HIGHER STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS - How Was It Made? EP 11

My new track - I poured my heart and soul into this one - open.spotify.com/album/0UTX0B... Breakdown and analysis of the classic dance track 'Higher State of Consciousness' by Josh Wink.
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[@JackAcid]

Soo,. I first heard this in 1995, in CREAM. Justin Robertson dropped it early into an all nighter, with hardly anyone in the small backroom just before the famous Annex room. As a confirmed breakbeat freak, when I suddenly heard this opening break come in, with just my friend and strobe for company, I knew immediately that this was going to be something genre defining. Obviously the second that 303 came in I was in literal heaven, coming up on my E, in a smokey room with a pulsing strobe and my best clubbing mate at the time. This was almost a full year before it was released nationally in 1996. Fucking incredible moment of my life.

[@chinnyreckon775]

"Higher State" was actually originally released nationally 1995 in the UK and made the Top 10 in October of that year. It was re-released in 1996 and made the Top 10 again, with the Dex and Jonesy remix as the lead mix.

[@DJSyKoh]

My dad played this for me when i was a kid. 13 year old me went absolutely mental, never heard anything like it before. Almost 30 years later and I still get goosebumps

[@jamesbaynton1881]

I love the way you present this, just having a go, talking about the challenges, knowing you haven't quite nailed it. Brilliant.

[@a_nick_t]

In a MixMag interview from 2018 Josh Wink said: “‘Higher State...’ used two original, non-modified 303s. I’ve heard that online forums have debated for years what was used on that track - either a 202 or a 303. For the record, again, it’s a 303. No 202s used! The funny thing is, I’ve always wanted a 202.”

[@BartNelis]

Ok, that settles it .; was on my way to comment that the acid line on a "higher ..." was made on the mc -202 😅

[@leewightman8619]

I thought it was a 303 devilfish but it's just a basic 303 with a distortion pedal

[@spectralknights2]

The main question is what about the drums used? Everybody knows it's a 303, but what about drums tho

[@Ben174]

This song is the reason I got into electronic music. I've spent decades collecting things trying to recreate each piece of it. And I think I could probably recreate it now..... if I just buy one more thing.

[@skum73]

I first heard this at Final Frontier on a Friday in London played by Josh Wink. I went into my local record shop the next day and all I said was "I heard a song last night" and he said "its this one". He was 100% correct. My local record shop knew what sort of records I liked and i got myself a nice early demo white label.

[@Gaztography]

What a club that was, so many decent sets.

[@skum73]

@Gaztography It was unbelievable, Laurent Garnier, Richie Hawtin, Dave Clarke, all the greats. I sw the Chemical Brothers when they were the Dust brothers dj in the small room. There were only about 20 people dancing in there as Laurent Garnier was in the main room but it was one of the best sets I have ever heard. So many good nights.

[@XNY_Music]

Had this on a compilation 9 months before it was released to the public. Felt super-privileged that I had extra time to enjoy it.

[@GyuBeats]

Nice flex!

[@steveburkett4687]

Was the Brit Hop and Amyl House mix compilation for me (Concrete/Deconstruction records in Nov '96), rumoured to be mixed by Tom Rowlands of the Chemical Brothers but due to contractual reasons was credited to Vanessa Rand, his now wife, who was Concrete's label manager at the time! 😀

[@AKAtAGG]

hehe love you, loads of DJs had it on white label way before anyone knew what it was and hearing it in a club was amazing back then

[@AKAtAGG]

@@steveburkett4687 great knowledge

[@XNY_Music]

I could've sworn that someone had permanently borrowed the CD that I had this on, but no, it's in my CD folder. It's called the Manifesto Monster Mix by dj judge jules & luke neville, released in early '96. Haven't had my CDs out in years, gotta say that CDs still look super-futuristic.

[@MrMallum]

I was on a Train to London and there was a dude playing in on his massive headphones. All I could hear was the 303 line. I was with a bunch and said "That's Josh Wink". Straight down the record shop!!!!

[@nobbystyles4807]

i was djing in a fairly sizable club in greece when this came out. i managed to get the full strictly 12" from a small record shop in heraklion in crete and played it every night for the whole season as the last tune. it never failed once.

