Psychedelic Music - Characteristics

Characteristics

Psychedelic music often contains some of the following features:

• exotic instrumentation, with a particular fondness for the sitar and tabla;
• more complex song structures, key and time signature changes, modal melodies and drones;
• surreal, whimsical, esoterically or literary-inspired, lyrics;
• a strong emphasis on extended instrumental solos or jams;
• electric guitars, often used with feedback, wah wah and fuzzboxes;
• a strong keyboard presence, especially organs, harpsichords, or the Mellotron (an early tape-driven 'sampler');
• elaborate studio effects, such as backwards tapes, panning, phasing, long delay loops, and extreme reverb;
• primitive electronic instruments such as synthesizers and the theremin;
• later forms of electronic psychedelia also employed repetitive computer generated beats;