Chillwave

What it tastes like

Chillwave was a 2009-2011 blog-era microgenre — Washed Out, Neon Indian, Toro y Moi, Memory Tapes — coined by a music blog and immediately adopted as a label for bedroom-produced electronic music that sounded like half-remembered 80s pop heard through a hot summer window. The aesthetic was intentional fuzz — saturated bass, hissy hi-hats, vocal samples buried in reverb, chord pads pre-EQ’d to sound like a worn cassette. The genre had its viral moment, faded as a trend, and quietly influenced everything afterwards.

A bar in and you’ve got it: a soft kick at 90-100 BPM, fuzzy synth pads playing maj7 or m7 voicings, and vocal samples chopped from old 80s pop records, buried in the mix. Drums are intentionally lo-fi — slightly distorted, often a sampled break under the lush synths. The whole track feels like it’s playing on a beach radio in a video memory you might be making up.

The chord moves

Chillwave usually lives in major keys with maj7 and m7 colors — the I–vi–ii–V doo-wop turnaround is canonical. Slow chord changes (every 2 or 4 bars). The harmony is warm and hopeful but the production is fuzzy and nostalgic, so the contrast creates the genre’s emotional signature.

--key "C major" --chord major7 --pattern pad and let everything sit in haze.

The groove

Soft 4-on-the-floor or half-time at 90-105 BPM. The kick is muffled and pre-EQ’d to roll off above 4kHz. Snare/clap on 2 and 4 with reverb. Hi-hat patterns from sampled 80s drum machines (TR-707 era).

The vocal sample is the lead. Always present, always buried. Pitched, time-stretched, run through a tape simulator.

The sounds

• Chord pad: warm analog poly playing maj7s. Slow attack. Heavy reverb. Pre-EQ to roll off the highs.
• Bass: warm sub following root motion. Saturated, slightly distorted.
• Drums: sampled 80s drum machine (LinnDrum, TR-707). Pre-EQ’d lo-fi. Light bitcrushing.
• Vocal sample: chopped 80s vocal pitched and time-stretched. Heavy reverb. Buried.
• Atmospheres: tape hiss, vinyl crackle, room ambience. The dirt is the sound.

Production tells

Want it modern? Slightly cleaner mix, brighter vocal sample. Modern chillwave (post-2015 revival) is more polished.

Want it 2010-Washed-Out-vintage? Maximum lo-fi. Heavy tape simulator on the bus. Pre-EQ everything to remove top-end clarity. Master at -14 LUFS for the worn-cassette dynamic range.

python jamburgr.py --key "C major" --style chillwave --progression I,vi,ii,V --pattern pad --output-mode pack --out ./jams/chillwave