[@DaftFader]

Yeah it's hard to top this tune, so you put it in the middle of a mix, and the next song always flops ... almost impossible to match that nrg lol (especially at the time). Wise move playing it as last tune xD.

[@esrAsnataS]

Such a tune, still gives me goosebumps.

[@wutangpaul]

Was working a summer job in a factory in Dundalk Ireland and a guy came in with a Walkman and said to us "You lads need to listen to this!" I of course loved it, but distinctly remember one of the older guys remarking that "it sounds like a f**kin' bird dyin'". These breakdown videos are amazing. You probably get hundreds of suggestions for these, but I would love to see Cowgirl by Underworld or Rollercoaster by GRiD!

[@darrenhirst9900]

Lmfao a bird dying😂

[@djsherz]

Blew out the tweeters on the stereo in the 6th form common room with this track...

[@WIPEYOURLENZ]

I was in my bedroom as a teenager getting ready for a night out tunes blasting. Then this drops and my folks where like WTF is that 😁

[@darrenhirst9900]

My mom loved my music so much she bought me headphones😂 You have to remember parents had their music and theirs was music. Ours was just noise 😂

[@davidyates748]

Boy oh boy, when that thing pitches up it's solid goosebumps. Absolutely epic!

[@Bthelick]

It's just extreme filter resonance through a guitar distortion pedal. Usually I've of the classic 70s/80s ones like a rat or tube screamer

[@Bthelick]

sry i thought I read "what is that thing that pitches" But there you go

[@warbwarb]

Oh my word! Another absolute belter. You just keep smashing it.

[@warehoused]

Mate, I absolutely love your videos!! Fascinating! Thanks so much for putting these together!

[@regularguycoding]

Crazy video!! Love that song!! @ 1:58 pretty sure it's "Welcome". Thanks for that!!

[@DjangoFlaherty]

Thanks for the effort! Hearing stuff like this makes me appreciate how dense and futuristic Leftfield must have sounded at the time.

[@OlaOla-so3il]

Awesome video! I think it would of been worth messaging Josh Wink. Asking him how got that certain sound? Because it's a great tribute video to Josh! I'm sure he appericate this!🙌🙌

[@MarcShake]

One of my favorite tracks. I am so happy I found this channel.

[@rorym8894]

This is easily the best channel on KZbin for electronic producers. Thank you so much!

[@GyuBeats]

Wow, thanks!

[@anthonymanzalji]

This video was exactly what I was looking to find. Thank you for the walk through.

[@dafunkycanuck]

I was at the Opera House in Toronto when I first heard this track and I just about went mental.

[@lincolnshirepoacher8651]

Gotta cut the lows and boost the high-mids before you hit the distortion... that's how you get a TB to SCREAM.😱

[@danielpearne2379]

Yes!!! Love this track: such a great video (again) 👍

[@steveholderness1450]

I can imagine In Yer Face by 808 State being ripe for your disection..

[@XNY_Music]

Good choice.

[@chinnyreckon775]

@@XNY_Music Good choice except... nobody can get hold of the vocal samples! Something of a barrier.

[@jamesorr4061]

Love all your recreations, I do really appreciate it when you try to recreate the drums from scratch as opposed to sampling the beat.

[@markgiddings8382]

SO helpfull to see your “ Track by Track” build up on the Tr8s …… cheers Gyu 👍👍👍

[@SimonRobinson137]

Your expression at the very start of this video says it all :) Such an amazing tune and thanks for breaking it down. I've still got the CD single of this which I think has 5 different mixes on it.

[@daveparsons6956]

Where was I when I first heard it? 1995, Le Bateau, Liverpool. Cream was over capacity as usual so we were turned away. Went straight over to La Bateau and at some point, when we were all deep into the night, Higher State Of Consciousness came on. The whole place literally erupted. It's hard to imagine now but this was like something from another planet, it was so new and innovative. Amazing track and still amongst my all time faves. And another awesome job from Gyu Beats.

[@Ascsoms]

Voodoo magic man

[@daveparsons6956]

Yes. Amazing times. Did you do Voodoo?

