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-- The Digital Blonde - Synthology [Album]
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My thoughts about this album:

It doesn't sound like an album to me. It sounds like ten rather similar tracks put together on a cd. EP releases would be better. You can clearly tell that DB isn't very versatile as a producer..before i listened to this CD it felt like i heard it all before, and i wouldn't really consider myself as an experienced trance listener.

The tracks sounds pretty mediocre to me, difference being that the sound is beefier but it still sounds like formulatic stuff to my ears. Im sure they go down well on the dancefloors (which perhaps is the most important thing) but for a non-clubber like me this release is rather useless.

Summary: for me, this years most overhyped record. Doesn't come as a suprise really since Digital Blonde got so much unreleased stuff which until now could only be heard in livesets, and when the full tracks are finally avaliable people go crazy. It's always the same thing. Just look at Boards of Canada.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ_Massive nice one

hey buddy gimme a break. i thought anything above 192bitrate started to sound a little too high and raspy. maby im wrong but hey, ya gotta learn at some point.

quote:

Originally posted by zDmn i thought anything above 192bitrate started to sound a little too high and raspy.

why did u think that, that doesnt make any sense whatsoever. it depends ofcourse how it is encoded... but still, 320kbps is always gonna be better than 192

my review:

requia:
wtf is up with the beat? sounds like 2 tracks out of sync to me. wouldn't be nice to throw this in a set as it'd sound pretty bad because of the beat. people would think i can't keep 2 tracks in sync. i really can't understand what's up with the beat. too bad because otherwise it's not a bad tune. 2/10
cyan:
not bad. sounds like many other digital blonde tunes. not bad, but nothing special either. 7/10
casca:
decent. again somehow i feel that this is nothing special and could be better somehow. standard digital blonde. 7/10
only you:
i dunnno how i feel about the fiji samples. somehow they kinda feel out of place. other than the samples it's an ok track but again nothing special. 6/10
legato 2006:
well we all know legato, a brilliant track from the past. thid didn't really need an update IMO. the update is still good though, best track on the album so far. 8/10
rickashay:
psy beat, doesn't sound like traditional DB. it's good to have at least a bit of variety on the album. melody sounds somewhat cheesy, has a bit of a middle-eastern vibe. quite a boring track actually. 3/10
concerto (vs. red1):
dunno what to say about this one really. it's nice, but still missing something. good "filler material" for sets i think. 6/10
ritual:
some middle-eastern influenced melody on this one also, not really a fan of those. it just seems that something is missing from this one also. 5/10
tronika:
i liked this one. a lot better than most tracks on this release. 8/10
karma:
this is also quite good, better than most stuff on the release. 8/10

in conclusion: not impressed. i gotta say i like the older digital blonde stuff much more. stuff like gothica, universal soul remix, lost in emotion remix, etc. etc. are much more impressive than any of the tracks on this release. this release was also hyped so much that my expectations were very high and i did get disappointed.
overall i'd give this one a 6/10

quote:

Originally posted by skip ...

Only You 6/10???

I like this tune a lot. Haven't listened to the album tho.

thanx

After 22 pages worth of hype and being a fan of the classic Digital Blonde tracks such as Electra, Legato, Noctone, I thought I'd give the album a whirl.

I must say I am dearly disappointed. A lot of the tracks sound like they came right out of 99 (and I'm sure some have), in this case this is a bad thing. The production value behind most of these tracks is far far beyond today's standards. The Digital Blonde has always been guilty of crappy sounding records, but I thought in this day and age where high quality production tools are readily and cheaply available, that he might jump onboard with the rest of the veterans.

Musically, I am somewhat confused as to what direction this album wants to go in. Is it psy, is it oldschool progressive trance, which one is it? I feel that a lot of the tracks are just 'thrown' in there, without any real substance towards the album as a whole. To me it feels more like a set than an album.

Overall, a really disappointing effort. I cannot get over the fact at how poor the production value is, when comparing to recent albums, such as Above and Beyonds, which is simply brilliant from a technical point of view. I know DB has a loyal fanbase who are willing to look past it, infact I did for a long time, but it's simply inexcusible for a professional in this day and age to put out such horribly sounding material. DB, please hire someone to mix and master your tracks. Your ideas are fresh and unique and it's a waste that they are being pulled down the drain simply becuase of technical reasons.

