Culture

The Musical Family of Psychedelic Trance: a Brief Introduction

The powerful positive effects of trance states in our brain are generally recognized by science, psychology, and spirituality, being at the roots of human culture worldwide.

Through hypnotic sounds and palpitating melodies, fast tempo, and high-pitched effects, Goa trance is the sub-genre of Trance music directly related to the original meaning of trance. Goa trance originated during the 1980s in Goa, India: exponents of the 1960s and 1970s counterculture, free-minded spirits, travellers and people looking for alternative ways of life found themselves on the wild Indian beaches, exploring the newborn sounds of electronic music.

Coming from psychedelic inspirations from the 1960s and 1970s rock music, passing through the first electronic touches of 1980s disco rhythms, Goa trance incorporated the spiritual drive of countercultures with the energy of the new explorations with technology. At the time, everything was done and mixed on DAT tapes: long tracks that allow progression from mid-song climaxes to soft breakdowns, full of uplifting melodies.

With the development of digital media, Goa trance evolved and generated various sub-genres, where the common ground remained the hypnotic and repetitive rhythm. 

Psychedelic trance music became the collective term used to describe a crowded family of genres, and a specific one, characterized by the energetic rhythm that ranges between 120 and 200 BPM. The term Goa trance remains in use, describing the particular genre of uplifting, melodic, and positive music. 

Diversification derived from different speeds, type of sounds, and emotional messages led to the creation of many subgenres, such as Full On, Progressive, Dark-Prog, Dark-Psy, Suomisaundi, Zenonesque, Psybient, Avant-Garde Psy, to name a few.

Explore and get inspired by the different waves of sound from Shankra Festival Soundcloud