[@misterbramley]

fellow Le Bateau alumnus here, probably around the same time - my memory is, um vague, but it was just *the best*

[@Ascsoms]

@@daveparsons6956 Absolutely..as often as possible between 96-00

[@Ascsoms]

@@misterbramley I was always downstairs, but would enjoy Mr Shields for a breather every now and again. I've got some tapes somewhere of the Voodoo radio show too.

[@RaquelFoster]

The thing I've seen several times from people claiming to be quoting Josh Wink is that he used two TB-303s, he didn't use a distortion/overdrive pedal, and neither of the 303s was modded. But one guy said he asked him how he got the resonance so high and he said he had opened up one of the 303s and played with the trim pots. It's funny, it seems like forum posts are disappearing and things are getting less clear as the years go by. Probably because most people listening to a Josh Wink set are higher than the cutoff on his 303. I saw him last November at a sketchy campout event 100 miles outside Austin and I forgot to eat and then it was too late. The food truck was like a distant galaxy. I could see it, but couldn't possibly get there in my lifetime. So I laid down on a big flat rock for about 5 hours. I know Josh Wink played! He's the Bob Ross of techno!

[@ricochetpig]

Good timing. Was listening to it last night

[@4q481]

Love it. I've watched most of your vids (I do need to go back and check any I might have missed) and they're just such good fun. I dabble with this stuff, but nothing I'd subject other people to, so it's interesting to see how you go about solving the problems and explaining the process. And it seems you only investigate tunes I already love from a long time ago, which definitely helps - you have good taste :)

[@GyuBeats]

Aw thanks!!

[@steveholderness1450]

Another belter!

[@GyuBeats]

Cheers Steve 🙂

[@ununu242]

Thanks for this series man, I've loved every single episode. You have great taste in music! And yes that quacking sound definitely is an accented 303 :)

[@Jacob-2796]

Love your series, and loved reading these comments from all the og acid heads!

[@ianwigmore2675]

Thank you, again another journey down memory lane from the late 90’s

[@ricklehane2190]

The womp womp is the accent on the 303. Really subtle use of a feature which is usually in your face

[@Sbradyman]

love it, another great video 😊

[@rectify2003]

Brilliant tune, brilliant breakdown in its creation

[@mattsephton]

Used to show off my hifi with this track. The speakers used to pump so much air out! Phenomenal. A tricky one to remake - you did well.

[@FilipMilerX]

Josh Wink definitely used TB-303 with Devil Fish mod, which adds among other features the Hi Resonance switch, and most importantly in this case the sub oscillator. You can use TD-3-MO which IMO is "the most acid for buck" instrument. Then he probably used Boss DS-1 or maybe tube screamer to do the distortion.

[@skinyviny1]

I was with Britt, Kaya Pryor from Pretty Poison, Michael Score from Flock of Seagulls , Jefferi Gaines and a few more at Revival in Philadelphia where Wink Showcased the song before its release. The reaction was intense and Wink knew he had a masterpiece

[@mikemarion2154]

Great track selection as always. I never played this track at a party big enough. It is so over the top at the places that I played.

[@okdigital151]

pure class

[@Protectaline]

I've found with my TD3 that I can get a sound fairly close to what Josh Winx created when I switch it on for the first time on a morning. As soon as it warms up a little bit the sound seems to go a little bit flatter though. If anything,that adds a bit more to it's appeal for me though. Everyday is different! Great video again mate. Keep up the good work.

[@MrBrownAlliance]

Masterpiece of Electronica

[@FrayBentos72]

I actually bought this from Oscar Gs and Ralph Falcons record shop in Miami and brought back to the UK, my friends and I were blown away by it and I have to admit I was a little gutted when it because a big tune as it was a secret weapon for a while!😊 I seem to remember reading in Muzic or one of those mags back in the day an interview with Josh Wink that it wasn’t actually a TB he used for the track but can’t remember what it was, possibly a 101 but he may have just said this at the time to sound mysterious!

[@JayKaufman]

There's some MC-202 on it as well.

[@Raest_999]

Man... What a tune!

[@Fuzzfooger]

KZbin subtitles transcribe the opening sample as 'I hate so conscious Ness'! Banger, good work!

