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Psytrance Guide

465 points by turrini 7y ago

gastlee_za 7y ago
This isn't the first ever psytrance styles guide. I recall seeing one on psynews.org many years ago that actually appeared more comprehensive than this one.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  > This isn't the first ever psytrance styles guide. So what? What a silly put-down.
  - gastlee_za 7y ago
    was not intended to be a put down, but I could have probably added more to my comment
arnaudsm 7y ago
This is a great introduction nicely designed ! Do similar websites exist for other genres?
- targonca 7y ago
  Ishkur's guide to electronic music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishkur's_Guide_to_Electronic_Music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishkur's_Guide_to_Electronic_M...
  - al2o3cr 7y ago
    FWIW, sounds like there's a big update to Ishkur's guide about to drop - the Twitter account has been counting down for the last month (it's at 1 now)...
    - rickyduck 7y ago
      FWIW - http://everynoise.com/everynoise1d.cgi?scope=all http://everynoise.com/everynoise1d.cgi?scope=all
pixelpoet 7y ago
> Ultimae Records Panoramic greetings! (kind of an in-joke if you follow their newsletter last few years) To psychill I would like to add, definitely listen to Easily Embarrassed's "Idyllic Life" album, it's absolutely brilliant: https://easilyembarrassed.bandcamp.com/album/idyllic-life https://easilyembarrassed.bandcamp.com/album/idyllic-life Edit: while I welcome this particular bit of content, I'm surprised to find it on HN; seems a bit offtopic, no?
- TomMarius 7y ago
  Music for programming is a pretty frequent item of discussion IMHO
- xtiansimon 7y ago
  Celebrity Death Match Judge, Mills Lane: “I’ll Allow it.”
- 1_player 7y ago
  Great recommendation, love it already. And I'll share my "modern" full-on artist: Talpa. His sets on Soundcloud are great.
emptyfile 7y ago
Pretty nice and comprehensive guide. Ever since I've first seen Ishkur's guide as a kid I've wanted one for all genres of music, it always seem like the coolest thing. Also this guide reminded me that James Reipas exists, thank you.
confact 7y ago
Really like this. Found like 5 new songs in different genere I like
NKosmatos 7y ago
Very nice guide, especially for all of us in our mid forties that liked and listened (still listening?) to all these styles when they were actually being created!!! Recently there was a HN post about a similar site http://everynoise.com/ http://everynoise.com/ but for all music genres
- TorKlingberg 7y ago
  Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music is also a classic: http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ It covers up to the '00s, so earlier than the OP. Fittingly, it's all in Flash.
- tannhaeuser 7y ago
  Mid forties? I used to go to acid house clubs in 1988/9 (I think) and to Goa parties around 1992-4. I was surprised it's still a thing in 2019 apparently when I noticed a poster for an event in rural north/east Germany very similar to the flyers I knew from the early/mid '90s. Though I have to agree with what others said: the taxonomy doesn't look representative of what was actually played, at all. For example, there was a label in my home town (Spirit Zone, with upbeat/dirty and sometimes dark Goa sound) not being mentioned, nor is the 1990's Dub scene, though another genre is described as originating from Hamburg I've never heard of. Also, I think the Berlin scene really ought to be mentioned, not only the legendary 90s tresor and e-werk clubs, but also the mid-90s ambient and drum+bass scene which had strong influence on what today is called psytrance I guess. Some of the better-known artists (live musicians more than DJs) are still in business as techno grandaddies eg https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9v-dRr2T6us https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9v-dRr2T6us .
- munificent 7y ago
  More trance than psytrance, but I recently stumbled onto Above and Beyond and their Anjunabeats label. I had no idea people were still making trance that feels like a continuation of the stuff I listened to in the late 90s. It's great!
  - scarejunba 7y ago
SuddsMcDuff 7y ago
This is great! I now know that "minimal psy" is the name of the genre I like to listen to whilst coding. I'd love to see something similar for the various sub-genres of drum & bass. 'Psybreaks' really reminds me of the soundtrack to the original Wipeout game, written by Cold Storage (http://www.coldstorage.org.uk/ http://www.coldstorage.org.uk/).
- rickyduck 7y ago
  With D&B being my main love, I might focus some time on this. In the mean time, if you want to know the subgenre of a track, or some tracks in a subgenre, let me know :)
  - SuddsMcDuff 7y ago
    I really love Calyx, and I have some old moving shadow mix cd's (eg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkyRsbTXNuE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkyRsbTXNuE). Which sub-genre would you call this? And do you have any more recent recommendations along these lines?
- benj111 7y ago
  Depending on where you are, the sound track may well have included some Orbital, Leftfield and Chemical Brothers also, it was stripped out for the North American release though. There was also an album of the music released.
  - SuddsMcDuff 7y ago
    IIRC only the Playstation version had licensed music from those artists. Other versions (such as the Saturn version that I owned) had tracks written exclusively by Cold Storage.
    - hajhatten 7y ago
      PC version also had a coldstorage soundtrack
weavie 7y ago
Wow. I'm old enough to remember when it was just goa trance. And then towards the end of the 90's the kicks became more pronounced and the melodies were dropped in favour of more psychedelic soundscapes. From that it seemed the genre split into daytime trance that was brighter and more uplifting and nighttime that was darker and more psychedelic. As a dj, people would grumble at you if you played daytime trance at night, or vice versa! Even then most psytrance was played at a more sane Bpm < 145. And then I think the Russians came in around 2006. Artists like Kindzadza pushed the Bpm up to 150+ and it all went crazy. It seems artists started to compete with eachother to write the craziest tracks, and rather than reaching for more psychedelia, they just made the track faster. I'm almost a bit sad to see that the guide lists Forest as 150+ bpm. It was much more psychedelic at 145 (imho). That was kind of when I dropped out of the scene, its quite crazy to look back and see how categorized it has become. Im going to have to have a browse.. For more, there is a ton of psytrance available to download for free on https://ektoplazm.com/ https://ektoplazm.com/.
- Fnoord 7y ago
  I find it painful to see my favourite all-time genre of music, goatrance, getting more and more obscure and snowed under the abundance of time and psytrance. I can relate to oldschool house, trance, and techno lovers alike. Consider the introduction in this article to goatrance, at the very bottom of the website after all kind of psytrance subgenres. Roland TB-303? Not mentioned. The archetype synthesizer of acid and goa trance. Acid? Not mentioned. A genre related and inspirational to goa trance. Same with trance, and techno. SH-101? Not mentioned. Frequently used synthesizer in trance, including goa. 4-4-4-4-1 bass-line? Not mentioned. Its the bass-line which is typically found in goa trance. Some tracks by Miranda even have a slightly different bass tone on every bass hit which creates a kind of 3D effect in the bass (it feels like salsa to me). Etnica? Not mentioned. Huge name (with sub projects like Crop Circles and Pleiadians) in the 90s. For me, a band like Juno Reactor is much more according to the psychedelic values than the conventional psytrance. Also, goa trance wasn't formed in Goa in the 80s. It was the very end of the 80s, but more the early 90s (91-93). It was normal to combine all kind of genres back then (trance, techno, house, etc). Consider, for example, the legendary Paul Oakenfold - Goa Mix from 1994. Or this very mix which combines different genres in one [1] (though it includes acid, not goa trance). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkzvUEbf1DY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkzvUEbf1DY
foobar_ 7y ago
Where is psydub ?
- Fnoord 7y ago
  I suppose there is some overlap with psyambient and psychill. There was a time when not every genre had psy before it. If you like that genre, I can recommend Ott's Hallucinogen In Dub remixes and his album Skylon [1]. I also like some specific tracks of Easily Embarrased and Koan but not sure which genre it falls under. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ott_(record_producer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ott_(record_producer)
  - weavie 7y ago
