What it sounds like
Chill electronic — sometimes called indie dance, downtempo electronic, or Bonobo-core — is the mid-tempo electronic music that lives between house and ambient. Producers like Bonobo, RJD2, Kiasmos, Tycho, and Nicolas Jaar built a sound that takes electronic production techniques and applies them at 100-115 BPM with a focus on cinematic atmosphere over dance-floor energy. The genre is headphone music for grown-ups — designed for listening, not for clubs.
A bar in and you’ve got it: a soft kick at 100-110 BPM (sometimes half-time so it feels like 50-55), lush chord pads in slow rotation, and detailed percussion that’s more about texture than rhythm. The bass is a warm sub following root motion. Often there’s a live instrument sample — strings, brass, vocal — to anchor the human element.
The chord moves
Chill electronic uses rich minor 9th and major 9th cycles in natural minor — slow chord changes (every 4 or 8 bars), wide voicings for stereo bloom, and frequent modal color tones (Lydian raised 4ths, Dorian raised 6ths) for that cinematic Bonobo color.
--chord minor9 --voicing wide --pattern pad and let the chord pad sustain while percussion details build.
The groove
4-on-the-floor or half-time at 95-115 BPM — the genre prefers slower tempos. The kick is soft — more thump than punch. Snare is rare; when present, it’s a soft brushed sample. Percussion details are the rhythmic interest — shakers, congas, processed hi-hats, found-sound percussion.
The bass plays slow sustained notes following chord roots. Filter movement across 16-bar phrases.
The sounds
- Chord pad: rich poly synth playing wide 9ths. Long attack, hall reverb. Sidechained gently.
- Bass: warm sub + mid-bass following chord roots. Slow sustained notes.
- Live instruments: sampled or recorded strings, brass, vocal phrases. Pitched and processed.
- Percussion: detailed layered percussion — shakers, conga, found-sound recordings, processed hi-hats.
- Atmospheres: field recordings, room ambience, vinyl crackle. The atmosphere is half the song.
Production tells
Want it modern? Cleaner mix, brighter live samples, more refined percussion processing. Modern Bonobo / Tycho is sharper than their 2000s output.
Want it 2002-RJD2-vintage? Sample-based rather than synth-based. Vinyl crackle on every layer. Tape saturator on the bus. Master quietly at -14 LUFS for dynamic range.
Am9 → Fmaj9 → Cmaj7 → G
Click to hear it.
Listen to
Three records that show the style at full strength. Read them as listening pointers, not templates to copy.
Cirrus
Bonobo
listen ↗
Ghostwriter
RJD2
listen ↗
Blurred
Kiasmos
listen ↗
Six recipes
Six ways to cook Chill electronic.
One starter recipe, three variations that each take the style in a different direction, one sectioned recipe, and one curated Live handoff recipe. Each one cooks from a Markdown recipe — edit it before the MIDI lands in your DAW.
Starter
Sunset Broken Chords
A warm chill-electronic starter with broken add9 chords, gentle bass roots, and a pentatonic motif.
Study: ODESZA, “A Moment Apart” (2017). Use the reference for sunset pacing, organic-electronic balance, and restrained melodic hooks, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chill_electronic/chill_electronic_sunset_broken_chords.mdVariation
Indie Bass Walk
A more songlike lane with pulsed eighth chords, walking-minor bass color, and a simple motif.
Study: Bonobo, “Cirrus” (2013). Use the reference for sunset pacing, organic-electronic balance, and restrained melodic hooks, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chill_electronic/chill_electronic_indie_bass_walk.mdVariation
Tactile Pluck Garden
A plucked alternate with slow pad support, pedal bass, and small call-response phrases.
Study: Tycho, “Awake” (2014). Use the reference for sunset pacing, organic-electronic balance, and restrained melodic hooks, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chill_electronic/chill_electronic_tactile_pluck_garden.mdVariation
Wide Pad Weather
A pad-first ambient-pop lane with cinematic swells, fifth drones, and sparse motif detail.
Study: Emancipator, “Soon It Will Be Cold Enough to Build Fires” (2006). Use the reference for sunset pacing, organic-electronic balance, and restrained melodic hooks, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chill_electronic/chill_electronic_wide_pad_weather.mdSectioned
Texture-First Song Sketch
A section-aware chill-electronic sketch that introduces texture, bass, and motif in patient layers.
Study: Tourist, “Your Girl” (2013). Use the reference for sunset pacing, organic-electronic balance, and restrained melodic hooks, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chill_electronic/chill_electronic_texture_first_song_sketch.mdLive handoff
Live Sunset Session
A Live chill-electronic session with editable section clips and licensed texture/instrument search prompts.
Study: Maribou State, “Turnmills” (2018). Use the reference for sunset pacing, organic-electronic balance, and restrained melodic hooks, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chill_electronic/chill_electronic_bridge_ready_sunset_session.mdOpen in Live or Download uses the local bridge on this Mac. Download MIDI works in any DAW.
Ready when you are
Cook a Chill electronic pack.
Drop this in your terminal and you'll have a Standard MIDI pack in a folder, ready to drag into Live. Edit anything, swap any sound, throw out what doesn't work.
python jamburgr.py --key "A minor" --style chill_electronic --progression i,VI,III,VII --pattern pad --output-mode pack --out ./jams/chill-electronic