New Retro Blog — synth RSS



What is Retrowave ? Who Started it ?

Retrowave Hello, What is retrowave? Could it be anything made in today's day and aged stylized to eighties anime? Could it be this cool-looking font on the poster from the movie drive? Could it be a wave of water named Gerald who likes to listen to outdated music? Well maybe it's all of those things but maybe it's also none of those things possibly. Retrowave or synthwave as it's commonly known can mean a variety of  different things for many different people for some it's confined to a musical genre and for others it's a distinct style or a way of expression and for some it's just a joke to enjoy ironically. But I think it's anything with an absurd...

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The History of Synthwave

Do you remember the 80's? The era of roller skates, VHS and Walkman cassette, the golden age of neon’s, synths and future. The 80’s were an era when we used to fantasize a lot about the future. From the dystopian post-apocalyptic vision of the future to the high-tech utopian fantasy, the 80’s were like a draft of the  present. The Legend of Synthwave The nostalgia of that spirit led, at the beginning of the 2000s, to the appearance of a new kind of electronic music that goes by the name of Synthwave. A new kind of music ? Well, not completely. That’s why today we go back, to the future! You may have noticed there’s a lot of nostalgia going...

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How To Create 80s Style Retro Futuristic Neon Artwork

Here's the Secret of Retro Artworks Earlier this year I posted a showcase of 80s inspired neon art featuring all kinds of bright fluoro colours and retro futuristic scenes. Having enjoyed browsing this style of art and listening to albums of 80s style electro synth music I decided to have a go at creating a design of my own. Follow this step by step tutorial to see how I put together the Electric Overdrive artwork with various texturing and lighting effects in Photoshop.   The design we’ll be creating makes use of all the typical elements of 80s style retro futuristic art. Desert mountain ranges, Tron style grids and galactic star fields are all combined with intense RGB colours. We’ll take the...

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How To Create 80s Style Retrowave / Synthwave Art in Adobe Photoshop

Creation of 80s Style Retrowave Synthwave Art Just like the Retrowave music genre, the aesthetics of the 1980s have inspired the popular art style that incorporates visual elements from 80s arcades, action movies, fashion and pop culture. Wireframe computer graphics, reflective chrome text, electric blues and hot pinks are just some of the themes associated with this nostalgic style. Follow along with this Adobe Photoshop tutorial to create your own retro artwork, featuring a surreal sci-fi scene with vivid colours.   Later You can immerse yourself with 80s inspired art with a quick Pinterest or Tumblr search, where you’ll quickly discover reoccurring elements and styles that form the basis of this popular look. Some of those features we’ll use in...

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History of Outrun and Synthwave

 Synthwave        Synthwave - Also known as outrun, retrowave, futuresynth, as well as other names - is a genre of electronic music influenced by 1980's film soundtracks (adventure, action, science fiction and horror films especially), video game music and pop-culture. Beginning in the mid 2000's, the genre developed from various niche communities on the internet in what film maker Iván Castell (of the "Rise of the Synths" synthwave documentary) described as "a DIY grass-roots music movement." The style reached wider popularity in the early 2010's with the emergence of Kavinsky and the 2011 film Drive by Nicolas Winding Refn. Stylistically, Synthwave draws upon the musical heritage of pioneering artists such as Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream (and Edgar Froese), as well as film director and...

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