    As you mentioned Etnica in another post, Etnica in Dub is also highly recommended : https://etnica.bandcamp.com/album/etnica-in-dub https://etnica.bandcamp.com/album/etnica-in-dub
  - grinchygrinch 7y ago
    Another recommendation - my all-time favorite psydub EP: https://beatspace-parvati.bandcamp.com/album/parvati-in-dub-by-vlastur-v-a-parvati-records-prvep11 https://beatspace-parvati.bandcamp.com/album/parvati-in-dub-...
  - emptyfile 7y ago
    I don't agree really, psydub is quite distinct. Though it is a rather small genre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZlG2y74CQE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZlG2y74CQE
  - dejawu 7y ago
    Good God, Ott is by far my favorite artist with not even a distant second. I've been hunting for other artists/tracks for the last few months to fill the void til his new album comes out but have only come up disappointed and empty handed. Nobody else seems to be able to be so varied and inventive with each track yet always deliver a compelling and engaging sound and melody so reliably. Anyone have more recommendations?
JerwuQu 7y ago
I love the fact that there are a couple of inline music samples for each so you don't have to go look them up yourself or follow a link for each. I'd very much like to see something similar for all the hardcore techno sub-genres as well.
listentojohan 7y ago
My first though was Ishkur's guide to electronic music as mentioned in another comment, and which hasn't updated in ages. I then go into the wikipedia, and along to twitter, and see that there's been a countdown going on today - hoping it's a launch of a new version... https://twitter.com/Ishkur23 https://twitter.com/Ishkur23
- emptyfile 7y ago
  Wow this is great! Spend so much time on the original.
- hobbes78 7y ago
  The amount of time I spent exploring it! What a rabbit whole to wonder into!
- yoran 7y ago
  One of my favorite websites of all time. Glad to see he's working on a new version!
- core-questions 7y ago
  Awesome to see this, I still refer to his guide on the regular. I'll keep my eyes out for updates.
jdpigeon 7y ago
I thought I was pretty hip to psytrance, but I guess not because I don't recognize any of these artists. How can there be a whole psytrance guide without mentioning 1200 micrograms, Infected Mushroom, or Shpongle?
- JoeSamoa 7y ago
  This. Felt incomplete to me also for these reasons.
- fb03 7y ago
  I was desperately reading every "notable artists" under each box trying to at least find Shpongle, even if it was mislabeled. Was disappointed in this as well. It is a very insightful guide with good overall info, but it's missing some key points.
  - marzell 7y ago
    Shpongle is psychedelic, but is it Psytrance? Posford also did Hallucinogen which was properly Psytrance.
- xaphod 7y ago
  At least they got Hallucinogen up there.
  - unlivingthing 7y ago
    But no Skazi. :(
    - forthispurpose 7y ago
      Skazi would be Dark Psy I guess? They did get Fungus Funk in there :)
- hajhatten 7y ago
  Too mainstream
troysk 7y ago
I enjoy coding more on psytrance! Anyone else?
- weavie 7y ago
  Yup.
- athenot 7y ago
  It's a matter of personal taste, of course. But yes the absence of lyrics, the long-running tracks (that are usually blended so there's no break), the pattern-based yet evolving structure and the upbeatness... These are all things that help me "get lost into code". It helps push out distractions and it's like a canvas in my mind onto which I can load up all the abstractions I'm working on, the mental equivalent of pulling lots of papers out of my bag and spreading them onto my desk. The funny part is this kind of music makes my mental "desk" feel a lot larger and somehow allows me to work on more complex problems.
- pseudonamed 7y ago
  Most definitely; here're some sets on rotation at the moment https://soundcloud.com/radiozora/looneymoon27radicalmoodz https://soundcloud.com/radiozora/looneymoon27radicalmoodz https://soundcloud.com/multiseed/multiseed-antaris-festival-180716 https://soundcloud.com/multiseed/multiseed-antaris-festival-... https://soundcloud.com/jungala-festival/switchcache-jungala-2017-promo https://soundcloud.com/jungala-festival/switchcache-jungala-... https://soundcloud.com/noisily-festival/noisily-2019-podcast-6-scorb https://soundcloud.com/noisily-festival/noisily-2019-podcast...
- 1_player 7y ago
  Of course! Makes repetitive work much more enjoyable. Let me share my favourite Spotify playlist, 257 hours of psytrance and derivative genres: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71tSLVZo0Bqokw22opuG15?si=FT1wQbg9R1-SUWHkbPEl1Q https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71tSLVZo0Bqokw22opuG15?si=... Just enable shuffle and you'll have enough psy for years :-)
- elymar 7y ago
  I like to throw one of these on: https://youtu.be/f9Sxdi_82rU https://youtu.be/f9Sxdi_82rU Tobias's mixes with the MilkDrop visuals on my TV in the background with laptop on my lap gets me focused.
tw1010 7y ago
I used to love listening to this all day while coding. But I've had to wean myself off it because I started feeling like my brain started becoming a bit messed up by it, compared to listening to just silence.
- thanatropism 7y ago
  I’ve never liked to listen music to “pump me up”. I’m very fond of music, having been raised by a classical composer and a choral regent. Recently when I was experiencing anxiety due to the unexpected, untimely death of a pet, I used “lo-fi hip hop radios from YouTube. Precisely because it’s music that I wouldn’t ordinarily enjoy. But: back then when Infected Mushroom and Skazi were top of the pops artists, I lived far away from work and had a long, boring, stuck in traffic bus commute. Psytrance excelled in making me feel alive at moments where I was basically stuck in a box. That’s not how I need to feel at work, ESPECIALLY when it comes to coding. Maybe I’m not a super hacker type that just has programs flowing off his fingers — I have to think hard, even about naming functions and classes.
  - Stevvo 7y ago
    My work is a mix of 3D modelling, painting, and coding. For the modelling and painting I'm like that girl sitting with her cat by window ledge; the work flows with the music. When coding music is way too distracting, it requires intense mental effort. Same for technical animation; understanding how objects move is hard and I would get nowhere with psytrance thumping away in the background.
  - zettatron 7y ago
    My personal preference when working is an Ambient collection fron the Silent Hill series: https://youtu.be/Yxd-X8P-GtY https://youtu.be/Yxd-X8P-GtY It is incredibly atmospheric (if a bit "depressing") and helps me embody the patience and clarity needed to produce good work.
ssijak 7y ago
I have just returned from one psytrance festival. I like to go there, not mainly for the music (which I like mostly), but for the atmosphere. Meeting all kind of different people and getting out from the usual "reality" and norms and rat race and jumping into crazines, relaxing the norms and trying new things. It is so refreshing, I always return home more happy and enthusiastic about life. And yes, people eat like tons of drugs at festivals, but I had never ever seen or experienced anything bad from people on trance festivals (which I can see everywhere where alcohol is the main drug). Sounds too hippy maybe, but that is my experience.
- Fnoord 7y ago
  This resonates with my experience as well. For me, the goa/psy trance community will always remain the most open-minded, friendly music community I've been part of. I'm even kind of proud to have been part of that scene, doing my 2 ct. contribution to it (mainly, connecting artists with labels and vice versa, giving artists feedback on their tracks, buying legal copies, as well as sharing obscure material to goa trance lovers). And I have been part of many (music) subcultures in my youth.
  - sharadov 7y ago
    I used to be part of the goa psytrance community, introduced to it by a dear friend ( who was a little too into it). At one point he was getting Djs and throwing parties and not even taking money for entrance tickets. It was a great time.
- piva00 7y ago
  This is why I love techno festivals and parties. I also like the music (and I'm a hobbyist producer myself) but the sheer freedom you have for a whole festival or even evening/weekend is liberating, is a escape from reality. And the hypnotic sound also gets me to other places, even when sober. P.S.: and by "techno" I mean the genre of EDM called techno, starting in Detroit in late 80s/early 90s and spreading through Europe by the UK, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, not the "general techno" that is used in US to mean any kind of electronic dance music.
codeulike 7y ago
Well I for one think Electronic Music has too many sub-genres. Like if you change the timing of the highhat or the type of synth you're using it catapults you into a different genre. Whats that all about? Why does it need to be so segmented?
- mjpuser 7y ago
