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psybass

Psybass

United States · 2010s
DreamyDancingChillEpicDark

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Description

Psybass (often written psy-bass) is a psychedelic bass-music style that blends the sound-design mentality of psytrance with the swagger and groove of modern bass genres. It typically runs at midtempo speeds, emphasizes hypnotic low-end movement, and layers kaleidoscopic textures over organic percussion and field recordings.

Expect intricately modulated basslines, trippy FX, and elastic halftime rhythms. The mood ranges from shamanic and ceremonial to futuristic and glitchy, with arrangements that breathe—swelling from spacious, downtempo passages into dense, polyrhythmic climaxes. Tonally, psybass leans on modal and drone-like harmonies (Dorian, Phrygian, pentatonic colors) and often incorporates timbres from world instruments and nature recordings, while maintaining an unmistakably electronic, high-fidelity sheen.


Sources: Spotify, Wikipedia, Discogs, RYM, MB, user feedback and other online sources

History

Origins (late 2000s–early 2010s)

Psybass emerged as psychedelic electronic artists and bass producers began to converge around midtempo grooves and high-detail sound design. Producers steeped in psytrance and psydub aesthetics brought hypnotic sequencing, evolving textures, and ritualistic atmospheres; bass-music artists contributed halftime drum language, heavy sub-focus, and glitch-informed edits. Festival cultures on the North American West Coast and beyond (with roots in psytrance, visionary art, and transformational gatherings) provided fertile ground for the hybrid to coalesce.

Consolidation and Growth (mid–late 2010s)

Through the 2010s, labels and collectives dedicated to experimental downtempo and psychedelic bass helped define the sound, favoring 85–110 BPM frameworks, halftime snares, and morphing LFO-driven bass design. The palette expanded: FM and wavetable resynthesis, granular and spectral techniques, intricate foley percussion, and spacious dub-inspired mixing became hallmarks. Live instrumentalists (strings, hand percussion, winds) increasingly collaborated with electronic producers, reinforcing a bio-organic meets cybernetic aesthetic.

Present Day

Today psybass is a recognized node in the wider bass ecosystem, adjacent to psydub, glitch hop, midtempo bass, and experimental downtempo. It thrives in club systems that reward articulate low end and on immersive stages that highlight textural depth. The style continues to absorb influences—from world traditions and ambient minimalism to IDM and modern sound-art—while maintaining its core identity: psychedelic narrative arcs built on groove-forward bass foundations.

How to make a track in this genre

Tempo, Groove, and Rhythm
•   Aim for 85–110 BPM. Halftime backbeats (snare/clap on beat 3) and swung/triplet inflections work well. •   Build grooves around syncopated sub patterns and ghost-note percussion. Use polyrhythms (e.g., 3:2, 5:4) to create a gently disorienting, rolling feel.
Sound Design and Bass Architecture
•   Craft evolving bass timbres using wavetable/FM synthesis plus serial modulation (LFOs into filters, phase, formants). Drive movement with macro controls that sweep multiple parameters. •   Layer sub (clean sine/triangle) beneath a mid-bass with harmonics and articulation (OTT, gentle saturation, transient shaping). Use glides/portamento and pitch modulation for elastic phrases. •   Introduce “psy” ear-candy: spectral whooshes, comb-filter sweeps, resonant bandpass motifs, ring-mod pings, and granular sparkles.
Harmony, Melody, and Texture
•   Favor modal centers (Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian) or pedal-tone drones. Keep harmony spacious so textural motion can shine. •   Use short, mantra-like motifs, call-and-response gestures, and evolving pads. Blend synthetic tones with acoustic sources (handpan, flutes, strings) for an organic–synthetic contrast.
Percussion and Foley
•   Combine tight electronic drums with recorded shakers, frame drums, clacks, and nature foley. Sidechain subtly to keep the sub breathing. •   Program microfills and glitch edits (stutters, reverses, tape-stop) to punctuate transitions without breaking the trance.
Arrangement and Space
•   Think in arcs: ceremonial intros → groove lock-in → textural bloom → bass feature → breakdown → resolved reprise. •   Use dubwise techniques (send delays, spring/plate reverbs, filtered feedback) and automate FX to make the mix feel alive.
Mixing and Mastering Tips
•   Prioritize sub clarity: low-pass sub to ~60–90 Hz; carve kick vs. bass with EQ and sidechain. •   Maintain headroom; psybass relies on transient articulation and dynamic swells rather than brickwalled loudness.
Aesthetic and Cultural Notes
•   If using world-instrument samples or spiritual/ritual elements, handle with respect and context. Collaborate where possible, credit sources, and avoid tokenism. •   Visualize movement and landscape: psybass benefits from narrative, synesthetic intent that listeners can journey through.

