Whats wrong with vocals in trance?

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Posted by SYSTEM-J on Oct-18-2005 16:08:

quote:
Originally posted by kr00t0n
dunno about the others, but delerium is a rock band, so they arent technically trance vocals

Delerium aren't a rock band. They're a ambient/world-beat collision.

And this is trance we're listening to! Trance should never be about vocals, because there are about ten genuine cases of trance with vocals ever working, and none of them are very recent.

Posted by Sykonee on Oct-18-2005 16:31:

Too often the vocals seem inconsiquential because the Super Mega Melody at the peak of every buid-up (and, yes, most vocal trance/nu-euro uses this) is so much bigger and boisterous than the singer. Poor girl gets drowned out and plays second fiddle to the Super Mega Melody, of which the track seems to be mostly built around. If that's the case, why not just eliminate the extra fluff (the singer) to make tighter songs?

Euro from the 90's was better suited for sing-a-long lyrics, as the singers/rappers were never outshined by the main leads. Quite often, the main leads are complementary to the chorus. Vocal trance/nu-euro doesn't do this, though, as it's borrowing its template from anthem trance, where the Super Mega Melody is the main focus, and everything else is just extra padding for DJs to competently mix in and out of tracks. Unfortunately, vocal trance/nu-euro tends to get this idea that, somehow, the singer is just as important as the main lead, even though the musical production tends to indicate they aren't (Super Mega Melody being more promenant than the singer), leading to an insufferable pretentiousness in most of those songs. What could be fun is killed by how serious the singers take themselves.

Tiesto seemed to understand this when he did his remix of Silence, as he pretty much let McLachlan's voice do most of the carrying in the song, and provided a peak melody that complemented Sarah rather than rendering her inconsiquential. That is why that remix has stood the test of time so well, and continues to remain an all time favorite for many; the balance was perfect. However, despite so many attempts to replicate that flash in the pan (including by him), very rarely has anyone seemed to nail it down again (though I've noticed Gabriel & Dresden do more often than not), most of the time producers substitute substance with theatrics. The Super Mega Melody has gotten bigger and louder, amounting to nothing much when you sit back and realize all that time leading up to the main attraction in these songs was wasted on some lyrics about loving an old lover, loving a new lover, loving an old and a new lover, loving a dead lover, loving an inaminate lover, loving the love of love, loving one's self, loving forbidden love, loving the feeling of drugs you love, loving the search for love, loving the act of love, or deconstructing the pros and cons of an independent Kurd nation (last one not confirmed).

Posted by Sly One on Oct-18-2005 19:53:

I think mostly because it's badly done

But as a rule I find vocals intrusive - I've never really listened to words much in music as a whole, and the thing I liked about trance was that it was kida music that "spoke for itself" - pure emotion in musical form. It always seemed... I don't know... unnecessary, to put vocals over the top, trying in some way to convey the same emotion in the limited vocabulary of a language. Like the "stating the bleeding obvious" commentary on American documentaries - I'd be happier just working it out myself from the footage.

There are awesome examples, but I'm sad to say that there are far more examples of tunes where I've gone completely apeshit over an incredible groove and build, only to get to the breakdown and some elfin female trumpeting about flying through the clouds.

On top of that, if you subscribe to the belief that trance is music intended to to induce a trance-like state, there's nothing better suited to making you "snap out of it" than a human voice. It's just psychology. Which really just means that it needs to be kept in its place - I generally use vocals specifically to wake people up if they look like they've started glazing over

Posted by PlasticSoul on Oct-18-2005 20:07:

quote:
Originally posted by kr00t0n
dunno about the others, but delerium is a rock band, so they arent technically trance vocals
]

can you agree taht tiesto remix is trance?
i thought i didnt need explain this, but, well...

Posted by GuyintheTV on Oct-18-2005 20:12:

Satellite is a badass song. Vocals are good sometimes, bad othertimes. I like 4 Strings, I don't give a shit if people say they are cheesy, I like it so fuck off. I agree with someone else who said "Dont let other people dictate your taste."

guy

Posted by kr00t0n on Oct-18-2005 22:44:

quote:
Originally posted by PlasticSoul
]

can you agree taht tiesto remix is trance?
i thought i didnt need explain this, but, well...

Yes I can, but therefore the vocals arent trance vocals, in that they weren't written with the intention of being in a trance track.

4 Strings - Into the Night was originally an instrumental, and a nice one at that (D'Tech mix rocks), but after a while it was rebranded Take Me Away (Into the Night) and some bint's voice was plastered onto it to make it more accessible to the pop world.