  I am in agreement with you. It seems it is more work than it's worth to develop this taxonomy.
  - thatswrong0 7y ago
    Most people in the scene (or at least the sub-scene I'm embedded in) that make it and listen to it don't really care what it's called. But for people trying to find more of a certain style, it certainly can be useful.
- noir_lord 7y ago
  Metal is the same, often it's the true(TM) fans who come up with the micro-genres as a way to beat people over the head for not knowing that "foo" is "bar". It's the pretentious of wine culture applied to music basically.
  - scns 7y ago
    Tribalism at work?
  - pimmen 7y ago
    This is basically spot on. But, these micro genres can be useful for the "true" fans too, if they know a fellow fan and feel like they want something within a genre, but with some specific features (like just a tad slower tempo, more vocals or something) they can just say "heard anything good from <sub_genre>" instead of "heard anything good from <genre>, but with <list_of_really_tiny_differences>".
  - karmickoala 7y ago
    I used to follow this in rock. Despite being misused like the way you mentioned, it also serves the purpose to help you find new artists based on the genre and sub-genre. If you like a specific thing about a track and you'd want to listen more like that, the taxonomy helps you find it and how they relate to other (sub-)genres. However, I do concede that there is a lot of pretentiousness.
tsukurimashou 7y ago
Very nice, kinda unrelated but how did you pick your colors for title / background for each subgenre?
busterarm 7y ago
Needs HTTPS.
- raaxe 7y ago
  Does it?
yax_ 7y ago
So who else just returned from Mo:Dem and had a laugh about psytrance being on hackernews?
gastlee_za 7y ago
South Africa's psytrance scene is going strong and is quite diverse across a few of the psy sub genres. Maybe a little under-represented in the night full-on category... For more information on what the DJs and producers here are doing, check out the Psymedia Soundcloud page or their website. https://soundcloud.com/psymedia https://soundcloud.com/psymedia https://psymedia.co.za/ https://psymedia.co.za/
- weavie 7y ago
  If you bump into Tersius on your travels, tell him he's awesome! ;-)
  - gastlee_za 7y ago
    He DJs at the Our Minds festival?
    - weavie 7y ago
      I think he plays all over South Africa. We used to share a flat together.
fb03 7y ago
Shameless Plug! Since everyone is sharing their favorite psytrance and coding-oriented tracks, I'm gonna share one of my own: https://soundcloud.com/flipbit03/twothousandseventeen-feat-marcix https://soundcloud.com/flipbit03/twothousandseventeen-feat-m... I have a really hard time pinning the genre of the stuff I produce so if anyone could help me out on what genre this actually is (I labelled it as Psytrance but it's a blanket/general term) I'll be thankful. Have a good one and if some of you produce on your free time as well, share on! o/
- kortex 7y ago
  Hm, yeah it's definitely very unique. It's psytrance in the same way Juno Reactor is psytrance, as in it's the closest concrete label, but explores a space well outside the typical fare. Texturally, reminds me almost of big beat/ breaks. Reminiscent of the Antigravity album by Zircon.
diimdeep 7y ago
Similar project https://www.12edit.com/drum-n-bass/ https://www.12edit.com/drum-n-bass/
abcc8 7y ago
Where would Sphongle fit in on that list? I like Sphongle but do not know much about the genre.
- emptyfile 7y ago
  Nowhere, since it's not psytrance (no trance beat for one thing). It's considered psybient(psychedelic ambient) or rather they invented that genre.
  - abcc8 7y ago
    Thank you for your reply, it was very helpful!
- forthispurpose 7y ago
  If you like Shpongle btw - check out Solar Fields - not quite the same but I feel like they are carrying the torch in a sense
- stef25 7y ago
  He's pretty unique. Ott sounds very similar. Both excellent.
TuringNYC 7y ago
I'm a huge music lover, but discovery is a problem. Thank you for this. May I suggest links to popular music platforms so 1. We can listen to it via common music platforms (and thus easily listen over and over.) 2. So the artists can clock listens.
deleted 7y ago
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dylan604 7y ago
I have memories of an interview with an artist that I believe was ManMadeMan. They discussed how they preferred the BPM to be around 135-138. At that BPM with a running 16th note baseline, they said it was very easy for people's brainwaves to sync up with the music as it was very close in frequency to one of the brain waves. I can't remember where I saw it. It might have been one of the early documentaries about one of the big festivals. Did anyone else see that video? I would love to know if there's any validity to it other than personal experience. I know that when the BPMs started creeping up, a lot of that dance floor vibe seemed to goaway (eh?)
dylan604 7y ago
Di.fm has a few channels related to goa/psytrance. The person that put this guide together, Daniel Lesden, has show that plays on one of the channels. From listening to some of his shows, it makes sense he would put something like this together.
dandare 7y ago
Please update this page with links to Spotify (or other streamable) playlists.
- Ezku 7y ago
  Here are my versions. Every playlist has top 5 songs from the artists mentioned for each subgenre on the list. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4dAcwPZxCRk5V2ab3EFPZP?si=AOrH80lNRWKdO5r8DuHtOg https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4dAcwPZxCRk5V2ab3EFPZP?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6WrCSyOd1UfrmaZJFXeqAF?si=w2NIqxpyTseCub1OXOGb4Q https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6WrCSyOd1UfrmaZJFXeqAF?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SfxYfyeBU1ph75Ed8mCpP?si=vVPw93tZTHm35OYcQPsVnQ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SfxYfyeBU1ph75Ed8mCpP?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tETCS8IwxJiz5XWHz8Kqp?si=sdaTy0QFQeWDdproOaLWzg https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tETCS8IwxJiz5XWHz8Kqp?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Y3IUHGeiOwkpuUhjW2ErM?si=Rev9JBSkRMKGF9SiHPWKvw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Y3IUHGeiOwkpuUhjW2ErM?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3hRuECtfy9PKczpWPE0SRh?si=VdgS0uMITuKqPQBuFun7Zw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3hRuECtfy9PKczpWPE0SRh?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/22tkk9pQIbGVqpBVY2996d?si=K7Fbao2_QO6e2lYFRH88WA https://open.spotify.com/playlist/22tkk9pQIbGVqpBVY2996d?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0W9ICmxCNPQzkknHa6CyKI?si=h6P5VHAsTjqeKR0mZIcnYA https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0W9ICmxCNPQzkknHa6CyKI?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1lIeAjrLNrggjQmC8BNxh0?si=s9-fyykWQeKYktZRyL6-6A https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1lIeAjrLNrggjQmC8BNxh0?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0O1gKw9KRYTUFS7WyywMoT?si=kELkZEcbR1KoHHDEKlsYig https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0O1gKw9KRYTUFS7WyywMoT?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5S34tPfWB0q9s3f3fcHLh8?si=2nwDksc0SVG_8vIyTioZmw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5S34tPfWB0q9s3f3fcHLh8?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3k13QP7kaDvbxYyKo4CuZp?si=CLPIk7c6SheLl6lzmgFdaA https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3k13QP7kaDvbxYyKo4CuZp?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7sZ7YSdmZXb2ksze3bk3cS?si=fgXf3vd8Qj-GalplGZ0mig https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7sZ7YSdmZXb2ksze3bk3cS?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2KxhKNBkrW47UfrpW4ezAO?si=6PhfO1EOSumvQ3GntKt1Fw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2KxhKNBkrW47UfrpW4ezAO?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5D9xAkuYC9cklxFXZUns8K?si=cXnpoQ8-SpmtY9iQu9vSnQ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5D9xAkuYC9cklxFXZUns8K?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62XI14VIjqZxsA2CikNrBf?si=kEQPLPFYTHW4H5z87qi6Ig https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62XI14VIjqZxsA2CikNrBf?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5kf1tVYouTxcJGbxV1lQny?si=kZVTBLxMQ0OgrY4vcv4icw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5kf1tVYouTxcJGbxV1lQny?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4bBurOc5GGytLjnKPIExy9?si=3sQwnkfNQlitQ3pVuKrQiw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4bBurOc5GGytLjnKPIExy9?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5n6n7vNaBbRNelVzAD8UKw?si=IUpBktTcSO2idiyjvh1kgg https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5n6n7vNaBbRNelVzAD8UKw?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3jPeGD6FKvEiYH4HP6m0Lv?si=VhHknQx2SXaI5fsWmjWkVw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3jPeGD6FKvEiYH4HP6m0Lv?si=... Hope you enjoy. :)
