Psychedelic Trance

Selmani Egrion Γ’ Γυμνασίου20ο Γυμνάσιο Μάρτιος 2014

The meaning of ‘’Psy’’

• Psychedelic trance, psytrance or just psy (derived from the Ancient Greek word ψυχή "psyche", mind; soul; breath; spirit) is a electronic music style characterized by hypnotic arrangements of synthetic rhythms and complex layered melodies created by high tempo riffs.It appeared in the mainstream in 1998 as with reporting of the trend of Goa trance. Psytrance lies at the hardcore, underground end of the diverse trance spectrum.The genre offers variety in terms of mood, tempo, and style. Some examples include full on, dark, progressive, suomi, psybreaks and psybient. Goa Trance continues to develop alongside the sub genres.

Root of the movement• The first hippies who arrived in Goa, India in the mid-1960s

were drawn there for many reasons, including the beaches, the low cost of living, the friendly locals, the Indian religious and spiritual practices and the readily available Indian hashish, which until the mid-1970s was legal.

• During the 1970s the first Goa DJs were generally playing psychedelic rock bands such as the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd and The Doors. In 1979 the beginnings of electronic dance music could occasionally be heard in Goa in the form of tracks by artists such as Kraftwerk but it wasn’t until 1983 that DJs Laurent and Fred Disko, closely followed by Goa Gil, began switching the Goa style over to electro-industrial/EBM which was now flooding out of Europe from Frontline Assembly, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb as well as Eurobeat.

• The tracks were remixed, removing the lyrics, looping the melodies and beats and generally manipulating the sounds in all manner of ways before the tracks were finally presented to the dancers as custom Goa-style mixes.

• The music played in the 80s was a blend of styles loosely defined as techno and various genres of computer music e.g.: high energy gay disco without vocals, acid house, electro, industrial gothic, electronic body music, exotic wacky styles of house, electronic/rock hybrids. The music arrived on tape cassettes by fanatic traveler collectors and DJs. It was shared (copied) tape to tape amongst Goa DJs, which was an underground scene, not driven by labels or music industry.The artists producing this 'special Goa music' had no idea that their music was being played on the beaches of Goa by cyber hippies. The first techno that was played in Goa was Kraftwerk in the late 70s on the tape of a visiting DJ. At the time, late 70s, the music played at the parties was live bands. Tapes were played in between sets. In the early 80s, sampling synth and midi music appeared globally and DJs became the preferred format in Goa. Two tape decks driving a party without a break, continuous music, continuous dancing. There had been resistance from the old school acid heads who were devout that only acid rock should be played at parties, but they soon relented and converted to the revolutionary wave of technodelia that took hold in the 80s.

• Cassette tapes were used by DJs until the 90s when DAT tapes were used. DJs playing in Goa during the 80s were Fred Disko, Dr Bobby, Stephano, Paulino, Mackie, Babu, Laurent, Ray, Fred, Antaro, Lui, Rolf, Tilo, Pauli, Rudi, Gil. The music was eclectic in style but nuanced around instrument/dub spacey versions of tracks that evoked mystical, cosmic, psychedelic, political, existential themes Special mixes were made by DJs in Goa which were the editing of various versions of a track to make it longer. This was taking the stretch mix concept to another level, trip music for journeying to outdoors.

• Trance dancing to mind expanding dance music on hallucinogens was the mantle of the Goa mantra. It was not a night club furnaced on alcohol. Hash and acid were the principal heighteners. It was an anarchistic alternative counter culture. DIY in psychedelic exploration driven by future rhythm machine music. Goa Trance as a music industry and collective party fashion tag did not gain global traction until '94. By '90 '91 Goa had become a hot destination for partying and was no longer under the radar, the scene grew bigger.

• Goa style parties spread like a “diaspora” all over the world from '93 and a multitude of labels in various countries (U.K. Australia, Japan, Germany) dedicated themselves to promoting psychedelic electronic music that reflected the ethos of Goa parties and Goa music and Goa specific artists and producers and DJs. The golden age of the first wave of Goa Psy Trance as a generally agreed upon (genre) aesthetic was between '94-'97

Development• By 1992 the Goa trance scene had a pulse of its own, though the term 'Goa

trance' didn’t become the name tag of the genre until around 1994.The Goa trance sound, which by the late 1990s was being used interchangeably with the term psychedelic trance, retained its popularity at outdoor raves and festivals rather than in nightclubs. New artists were appearing from all over the world and it was in this year that the first Goa trance festivals began, including the Gaia Festival in France and the still-running VuuV festival in Germany.