Those are my 2 cents, from a fan and producer point of view. No disrespect is meant to anyone, take my comments for what they are, my humble opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by 8Wonders After 22 pages worth of hype and being a fan of the classic Digital Blonde tracks such as Electra, Legato, Noctone, I thought I'd give the album a whirl. I must say I am dearly disappointed. A lot of the tracks sound like they came right out of 99 (and I'm sure some have), in this case this is a bad thing. The production value behind most of these tracks is far far beyond today's standards. The Digital Blonde has always been guilty of crappy sounding records, but I thought in this day and age where high quality production tools are readily and cheaply available, that he might jump onboard with the rest of the veterans. Musically, I am somewhat confused as to what direction this album wants to go in. Is it psy, is it oldschool progressive trance, which one is it? I feel that a lot of the tracks are just 'thrown' in there, without any real substance towards the album as a whole. To me it feels more like a set than an album. Overall, a really disappointing effort. I cannot get over the fact at how poor the production value is, when comparing to recent albums, such as Above and Beyonds, which is simply brilliant from a technical point of view. I know DB has a loyal fanbase who are willing to look past it, infact I did for a long time, but it's simply inexcusible for a professional in this day and age to put out such horribly sounding material. DB, please hire someone to mix and master your tracks. Your ideas are fresh and unique and it's a waste that they are being pulled down the drain simply becuase of technical reasons. Those are my 2 cents, from a fan and producer point of view. No disrespect is meant to anyone, take my comments for what they are, my humble opinion.

it's been said before and I'll say it again, mastering and fancy tricks are all well & good, but you can't polish a shit, and that is tried all the time now. This sounds good without the fancy shit, and for the fanbase, that's good enough.

quote:

Originally posted by Ian it's been said before and I'll say it again, mastering and fancy tricks are all well & good, but you can't polish a shit, and that is tried all the time now. This sounds good without the fancy shit, and for the fanbase, that's good enough.

Mastering can make or break a good track or album. At the same time, shit in = shit out, so if something is mixed horribly, no amount of mastering can make it better.

My comment on the production value isn't at how many fancy tricks and gimmicks one can incorporate into the tracks, how many cool little cuts and breaks you have in the arrangement, it merely represents the poor sound/sample selection, mixing and inherintly, mastering (the above statement applies). I'm a firm believer that simplicity in a lot of cases wins, that's not really what I was getting at.

quote:

Originally posted by 8Wonders Musically, I am somewhat confused as to what direction this album wants to go in. Is it psy, is it oldschool progressive trance, which one is it? I feel that a lot of the tracks are just 'thrown' in there, without any real substance towards the album as a whole. To me it feels more like a set than an album.

Perhaps that's how Ricky wanted his album to be. Why would it have to go into just one direction?

Your opinion is respected, but it sounds weird coming from someone whose own productions sound rather generic and lack any depth..which is ofcourse my personal opinion & no disrespect is intended.

Perhaps people think this album has a poor production value, like you say, but at least this is a straight to the point trance album with good ideas and, imo, lots of creativity to be found in it. Unlike most of the major -trance- producers out there, Ricky didn't include any fluffy vocal works or attempts on poppy downtempo tracks (buuuurned with desireeee.. you know what I mean) in his album to become succesful..

quote:

Originally posted by DJ_Massive Perhaps that's how Ricky wanted his album to be. Why would it have to go into just one direction? Your opinion is respected, but it sounds weird coming from someone whose own productions sound rather generic and lack any depth..which is ofcourse my personal opinion & no disrespect is intended. Perhaps people think this album has a poor production value, like you say, but at least this is a straight to the point trance album with good ideas and, imo, lots of creativity to be found in it. Unlike most of the major -trance- producers out there, Ricky didn't include any fluffy vocal works or attempts on poppy downtempo tracks (buuuurned with desireeee.. you know what I mean) in his album to become succesful..

I wish I could agree, but I honestly doubt anyone would willingly choose to have bad sounding masters. There is a difference in trying to achieve an 'effect' by using lofi samples and what not and the whole record having poor mastering.

I take no offense to your comment. It's not a discussion of my producing style/mixing quality versus Rick's. One can make an objective comments regarding the acoustic nature of a record without being a producer. I referred to A&B's album earlier, now that is what an album should sound like, from a production and mastering view. Sander Van Doorns work is exceptionally well mixed and mastered.

I can make these comments without having to be a producer, no?

quote:

Originally posted by 8Wonders Mastering can make or break a good track or album. At the same time, shit in = shit out, so if something is mixed horribly, no amount of mastering can make it better. My comment on the production value isn't at how many fancy tricks and gimmicks one can incorporate into the tracks, how many cool little cuts and breaks you have in the arrangement, it merely represents the poor sound/sample selection, mixing and inherintly, mastering (the above statement applies). I'm a firm believer that simplicity in a lot of cases wins, that's not really what I was getting at.

