Full-On

What it is

The Israeli studios worked something out around 2000: a psytrance track with an actual melody in the second half sold considerably better than one without. Full-on is the result. Skazi, Astrix, GMS and later Vini Vici are the names. The change from the psytrance template is mostly a matter of what happens above 500Hz: a big supersaw lead, a real chord progression under it, and an arrangement with a recognisable drop in it. The drums moved too. The open hat came off the sixteenth before the kick and went back onto the offbeat, a snare turned up on the and of 2 and the and of 4, and the whole thing acquired a build and a snare roll that a Goa record would never have had. Purists call it commercial, which it is, and it has filled more festival fields than the rest of this branch put together.

What it sounds like

Enormous. A supersaw lead with seven detuned voices and a chorus over the top of it, sitting on a chord progression that a euphoric trance producer would recognise immediately. Under that, the same rolling kick and bass as psytrance but with more midrange in the bass so it reads on small speakers. The top end is a wash: a ride cymbal on the quarters, open hats on every offbeat, closed hats filling the beat and the e. Snare rolls announce every section change, and there is nearly always a vocal sample somewhere saying something about the universe.

Key elements

• The supersaw leadSeven detuned sawtooth voices, unison spread wide, playing a melody with a real contour. It arrives after the first breakdown and it is the reason the track exists.
• Snare on the offbeatA dry snare on the and of 2 and the and of 4, sitting between the kick and the open hat. Psytrance leaves those two steps to the hats alone.
• Ride on the quartersA quiet ride under the kick, giving the top end a continuous wash rather than a series of separate events to count.
• A four hit snare rollSixteenths across the last beat of the phrase, climbing about forty five velocity points. Every section change in the arrangement is announced this way.
• A chord progressionFour chords over eight bars, which is four more than most psytrance has. It is the whole difference in how the music feels from bar to bar.

How to get them

• LeadSeven saws detuned across about 40 cents, unison spread at 80 percent, a chorus after the filter, a hall at 20 percent wet. High-pass it at 300Hz so it does not fight the bass.
• BassThe same rolling sixteenths as psytrance but with a second layer an octave up, distorted lightly, so the line still exists on a phone speaker.
• SnareLayer a dry acoustic snare with a short noise burst, tuned high, and put no reverb on the offbeat hits. Give the roll a slightly longer tail so it separates from the groove.
• RideQuiet, on the quarter notes, high-passed at 800Hz and at least twelve decibels under the open hats. It should register as air rather than as a cymbal being struck.
• The rollFour sixteenth snares across beat 4 at 56, 70, 84 and 102, with the open hat and the ride taken off that beat entirely so the roll has somewhere to sit.
• Build for eight barsWhite noise rising, a low-pass opening across the drums, and the kick removed for the last two bars. The drop is the point of the record and it needs a runway.

Reference points

Skazi, Astrix, GMS, Vini Vici, Ace Ventura, and the Hommega and Phonokol catalogues. Named as reference points for the sound, not as endorsements.