• In 1993 the first 100% Goa trance album was released, Project 2 Trance, featuring tracks by Man With No Name and Hallucinogen to name two.Goa trance enjoyed its commercial peak between 1996 and 1997 with media attention and some recognised names in the DJ scene joining the movement.This hype did not last long and once the attention had died down so did the music sales, resulting in the failure of record labels, promotion networks and also some artists. This ‘commercial death of Goa trance’ was marked musically by Matsuri Productions in 1997 with the release of the compilation Let it RIP.

• While the genre may have been incubated in the goa trance scene it went on to proliferate globally.[Its impact was felt in western Europe, Israel, North America, Australia, Japan and South Africa.Psytrance is linked to other post-ecstacy music genres such as big beat, electroclash, grime and 2-step.The genre evolved in conjunction with a multimedia psychedelic arts scene.

Style• Many consider the difference between goa trance and psychedelic trance are

minimal at best and really just a matter of opinion. Psychedelic trance is distinguished from other sub-genres because of the unique sounds it typically features.Psychedelic trance has a distinctive, energetic sound (generally between 140 and 150 BPM) that tends to be faster than other forms of trance or techno music.It uses a very distinctive resonated bass beat that pounds constantly throughout the song and overlays the bass with varying rhythms drawn from funk, techno, dance, acid house, eurodance and trance using drums and other instruments. The different leads, rhythms and beats generally change every 8 bars. Layering is used to great effect in psychedelic trance, with new musical ideas being added at regular intervals, often every 4 to 8 bars. New layers will continue to be added until a climax is reached, and then the song will break down and start a new rhythmic pattern over the constant bass line. Psychedelic trance tracks tend to be 6–10 minutes long.Psychedelic trance makes heavy use of the cutoff frequency control of the modulating filter on the synthesizer. Reverb and delay are used heavily, with large, open sounding reverb present on most of the lead synthesizers in the track. The Roland TB-303 (acid) sequencer, Juno 106 and Roland SH-101 are heavily used and sampled in psychedelic trance, usually processed through a distortion effect.

Related sub-genres• In 1996, the music had changed so much from its Goa beginnings

that the term Goa trance no longer seemed suitable, and the new term of psychedelic trance, or psytrance for short, was coined to refer to this new style of music. The multi-layered melodies of Goa trance were stripped away, and a darker and more repetitive form of music concentrating on rhythm and groove appeared.

• In 2002, melodies became popular again, heralding the beginning of full-on psytrance.

• Currently, there are many sub-genres within the psytrance sceneincluding ambient psy (psybient), minimal/progressive psy, morning psy, full-on psy, and dark psy. There has recently been a movement attempting to ‘return to the source’ and bring back the original Goa trance sound. Examples include Metapsychic Records (2006 - December 2007) and Suntrip Records. These labels are dedicated to reviving the roots of the scene, and promoting artists trying to recapture the original feeling of the music.

Underground

• In the early days of psychedelic trance scene a side project was established by the pioneers who produced special tracks intended to be exclusively played at chosen parties around the world.The sound of this incognito movement reportedly contains high levels of intense and full power, twisted structures of patterns which has a far richer quality and entirely difference in style when compared with the standard commercial releases. The tracks were shared exclusively among similar-minded acts and to a very few number of DJs and was impossible to obtain by people outside that `inner circle´ which has generated the development of the new and wholly different genres dark/forest in 2004 by mainly former audiences.

Psy breaks

• Psybreaks or psychedelic breakbeat is a form of psychedelic trance originating in the late 1990s, splicing breakbeat basslines and rhythms into otherwise heavily psytrance-influenced tracks. At times there is a fine line of a difference between Nu skool breaks and Psy breaks, but usually you can distinguish the difference depending on the synth lines. Psy breaks tracks would be closer to Goa and Psy trance with 16th note arppegiated synths and or bass line driven tracks with lots of sound effects. Where as many Nu skool breaks tracks use the same elements but a different way and tends to use distorted heavy basslines with lots of glitch edits. Another noticeable difference between the two is Nu skool is more club driven in the sense of upbeat and rowdy as opposed to Psy breaks which leans more towards dark and mysterious.

Full on

• Full on is psychedelic trance that originated in Israel during the late 1990s. The expression “full on” is taken from the first out of a seven compilation albums series and the first album ever to be released under Hom-mega Productions in 1998, titled Full On, which comes from English slang. Other sources say it comes from the "Full" "moon" festival's name, whilst others argue that it is derived from a phrase widely used to describe particularly high-energy music ("That tune is really full-on!"). Full On is with out a doubt the most popular form of Psychedelic Trance. Owing to big basslines, catchy hooks and some borderline commercial and pop elements this style has the most mass market appeal.