What DJ Massive has said is part of what i think too, I just don't have the ability to put it into words, but by polish a shit, i mean, some tracks hide behind the fact that they've had every little level & effect mastered and at times it clouds the fact that the basic production behind it is poor or average. I agree with you that fully mastering these by todays standards maybe would bring the level up, but at the same time, it's something i've always heard in rickys work that it is more raw sounding, and for me it does work

example here

Ayu - Connected (ferry remix)

is basically east vs west - the love i lost. try grabbing the recon of the love i lost then play it alongside connected, the raw power involved by not having mastered it to high heaven is astonishing

quote:

Originally posted by Ian What DJ Massive has said is part of what i think too, I just don't have the ability to put it into words, but by polish a shit, i mean, some tracks hide behind the fact that they've had every little level & effect mastered and at times it clouds the fact that the basic production behind it is poor or average. I agree with you that fully mastering these by todays standards maybe would bring the level up, but at the same time, it's something i've always heard in rickys work that it is more raw sounding, and for me it does work example here Ayu - Connected (ferry remix) is basically east vs west - the love i lost. try grabbing the recon of the love i lost then play it alongside connected, the raw power involved by not having mastered it to high heaven is astonishing

I agree, a fancy production can overshadow the fact the the track beneath is not musically interesting, and that happens a lot nowadays. A track that is musically interesting but suffers from poor mastering has a lot to gain from a proper mixing job, and that's when these tracks truly shine.

Ferry himself admitted that he toned down the lead to put more emphasis on the vocals. It's not that the reconstructed version was 'unmastered' it's the fact the lead has a lot more highend to it, giving it a lot more power. Being a recon of sets, the track is also more monocentric, louder and faster tempo, all these have a big part in the perception of 'energy'.

quote:

Originally posted by 8Wonders I take no offense to your comment. It's not a discussion of my producing style/mixing quality versus Rick's. One can make an objective comments regarding the acoustic nature of a record without being a producer. I referred to A&B's album earlier, now that is what an album should sound like, from a production and mastering view. Sander Van Doorns work is exceptionally well mixed and mastered. I can make these comments without having to be a producer, no?

Ofcourse

Would be cool to hear from Ricky himself why his music sounds the way it sounds, so distinctively different from polished albums like A&B's, like you mentioned.
I can only think Digital Blonde's tracks sound like they do because he wants them to sound like this, as he's been doing this for many years.

Perhaps he liked how his music came out of his Atari computer so he continued making them sound like that

quote:

Originally posted by n0bben My thoughts about this album: It doesn't sound like an album to me. It sounds like ten rather similar tracks put together on a cd. EP releases would be better. You can clearly tell that DB isn't very versatile as a producer..before i listened to this CD it felt like i heard it all before, and i wouldn't really consider myself as an experienced trance listener. The tracks sounds pretty mediocre to me, difference being that the sound is beefier but it still sounds like formulatic stuff to my ears. Im sure they go down well on the dancefloors (which perhaps is the most important thing) but for a non-clubber like me this release is rather useless. Summary: for me, this years most overhyped record. Doesn't come as a suprise really since Digital Blonde got so much unreleased stuff which until now could only be heard in livesets, and when the full tracks are finally avaliable people go crazy. It's always the same thing. Just look at Boards of Canada.

+1

A good CD overall but there is not enough variation in the tracks to warrant an album imo. A few really great tracks but by the end of the CD you are sick of hearing that same "style" of trance.

6.5/10 from me.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ_Massive Would be cool to hear from Ricky himself why his music sounds the way it sounds, so distinctively different from polished albums like A&B's, like you mentioned. I can only think Digital Blonde's tracks sound like they do because he wants them to sound like this, as he's been doing this for many years. Perhaps he liked how his music came out of his Atari computer so he continued making them sound like that

Would be nice to see what Ricky has to say.

During my earlier listenings to the album, at times I did feel that the sound mastering (as a whole) was lacking a bit of oomph - especially when going from Casca to Only You - but then again, Only You would not have had that raw feel to it if it were a very crisp, even so far to say "artificial" sounding to it.