[@rottymusic]

Big fan of this masterpiece

[@SanxionMusic]

I remember reading (maybe at the time) that, yeah, he apparently opened up his 303 and tweaked it a bit…which goes some way to explaining how he got so much more resonance than you can usually get. Phoscyon can get pretty close to that sound though (I had to recreate it for a client a few years ago)

[@JayKaufman]

Yeah, it had the Devilfish mod.

[@peteypete1984]

Ur doin the lord's work Amen brother😉 ⚡🌊🥋✌️

[@DrTune]

SUCH a tune, hasn't lost a thing over the years

[@mattwest8642]

Great video!!

[@louk2439]

Excellent tutorial! There is a preset on the vst Audiorealism Bassline 2 called HSOC that nails the acid riff if you want to reference that.

[@TheValueOfN]

00:24 I know that this is going to be a good one. I'm looking forward to learning how you created your version of that massive buildup. This lover of a lot of mid-'90s hard acid trance is eagerly anticipating learning more about how to use the goddamn beast that is the 303. After work tomorrow, I will be blessed with eight hours of free time instead of four and I reckon that I already feel inspired to create my own version of Higher State of Consciousness. It'll be a perfect opportunity to compare all of my 303-alikes.

[@niallmorrison3097]

Yes!

[@ArthurStone]

Classic. Thanks :D

[@jigri_pokhri]

Thank you for your video; I was able to replicate this banger using Korg Volca Sampler 2 and Korg Volca Bass. Seeing Josh Wink like in a month; counting the days!

[@petemack1161]

Railway Club Inverness. Changed my life 🕺

[@RaveAngstTV]

Always love your vids mate, awesome work. For the old Akai cyclic time stretching TAL Sampler is super dope. Actually I always wonder why you don't use the TAL Sampler when recreating old sampling stuff in your How Was It Made vids. Kind Regards

[@hosfarm1370]

Re the 303 sound, standard at the time was to use an MXR super distortion guitar pedal. This had two important things over just distorting the sound, firstly germanium diodes in the clipping section which produce a softer type of clipping closer to valve than solid state sonically. Secondly the output of the 303 is line level whilst the pedal expects a much lower level, I.e guitar pickups. This means the input section of the pedal is effectively overloaded by the line level signal which it turn produces a filtered sounding effect. You could also try a proco RAT pedal, also very much of the era as a go to for running bass line synths through but this gives harder distorted sounds than the MXR. I also have the Behringer TD3 and my personal preference is to run it through my RAT clone pedal - the inbuilt distortion on those units are just awful imo.

[@GyuBeats]

Great knowledge, thank you! Yeah I wasn't happy with my 303 sound and I think the on board distortion was to blame.

[@ShaunWatson]

@@GyuBeats Phoscyon 2 would nail the sound it has all those classic distortion pedals that were used in that era built in

[@hosfarm1370]

Really weird design choice by Behringer as the inbuilt distortion is basically a Boss DS1, which I’m not aware of anyone ever using on synths?, but changed to accept line level input volumes - hence it’s not good. The other trick I forgot we used back in the day was to overdrive the analog mixer channel the 303 was plugged into. I know a lot used Mackies but I always preferred Spirit with the gain cracked full which then allowed ‘playing’ of the harmonics with the parametric EQ - fun times!

[@DroneShots_UK]

@Silver Dream Machine The 303 Devil Fish mod

[@djdren]

i was a dj already bangin this out ... what a great era of dance music ..

[@unclassedmedia]

I never noticed how garagey the opening beat is. always a joy checking your videos.

[@danweber4167]

Until now I thought it was "welcome" to the higher states of consciousness. Thanks Gyu for expanding my state ;)

[@DMS198526]

Mate I love ur videos so much, u give me such huge inspiration. Like that vocal, going to put it in my current tune, or try to, and like u, use my own voice 😂❤ keep up the stunning work mate. 🤘❤️

[@GyuBeats]

Ah thanks so much!! All the best with your music!

[@jobyosman8440]

Great cover and title. Didn't know it was you. Pleasant surprise!!

[@GyuBeats]

Thanks! I'm trying to up my thumbnail game

[@Cataclysmic0]

@GuyBeats I remember back in the late '90s the rumor going around was that the Higher States sound was from a DevilFish 303 mod... Never could actually verify that as I've never seen one up close...