• The most easily recognizable elements of full-on psy-trance are the so-called "rolling" bassline, which crams two or three short bass notes in between each hit of the 4/4 drum, the fast changes in music sequences (max 32 beat for sequence), and a more energetic melodic/uplifiting nature. Often heard in clubs or during the nighttime hours at festivals it is popular in Israel, Brazil, Goa, Florida, Victoria and the United Kingdom. Some big names of Full On style on nowadays:Talamasca, Alien Project, Azax Syndrom, Bizzare Contact, Bliss, Bubble, Gataka, XSI, Sesto Sento, Spectro Senses, Ananda Shake, Quality Sound, Solstice, Freaked Frequency, Atomic Pulse, Faders, Digital Tribe, Liquid Sound,Ohm Project ,Burn in Noise ,Vibe Tribe and System Nipel.

Dark

• Dark psytrance (neuro, dark psy, forest trance) is a darker, moodier and faster form of psychedelic trance music. With tempo ranges generally from 145 to 200 BPM. Originating in Denmark, Russia and Germany, the style has developed a loyal following over the years. Becoming popular in 2004, it has continued to grow. Dark psytrance is a popular variation and can include melodies from morning trance, though these tend to be more haunting than uplifting. 'Forest Trance' is a style within the dark sub genre that inspires and creates a "forest" like mood. Mainly produced in Denmark, this type of trance is popular at outdoor events. The 'Neuro' style is more abstracted and experimental, less reliant on melodic musical aspects and formulas. The speed of the music and the experimental nature it embraces makes it more appealing to a younger crowd. Owing to its non-conformist approach to the normal conventions of trance, this style is almost considered to have a "punk rock" element to it. Many rookie trance producers learn techniques in this medium as creativity is emphasized over technique. Some examples of Dark Psy Labels; Parvati Records (Denmark), Lost Theory Records (Belgium), Insomnia Records (Russia)

Suomisaundi or freeform psytrance

• This is the "freeform" variation of psytrance where the artist has almost no limits but still bear a specific "Finnish" style (which is also produced in other countries but the originating Suomi designation is in wide use)

Festivals

• Large psytrance festivals are both culturally and musically diverse. They have attracted a following amongst international backpackers. Earthdance, the world's largest synchronized music and dance festival for peace, has its roots in the psychedelic trance scene. In Australia, Earthcore occurred between 1992 and 2008 and predominately featured psytrance. Rainbow Serpent Festival, Maitreya Festival, and Yemaya Festival are by far are the most popular ones and held in Victoria.

• The Boom Festival in Portugal was originally a psytrance festival but now includes world music. It is held every second year in August and combines social activism with cultural and spiritual elements.In 2004, the Glastonbury Festival dedicated a full day on the Glade stage to psytrance.

• South Africa has numerous psytrance festivals.[The favourable weather and beautiful landscape have made it part of a number of global destinations for the party traveller.

• See also: Freetekno• There are two well-known recurring psytrance festivals in the USA:

Chilluminati's Sacred Earth Open-Air Festival and T.O.U.C.H. Samadhi's Equinox.

Sub-cultural research

• In 2006 research was conducted on the global psytrance scene. 600 people from 40 countries provided detailed information via an online questionnaire.[The results were published as "Beyond Subculture and Post-subculture? The Case of Virtual Psytrance" in the Journal of Youth Studies.

• In 2013 Graham St. John published Global Tribe: Technology, Spirituality and Psytrance on Equinox Publishing.

Notable albums

• The Mystery of the Yeti, a downtempo concept album released in 1996 by Raja Ram.

• Radio by X-Dream was a 1998 album reflecting the change away from the Goa sound.

• Another World was released in 1999 by Astral Projection, featuring fast, long tracks with complex sounds.

Psychedelic Trance Artists• U-recken (Ισραήλ)• Infected Mushroom (Ισραήλ),• Astral Projection (Ισραήλ),• Indra (Ισραήλ)• Electric Universe (Γερμανία),• Alien Project (Ισραήλ),• Skazi (Ισραήλ),• Astrix (Ισραήλ),• GMS (Ολλανδία),• Wizzy Noise (Ελλάδα),• Pause (Ελλάδα)• Ion Ελλάδα)• Talamasca (Γαλλία)• Eskimo (Αγγλία),• Tristan (Αγγλία)• Kindzadza (Ρωσία)• Hypernova (Ελλάδα)

Drugs• A psychedelic substance is a psychoactive drug whose primary action is to alter

cognition and perception. Psychedelics are part of a wider class of psychoactive drugs known as hallucinogens, a class that also includes structurally unrelated substances such as dissociatives and deliriants. Unlike other drugs such as stimulants and opioids which induce familiar states of consciousness, psychedelics tend to affect and explore the mind in ways that result in the experience being qualitatively different from those of ordinary consciousness. The psychedelic experience is often compared to non-ordinary forms of consciousness such as trance, meditation, yoga, religious ecstasy, dreaming and even near-death experiences. With a few exceptions, most psychedelic drugs fall into one of the three following families of chemical compounds; tryptamines [more specifically: alkylated tryptamines], phenethylamines [more specifically: alkoxylated phenethylamines], and lysergamides.

