🎵 Psygen — Automated Psytrance Music Generator

Psygen is a fully automated, headless psytrance music generation pipeline written in Python. It produces complete, playable .wav or .mp3 tracks from code — no DAW, no external hardware, no manual intervention required.

Input:  python -m psygen --style fullon --kick techno --bass techno --length 240
Output: A full-on track with a techno low end — generated in seconds

Features

Data-driven style engine — every layer's pattern, synthesis, and effects come from editable YAML style files; ships with signature, fullon, and techno
Per-element style mixing — assign a different style to each layer (e.g. techno kick + full-on lead) to craft a unique signature sound
Selectable scale modes — minor, phrygian, phrygian-dominant, harmonic minor, and more
MIDI export — write a multi-track .mid alongside the audio to take stems into a DAW
Full pipeline — composition → synthesis → effects → mixing → mastering → export
Band-limited synthesis — PolyBLEP sawtooth/square oscillators eliminate aliasing artifacts
Acid bass engine — chunked LadderFilter automation for classic filter-sweep sound
Studio-grade effects — powered by pedalboard (Spotify's JUCE-based DSP library)
Intelligent arrangement — style-defined section templates with per-section layer control
Sidechain pumping — kick-synced envelope modulation on bass and pads
Reproducible — seed any generation for deterministic, byte-identical output
Fast — generates 4 minutes of audio in seconds (tens of × real-time)

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Python 3.10+
uv (recommended) or pip

Installation

git clone https://github.com/leoneperdigao/psygen.git
cd psygen
uv venv && uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

Generate Your First Track

uv run python -m psygen --length 240

This produces output.wav — a 4-minute track in your signature style.

Usage

usage: psygen [-h] [--style STYLE] [--kick STYLE] [--bass STYLE] [--hihat STYLE]
              [--lead STYLE] [--pad STYLE] [--scale-mode SCALE_MODE] [--bpm BPM]
              [--length LENGTH] [--key KEY] [--intensity INTENSITY] [--seed SEED]
              [-o OUTPUT] [--midi PATH] [--list-styles]

🎵 Psygen — automated psytrance music generator

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --style STYLE         Base style name (default: signature). See --list-styles.
  --kick/--bass/--hihat/--lead/--pad STYLE
                        Override a single layer with another style's block.
  --scale-mode MODE     minor, phrygian, phrygian_dominant, harmonic_minor, major, …
  --bpm BPM             Tempo in BPM (default: the style's own tempo)
  --length LENGTH       Track length in seconds (default: 240 = 4 minutes)
  --key KEY             Musical key root, e.g. Cm, D#m, F#m (default: Cm)
  --intensity INTENSITY Energy / intensity 0.0–1.0 (default: 0.75)
  --seed SEED           Random seed for reproducible output (default: random)
  -o, --output OUTPUT   Output audio file path (.wav or .mp3) (default: output.wav)
  --midi PATH           Also write a multi-track MIDI render to PATH
  --list-styles         List available styles and exit

Examples

# Your signature style, 4 minutes
uv run python -m psygen --length 240 -o signature.wav

# A built-in style in a chosen key
uv run python -m psygen --style fullon --key F#m -o fullon.wav

# Per-element mixing: a full-on track with a techno low end
uv run python -m psygen --style fullon --kick techno --bass techno -o blend.wav

# Pick a scale mode and also export MIDI stems
uv run python -m psygen --style fullon --scale-mode phrygian_dominant --midi stems.mid

# Reproducible generation (same seed + style = byte-identical output)
uv run python -m psygen --style techno --seed 42

# List the available styles
uv run python -m psygen --list-styles

Styles

A style is a complete description of how a track should sound. It bundles global parameters (tempo, scale mode) with one block per layer — kick, bass, hi-hat, lead, pad — plus arrangement, mix, and master settings. Each block holds everything that defines that layer's character: its pattern density, its synthesis (oscillators, envelopes), and its effects.