[@LittlePixelTM]

Great stuff - I dj-ed at college my memory of me and my mate playing this at the end of the year with a siren over the top (a continuous tone on the runout groove of my Don't Fight It Feel It 12" with an offset hole drilled in the record) will never be forgotten. Crowd. Went. Wild. To my ear on your version the 303 would benefit from dropping an octave and eq-ing a bit of the high end off ? :)

[@WhatDennisDoes]

YOU just blew my mind! I am pretty sure the first time I heard this track was in my 1984 red Escort which I put a big sub in and used to drive my friends around listening to Wink, Prodigy, Orbital, etc. good times. I've got a TD-3 now and it's fun to plug this pattern in and jam. Love watching these videos, thanks for making them! Cheers.

[@rogerroger8192]

This song was released in 1995

[@DennisAtwoodify]

@@rogerroger8192 Yep. And I drove an 11yr old car at the time because I was a poor high school student.

[@fantasyproduct1042]

​@rogerroger8192 relevance?

[@paulhelsby]

Great deconstruction as always. Cant help but feel that some overdrive, along with some filter cut-off (which your overdrive would probably enable) followed by some tube saturation may have got you close to that 303. Easy to say in armchair theory though. Love your videos and the way you deliver them. Please keep them coming. All the best -Paul

[@Cl4rendon]

It must have been Dec 94 or Jan 95 where one of the guys from the Delirium Recodstore in Frankfurt / Germany played this as a white SR promo at maximum volume - Months later a traced it back through my DJ work in April 95 and got to learn more about Josh Wink - Got to know his predictable workflow on tracks on various other releases. This guy was an absolute genius back then.

[@thcdenton]

Great cover! It's been a long time since I've owned an a 303. but I remember I got a similar tone running it through a cheap peavey mixer with the channel's input gain cranked. That and the right settings on the channel's 3 band eq. 303's

[@breakerbreaker292]

First time I heard HSOC - was at about 4am in Club UK, Wandsworth... in the dingey back room, big system, sweat dripping off the ceiling... when the drop came the whole room went mental!! I think it was '94 as I didn't hear it again for a while.... and it was properly released in '95. No Shazam back then so when it did get released, it was top 10 - I miss those days of hunting tunes down. Music was alot less disposable back then.

[@kimble02]

Great vid! Brings back so may memories, first pattern I made on the TD-3. So how was that vocal effect done on ancient samplers? I've got a few but never really tried to get that funky time stretch???

[@GyuBeats]

I think you just lengthen the sample, tbh I'm not that up on using harware samplers

[@MichielKlaver]

The Dex And Jonesey's Higher Stated Mix is the best version to my opinion!

[@christianholt]

Love your videos 😊 I think one of the drum breaks is from an early 70’s track by Lyn Collins - Think (about it) around 2 minutes into the track 👍

[@christianholt]

😂 I should have waited till further into the video as you’ve mentioned the Lyn Collins break 🙈

[@GyuBeats]

😂👍

[@kennethmaclean9357]

@@GyuBeats I think the other break might be Bobby Byrd- Hot Pants

[@Bthelick]

I got the sound super close with freeware yesterday, uploading a video later today hopefully

[@GyuBeats]

Nice! I'd like to see that

[@Bthelick]

@@GyuBeats It's up! Sorry video editing is not my strong point 🤣 Also youtube have apparently blocked the vid in certain territories (of course) let me know if you can see, And let me know how I did. Cheers Gyu. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmmvZGqifr2Nf7c

[@nlvq]

Used to mix this with “back once again the renegade master “ ahh the 90s

[@VictorKibalchich]

such a BIG tune, it was everywhere in '95

[@4lifekickass100]

U r my hero

[@gunark]

Seem to recall an interview with Wink years back that it’s an MC-202 (hence the relatively simple and non-303 style pattern) and distorted through the old Mackie desk trick. The 202 and 303 share some DNA and the 202 can do 303 sequence tricks too, just not on this track as it’s really basic. So to try it with modern stuff, you could do the Model 82 through Airwindows Mackity.

[@chinnyreckon775]

You recall wrong, as the interview cited below by a nick t states. Why would you use a 202 to make something that sounds like a 303. the daddy of them all, when you can just use a 303?