• Many psychedelic drugs worldwide are illegal unless used in a medical context, such as psychedelic therapy or medical cannabis. Despite these regulations, recreational use of psychedelics is common.

Origin of term

• The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή (psyche, "soul, mind") and δηλείν (delein, "to manifest"), hence "soul-manifesting", the implication being that psychedelics can access the soul and develop unused potentials of the human mind.[1] The word was coined in 1957 by British psychiatrist, Humphrey Osmond, the spelling loathed by American ethnobotanist, Richard Schultes, but championed by the American psychologist, Timothy Leary.[2]

• Aldous Huxley had suggested to Humphrey Osmond in 1957 his own coinage phanerothymic (Greek "phanero-" visible + Greek "thymic" spiritual, thus "visible spirituality"). Recently, the term entheogenic has come into use to denote the use of psychedelic drugs in a non-recreational context.

General psychological effects

• First, sensory perceptions become especially brilliant and intense. Normally unnoticed aspects of the environment capture the attention; ordinary objects are seen as if for the first time and acquire new depths of significance. Esthetic responses are greatly heightened: colors seem more intense, textures richer, contours sharpened, music more emotionally profound, the spatial arrangements of objects more meaningful. People may feel keener awareness of their bodies or sense changes in the appearance and feeling of body parts. Depth perception is often heightened and perspective distorted; inanimate objects take on expressions, and synesthesia (hearing colors, seeing sounds, etc.) is common. Time may seem to slow down enormously as more and more passing events claim the attention, or it may stop entirely, giving place to an eternal present. When the eyes are closed, fantastically vivid images appear: first geometrical forms and then landscapes, buildings, animate beings, and symbolic objects. The emotional effects are even more profound than the perceptual ones. The drug taker becomes unusually sensitive to faces, gestures, and small changes in the environment. As everything in the field of consciousness assumes unusual importance, feelings become magnified; love, gratitude, joy, sympathy, lust, anger, pain, terror, despair, or loneliness may become overwhelming, or two seemingly incompatible feelings may be experienced at once. It is possible to feel either unusual openness and closeness to others or exaggerated distance that makes them seem like grotesque puppets or robots. The extraordinary sensations and feelings may bring on fear of losing control, paranoia, and panic, or they may cause euphoria and bliss. Short-term memory is usually impaired, but forgotten incidents from the remote past may be released from the unconscious and relived. Introspective reflection with a sense of deep, sometimes painful insight into oneself or the nature of humanity and the universe is common; often the experience seems somehow more real or more essential than everyday life. There are also profound changes in the sense of self: the ego may separate from the body (dissociation), or the boundary between self and environment may dissolve. At deeper levels, drug users may regress to childhood as they relive their memories, or they may project themselves into the series of dreamlike images before their closed eyelids and become the protagonists of symbolic dramas enacted for the mind's eye. Actions, persons, and images in this dream-world or even in the external world may become so intensely significant and metaphorically representative that they take on the character of symbols, myths, and allegories. Loss of self may be experienced as an actual death and rebirth, undergone with anguish and joy of overwhelming intensity. In some cases the culmination is a mystical ecstasy in which for an eternal moment all contradictions seem reconciled, all questions answered, all wants irrelevant or satisfied, all existence encompassed by an experience that is felt to define the ultimate reality, boundless, timeless, and ineffable. Some of these effects are more common than others, but none is guaranteed to occur. Many recreational users have probably never experienced the more profound and extraordinary effects, which are usually produced by larger doses, closed eyes, and deep introspection. At any dose, a great deal depends on the time, the place, and the persons involved. Each drug experience is a unique journey of exploration into the mind.

Traditional use

• Psychedelics have a long history of traditional use in medicine and religion, where they are prized for their perceived ability to promote physical and mental healing. In this context, they are often known as entheogens. Native American practitioners using mescaline-containing cacti (most notably peyote, San Pedro, and Peruvian torch) have reported success against alcoholism, and Mazatec practitioners routinely use psilocybin mushrooms for divination and healing. Ayahuasca, which contains the powerful psychedelic DMT, is used in Peru and other parts of South America for spiritual and physical healing as well as in religious festivals.

