Johnny Hassle - Dreadstar (reggae + psytrance!)

My latest and greatest. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a track quite like this before, which is always a fun thing to be able to say, no?

Kit:

Octatrack mkII + Boss Space Echo (vocal and FX samples, master compressor, MIDI hub)
Digitakt (drums)
Analog Four mkII (synth stabs)
Dreadbox Nyx + Boss Digital Delay pedal (ambient washes)
Moog Minitaur (bassline)

Hope you guys enjoy!

2 Likes

Well then, i haven´t listened to psytrance for years and years now and i was never a big fan but still went to a lot of parties large and small and this sounds like a track that would play nice on VOOV for instance. At least when i went there. A summer track!
Overall it sounds great, really dig the dubby reggae sounds. Only thing i can think about is the vocals, the female i like not so much, the male is great but i stop to think if the sample feels out of context or sync somewhat - but then in the end it sums up nicely and it all fits into place. Well done sir!

Are you familiar with Zion Train - if not, you’d probably like them as they have a similar mood:

Nice track by the way!

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yeah the male vocal is definitely (intentionally I think) rapping “behind the beat” a beat a bit, which causes an interesting disconnect at first but strangely worked for me.

To be clear I’m not a huge fan of full-on psytrance - it can be fun for about 10-15 min but then it’s pretty exhausting to listen to lol. This track was sort of a happy accident. Sometimes things work out that way, thanks for the props

1 Like

Nice!
Did you record mantra?
I also have some sketch

Definitely agreed. Dub, on the other hand, is there to be listened to for hours.

I did not record the mantra. All samples are from cleared sample packs believe it or not. You really have to dig to find the good stuff. Got to work within the available resources :wink:

I will check out your clip tonight, at work now with a crap internet connection

or record your own samples. In my track I made record myself)

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Yes I could have found a great Hindi mantra singer and two legendary Jamaican rappers and invited them to my spare bedroom to drop some vocals. I’ll do that next time :wink:

EDIT: sorry for the snark, of course I’d prefer to record them live, but you have to work with the resources you have…