Vaporwave

History and character

Vaporwave is a microgenre, an aesthetic and a meme born on the internet in the early 2010s. It is built mostly from slowed-down, chopped and repeated samples (“slowed,” “chopped and screwed”) of smooth jazz, elevator music, R&B and lounge from the 1980s and 1990s, often with plenty of reverb and repetition. Its roots are chillwave and hypnagogic pop, which are also tied to nostalgia and retro culture; vaporwave began as an ironic variant of chillwave.

The template was set by Daniel Lopatin's Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 (Oneohtrix Point Never, 2010), with slowed pop looped in echo; James Ferraro's Far Side Virtual (2011), built on the consumer-tech sounds of the moment; and above all Ramona Langley's (Vektroid) Floral Shoppe, released as Macintosh Plus in 2011 and considered the first album with all the elements of the genre. Saint Pepsi, Blank Banshee, 2814, Luxury Elite, Hong Kong Express, Internet Club and t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 followed; Japanese city pop became a central source of samples.

The visual aesthetic draws on 1990s web design, glitch art, anime, Greco-Roman statues, Memphis Design shapes, 3D renders and VHS degradation; titles often use full-width Japanese characters. The source material usually runs from the 1980s to 2001. Critics have read it as a satire of consumer capitalism, although its ironic intent is debated. Subgenres: future funk (city pop and disco sampled and re-edited with a four-on-the-floor kick and filter house), mallsoft (shopping-mall music with ambiences), hardvapour, signalwave, slushwave, late night lo-fi; Simpsonwave was a viral YouTube trend. Since the mid-2010s it has often been declared “dead,” but it kept releasing and selling in the 2020s.

Note: it should be kept distinct from “fashwave,” a far-right offshoot that has drawn heavy criticism and that this entry does not cover.

Scales and keys

In vaporwave the scale depends on the sample: the job is to find the key of the original material and how much it was slowed. Slowing a sample without correction also lowers its pitch: 10% slowdown drops it by about 1.8 semitones, 20% by about 3.9, 25% by about 5 (a fourth). The track often ends up in a “non-standard” key (a few cents flat).

Major with jazz extensions (smooth jazz, AOR)

• Formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. In Eb: Eb F G Ab Bb C D.
• Characteristic note: maj7, 9 and 13: the “1980s commercial” color.
• Chords: Ebmaj9 Fm9 Gm7 Abmaj7 Bb13 Cm9.
• Use: loops of 2–4 chords taken from smooth jazz and AOR tracks.

Dorian (R&B and funk)

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7. In C Dorian: C D Eb F G A Bb.
• Chords (modal scale): i Cm7 – ii Dm7 – III Ebmaj7 – IV F7 – v Gm7 – VII Bbmaj7.
• Use: 1980s–1990s R&B loops and future funk.

Natural minor

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. Melancholic, nocturnal loops (late night lo-fi).

Lydian (“mall” and new age color)

• Formula: 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7. Maj7#11 chords of hold music and new age.

How to choose

Pick the sample for the color you want (smooth jazz = extended major; R&B = Dorian; nocturnal ballad = Aeolian), then decide the slowdown based on tempo and mood: slower = darker and dreamier.

Harmony

Function

“Found” harmony: the 2–8 bar loop of an existing track becomes the entire track. The progressions are those of the source material (often ii–V–I, IVmaj7–iii7, the city pop royal road). Tension comes from obsessive repetition, cuts and slowdown, not from harmonic development.

Techniques

• Loop of a phrase (often the pre-chorus or chorus of the original track) repeated for minutes.
• Chop: cutting the loop irregularly, repeating a syllable or a chord, creating “stutter.”
• Screw: slowdown with pitch drop.
• Future funk: a city pop sample chopped and rearranged over a new house beat, with a low-pass filter that opens.

Voicing

That of the sample: full chords loaded with sevenths and ninths from 1980s keyboards and horns.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

“Classic” vaporwave: the rhythm of the slowed sample (often with no added drums), a hypnotic, dragging feel, tempos 60–90. Future funk: four-on-the-floor kick at 110–125 with claps on 2 and 4, open hats on the offbeats, samples chopped on the beat, side-chain filter (French house). Late night lo-fi: slow hip hop beats with swing. Swing depends on the sample.