[@Si_G]

Starsky Carr on his Behringer TD3 demo sold me the synth with this! And it’s the only thing I do on it because it’s a sod to program.

[@BenColemanUK]

Where was I? Student union bar in 1995 I think, very very pissed. Blew my mind. Bought it some weeks later and got the neighbours banging on the door of my house for blaring it out like an idiot. I think the trick to the 303 sound is the distortion or overdrive or fuzz used, there's a bazillion possibilities, but I do think that's the heart of the tone he managed to get. Oh and the built-in distortion on the TD-3 is pretty shite IMO Great videos, thanks for taking the time on these classic tracks

[@GyuBeats]

Thanks for sharing that :) Yes I think you're right, it might even be a mixer driven really hard. Yeah I shouldn't have used the td3 distortion, made mine sound crap

[@joeldukes303]

I was in an abandoned bowling alley in Boulder Colorado in 1995, we were stumbling over pieces of plywood that were loosely covering the gutters in the lanes. Hahahaaa! lost my sh!t and my shoe after the big buildup/drop. Boy oh boy to be back there again!😊

[@Jimmy_Sandwiches]

There’s a preset on the iOS app Pure Acid that gets pretty damn close (Called “higher state”) - nice one again Gyu

[@andrewlewis3943]

Is it not the saw wave setting that makes it sound different? Love this tune, thanks so much!!

[@MrWassollich]

Actually this was my first ever electronic record I bought when it was brand new ... So I was I my recordshop of my choice...

[@AlexIsASeraphim]

Awesome as always Gyu. I'm in my early 60s but spent yesterday afternoon putting my TD-3 through various budget effects pedals settling on the pitch shifter setting on the Digital Multi-Fx. Hours of fun later, I go to bed then wake up to your video. (It's AM here in Oz.) I immediately thought of Hardfloor Acerperience too. Everybody truly does need a 303. Keep this up please. Signed, A Fan.

[@telogic1]

The over drive on the TB303 is done by over loading the input gain to the mixer I used to make techno around the same time with a 303

[@JayKaufman]

For what it's worth, I recently listened to the original mix again on a decent soundsystem and it's terribly mixed down. The 303 line is mixed way too loud, isn't limited whatsoever so it's super peaky, the breaks are quiet in comparison to the rest of the track, etc. It's a very raw sounding track.

[@kek23k]

Good bassface. It's definitely the distortion used to get that 303 sound, some guitar pedal distortion effects work really well.

[@solitudestudios3370]

Personally, I think the lead acid riff was actually done on the SH101 given the top end of the squelch and the subtle grit when the filter is all the way down. I also think the backing look is from this song kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3SblYKqmr5sl9k which, incidentally is the loop Fatboy Slim uses for Everybody Loves A 303. But those are just my opinions

[@Bthelick]

Hey not bad! I think I know how to get the sound. I can hear another octave and I think I recognise the distortion, I'm gonna make a vid this weekend attempting it too.

[@stotle2006]

Still great

[@Bthelick]

Pretty sure there's a Warriors break at the end. Or one of the other tracks that sampled hot pants.

[@djemmay]

The best tune to annoy the sh*t out of people who don’t like dance music. I caned the hell out of Dex & Jonesey and Mr. Spring’s ‘96 remixes. Strangely Manifesto used the Judge Jules & Skins remix for the radio edit in ‘95 over the original tweaking’ acid funk mix; I guess they thought the former had more commercial appeal. For such an underground track to chart so high, twice, tells you the appeal of this monster.

[@Bthelick]

I made some discoveries. Fun fact: Josh winks' 303 didn't have a 'good' square wave, because the transistor used to make them back them was cheap and they were all different! the remakes by roland and behringer have 'good' square waves so even if you get the distortion correct (tubescreamer) it won't sound like this record.

[@GyuBeats]

Great knowledge, thank you!

[@JayKaufman]

What he probably did to get the 'flange' effect is doubled up the breakbeat and repeated it, so it just flanged against itself. Also, to get the distortion I believe he used a Sherman Filterbank if I'm not mistaken. Once again, I recall a write up being done in Future Music in the 1990s describing how he made it - so if you dig up that article you will probably get more tips on how it was done.