Chillwave
Downtempo · 2009 · 90 to 115 BPM · also known as Glo-Fi, Hypnagogic Pop
The summer of 2009 blogosphere: bedroom pop veiled in reverb and VHS nostalgia, detuned synths, drowned vocals, memories of summers never lived. Washed Out, Neon Indian and Toro y Moi form its founding triangle. Mocked in its time as a microwave genre, chillwave won in the end: half of indie pop still sounds like it, and its washed-out palette became a permanent color in the wider genre.
16 reference tracks
- Washed Out: Feel It All Around (2009)
- Neon Indian: Deadbeat Summer (2009)
- Memory Tapes: Bicycle (2009)
- Toro y Moi: Blessa (2010)
- Neon Indian: Polish Girl (2011)
- Com Truise: Brokendate (2011)
- Toro y Moi: Ordinary Pleasure (2019)
- Washed Out: Too Late (2020)
- Lo Moon: Dream Never Dies (2021)
- FM Skyline: On The Promenade (2022)
- Washed Out: Amor Fati
- Washed Out: New Theory
- Washed Out: Belong
- Washed Out: Eyes Be Closed
- Washed Out: Soft
- Neon Indian: Change of Coast
At a glance
- Tempo: 90 to 115 BPM
- First appeared: around 2009
- Machines: Boîte à rythmes, Magnétophone à cassette
- The sound: Synthés désaccordés voilés, Réverbération et chorus épais, Boîtes à rythmes lo-fi, Cassette et VHS comme esthétique
- Labels: Carpark Records, Mexican Summer, Lefse Records, Weird World
- Key artists: Washed Out, Neon Indian, Toro y Moi, Memory Tapes, Com Truise (frange)
Producing Chillwave
Sit between 85 and 110 bpm with a slowed 1980s pop feel: chillwave is a proper song, verse and chorus, sung, with a straight drum machine groove, though the whole track wobbles because a cassette wow on the master bends pitch and time together. Build the drum machine from cheap, lo-fi sources, the simplest possible pattern, kick on 1 and 3, snare or clap on 2 and 4, a tambourine drowned in reverb, the whole kit low-passed. For bass, use a square filtered around 500Hz with chorus, playing 1980s pop lines, cut low since chillwave has little sub by nature. Layer detuned, chorused synths through a low-pass and reverb, a doubled, drowned vocal, slowed pop samples, and a chorused guitar, all run through simulated cassette hiss and saturation.
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 Chillwave?
The summer of 2009 blogosphere: bedroom pop veiled in reverb and VHS nostalgia, detuned synths, drowned vocals, memories of summers never lived. Washed Out, Neon Indian and Toro y Moi form its founding triangle. Mocked in its time as a microwave genre, chillwave won in the end: half of indie pop…
What tempo is Chillwave played at?
Between 90 and 115 BPM.
Who are the key Chillwave artists?
Washed Out, Neon Indian, Toro y Moi, Memory Tapes, Com Truise (frange).
