longloststar Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I constantly get the question, what psytrance is; and never have I succeeded in giving a satisfactory answer. Trance which is psychadelic; wait, say what now? Some people seem to think that the bassline in psy is the psychadelic element in the trance, which constitute psytrance. Let us assume this to be the case, that the particular bassline in psy, is what defines it. Two general questions come to my mind. (1) What is particular about the psy bassline? Is it its repetitive nature? But not all basslines in music which is clearly psytrance, is repetitive in any general manner, is it? Furthermore, (2) does the definition not seem restrictive in the sense that it excludes subgenré such as chillout and ambient. Am I perhaps wrong in thinking that these at all are contained within 'psytrance'? I once encountered the claim, that psytrance is defined by its ability to affect the mode one finds oneself under, when one is high. This does, however, beg the question, what is it with psytrance that enables this ability in the first place? These questions seem to me, as a relative beginner in the world of psy, difficult to answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen dream Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 tough one indeed i think for me the most important aspect of it is the melodic part, and in addition to that the atmospheric ambiance which should be lively and almost visually recreated. it depends on you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
filitico Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 judging what is psy trance based on a bassline is misleading. I think the term psy trance, at least in our circles has become way too broad. Basically, its anything that sounds trippy. Some hard techno and progressive house, has been called psy trance around this forum (I like those genres too, but wouldnt call it psy trance per se) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anoebis Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 the trance in trance music => the beat... The rhytm brings people into trance (see all ancient cultures) the psychedelic => all the melodies/effects/noises and/or atmospheres that makes the music go beyond your mind... and of course, trippy! the more you say about it, the harder it becomes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yerg Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Some of my "non-psy-fan" friends call Psy-Trance as Hard-Trance (well sometimes it's pretty hard i'd say) It always encourages me to explain a bit to them, and every time they get the point better and better - so it's a pretty broad term "Psy Trance". So many things are connected - i'd say it's not just music, it's also a way of partying with all the decorations around, the freaky people on the dancefloor and of course the SOUND itself - this whole builds PSY culture. The most important thing are special samples which are used in Psy-Trance music - not just bassline, but also the string-lines, the 303's (my favourite), nature sounds, the bongos and congas, and so many others. And of course don't forget where did it come from - the holy land of GOA to be continued... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insejn Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I have given up on trying to give a good explanation so I just say it's "bom bom bom with alot of strange noises and melodies". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai-Q Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Some of my "non-psy-fan" friends call Psy-Trance as Hard-Trance (well sometimes it's pretty hard i'd say) It always encourages me to explain a bit to them, and every time they get the point better and better - so it's a pretty broad term "Psy Trance". So many things are connected - i'd say it's not just music, it's also a way of partying with all the decorations around, the freaky people on the dancefloor and of course the SOUND itself - this whole builds PSY culture. The most important thing are special samples which are used in Psy-Trance music - not just bassline, but also the string-lines, the 303's (my favourite), nature sounds, the bongos and congas, and so many others. And of course don't forget where did it come from - the holy land of GOA to be continued... Hard-Trance is only faster as normal Trance and has often stronger kicks. Sounds for me like Rave Techno or sometimes like Happy Hardcore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai-Q Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Psy-Trance have more aggressive basslines, more acid tunes (not always) and more organic or natural sounds. They use many samples from movies, TV, or spiritual or ethnic sounds, for exsample some praying monks. But it exist also tracks without samples. Old Psy-Trance (Goa Trance) reminds me sometimes to EBM/Industrial. Ethnic instruments will also used, for exsample didgeridoos, bongos, congas, tabalas, sitars, shakuhachis and so on. The speed is between 130 - 150 BPM. Typical for psytrance is, it has many outdoor festivals/parties. I'm not a professional, but I think something is right. *g* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abasio Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Try explaining this to a Japanese that has no idea what you are talking about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longloststar Posted August 18, 2007 Author Share Posted August 18, 2007 To those who still are interested, here is some more on the subject. There is a philosophical concept called "family resemblance", which may justify that different elements fall under one concept ("psytrance"), even though there isn't a single property which they all share. It works like this; say we have three groups of items (1, 2 and 3) and each group consists of similar items. It may be the case that group 1 does not share a single property with group 3, while it does in fact share a property with group 2. Then, if group 2 in turn shares a property with group 3, we might say that a family concept applies to all three groups. The classic example here is "games"; you cannot find one property which each and every "game" has. The gist of it, I suppose, is that there can be many properties that are sufficient for the application of some concepts. If we apply this to psytrance, we get the following. Music that is called "psytrance" is interconnected in a complex way, such that it has at least one property of a group of special properties. Now, what these properties are is somewhat of different subject, but I think a lot of stuff can be put here, the basslines of full-on, the emotional effect of goa, a massive amount of crazy effects, or what ever seems fitting. Ultimately, I am sure, these properties are decided simply by the way we apply "psytrance" in our ordinary use of our language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffymushi Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 as long as it sounds alive it's psychedelic to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen dream Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 yeah, the main theme of Eight Finger Eddie and Goa Gil back in the day was 'anything goes', so as far you can really be concerned about it, 'anything goes' is the definition of goa/psytrance. basically dancing music! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oopie Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 This thread is pointless. Setting any limits to what psychedelic trance is or should be is just narrowing the possibilities. Only thing you should be conserned about is: if the music is good or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insejn Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 This thread is pointless. Setting any limits to what psychedelic trance is or should be is just narrowing the possibilities. Only thing you should be conserned about is: if the music is good or not? Your post is pointless. We know the 'good-bad' statement. Atleast let them try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oopie Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Your post is pointless. We know the 'good-bad' statement. Atleast let them try. Thanks! It might be my post was rudely shaped? But anyways, you weren't thinking again as you posted did you. The pointlessness of the topic could be easier to spot thru questions: will defining psytrance make it better? No. is it possible to give absolute terms to what a certain genre should sound like? No. As you cannot say anything absolute (other than that there's a bassline) all definitions are vague and therefore pointless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insejn Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Thanks! It might be my post was rudely shaped? But anyways, you weren't thinking again as you posted did you. The pointlessness of the topic could be easier to spot thru questions: will defining psytrance make it better? No. is it possible to give absolute terms to what a certain genre should sound like? No. As you cannot say anything absolute (other than that there's a bassline) all definitions are vague and therefore pointless. Mine was rude.... I'm sorry No. Why would it make psytrance sound better? Not sure what you mean here... No. But perhaps there is some fundamental way of describing it that would make more people understand what it is and give it a try. Nothing wrong with that ey? Describing music is fucking hard tho I think the topic was solely created to try come up with any good explanation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathPosture Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 50/50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin OOOD Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 "Pot of piss" Sorry, what was the question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verb Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 What is psytrance? isn't that a Koan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen dream Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 man, cocktail sauce with 5,3% whiskey in it, after 20 blocks of bacon in it, i started to feel dizzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reger Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 "Pot of piss" Sorry, what was the question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Psytrance is mostly shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malevol3nt Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 ^ ...these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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