Examples

• Classical or serotonergic psychedelics (agonists for the 5-HT2A

serotonin receptors) include LSD (also known as "acid"), psilocin (the active constituent of psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as "magic mushrooms" or "shrooms"), mescaline (the active constituent of peyote), and DMT (the active constituent of ayahuasca and potentially an endogenous psychedelic compound). Salvia divinorum is an atypical psychedelic that has been gaining popularity over the past decade, due to its legality in many US states. It is often compared to DMT due to its short and very intense trip. A few newer synthetics such as MDMA and 2C-B have also enjoyed some popularity. Cannabis is one of the most widely used psychoactive drugs in the world.

Pharmacological classes and effects

Serotonergic or classical psychedelics (5-HT2A receptor agonists)

• This class of psychedelics includes the classical hallucinogens, including the lysergamides like LSD and LSA, tryptamines like psilocybin and DMT, and phenethylamines like mescaline and 2C-B. Many of these psychedelics cause remarkably similar effects, despite their different chemical structure. However, many users report that the three families have subjectively different qualities in the "feel" of the experience, which are difficult to describe. At lower doses, these include sensory alterations, such as the warping of surfaces, shape suggestibility, and color variations. Users often report intense colors that they have not previously experienced, and repetitive geometric shapes are common. Higher doses often cause intense and fundamental alterations of sensory perception, such as synesthesia or the experience of additional spatial or temporal dimensions.[4] Some compounds, such as 2C-B, have extremely tight "dose curves", meaning the difference between a non-event and an overwhelming disconnection from reality can be very slight. There can be very substantial differences between the drugs, however. For instance, 5-MeO-DMT rarely produces the visual effects typical of other psychedelics and ibogaine (a 'complex tryptamine') is also an NMDA receptor antagonist and κ-opioid receptor agonist in addition to being an agonist for the 5-HT2A receptors, resulting in dissociative effects as well (see dissociatives below).

Empathogen-entactogens (serotonin releasers)

• The empathogen-entactogens are phenethylamines of the MDxx class such as MDMA, MDEA, and MDA. Their effects are characterized by feelings of openness, euphoria, empathy, love, heightened self-awareness, and by mild audio and visual distortions (an overall enhancement of sensory experience is often reported). Their adoption by the rave subculture is probably due to the enhancement of the overall social and musical experience. MDA is atypical to this experience, often causing hallucinations and psychedelic effects in equal profundity to the chemicals in the 5-HT2A agonist category, but with substantially less mental involvement, and is possibly both a serotonin releaser and 5-HT2A receptor agonist.[

Cannabinoids (CB-1 cannabinoid receptor agonists)

• The cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and related compounds are capable of activating the brain's endocannabinoid system. Some effects may include a general change in consciousness, mild euphoria, feelings of general well-being, relaxation or stress reduction, enhanced recollection of episodic memory, hunger, increased sensuality, increased awareness of sensation, creative or philosophical thinking, disruption of linear memory, paranoia, agitation, anxiety, potentiation of other psychedelics, and increased awareness of sound, patterns, and color.

Dissociatives (NMDA antagonists)

• Certain dissociative drugs acting via NMDA antagonism are known to produce what some might consider psychedelic effects. The main differences between dissociative psychedelics and serotonergic hallucinogens are that the dissociatives cause more intense derealization and depersonalization. For example, ketamine produces sensations of being disconnected from one's body and that the surrounding environment is unreal, as well as perceptual alterations seen with other psychedelics

Other

• Salvia divinorum is a dissociative that is sometimes classified as an atypical psychedelic. The active molecule in the plant, salvinorin A, is a kappa opioid receptor agonist, working on a part of the brain that deals with pain. Activation of this receptor is also linked to the dysphoria sometimes experienced by users of opiates either therapeutically or recreationally. An unusual feature of S. divinorum is its high potency (dosage is in the microgram range) and extremely disorienting effects, which often include "entity contact", complete loss of reality-perception and user's experiencing their consciousness as being housed in different objects e.g. a pane of glass or a pencil. It is also unusual as it is a terpenoid like THC as opposed to an alkaloid like the comparably intense serotonergic psychedelics and NMDA receptor antagonists mentioned above.

Psychedelic illusions

Links

• Photos : https://www.google.gr/search?q=psychedelic+illusions&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=yZghU7XJAYHB7Ab6_IDYBw&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=887

Informations : http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_Trance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_drug

Selmani Egrion Γ’3 Μάρτιος 2014

20ο Γυμνάσιο