,Project II Trance, featuring tracks byMan With No Name andHallucinogen, to name two. Goa trance enjoyed its commercial peak between 1996 and 1997 with media attention and some recognized names in the DJ scene joining the movement. This hype did not last long and once the attention had died down, so did the music sales, resulting in the failure of record labels, promotion networks and also some artists. This "commercial death of Goa trance" was marked musically by Matsuri Productions in 1997 with the release of the compilationLet it RIP. On the back sleeve of the album at the bottom of the notes, “R.I.P : Mother Theresa, Princess Diana, William Burroughs & Goa Trance” was written.
While the psytrance genre began in the Goa trance scene, it went on to proliferate globally.[13] Its impact was felt in western Europe, Middle East, North America, Australia, Japan and South Africa.[13] Psytrance is linked to other music genres such asbig beat,electroclash,grime and2-step.[14] The genre evolved in conjunction with the multimedia psychedelic arts scene.[13]
Psychedelic trance has a distinctive, energetic sound that tends to be faster than other forms of trance or techno music with tempos generally ranging from 125 to 150 BPM. It uses a very distinctivebass beat that pounds constantly throughout the song and overlays the bass with varying rhythms drawn fromfunk,techno,dance,acid house,eurodance andtrance using drums and other instruments. The different leads, rhythms and beats generally change every eightbars.[15] Layering is used to create effect in psychedelic trance, with new musical ideas being added at regular intervals, often every four to eight bars. New layers will continue to be added until a climax is reached, and then the song will break down and start a new rhythmic pattern over the constant bass line. Psychedelic trance tracks tend to be six to ten minutes long. This includes a developed and atmospheric introduction, and a breakdown in the middle of the track of around 30 seconds to over a minute.[16]
Dark psytrance (also known as dark psychedelic trance, dark psy, darkpsy or dark trance) is the heavier end of the psychedelic trance spectrum with tempos starting from around 150bpm,[17] but may often go faster. Characterized by having obscure, deep, and moreeschatological background that leads into profound meditation of death, night, and transcendence, often with dismal sounds and heavy basslines. The subgenre often sampleshorror films in contrast to the science fiction film samples more regularly used in "normal" psytrance. Dark psytrance emerged as a recognizable genre after 2003 inGermany andRussia,[2][17] with Brazilian, German and Russian artists dominating the scene.[18] The German artist Xenomorph (Mark Petrick) is credited as an artist who first brought dark occult aesthetic into psytrance, with his albumCassandra's Nightmare released in 1998 being a major influence on the subgenre; X-Dream'sRadio is another 1998 album cited as an early influence.[18]
Full-on is a psychedelic trance style which has high energy for peak moments, often having melodic, energetic, and crisp basslines with a fast tempo (usually 140–148 bpm). There are some related styles that are derived from this style and are distinguished as different varieties of Full-On: twilight and night full-on (or dark full-on), having bolder and lower notes in their basslines, morning (light and kind of happy), and uplifting.[19] Artists working in the genre includeAjja, Burn in Noise, Dickster,Tristan and mitanef.[2]
Suomisaundi (English:Finnish sound) is a variety originating in Finland during the mid-1990s.
Psybient, also known aspsychedelic ambient orambient psy, is a genre of electronic music that contains elements ofambient,downtempo, psychedelic trance,dub,world music,new wave,ethereal wave, andIDM.[20] The genre is also known for different alternative names used in different time periods. The earliest developments of the genre withinambient house andchill-out music scenes were known aspsychill,psychedelic chillout,psy chillout, the later works withingoa trance and psychedelic trance scenes are known asambient psytrance orambient goa. The dub derived developments are known aspsydub andpsystep.
Psybient pieces are structured to generate vast soundscapes or a "musical journey". Like psytrance, it emphasizes ongoing rhythm, but due to its ambient and atmospheric sections, it focuses less on beatmatching and allows for a myriad of tempo changes.[20]
In general, large psytrance festivals are culturally and musically diverse.[13]
Earthdance, the world's largest synchronized music and dance festival for peace, arose from the psychedelic trance culture.[13]
At the 2004Glastonbury Festival in the United Kingdom, psytrance was given an entire day on theGlade stage.[21]
The Alien Safari, Vortex, and Synergy festivals are just a few of South Africa's many recurring and long-running psytrance festivals.[22]
Rainbow Serpent Festival, Strawberry Fields, and Earthcore (now discontinued) are just a few of Australia's long-running psytrance festivals, dubbed "doofs".[23][24]
TheBoom Festival in Portugal began as a psytrance festival but has since expanded to includeworld music. It is held in summer every other year and combines social activism with cultural and spiritual elements.[25]
TheOzora Festival in Hungary is an arts-focused event that emphasizes connecting with nature and oneself. Psytrance is still very popular at this festival.[26]
In 2007, research was conducted on the global psytrance scene. 600 people from 40 countries provided detailed information via an online questionnaire.[27] The results were published as "Beyond Subculture and Post-subculture? The Case of Virtual Psytrance" in theJournal of Youth Studies.[28]
In 2012, Graham St. John publishedGlobal Tribe: Technology, Spirituality and Psytrance, Equinox. (ISBN 9781845539559).
Connecting three generations of music enthusiasts, Goa Gil is an imposing figure in the world of psychedelic trance.
Psy-trance is an 'equal opportunity' genre when it comes to making the music too: there are leading exponents of psychedelic trance operating in Israel, Australia, Sweden, Greece, Denmark.