Best playlists

The Sound of Psybass
The Sound of Psybass
Every Noise at Once
Psybass
Psybass
Chosic
Psybass Mix
Psybass Mix
Spotify
Best of Psybass
Best of Psybass
volt.fm

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Related labels

Senoï Project
Senoï Project

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in this genre
Influenced by
Progressive Psytrance
Progressive psytrance is a subtler, groove-oriented branch of psychedelic trance that blends the hypnotic, psychedelic sound design of psytrance with the patient builds, long phrases, and evolving textures of progressive trance and house. Compared to full-on psytrance, it favors a tighter low-end, fewer layers, and incremental modulation over time. Tracks emphasize rolling basslines, crisp percussive grids, and spacious effects that gradually morph, creating a deep, immersive momentum suited to extended DJ sets and sunrise or daytime floors.
Dubstep
Dubstep is a bass‑centric electronic dance music genre that emerged in South London in the early 2000s. It is typically around 140 BPM and is defined by a half‑time rhythmic feel, sub‑heavy basslines, sparse yet impactful drums, and a strong emphasis on space, tension, and sound system weight. Hallmark traits include syncopated kick patterns, snares on the third beat of the bar, swung/shuffly hi‑hats inherited from UK garage, and modulated low‑frequency bass (“wobbles”) shaped with LFOs, filters, and distortion. Influences from dub reggae (echo, delay, and minimalism), jungle/drum & bass (bass science and sound system culture), and 2‑step garage (rhythmic swing and shuffles) are central. The style ranges from deep, meditative “dub” aesthetics (often called deep dubstep) to more aggressive, midrange‑driven variants that later informed brostep and festival bass. Atmosphere, negative space, and subwoofer translation are as important as melody or harmony.
Glitch Hop
Glitch hop blends the rhythmic foundations of hip hop with the sound-design ethos of glitch and IDM. It is characterized by half-time, head-nodding grooves, intricately edited drums, and meticulous digital processing such as stutter edits, bit-crushing, time-stretch artifacts, and granular slicing. Typically sitting around 80–110 BPM (often felt in half-time), the style emphasizes heavy, syncopated bass lines, swung percussion, and detailed micro-edits that create a "broken yet groovy" feel. While largely instrumental, it often incorporates vocal chops, turntable scratches, and foley textures to add human feel and narrative color.
Idm
IDM (often expanded as "Intelligent Dance Music") is a strand of experimental electronic music that applies the sound palette and production methods of club genres to listening-focused, often home-oriented works. It favors intricate rhythm programming, unusual time signatures, and richly textured sound design, blending ambient atmospheres with techno’s pulse, electro’s syncopation, and breakbeat’s fragmentation. The music often de-emphasizes the dancefloor in favor of headphone detail, algorithmic structure, and timbral exploration. The term itself is contentious—many artists rejected the "intelligent" label—yet it became a convenient tag for the early- to mid‑1990s cluster of Warp, Rephlex, and related scenes that foregrounded complexity, abstraction, and emotional ambiguity.
Downtempo
Downtempo is a mellow, groove-oriented branch of electronic music characterized by slower tempos, plush textures, and a focus on atmosphere over dancefloor intensity. Typical tempos range from about 60–110 BPM, with swung or laid-back rhythms, dub-informed basslines, and warm, jazz-tinged harmonies. Stylistically, it blends the spaciousness of ambient, the head-nodding rhythms of hip hop and breakbeat, and the cosmopolitan smoothness of lounge and acid jazz. Producers often use sampled drums, Rhodes or Wurlitzer electric pianos, guitar licks with delay, and field recordings to create intimate, cinematic soundscapes. The mood spans from soulful and romantic to introspective and dusk-lit, making it a staple of after-hours listening, cafes, and relaxed club back rooms.
Ambient
Ambient is a form of electronic and electroacoustic music that prioritizes tone, atmosphere, and texture over conventional song structures and rhythmic drive. It typically features slow-moving harmonies, sustained drones, gentle timbral shifts, and extensive use of space and silence. Rather than drawing attention to itself through hooks or beats, ambient is designed to be as ignorable as it is interesting, rewarding both background listening and focused immersion. Artists often employ synthesizers, samplers, tape loops, field recordings, and subtle acoustic instruments, with reverb and delay creating a sense of place. Substyles range from luminous, consonant soundscapes to darker, more dissonant atmospheres.