Drums

Classic vaporwave

The drums are often those of the sample (1980s drum machine or smooth jazz drum kit), slowed and reverbed; sometimes no drums at all.

Future funk

• Kick: four on the floor, powerful, with pronounced sidechain on the sample.
• Clap/snare: on 2 and 4, tight claps.
• Hats: open hats on the offbeats, closed hats in sixteenth notes.
• Fills: sample stutter, filter sweeps.

Late night lo-fi

Slow hip hop beats (kick on 1, 8, 11; snare on 5, 13) with swing and vinyl crackle.

Interaction and sounds

The sample stays the protagonist; the drums (if added) are simple. Mistakes: drums that are too modern and intrusive, wiping out the “memory” effect.

Bass

• Sound: that of the sample (1980s slap bass, synth bass), slowed; in future funk often reinforced with a sub or a house bass.
• Notes: those of the original loop.
• Relationship with the kick: pronounced sidechain in future funk.
• Examples: Macintosh Plus — Floral Shoppe (slowed sample bass), Saint Pepsi (re-edited funk bass).

Harmonic instruments

FM e-piano samples (DX7), smooth jazz saxophone, 1980s synth pads, clean funk guitars, General MIDI keyboards, operating-system sounds, hold music, advertising jingles.

Melody and vocals

• Vocals: slowed R&B and city pop vocal samples (“underwater” voices), repeated fragments of a word or phrase; almost never original vocals.
• Melody: that of the sample, fragmented and repeated.
• Effects: pitch down, huge reverb, delay, chorus, wow and flutter, telephone filter, Eccojams-style echo.

Instruments

Sampler and DAW (main instruments), samples of smooth jazz, R&B, city pop, muzak, commercials, computer sounds; drum machine or house loops (future funk); tape and VHS effects.

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• DX7 V — FM e-piano and bell: Recreates the sound of 1980s smooth jazz and AOR samples.
• Jun-6 V — 1980s pad: Soft pads with chorus for original vaporwave-style tracks.
• Stage-73 V — Rhodes: Smooth jazz chords.
• Prophet-VS V — Digital pads: 1980s–1990s “operating system” pads.
• Mini V — Funk synth bass: Basses for future funk.

Song structure

Classic vaporwave

Often no form at all: a loop that repeats and slowly transforms for 2–6 minutes, with cuts and fades.

Future funk (3:00–4:00)

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

Vaporwave: “distorted memory” — attenuated highs, huge reverb, saturation, sagging pitch, moderate volume. Future funk: full house groove, bright sample, powerful kick. References: Macintosh Plus — リサフランク420 / 現代のコンピュー, Saint Pepsi — Private Caller, Blank Banshee — Teen Pregnancy, Macross 82-99 — Sailor Moon.

Main sample

Slowdown (time-stretch off for the “screw” effect, or on with a separate pitch shift), HP 60–80 Hz, LP 8–12 kHz, tape saturation, hall or plate reverb 3–6 s, light chorus, wow and flutter.

Drums (future funk)

Kick: HP 30 Hz, +3 dB at 55 Hz, click at 3 kHz; clap with a short plate; sample sidechain 4–8 dB.

Added bass

Mono sub under the sample (HP the sample at 100–150 Hz to leave room).

FX

Vinyl crackle, VHS noise, band-pass filters (radio), glitch.

Buses and groups

Sample bus with tape and 1 dB of glue.

Master

Vaporwave: −14/−11 LUFS, very dynamic, soft highs. Future funk: −9/−7 LUFS. True peak ≤ −1 dBTP.

Common mistakes

Slowed sample with unwanted time-stretch artifacts; reverb that wipes out the sample; future funk with the kick and the sample's bass clashing at 60–120 Hz.

Mix reference tracks

Macintosh Plus — Floral Shoppe (album, 2011); Saint Pepsi — Private Caller (2013); Blank Banshee — Teen Pregnancy (2012); Macross 82-99 — Sailor Moon (2013).

Reference listening

• Daniel Lopatin — Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 (album, 2010)
• James Ferraro — Far Side Virtual (album, 2011)
• Macintosh Plus — リサフランク420 / 現代のコンピュー (2011)
• Blank Banshee — Teen Pregnancy (2012)
• Saint Pepsi — Private Caller (2013)
• Macross 82-99 — Sailor Moon (2013)
• 2814 — 新しい日の誕生 (2015)