Styles live as editable YAML files in psygen/styles/presets/:

Style	Character
`signature`	Your unique default — darker, driving, phrygian, aggressive acid bass
`fullon`	Full-on / Goa — uplifting, fast, busy phrygian-dominant arps, lush pads
`techno`	Slower, hypnotic, boomy kick, rumbling sustained bass, minimal melody

Per-element mixing

Because each layer's character lives in its own block, you can graft one style's layer onto another. Global tempo and key stay from the base --style; an overridden layer keeps its own sonic character but plays at the track's tempo:

# full-on everything, but a techno kick + bass underneath
uv run python -m psygen --style fullon --kick techno --bass techno

Authoring your own style

Copy a preset and tweak it — any field you omit falls back to the engine default, so a style file only needs the values you want to change:

# psygen/styles/presets/myvibe.yaml
name: myvibe
bpm: 142
scale_mode: phrygian
bass:
  octave_up_prob: 0.7     # more octave jumps
  ladder_resonance: 0.65  # more acid bite
pad:
  fx_reverb_wet: 0.5      # washier atmosphere

Then uv run python -m psygen --style myvibe. You can also keep styles outside the repo by pointing PSYGEN_STYLE_DIR at your own folder of *.yaml files (these override presets of the same name).

MIDI export

Pass --midi out.mid to also render the composition as a multi-track MIDI file — one track per layer, drums mapped to General-MIDI percussion, pitched layers on melodic channels — so you can re-voice the stems with your own instruments in any DAW.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  COMPOSITION                         │
│  Pattern generators: kick, bass, hihat, lead, pad    │
│  NoteEvent sequences with per-section variation      │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
                       │ NoteEvent lists
          ┌────────────┼────────────┐
          ▼            ▼            ▼
┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐
│ Kick Synth   │ │ Bass Synth│ │ Lead Synth│  ← numpy/scipy
│ (sine sweep  │ │ (PolyBLEP│ │ (square + │    direct waveform
│  + sub + clk)│ │  saw ×2) │ │  saw)     │    synthesis
└──────┬───────┘ └─────┬────┘ └─────┬────┘
       │               │            │          float32 numpy arrays
       ▼               ▼            ▼
┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐
│ Pedalboard:  │ │ Pedalbrd:│ │ Pedalbrd:│   ← pedalboard
│ HPF → Comp → │ │ Ladder → │ │ LPF →    │    effect chains
│ LowShelf     │ │ Dist →   │ │ Delay →  │
│              │ │ Comp     │ │ Reverb   │
└──────┬───────┘ └─────┬────┘ └─────┬────┘
       │               │            │
       ▼               ▼            ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              MIXER & ARRANGER                    │
│  Volume / Pan / Sidechain pump / Section layout  │
│  intro → buildup → main → breakdown → main      │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
                       │
                       ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              MASTER BUS                          │
│  HPF → LowShelf → HighShelf → Comp → Limiter    │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
                       │
                       ▼
                 WAV / MP3 file

Project Structure

psygen/
├── pyproject.toml                 # Package metadata & dependencies
├── psygen/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── __main__.py                # python -m psygen entry point
│   ├── cli.py                     # Argument parsing
│   ├── config.py                  # TrackConfig dataclass
│   ├── theory.py                  # Scales, keys, note/freq conversion
│   ├── pipeline.py                # End-to-end orchestrator
│   ├── composition/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── patterns.py            # Pattern generators for all instruments
│   ├── synth/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── oscillators.py         # PolyBLEP saw/square, sine, noise
│   │   ├── envelopes.py           # ADSR, exponential decay, fades
│   │   └── instruments.py         # Instrument renderers (patterns → audio)
│   ├── effects/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── chains.py              # Per-track & master bus effect chains
│   ├── mixer/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── mix.py                 # Stereo mixing, panning, sidechain, arrangement
│   ├── styles/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── schema.py              # Style + per-layer dataclasses
│   │   ├── loader.py              # YAML → Style; preset registry
│   │   ├── blend.py               # Per-element style resolution
│   │   └── presets/               # signature.yaml, fullon.yaml, techno.yaml
│   └── export/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       └── midi.py                # Multi-track MIDI export via mido

How It Works

1. Composition (`psygen/composition/`)

Pattern generators create NoteEvent sequences for each instrument layer:

Layer	Pattern Style	Details
Kick	4/4 four-on-the-floor	Optional ghost kicks based on variation
Bass	Rolling 16th notes	Root-centric acid patterns with passing tones
Hi-hats	Offbeat 8ths	Open hats on offbeats, closed hat fills
Lead	16th-note arpeggios	Scale-based with up/down/random directions
Pad	Sustained chords	Chord progression changing every 2-4 bars