tasubotadas 7y ago
That's sweet. I've been an occasional fan? (I would move to other genres and then back) of psytrance for the last ~13y now but it has been always seemed a bit hard (on last.fm) to find artists that are not complete rubbish and would actually do psytrance.
unlivingthing 7y ago
No Skazi :(
pgt 7y ago
This is great. Would love to see a guide like this for techno!
lkjhdcba 7y ago
Lol, I'll assume the OP recently returned from one of the many European trance festivals (Mo:dem, maybe?) and discovered a new passion :-) The comments are on point: the best thing about psytrance is the community, and the extremely friendly hippie vibe found in these festivals as well as, let's be honest, the extremely copious amount of free-flowing available drugs can make any one of them a live-changing experience. I wonder how it compares to the American equivalent, which would be something like Burning Man? I guess?
bootsz 7y ago
Interesting that "psytrance" is also listed as a subgenre of "psytrance".
rolltiide 7y ago
I honestly love that the "Mainstream" psytrance section is previously-not-at-all-mainstream trance. great reality for music to conform to the tastes I wished was more popular 20 years ago where I grew up, where mainstream was just "rock or rap, choose one".
gzimhelshani 7y ago
Not my kind of music but the web app/site is phenomenal 10/10, I really liked the design and smoothness of it.
Myrmornis 7y ago
X-Dream - We Created Our Own Happiness album, that’s one of my favorite trance albums, but maybe nothing to do with psy? Also Eat Static when he does psytrance. But I should totally listen to some stuff that’s not a quarter of a century old.
- stef25 7y ago
  Eat Static ... how long's that guy been going? Abduction and Implant were awesome. De-Classified more than 10 years later, equally awesome.
  - Myrmornis 7y ago
    Yes, Implant! I saw him play live earlier this year and absolutely loved it. He has not got old.
flmontpetit 7y ago
Organizing subgenres by BPM range is pure lunacy
- vkolencik 7y ago
  They are not organized by BPM range.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
crusso 7y ago
If I'm having trouble focusing on the code, I load up techno music. Just clicking on the play links in the referenced site (Psytrance Guide) has me in the mood to put on my headphones and work on a development project that I've been putting off.
ChrisArchitect 7y ago
not sure why this is in HN, not to mention the somewhat ridiculous breakdown of genres which seems weird to anyone who's in the scene --- BUT anyways, add a 2017 to this because it's not new.
delaaxe 7y ago
I can't believe Infected Mushroom isn't cited anywhere on the page.
- visarga 7y ago
  Seconded. Also, Boris Brejcha.
kart23 7y ago
This is awesome! I never really knew what trance exactly was, but this made it cyrstal clear to me, as well as it's subgenres. Does anyone know of a similar type guide to techno or house? Theres just so many different niches in both of those genres as well.
- throwaway286 7y ago
  Psytrance is already a sub-genre of trance; this site doesn't reflect trance as a whole.
- aeyes 7y ago
  Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music Outdated (accurate only to about 2000) and requires Flash but still a good resource: http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/
dasmithii 7y ago
I didn't believe my eyes when I saw "psytrance" on the front page of HN... Anyways, for anyone in North America looking for psytrance festivals, here is a guide put together by fractaltribe: https://www.fractaltribe.org/blog/north-american-psytrance-festival-guide-2019 https://www.fractaltribe.org/blog/north-american-psytrance-f...
- dsp0xff 7y ago
  Me neither! :) Are any fellow psyhackers attending Dreamtime in sept?
p0nce 7y ago
Honestly I've moved completely to progressive house since it's way more bearable to me. Still love the oldschool goa sound of course :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3aDQzR0O-A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3aDQzR0O-A
cheeseomlit 7y ago
Anyone know of good guides on making this kind of music? I've tried looking into it and there are just so many options and esoteric knowledge of synths and software required that's it seems hard to get started. I've bought several MIDI keyboards that all turned out to be junk and tried several DAWs that were very unintuitive, I'd like to know the best way for a beginner to get into it
- playing_colours 7y ago
  You can find quite a lot here https://www.lynda.com/Ableton-Live-training-tutorials/139-0.html https://www.lynda.com/Ableton-Live-training-tutorials/139-0.... The link is for Ableton, but you can find the courses for other DAWs there. I started with Ableton a few years ago, because it is widely used for electronic music production. Also, my employer provided 50% discount on Ableton products :) I’d like to also recommend this book https://www.amazon.de/Dance-Music-Manual-Rick-Snoman/dp/0415825644 https://www.amazon.de/Dance-Music-Manual-Rick-Snoman/dp/0415... if you are interested in theory.
- firegrind 7y ago
  Have a look at some of Tom Cosm’s tutorials, and Ableton.
joeyspn 7y ago
If anyone wants to check a really cool interactive guide of electronic music genres and their history check Ishkur’s Guide. It's old but still one of the best ones ever made. (You'll need to activate flash) http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ And here a more modern version with near 3k genres (although not as informative and visual): https://www.electronicbeats.net/the-feed/every-noise-at-once/ https://www.electronicbeats.net/the-feed/every-noise-at-once...
- Avery3R 7y ago
  A new version of ishkur's guide is coming soon, https://twitter.com/ishkur23 https://twitter.com/ishkur23 I've looked at every noise at once, but to be honest it seems terrible to me. Quantity over quality, some of the samples they chose, even for genres that aren't really obscure, are wildly off-base.
LifeLiverTransp 7y ago
https://soundcloud.com/mimicvat/mimic-vat-heavenoise-indriya https://soundcloud.com/mimicvat/mimic-vat-heavenoise-indriya https://soundcloud.com/hyperadmin https://soundcloud.com/hyperadmin
dakom 7y ago
At first I was thinking - why is this on the front page of HN? Then I remembered when I was heavy into the scene (~1999-2003) - so much overlap with tech, way ahead of its time!!! A few examples: * projection mapping onto surfaces like mountains in nature parties * zero-latency visuals synced to the music (and the cream of the crop demoscene type stuff) * custom synths written in max/msp or whatever * designer drugs, nootropics, "bio-hacking" * experimenting with inducing trance states with "brain machines" and certain repetitive frequencies and stuff. I really feel lucky that I got to experience all that, since I was kinda jealous from reading the Acid Test of what the hippies had and how they combined music with visuals and tech (like microphone feedback experiments)... we had much better toys :) There has got to be cool stuff happening these days... would be a bummer to learn that 20 years (WTF?! HOW?!?) hasn't seen much progress..
Animats 7y ago
It's the revenge of the nerds. Who needs those self-important people with guitars?
sharadov 7y ago
Goa Gil, Astral Projection, Juno reactor - good times! Saw them all live, Goa Gil did a 24 hr set in the Santa Cruz mountains, absolutely blew my mind!
mrintegrity 7y ago
My favorite place to listen to psytrance was philosomatika.com, shut down by the RIAA in 2010, it's now back as http://www.philosomatika.fm/ http://www.philosomatika.fm/
aznumeric 7y ago
I've listened to most of the projects mentioned here and have been listening to Psytrance since 2005 but nowadays I mostly listen to 90s and early 2000s Trance and I must say that I find it better in general than the Psytrance stuff. I'd like to mention some of the legendary tracks here: Quiteman - The Sleeper (Man With No Name Remix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjOcSatGkmo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjOcSatGkmo Li Kwan - Point Zero https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWIXkF_7JII https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWIXkF_7JII Electronic Arts - Need for Speed 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8CEJTPECxc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8CEJTPECxc Blue Planet Corporation - Crystal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYtw6j1AHUw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYtw6j1AHUw Odyssey Of Noise - Firedance (The Sunrise) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKPMZm2O8No https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKPMZm2O8No X-Cabs - Neuro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy-tKoIE9C0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy-tKoIE9C0
b__d 7y ago
If someone is looking for party dates, this is the go to address: https://www.goabase.net https://www.goabase.net (at least for the EU) :)

