Chillsynth (music genre)
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| Chillsynth | |
|---|---|
| Other names | lo-fi synthwave |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Typical instruments | synthesizer, sampler |
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Chillsynth (also known as Lo-Fi Synthwave) is an electronic music micro genre that emerged in 2014. It is characterized by a slow tempo and lush sound design with a lot of effects processing such as reverb or delay.
The genesis of this musical genre can be traced back to the release of electronic music artist HOME's debut album, titled Odyssey. Among its tracks, one in particular, Resonance, quickly gained widespread recognition, owing in part to its feature on the YouTube channel Electronic Gems. The song inspired a new wave of artists and eventually started a new sub-genre.
Characteristics[edit]
Although heavily inspired by Chillwave, some distinctions have to be made in regard to musical style. While Chillwave primarily focuses on dreamy lyrics and synthesized sounds, the use of guitars and other instruments commonly seen in Hypnagogic pop, as well as heavy use of reverb for sound processing. Chillsynth generally omits lyrics and puts emphasis on a more upbeat, yet slow to mid-tempo atmosphere with its simple drum rhythms and bass lines.
Reverb and other creative post-processing effects are frequently used. However, Chillsynth makes more use of delay and less reverb (as commonly seen with Chillwave). Furthermore, Chillsynth regularly features simple, synthesized drum samples (e.g. samples from the LinnDrum) and filtered saw wave stabs following a steady, minimalist rhythm.
Chillsynth is often called Lo-Fi Synthwave due to its general resemblance to Synthwave. Especially with its Four on the floor (music) drum rhythms, bass, and the predominant use of synthesized sounds modeled after vintage synthesizers. Yet, what puts Chillsynth from Synthwave apart is the generally slower BPM and Lo-Fi, atmospheric quality.
As of recent, famous artists from within the Chillsynth micro-genre have begun experimenting with acoustic instruments and more complex drum rhythms. This has led the community to call music in the previously described style "classic" Chillsynth. Nevertheless, contemporary Chillsynth artists still incorporate the original style aspects in their music and still derive their inspiration from older Chillsynth music releases. Some of which date back to the genre's inception.
Origin[edit]
On July 1st, 2014, the rather unknown artist HOME released his first album Odyssey through the recording label Midwest Collective. While all songs within that album share the characteristics commonly associated with Chillsynth (especially "classic" Chillsynth), it was the song Resonance that piqued public interest and kicked off the inception of Chillsynth as a music micro-genre. Especially after being featured on the YouTube channel Electronic Gems. A music-centered YouTube channel that commonly features songs from Chillsynth artists.
After Resonance began gaining millions of views, various artists - most of whom were pretty unknown - began copying HOME's musical style or at least taking direct inspiration from him. These artists shared their music through online platforms such as Bandcamp, Soundcloud and Youtube. Many of whom ended up being featured on the Electronic Gems YouTube channel.
Following HOME's spreading recognition, artists such as Hotel Pools, A.L.I.S.O.N and Voyage (who all began making music in the Chillsynth genre very early on) quickly gained reputation and together with HOME, created the first collection of Chillsynth artists that are now considered influential within the genre's community. Other notable artists who began making music in the style of Chillsynth or even began as projects within that genre are: Emil Rottmayer, Krosia, ADMO, FRM, De Lorra and 憂鬱.
Popularity[edit]
Chillsynth can be still considered a niche music genre, even though its inception began with a song that has gained millions of listeners even to this day. However, unlike Chillwave which lost most of its active community members around 2011 (shortly after the genre reached its peak popularity in 2010), Chillsynth continues to gain popularity through social media platforms such as YouTube and once-in-a-while publicity stunts such as the recently released, official Lo-Fi Minecraft Music playlist (created by the chillsynth artist Monolism).
While a lot of the influential artists from the genre's early days have already moved on to different styles, many new and unknown artists and music projects continue to join the Chillsynth community and expand its history. Most of the community gathers on the official Chillsynth Discord Server which has become an important virtual meet-up place for fans and artists alike.
Most notable artists[edit]
The list of known artists performing Chillsynth include: HOME, A.L.I.S.O.N, Voyage, Forhill, Hotel Pools, Emil Rottmayer, VIQ, Krosia, MEGAS, Hello Meteor, Monolism
External links[edit]
- Chillsynth on Bandcamp
- ReverbMachine Sound design tutorials by one of the most popular artist in the genre
- Meet the Latest Synth Micro Genre: ChillSynth
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