What it sounds 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.
Cmaj7 → Am7 → Dm7 → G7
Click to hear it.
Listen to
Three records that show the style at full strength. Read them as listening pointers, not templates to copy.
Feel It All Around
Washed Out
listen ↗
Blessa
Toro y Moi
listen ↗
Polish Girl
Neon Indian
listen ↗
Six recipes
Six ways to cook Chillwave.
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
Haze Pad Postcard
A chillwave first cook with broken major9 chords, synthwave bass support, slow-wide pads, and a soft topline.
Study: Washed Out, “Feel It All Around” (2009). Use the reference for washed-out synth-pop color, tape-like softness, and patient hook writing, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chillwave/chillwave_haze_pad_postcard.mdVariation
Cassette Pluck Pool
A pluckier chillwave lane with lofi push-pull chords, root bass, evolving inversions, and simple motif detail.
Study: Toro y Moi, “Blessa” (2009). Use the reference for washed-out synth-pop color, tape-like softness, and patient hook writing, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chillwave/chillwave_cassette_pluck_pool.mdVariation
Hazy Pad Drift
A pad-led drift with cinematic swells, pedal bass, fifth drones, and sparse motif writing.
Study: Small Black, “Despicable Dogs” (2009). Use the reference for washed-out synth-pop color, tape-like softness, and patient hook writing, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chillwave/chillwave_hazy_pad_drift.mdVariation
Nostalgic Chorus Lift
A brighter chorus lane with syncopated pads, octave bass, high shimmer, and chord-tone lead.
Study: Neon Indian, “Deadbeat Summer” (2009). Use the reference for washed-out synth-pop color, tape-like softness, and patient hook writing, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chillwave/chillwave_nostalgic_chorus_lift.mdSectioned
Nostalgia Section Sketch
A section-aware chillwave sketch that moves from pad haze into a soft chorus lift.
Study: Memory Tapes, “Bicycle” (2009). Use the reference for washed-out synth-pop color, tape-like softness, and patient hook writing, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chillwave/chillwave_nostalgia_section_sketch.mdLive handoff
Live Chillwave Session
A Live chillwave session with section clips, synth cards, and licensed texture/vocal prompts.
Study: Com Truise, “Brokendate” (2011). Use the reference for washed-out synth-pop color, tape-like softness, and patient hook writing, not for melody, hook, groove, or sound design copying.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/chillwave/chillwave_bridge_ready_chillwave_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 Chillwave 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 "C major" --style chillwave --progression I,vi,ii,V --pattern pad --output-mode pack --out ./jams/chillwave