Psychedelic
Psychedelic is an umbrella term for music that seeks to evoke, emulate, or accompany altered states of consciousness through sound, arrangement, and studio technique. It emphasizes timbral color, drones, modal harmony, surreal or mystical lyrics, and immersive production, often using tape manipulation, extended effects, and non‑Western instruments (notably from Indian classical traditions). The result ranges from delicate, dreamlike textures to dense, kaleidoscopic soundscapes intended to expand perception and dissolve conventional song form.
Bass Music
Bass music is an umbrella category that emphasizes heavy, foregrounded low‑frequency content—whether a booming kick drum, a sub‑bassline, or both. It spans electronic dance music and hip hop lineages from the 1980s onward and is less about one fixed rhythm than about putting the bass spectrum at the center of the mix. Producers typically sculpt the bass using synthesizers, samplers, and drum machines—famously the Roland TR‑808—along with modern soft synths and sub‑enhancement tools. Because it is a broad label, bass music can range from half‑time hip hop swing to four‑on‑the‑floor house pulses and breakbeat frameworks, but in every case the arrangement, sound design, and mix are built to make the low end the driving force.
Has influenced
Midtempo Bass
Midtempo bass is an electronic music genre centered around slower, heavy grooves—typically 90–110 BPM—with a half‑time feel that makes the drums hit like bass music while retaining the drive of club styles. Its sound palette favors harsh, sawtooth or FM‑based leads, distorted reese basses, gritty textures, and tightly side‑chained low end. The mood is often dark, cinematic, and cyberpunk‑tinged, echoing the bite of EBM and new beat while borrowing modern sound‑design from dubstep and electro house. Producers use spacious breakdowns, ominous pads, and stuttering bass stabs to create tension, then release it with chunky, syncopated drops that stay dance‑floor friendly without resorting to high tempos.
Experimental Bass
Experimental bass is a left‑field branch of contemporary bass music that prioritizes sound design, unusual rhythms, and non‑standard song structures over traditional drops and formulas. Built on cavernous sub‑bass and halftime grooves, it pulls equally from dubstep’s low‑end weight, glitch hop’s cut‑up editing, and IDM’s exploratory mindset. Producers lean into resampling, granular and FM synthesis, spectral processing, and heavy use of space (silence, gating, and extreme dynamics) to craft ultra-detailed, often psychedelic textures. The result is bass music that feels tactile and three‑dimensional: lurching grooves, asymmetrical motifs, and cinematic soundscapes that reward close listening while still moving a dancefloor.
Psychedelic Hip Hop
Psychedelic hip hop is a subgenre of hip-hop that blends rap with psychedelic music aesthetics. It emphasizes altered, dreamlike, or surreal atmospheres through hazy production, unusual samples, and hypnotic repetition. Common sonic traits include swirling synths, tape-like saturation, phasing/flanging effects, chopped or time-stretched samples, and basslines that feel elastic or “warped.” Lyrically, it often leans toward introspection, abstract imagery, and mind-expansion themes rather than strictly narrative street reportage.
Organic Electronic
Organic electronic is a downtempo, groove‑driven branch of electronic music that blends acoustic and world instruments with modern production. Typically sitting around 100–115 BPM, it favors hand percussion, mallets, strings, winds, and field recordings over hard-edged drum machines. The result is a warm, tactile sound where shakers, frame drums, and ethnic instruments (such as oud, kora, saz, flutes, or kalimba) weave through gentle synth pads and understated basslines. Melodic language often leans on modal colors (Dorian, Phrygian, Mixolydian) and drone‑like sustains, creating a hypnotic, earthy atmosphere. Born from bohemian club culture and outdoor gatherings, the style emphasizes long, evolving arrangements, subtle crescendos, and humanized timing—music equally at home on intimate dancefloors, sunset sets, and mindful listening contexts.

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