465 points by turrini 7y ago

This isn't the first ever psytrance styles guide. I recall seeing one on psynews.org many years ago that actually appeared more comprehensive than this one.

chrisseaton 7y ago
> This isn't the first ever psytrance styles guide. So what? What a silly put-down.
- gastlee_za 7y ago
  was not intended to be a put down, but I could have probably added more to my comment

arnaudsm 7y ago

This is a great introduction nicely designed ! Do similar websites exist for other genres?

targonca 7y ago
Ishkur's guide to electronic music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishkur's_Guide_to_Electronic_Music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishkur's_Guide_to_Electronic_M...
- al2o3cr 7y ago
  FWIW, sounds like there's a big update to Ishkur's guide about to drop - the Twitter account has been counting down for the last month (it's at 1 now)...
  - rickyduck 7y ago
    FWIW - http://everynoise.com/everynoise1d.cgi?scope=all http://everynoise.com/everynoise1d.cgi?scope=all

pixelpoet 7y ago

> Ultimae Records Panoramic greetings! (kind of an in-joke if you follow their newsletter last few years) To psychill I would like to add, definitely listen to Easily Embarrassed's "Idyllic Life" album, it's absolutely brilliant: https://easilyembarrassed.bandcamp.com/album/idyllic-life https://easilyembarrassed.bandcamp.com/album/idyllic-life Edit: while I welcome this particular bit of content, I'm surprised to find it on HN; seems a bit offtopic, no?

TomMarius 7y ago
Music for programming is a pretty frequent item of discussion IMHO
xtiansimon 7y ago
Celebrity Death Match Judge, Mills Lane: “I’ll Allow it.”
1_player 7y ago
Great recommendation, love it already. And I'll share my "modern" full-on artist: Talpa. His sets on Soundcloud are great.

emptyfile 7y ago

Pretty nice and comprehensive guide. Ever since I've first seen Ishkur's guide as a kid I've wanted one for all genres of music, it always seem like the coolest thing. Also this guide reminded me that James Reipas exists, thank you.

confact 7y ago

Really like this. Found like 5 new songs in different genere I like

NKosmatos 7y ago

Very nice guide, especially for all of us in our mid forties that liked and listened (still listening?) to all these styles when they were actually being created!!! Recently there was a HN post about a similar site http://everynoise.com/ http://everynoise.com/ but for all music genres

TorKlingberg 7y ago
Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music is also a classic: http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ It covers up to the '00s, so earlier than the OP. Fittingly, it's all in Flash.
tannhaeuser 7y ago
Mid forties? I used to go to acid house clubs in 1988/9 (I think) and to Goa parties around 1992-4. I was surprised it's still a thing in 2019 apparently when I noticed a poster for an event in rural north/east Germany very similar to the flyers I knew from the early/mid '90s. Though I have to agree with what others said: the taxonomy doesn't look representative of what was actually played, at all. For example, there was a label in my home town (Spirit Zone, with upbeat/dirty and sometimes dark Goa sound) not being mentioned, nor is the 1990's Dub scene, though another genre is described as originating from Hamburg I've never heard of. Also, I think the Berlin scene really ought to be mentioned, not only the legendary 90s tresor and e-werk clubs, but also the mid-90s ambient and drum+bass scene which had strong influence on what today is called psytrance I guess. Some of the better-known artists (live musicians more than DJs) are still in business as techno grandaddies eg https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9v-dRr2T6us https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9v-dRr2T6us .
munificent 7y ago
More trance than psytrance, but I recently stumbled onto Above and Beyond and their Anjunabeats label. I had no idea people were still making trance that feels like a continuation of the stuff I listened to in the late 90s. It's great!
- scarejunba 7y ago

SuddsMcDuff 7y ago

This is great! I now know that "minimal psy" is the name of the genre I like to listen to whilst coding. I'd love to see something similar for the various sub-genres of drum & bass. 'Psybreaks' really reminds me of the soundtrack to the original Wipeout game, written by Cold Storage (http://www.coldstorage.org.uk/ http://www.coldstorage.org.uk/).

rickyduck 7y ago
With D&B being my main love, I might focus some time on this. In the mean time, if you want to know the subgenre of a track, or some tracks in a subgenre, let me know :)
- SuddsMcDuff 7y ago
  I really love Calyx, and I have some old moving shadow mix cd's (eg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkyRsbTXNuE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkyRsbTXNuE). Which sub-genre would you call this? And do you have any more recent recommendations along these lines?
benj111 7y ago
Depending on where you are, the sound track may well have included some Orbital, Leftfield and Chemical Brothers also, it was stripped out for the North American release though. There was also an album of the music released.
- SuddsMcDuff 7y ago
  IIRC only the Playstation version had licensed music from those artists. Other versions (such as the Saturn version that I owned) had tracks written exclusively by Cold Storage.
  - hajhatten 7y ago
    PC version also had a coldstorage soundtrack

weavie 7y ago

Wow. I'm old enough to remember when it was just goa trance. And then towards the end of the 90's the kicks became more pronounced and the melodies were dropped in favour of more psychedelic soundscapes. From that it seemed the genre split into daytime trance that was brighter and more uplifting and nighttime that was darker and more psychedelic. As a dj, people would grumble at you if you played daytime trance at night, or vice versa! Even then most psytrance was played at a more sane Bpm < 145. And then I think the Russians came in around 2006. Artists like Kindzadza pushed the Bpm up to 150+ and it all went crazy. It seems artists started to compete with eachother to write the craziest tracks, and rather than reaching for more psychedelia, they just made the track faster. I'm almost a bit sad to see that the guide lists Forest as 150+ bpm. It was much more psychedelic at 145 (imho). That was kind of when I dropped out of the scene, its quite crazy to look back and see how categorized it has become. Im going to have to have a browse.. For more, there is a ton of psytrance available to download for free on https://ektoplazm.com/ https://ektoplazm.com/.

Fnoord 7y ago
I find it painful to see my favourite all-time genre of music, goatrance, getting more and more obscure and snowed under the abundance of time and psytrance. I can relate to oldschool house, trance, and techno lovers alike. Consider the introduction in this article to goatrance, at the very bottom of the website after all kind of psytrance subgenres. Roland TB-303? Not mentioned. The archetype synthesizer of acid and goa trance. Acid? Not mentioned. A genre related and inspirational to goa trance. Same with trance, and techno. SH-101? Not mentioned. Frequently used synthesizer in trance, including goa. 4-4-4-4-1 bass-line? Not mentioned. Its the bass-line which is typically found in goa trance. Some tracks by Miranda even have a slightly different bass tone on every bass hit which creates a kind of 3D effect in the bass (it feels like salsa to me). Etnica? Not mentioned. Huge name (with sub projects like Crop Circles and Pleiadians) in the 90s. For me, a band like Juno Reactor is much more according to the psychedelic values than the conventional psytrance. Also, goa trance wasn't formed in Goa in the 80s. It was the very end of the 80s, but more the early 90s (91-93). It was normal to combine all kind of genres back then (trance, techno, house, etc). Consider, for example, the legendary Paul Oakenfold - Goa Mix from 1994. Or this very mix which combines different genres in one [1] (though it includes acid, not goa trance). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkzvUEbf1DY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkzvUEbf1DY

foobar_ 7y ago

Where is psydub ?