Prehaps the tracks were meant to have that "raw and dirty" sound - similar to that of Liebing's techno.

quote:

Originally posted by [ groovypants ] Would be nice to see what Ricky has to say. During my earlier listenings to the album, at times I did feel that the sound mastering (as a whole) was lacking a bit of oomph - especially when going from Casca to Only You - but then again, Only You would not have had that raw feel to it if it were a very crisp, even so far to say "artificial" sounding to it. Prehaps the tracks were meant to have that "raw and dirty" sound - similar to that of Liebing's techno.

Apples and Oranges. Like I mentioned earlier, if you are going for the 'raw and dirty' feel like Liebing does, then do it through proper mixing and careful sound sculpting. Oliver's tracks, despite being raw, still sound well mixed and mastered, which unfortunately I cannot say for Mr. Digital Blonde's tracks.

The foundation is there, it's just not polished.

quote:

Originally posted by 8Wonders Apples and Oranges. Like I mentioned earlier, if you are going for the 'raw and dirty' feel like Liebing does, then do it through proper mixing and careful sound sculpting. Oliver's tracks, despite being raw, still sound well mixed and mastered, which unfortunately I cannot say for Mr. Digital Blonde's tracks. The foundation is there, it's just not polished.

olver liebing


i can completely see where your coming from and can respect your view. i was actually expecting to write similar comments after i first flicked through the album and even contemplated starting a whole new thread discussion the importance of production standards. when i'm browsing through recordstores looking for stuff to buy, crisp & powerful sounding stuff is paramount, i can usually rule out dodgy sounding stuff in about a second of listening to the respective samples.

the thing with this though, is that i saw it as less of a collection of club tracks, more as an artistic product, and with the amazing work that's gone into the atmosphere in the tracks, i was able to forget about the dodgy production standards. long story short if these were all individual tracks i'd probably skip by most of them, with the possible exception of only you & concerto. just in the context of the album i think it works, in some cases like ritual it even benefits it

chicane's first album is similar in that respect, even tho it's older. but still the production sounds incredibly dated now, but it still works cos of the atmospheric journey the album takes you on

hey dooods...... soz you dont like my production but thats just how it is... i am as old school as it comes...i dont try to prove anithing with my tracks and i dont try to keep up with the times...the music i make is pure old school ilegle werehouse party filth .. this is the stuff i was dooin in 1986 and its the stuff i enjoy dooin now...us producers earn absolutly zero now due to computers and downloading so im dooin it for the love of playing with keyboards just like when i started .. we wernt called producers in them days we were called synthesists and most of the stuff on the album as been made on an atari st and an old spirit mixing desk .. most of the new tracks nowadays isent proper trancedance... tecnology has killed it its microwave music stick an idea in a pc for 3 minutes and its done you dont even have to leave your chair .. how many new producers have to move the studio about and take synths to bits just to get a sound thats guna shake a party .. well the answer is probably none of them they just rite click....music is produced now and isent made ..im sorry if have disapointed you and i will try and tidy production up on my new stuff but i will be dooin it for the source and not for the speices ..i hope oliver agrees with me cuz i think he might be on the same wavelength as me a real tranceaddict and not a techaddict.......

Cheers dood
Keep up that oldskool thing

Is the atari still running?

quote:

Originally posted by DIJ hey dooods...... soz you dont like my production but thats just how it is... i am as old school as it comes...i dont try to prove anithing with my tracks and i dont try to keep up with the times...the music i make is pure old school ilegle werehouse party filth .. this is the stuff i was dooin in 1986 and its the stuff i enjoy dooin now...us producers earn absolutly zero now due to computers and downloading so im dooin it for the love of playing with keyboards just like when i started .. we wernt called producers in them days we were called synthesists and most of the stuff on the album as been made on an atari st and an old spirit mixing desk .. most of the new tracks nowadays isent proper trancedance... tecnology has killed it its microwave music stick an idea in a pc for 3 minutes and its done you dont even have to leave your chair .. how many new producers have to move the studio about and take synths to bits just to get a sound thats guna shake a party .. well the answer is probably none of them they just rite click....music is produced now and isent made ..im sorry if have disapointed you and i will try and tidy production up on my new stuff but i will be dooin it for the source and not for the speices ..i hope oliver agrees with me cuz i think he might be on the same wavelength as me a real tranceaddict and not a techaddict.......

thanx mate.......iv put the atari to rest ive still got it it sleeps between me and the missus now

quote:

Originally posted by isoterra olver liebing

Oliver



omg phuture tech schranz !!!

quote:

Originally posted by isoterra chicane's first album is similar in that respect, even tho it's older. but still the production sounds incredibly dated now, but it still works cos of the atmospheric journey the album takes you on

This is spot on.

Oliver Lieb or Chris Liebing?

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