2. Synthesis (`psygen/synth/`)

All audio is generated directly from numpy arrays — no samples or soundfonts needed:

Oscillators — PolyBLEP-corrected sawtooth and square waves (alias-free), sine, white/filtered noise
Kick drum — Sine sweep (160→42 Hz) + sub sine (45 Hz) + noise click transient
Bass — Two detuned PolyBLEP saws with snappy ADSR
Lead — Square + saw mix with fast attack
Pads — Three detuned saws with slow attack for lush texture
Hi-hats — Bandpass-filtered noise with exponential decay

3. Effects (`psygen/effects/`)

Per-track processing via pedalboard (JUCE-based, studio-quality):

Track	Chain
Kick	Highpass (30 Hz) → Compressor → Gain → Low Shelf
Bass	LadderFilter (animated cutoff!) → Distortion → Compressor → Highpass
Hi-hat	Highpass (4 kHz) → Compressor → Gain → Reverb
Lead	Lowpass → Delay (⅜ note) → Reverb → Compressor
Pad	Lowpass → Chorus → Reverb (large room) → Compressor

The bass chain processes audio in 256-sample chunks, updating the Moog-style LadderFilter cutoff between each chunk to create the classic acid filter sweep.

4. Mixing & Mastering (`psygen/mixer/`)

Stereo panning — constant-power pan law
Sidechain pump — kick-synced envelope multiplied into bass (depth 0.45) and pads (depth 0.35)
Arrangement — intro → buildup → main → breakdown → buildup → main, with per-section layer muting and volume control
Fade in/out — 2-second linear fades
Master bus — Highpass → Low Shelf → High Shelf → Compressor → Limiter (−1 dBFS)

Supported Keys

Standard note names with sharps or flats: C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab, A, A#/Bb, B

Append m for minor (default and recommended for psytrance): Cm, F#m, Bbm, etc.

The --key sets the root; the mode comes from the style (or --scale-mode). Available modes: minor, natural_minor, harmonic_minor, phrygian, phrygian_dominant, major, chromatic.

Dependencies

Package	Role
numpy	Waveform generation, array math
scipy	Butterworth filters for noise shaping
pedalboard	Studio-grade audio effects (JUCE-based)
mido	MIDI export
PyYAML	Loading editable style files

Future Improvements

MIDI file export alongside audio
Selectable scale modes (Phrygian, Phrygian dominant, …)
Data-driven styles with per-element mixing
Sample import (load one-shot kicks, percussion)
Multi-band compression on master bus
Per-section filter automation curves
Web UI for parameter tweaking
VST3/AU plugin loading via pedalboard
Batch generation mode

License

MIT

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
psygen		psygen
tests		tests
.gitignore		.gitignore
.pre-commit-config.yaml		.pre-commit-config.yaml
README.md		README.md
pyproject.toml		pyproject.toml
uv.lock		uv.lock

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🎵 Psygen — Automated Psytrance Music Generator

Features

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Installation

Generate Your First Track

Usage

Examples

Styles

Per-element mixing

Authoring your own style

MIDI export

Architecture

Project Structure

How It Works

1. Composition (`psygen/composition/`)

2. Synthesis (`psygen/synth/`)

3. Effects (`psygen/effects/`)

4. Mixing & Mastering (`psygen/mixer/`)

Supported Keys

Dependencies

Future Improvements

License

About

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🎵 Psygen — Automated Psytrance Music Generator

Features

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Installation

Generate Your First Track

Usage

Examples

Styles

Per-element mixing

Authoring your own style

MIDI export

Architecture

Project Structure

How It Works

1. Composition (psygen/composition/)

2. Synthesis (psygen/synth/)

3. Effects (psygen/effects/)

4. Mixing & Mastering (psygen/mixer/)

Supported Keys

Dependencies

Future Improvements

License

About

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1. Composition (`psygen/composition/`)

2. Synthesis (`psygen/synth/`)

3. Effects (`psygen/effects/`)

4. Mixing & Mastering (`psygen/mixer/`)