Fnoord 7y ago
I suppose there is some overlap with psyambient and psychill. There was a time when not every genre had psy before it. If you like that genre, I can recommend Ott's Hallucinogen In Dub remixes and his album Skylon [1]. I also like some specific tracks of Easily Embarrased and Koan but not sure which genre it falls under. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ott_(record_producer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ott_(record_producer)
- weavie 7y ago
  As you mentioned Etnica in another post, Etnica in Dub is also highly recommended : https://etnica.bandcamp.com/album/etnica-in-dub https://etnica.bandcamp.com/album/etnica-in-dub
- grinchygrinch 7y ago
  Another recommendation - my all-time favorite psydub EP: https://beatspace-parvati.bandcamp.com/album/parvati-in-dub-by-vlastur-v-a-parvati-records-prvep11 https://beatspace-parvati.bandcamp.com/album/parvati-in-dub-...
- emptyfile 7y ago
  I don't agree really, psydub is quite distinct. Though it is a rather small genre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZlG2y74CQE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZlG2y74CQE
- dejawu 7y ago
  Good God, Ott is by far my favorite artist with not even a distant second. I've been hunting for other artists/tracks for the last few months to fill the void til his new album comes out but have only come up disappointed and empty handed. Nobody else seems to be able to be so varied and inventive with each track yet always deliver a compelling and engaging sound and melody so reliably. Anyone have more recommendations?

JerwuQu 7y ago

I love the fact that there are a couple of inline music samples for each so you don't have to go look them up yourself or follow a link for each. I'd very much like to see something similar for all the hardcore techno sub-genres as well.

listentojohan 7y ago

My first though was Ishkur's guide to electronic music as mentioned in another comment, and which hasn't updated in ages. I then go into the wikipedia, and along to twitter, and see that there's been a countdown going on today - hoping it's a launch of a new version... https://twitter.com/Ishkur23 https://twitter.com/Ishkur23

emptyfile 7y ago
Wow this is great! Spend so much time on the original.
hobbes78 7y ago
The amount of time I spent exploring it! What a rabbit whole to wonder into!
yoran 7y ago
One of my favorite websites of all time. Glad to see he's working on a new version!
core-questions 7y ago
Awesome to see this, I still refer to his guide on the regular. I'll keep my eyes out for updates.

jdpigeon 7y ago

I thought I was pretty hip to psytrance, but I guess not because I don't recognize any of these artists. How can there be a whole psytrance guide without mentioning 1200 micrograms, Infected Mushroom, or Shpongle?

JoeSamoa 7y ago
This. Felt incomplete to me also for these reasons.
fb03 7y ago
I was desperately reading every "notable artists" under each box trying to at least find Shpongle, even if it was mislabeled. Was disappointed in this as well. It is a very insightful guide with good overall info, but it's missing some key points.
- marzell 7y ago
  Shpongle is psychedelic, but is it Psytrance? Posford also did Hallucinogen which was properly Psytrance.
xaphod 7y ago
At least they got Hallucinogen up there.
- unlivingthing 7y ago
  But no Skazi. :(
  - forthispurpose 7y ago
    Skazi would be Dark Psy I guess? They did get Fungus Funk in there :)
hajhatten 7y ago
Too mainstream

troysk 7y ago

I enjoy coding more on psytrance! Anyone else?

weavie 7y ago
Yup.
athenot 7y ago
It's a matter of personal taste, of course. But yes the absence of lyrics, the long-running tracks (that are usually blended so there's no break), the pattern-based yet evolving structure and the upbeatness... These are all things that help me "get lost into code". It helps push out distractions and it's like a canvas in my mind onto which I can load up all the abstractions I'm working on, the mental equivalent of pulling lots of papers out of my bag and spreading them onto my desk. The funny part is this kind of music makes my mental "desk" feel a lot larger and somehow allows me to work on more complex problems.
pseudonamed 7y ago
Most definitely; here're some sets on rotation at the moment https://soundcloud.com/radiozora/looneymoon27radicalmoodz https://soundcloud.com/radiozora/looneymoon27radicalmoodz https://soundcloud.com/multiseed/multiseed-antaris-festival-180716 https://soundcloud.com/multiseed/multiseed-antaris-festival-... https://soundcloud.com/jungala-festival/switchcache-jungala-2017-promo https://soundcloud.com/jungala-festival/switchcache-jungala-... https://soundcloud.com/noisily-festival/noisily-2019-podcast-6-scorb https://soundcloud.com/noisily-festival/noisily-2019-podcast...
1_player 7y ago
Of course! Makes repetitive work much more enjoyable. Let me share my favourite Spotify playlist, 257 hours of psytrance and derivative genres: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71tSLVZo0Bqokw22opuG15?si=FT1wQbg9R1-SUWHkbPEl1Q https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71tSLVZo0Bqokw22opuG15?si=... Just enable shuffle and you'll have enough psy for years :-)
elymar 7y ago
I like to throw one of these on: https://youtu.be/f9Sxdi_82rU https://youtu.be/f9Sxdi_82rU Tobias's mixes with the MilkDrop visuals on my TV in the background with laptop on my lap gets me focused.

tw1010 7y ago

I used to love listening to this all day while coding. But I've had to wean myself off it because I started feeling like my brain started becoming a bit messed up by it, compared to listening to just silence.

thanatropism 7y ago
I’ve never liked to listen music to “pump me up”. I’m very fond of music, having been raised by a classical composer and a choral regent. Recently when I was experiencing anxiety due to the unexpected, untimely death of a pet, I used “lo-fi hip hop radios from YouTube. Precisely because it’s music that I wouldn’t ordinarily enjoy. But: back then when Infected Mushroom and Skazi were top of the pops artists, I lived far away from work and had a long, boring, stuck in traffic bus commute. Psytrance excelled in making me feel alive at moments where I was basically stuck in a box. That’s not how I need to feel at work, ESPECIALLY when it comes to coding. Maybe I’m not a super hacker type that just has programs flowing off his fingers — I have to think hard, even about naming functions and classes.
- Stevvo 7y ago
  My work is a mix of 3D modelling, painting, and coding. For the modelling and painting I'm like that girl sitting with her cat by window ledge; the work flows with the music. When coding music is way too distracting, it requires intense mental effort. Same for technical animation; understanding how objects move is hard and I would get nowhere with psytrance thumping away in the background.
- zettatron 7y ago
  My personal preference when working is an Ambient collection fron the Silent Hill series: https://youtu.be/Yxd-X8P-GtY https://youtu.be/Yxd-X8P-GtY It is incredibly atmospheric (if a bit "depressing") and helps me embody the patience and clarity needed to produce good work.

ssijak 7y ago

I have just returned from one psytrance festival. I like to go there, not mainly for the music (which I like mostly), but for the atmosphere. Meeting all kind of different people and getting out from the usual "reality" and norms and rat race and jumping into crazines, relaxing the norms and trying new things. It is so refreshing, I always return home more happy and enthusiastic about life. And yes, people eat like tons of drugs at festivals, but I had never ever seen or experienced anything bad from people on trance festivals (which I can see everywhere where alcohol is the main drug). Sounds too hippy maybe, but that is my experience.

Fnoord 7y ago
This resonates with my experience as well. For me, the goa/psy trance community will always remain the most open-minded, friendly music community I've been part of. I'm even kind of proud to have been part of that scene, doing my 2 ct. contribution to it (mainly, connecting artists with labels and vice versa, giving artists feedback on their tracks, buying legal copies, as well as sharing obscure material to goa trance lovers). And I have been part of many (music) subcultures in my youth.
- sharadov 7y ago
  I used to be part of the goa psytrance community, introduced to it by a dear friend ( who was a little too into it). At one point he was getting Djs and throwing parties and not even taking money for entrance tickets. It was a great time.
piva00 7y ago
This is why I love techno festivals and parties. I also like the music (and I'm a hobbyist producer myself) but the sheer freedom you have for a whole festival or even evening/weekend is liberating, is a escape from reality. And the hypnotic sound also gets me to other places, even when sober. P.S.: and by "techno" I mean the genre of EDM called techno, starting in Detroit in late 80s/early 90s and spreading through Europe by the UK, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, not the "general techno" that is used in US to mean any kind of electronic dance music.

codeulike 7y ago

Well I for one think Electronic Music has too many sub-genres. Like if you change the timing of the highhat or the type of synth you're using it catapults you into a different genre. Whats that all about? Why does it need to be so segmented?

