Psybreaks
Breaks · 2008 · 130 to 140 BPM · also known as Psy Breaks, Psychedelic Breaks
Psybreaks applies the sound design of psytrance to breakbeats: precise, shifting basslines and psychedelic textures running around 135 to 140 beats per minute. Hedflux gave the style its clearest form in the late 2000s, sitting between the English breaks scene and the psychedelic festival circuit. It is a narrow but real zone that shows the two cultures share more than people tend to assume.
6 reference tracks
- Hedflux: Nonstop (2008)
- Neurodriver: Sidewinder (2009)
- Abdomen Burst: Epinephrine (Hedflux Remix) (2009)
- Colombo: Bombafunk (2011)
- Hedflux: Sacral (2011)
- Hedflux & Neurodriver: Energy Vibration (2009)
At a glance
- Tempo: 130 to 140 BPM
- First appeared: around 2008
- Machines: Ableton Live, Xfer Serum, Akai S3000
- The sound: Basses neuro-psy modulées, Breaks propres, FX psychédéliques, Production surchirurgicale
- Labels: Broken Robot Recordings, VIM
- Key artists: Hedflux, Colombo, Rektchordz, Bad Tango
Producing Psybreaks
Psybreaks runs 135 to 140 BPM, a touch faster than nu skool, with a precise, rolling feel: the break stays clean with no swing while the bass follows a continuous sixteenth note pulse. The break uses short, precise sounds, kick on beat one and the upbeat of two, a very dry snare on two and four, closed hats in alternating velocity sixteenths, and synthetic percussion, clicks, blips, pitched rimshots, following a triplet motif every other bar. The real center is the bass, a Serum saw or wavetable through a fast, resonant lowpass filter playing very short sixteenth notes on the root that roll continuously and rest where the kick lands. Classic psytrance effects, long feedback delays, synced phasers, resonant squelches and panning sweeps, finish the psychedelic texture in a production kept surgically clean.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Psybreaks?
Psybreaks applies the sound design of psytrance to breakbeats: precise, shifting basslines and psychedelic textures running around 135 to 140 beats per minute. Hedflux gave the style its clearest form in the late 2000s, sitting between the English breaks scene and the psychedelic festival circuit.…
What tempo is Psybreaks played at?
Between 130 and 140 BPM.
Who are the key Psybreaks artists?
Hedflux, Colombo, Rektchordz, Bad Tango.