mjpuser 7y ago
I am in agreement with you. It seems it is more work than it's worth to develop this taxonomy.
- thatswrong0 7y ago
  Most people in the scene (or at least the sub-scene I'm embedded in) that make it and listen to it don't really care what it's called. But for people trying to find more of a certain style, it certainly can be useful.
noir_lord 7y ago
Metal is the same, often it's the true(TM) fans who come up with the micro-genres as a way to beat people over the head for not knowing that "foo" is "bar". It's the pretentious of wine culture applied to music basically.
- scns 7y ago
  Tribalism at work?
- pimmen 7y ago
  This is basically spot on. But, these micro genres can be useful for the "true" fans too, if they know a fellow fan and feel like they want something within a genre, but with some specific features (like just a tad slower tempo, more vocals or something) they can just say "heard anything good from <sub_genre>" instead of "heard anything good from <genre>, but with <list_of_really_tiny_differences>".
- karmickoala 7y ago
  I used to follow this in rock. Despite being misused like the way you mentioned, it also serves the purpose to help you find new artists based on the genre and sub-genre. If you like a specific thing about a track and you'd want to listen more like that, the taxonomy helps you find it and how they relate to other (sub-)genres. However, I do concede that there is a lot of pretentiousness.

tsukurimashou 7y ago

Very nice, kinda unrelated but how did you pick your colors for title / background for each subgenre?

busterarm 7y ago

Needs HTTPS.

raaxe 7y ago
Does it?

yax_ 7y ago

So who else just returned from Mo:Dem and had a laugh about psytrance being on hackernews?

gastlee_za 7y ago

South Africa's psytrance scene is going strong and is quite diverse across a few of the psy sub genres. Maybe a little under-represented in the night full-on category... For more information on what the DJs and producers here are doing, check out the Psymedia Soundcloud page or their website. https://soundcloud.com/psymedia https://soundcloud.com/psymedia https://psymedia.co.za/ https://psymedia.co.za/

weavie 7y ago
If you bump into Tersius on your travels, tell him he's awesome! ;-)
- gastlee_za 7y ago
  He DJs at the Our Minds festival?
  - weavie 7y ago
    I think he plays all over South Africa. We used to share a flat together.

fb03 7y ago

Shameless Plug! Since everyone is sharing their favorite psytrance and coding-oriented tracks, I'm gonna share one of my own: https://soundcloud.com/flipbit03/twothousandseventeen-feat-marcix https://soundcloud.com/flipbit03/twothousandseventeen-feat-m... I have a really hard time pinning the genre of the stuff I produce so if anyone could help me out on what genre this actually is (I labelled it as Psytrance but it's a blanket/general term) I'll be thankful. Have a good one and if some of you produce on your free time as well, share on! o/

kortex 7y ago
Hm, yeah it's definitely very unique. It's psytrance in the same way Juno Reactor is psytrance, as in it's the closest concrete label, but explores a space well outside the typical fare. Texturally, reminds me almost of big beat/ breaks. Reminiscent of the Antigravity album by Zircon.

diimdeep 7y ago

Similar project https://www.12edit.com/drum-n-bass/ https://www.12edit.com/drum-n-bass/

abcc8 7y ago

Where would Sphongle fit in on that list? I like Sphongle but do not know much about the genre.

emptyfile 7y ago
Nowhere, since it's not psytrance (no trance beat for one thing). It's considered psybient(psychedelic ambient) or rather they invented that genre.
- abcc8 7y ago
  Thank you for your reply, it was very helpful!
forthispurpose 7y ago
If you like Shpongle btw - check out Solar Fields - not quite the same but I feel like they are carrying the torch in a sense
stef25 7y ago
He's pretty unique. Ott sounds very similar. Both excellent.

TuringNYC 7y ago

I'm a huge music lover, but discovery is a problem. Thank you for this. May I suggest links to popular music platforms so 1. We can listen to it via common music platforms (and thus easily listen over and over.) 2. So the artists can clock listens.

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dylan604 7y ago

I have memories of an interview with an artist that I believe was ManMadeMan. They discussed how they preferred the BPM to be around 135-138. At that BPM with a running 16th note baseline, they said it was very easy for people's brainwaves to sync up with the music as it was very close in frequency to one of the brain waves. I can't remember where I saw it. It might have been one of the early documentaries about one of the big festivals. Did anyone else see that video? I would love to know if there's any validity to it other than personal experience. I know that when the BPMs started creeping up, a lot of that dance floor vibe seemed to goaway (eh?)

dylan604 7y ago

Di.fm has a few channels related to goa/psytrance. The person that put this guide together, Daniel Lesden, has show that plays on one of the channels. From listening to some of his shows, it makes sense he would put something like this together.

dandare 7y ago

Please update this page with links to Spotify (or other streamable) playlists.

Ezku 7y ago
Here are my versions. Every playlist has top 5 songs from the artists mentioned for each subgenre on the list. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4dAcwPZxCRk5V2ab3EFPZP?si=AOrH80lNRWKdO5r8DuHtOg https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4dAcwPZxCRk5V2ab3EFPZP?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6WrCSyOd1UfrmaZJFXeqAF?si=w2NIqxpyTseCub1OXOGb4Q https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6WrCSyOd1UfrmaZJFXeqAF?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SfxYfyeBU1ph75Ed8mCpP?si=vVPw93tZTHm35OYcQPsVnQ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SfxYfyeBU1ph75Ed8mCpP?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tETCS8IwxJiz5XWHz8Kqp?si=sdaTy0QFQeWDdproOaLWzg https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tETCS8IwxJiz5XWHz8Kqp?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Y3IUHGeiOwkpuUhjW2ErM?si=Rev9JBSkRMKGF9SiHPWKvw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Y3IUHGeiOwkpuUhjW2ErM?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3hRuECtfy9PKczpWPE0SRh?si=VdgS0uMITuKqPQBuFun7Zw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3hRuECtfy9PKczpWPE0SRh?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/22tkk9pQIbGVqpBVY2996d?si=K7Fbao2_QO6e2lYFRH88WA https://open.spotify.com/playlist/22tkk9pQIbGVqpBVY2996d?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0W9ICmxCNPQzkknHa6CyKI?si=h6P5VHAsTjqeKR0mZIcnYA https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0W9ICmxCNPQzkknHa6CyKI?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1lIeAjrLNrggjQmC8BNxh0?si=s9-fyykWQeKYktZRyL6-6A https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1lIeAjrLNrggjQmC8BNxh0?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0O1gKw9KRYTUFS7WyywMoT?si=kELkZEcbR1KoHHDEKlsYig https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0O1gKw9KRYTUFS7WyywMoT?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5S34tPfWB0q9s3f3fcHLh8?si=2nwDksc0SVG_8vIyTioZmw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5S34tPfWB0q9s3f3fcHLh8?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3k13QP7kaDvbxYyKo4CuZp?si=CLPIk7c6SheLl6lzmgFdaA https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3k13QP7kaDvbxYyKo4CuZp?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7sZ7YSdmZXb2ksze3bk3cS?si=fgXf3vd8Qj-GalplGZ0mig https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7sZ7YSdmZXb2ksze3bk3cS?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2KxhKNBkrW47UfrpW4ezAO?si=6PhfO1EOSumvQ3GntKt1Fw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2KxhKNBkrW47UfrpW4ezAO?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5D9xAkuYC9cklxFXZUns8K?si=cXnpoQ8-SpmtY9iQu9vSnQ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5D9xAkuYC9cklxFXZUns8K?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62XI14VIjqZxsA2CikNrBf?si=kEQPLPFYTHW4H5z87qi6Ig https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62XI14VIjqZxsA2CikNrBf?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5kf1tVYouTxcJGbxV1lQny?si=kZVTBLxMQ0OgrY4vcv4icw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5kf1tVYouTxcJGbxV1lQny?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4bBurOc5GGytLjnKPIExy9?si=3sQwnkfNQlitQ3pVuKrQiw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4bBurOc5GGytLjnKPIExy9?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5n6n7vNaBbRNelVzAD8UKw?si=IUpBktTcSO2idiyjvh1kgg https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5n6n7vNaBbRNelVzAD8UKw?si=... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3jPeGD6FKvEiYH4HP6m0Lv?si=VhHknQx2SXaI5fsWmjWkVw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3jPeGD6FKvEiYH4HP6m0Lv?si=... Hope you enjoy. :)

tasubotadas 7y ago

That's sweet. I've been an occasional fan? (I would move to other genres and then back) of psytrance for the last ~13y now but it has been always seemed a bit hard (on last.fm) to find artists that are not complete rubbish and would actually do psytrance.

unlivingthing 7y ago

No Skazi :(

pgt 7y ago

This is great. Would love to see a guide like this for techno!

lkjhdcba 7y ago

Lol, I'll assume the OP recently returned from one of the many European trance festivals (Mo:dem, maybe?) and discovered a new passion :-) The comments are on point: the best thing about psytrance is the community, and the extremely friendly hippie vibe found in these festivals as well as, let's be honest, the extremely copious amount of free-flowing available drugs can make any one of them a live-changing experience. I wonder how it compares to the American equivalent, which would be something like Burning Man? I guess?

bootsz 7y ago

Interesting that "psytrance" is also listed as a subgenre of "psytrance".

rolltiide 7y ago

I honestly love that the "Mainstream" psytrance section is previously-not-at-all-mainstream trance. great reality for music to conform to the tastes I wished was more popular 20 years ago where I grew up, where mainstream was just "rock or rap, choose one".

gzimhelshani 7y ago

Not my kind of music but the web app/site is phenomenal 10/10, I really liked the design and smoothness of it.

Myrmornis 7y ago

X-Dream - We Created Our Own Happiness album, that’s one of my favorite trance albums, but maybe nothing to do with psy? Also Eat Static when he does psytrance. But I should totally listen to some stuff that’s not a quarter of a century old.

stef25 7y ago
Eat Static ... how long's that guy been going? Abduction and Implant were awesome. De-Classified more than 10 years later, equally awesome.
- Myrmornis 7y ago
  Yes, Implant! I saw him play live earlier this year and absolutely loved it. He has not got old.

flmontpetit 7y ago

Organizing subgenres by BPM range is pure lunacy

vkolencik 7y ago
They are not organized by BPM range.

deleted 7y ago

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crusso 7y ago

If I'm having trouble focusing on the code, I load up techno music. Just clicking on the play links in the referenced site (Psytrance Guide) has me in the mood to put on my headphones and work on a development project that I've been putting off.

ChrisArchitect 7y ago

not sure why this is in HN, not to mention the somewhat ridiculous breakdown of genres which seems weird to anyone who's in the scene --- BUT anyways, add a 2017 to this because it's not new.

delaaxe 7y ago

I can't believe Infected Mushroom isn't cited anywhere on the page.

visarga 7y ago
Seconded. Also, Boris Brejcha.

kart23 7y ago

This is awesome! I never really knew what trance exactly was, but this made it cyrstal clear to me, as well as it's subgenres. Does anyone know of a similar type guide to techno or house? Theres just so many different niches in both of those genres as well.

throwaway286 7y ago
Psytrance is already a sub-genre of trance; this site doesn't reflect trance as a whole.
aeyes 7y ago
Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music Outdated (accurate only to about 2000) and requires Flash but still a good resource: http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/

dasmithii 7y ago

I didn't believe my eyes when I saw "psytrance" on the front page of HN... Anyways, for anyone in North America looking for psytrance festivals, here is a guide put together by fractaltribe: https://www.fractaltribe.org/blog/north-american-psytrance-festival-guide-2019 https://www.fractaltribe.org/blog/north-american-psytrance-f...

dsp0xff 7y ago
Me neither! :) Are any fellow psyhackers attending Dreamtime in sept?

p0nce 7y ago

Honestly I've moved completely to progressive house since it's way more bearable to me. Still love the oldschool goa sound of course :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3aDQzR0O-A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3aDQzR0O-A

cheeseomlit 7y ago

Anyone know of good guides on making this kind of music? I've tried looking into it and there are just so many options and esoteric knowledge of synths and software required that's it seems hard to get started. I've bought several MIDI keyboards that all turned out to be junk and tried several DAWs that were very unintuitive, I'd like to know the best way for a beginner to get into it

playing_colours 7y ago
You can find quite a lot here https://www.lynda.com/Ableton-Live-training-tutorials/139-0.html https://www.lynda.com/Ableton-Live-training-tutorials/139-0.... The link is for Ableton, but you can find the courses for other DAWs there. I started with Ableton a few years ago, because it is widely used for electronic music production. Also, my employer provided 50% discount on Ableton products :) I’d like to also recommend this book https://www.amazon.de/Dance-Music-Manual-Rick-Snoman/dp/0415825644 https://www.amazon.de/Dance-Music-Manual-Rick-Snoman/dp/0415... if you are interested in theory.
firegrind 7y ago
Have a look at some of Tom Cosm’s tutorials, and Ableton.

joeyspn 7y ago

If anyone wants to check a really cool interactive guide of electronic music genres and their history check Ishkur’s Guide. It's old but still one of the best ones ever made. (You'll need to activate flash) http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ And here a more modern version with near 3k genres (although not as informative and visual): https://www.electronicbeats.net/the-feed/every-noise-at-once/ https://www.electronicbeats.net/the-feed/every-noise-at-once...

Avery3R 7y ago
A new version of ishkur's guide is coming soon, https://twitter.com/ishkur23 https://twitter.com/ishkur23 I've looked at every noise at once, but to be honest it seems terrible to me. Quantity over quality, some of the samples they chose, even for genres that aren't really obscure, are wildly off-base.

LifeLiverTransp 7y ago

https://soundcloud.com/mimicvat/mimic-vat-heavenoise-indriya https://soundcloud.com/mimicvat/mimic-vat-heavenoise-indriya https://soundcloud.com/hyperadmin https://soundcloud.com/hyperadmin

dakom 7y ago

At first I was thinking - why is this on the front page of HN? Then I remembered when I was heavy into the scene (~1999-2003) - so much overlap with tech, way ahead of its time!!! A few examples: * projection mapping onto surfaces like mountains in nature parties * zero-latency visuals synced to the music (and the cream of the crop demoscene type stuff) * custom synths written in max/msp or whatever * designer drugs, nootropics, "bio-hacking" * experimenting with inducing trance states with "brain machines" and certain repetitive frequencies and stuff. I really feel lucky that I got to experience all that, since I was kinda jealous from reading the Acid Test of what the hippies had and how they combined music with visuals and tech (like microphone feedback experiments)... we had much better toys :) There has got to be cool stuff happening these days... would be a bummer to learn that 20 years (WTF?! HOW?!?) hasn't seen much progress..

Animats 7y ago

It's the revenge of the nerds. Who needs those self-important people with guitars?

sharadov 7y ago

Goa Gil, Astral Projection, Juno reactor - good times! Saw them all live, Goa Gil did a 24 hr set in the Santa Cruz mountains, absolutely blew my mind!

mrintegrity 7y ago

My favorite place to listen to psytrance was philosomatika.com, shut down by the RIAA in 2010, it's now back as http://www.philosomatika.fm/ http://www.philosomatika.fm/

aznumeric 7y ago

I've listened to most of the projects mentioned here and have been listening to Psytrance since 2005 but nowadays I mostly listen to 90s and early 2000s Trance and I must say that I find it better in general than the Psytrance stuff. I'd like to mention some of the legendary tracks here: Quiteman - The Sleeper (Man With No Name Remix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjOcSatGkmo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjOcSatGkmo Li Kwan - Point Zero https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWIXkF_7JII https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWIXkF_7JII Electronic Arts - Need for Speed 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8CEJTPECxc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8CEJTPECxc Blue Planet Corporation - Crystal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYtw6j1AHUw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYtw6j1AHUw Odyssey Of Noise - Firedance (The Sunrise) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKPMZm2O8No https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKPMZm2O8No X-Cabs - Neuro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy-tKoIE9C0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy-tKoIE9C0

b__d 7y ago

If someone is looking for party dates, this is the go to address: https://www.goabase.net https://www.goabase.net (at least for the EU) :)