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-- My Thoughts on Neo Trance
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It is interesting that psytrance experienced a parallel trend back in about 2003 or so... "neo full-on" as it was called was a short-lived fad centred around the fusion of full-on with deeper more progressive techniques. Of course, the result was, by and large, pepped up progressive or really boring full-on. It soon faded back into the regular stream of stuff, its marketing potential and creative scope exhausted.

From this thread in December 2006:

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Originally posted by Cobalt Listen to Sven Vath's Mysteryland set from this August. That will give you a good sense of how the word is being applied. Some artists in on the act are: Mathew Jonson Gabriel Ananda Gregor Tresher Deetron Tom Pooks Extrawelt Some labels where so-called "neotrance" has recently appeared: Kompakt Extra Datapunk Cocoon Great Stuff Recordings Wagon Repair Treibstoff Some examples are: Tom Pooks - Pablo Assan's Gregor Tresher - The Now People Deetron - Isotope Tigerskin - Neontrance Gabriel Ananda & Cio D'or - Lauschgoldengel Extrawelt - Titelheld Mathew Jonson - Marionette came a bit before the neotrance "wave", as did Hawtin's DE9 stuff (such as The Tunnel), but both could also be included as examples.

Cobblestone Jazz - W could definitely be added to the list.

I still think Tom Pooks - Pablo Assan's is the most neotrancy track to date. The biggest thing preventing neotrance from actually being trance, in my opinion, is the BPM. One of the defining features of trance is its speed. 130bpm trance doesn't really sound like trance, yet most neotrance is hovering down there.

Good post, julien2.

mixed neo trance last week didnt even know how it was called.

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Originally posted by julien2 However, one thing that is clear is that the genre is struggling...2 years ago, approximately, many people were tired with the jesus pose build up breakdown hands in the air trance. Thats why neo-trance emerged.

the problem i have, is there are loads of possible routes for trance to take to avoid the aforementioned cliches, and what is classed as neo-trance doesn't seem to be an evolution of trance at all.. but rather one of minimal/tech house with added melody

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The biggest thing preventing neotrance from actually being trance, in my opinion, is the BPM. One of the defining features of trance is its speed. 130bpm trance doesn't really sound like trance, yet most neotrance is hovering down there.

i'd agree with that. trance generally tends to have tougher, more driving kickdrums & a more prominent bassline. the first vid posted by paul andrews on the previous page had NO sounds in it that i'd associate with trance.. the second one has a few trancey sounding synths it though, as well as a tougher kick. i haven't heard many other so-called neo-trance tunes in that vein though...

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Originally posted by isoterra the problem i have, is there are loads of possible routes for trance to take to avoid the aforementioned cliches, and what is classed as neo-trance doesn't seem to be an evolution of trance at all.. but rather one of minimal/tech house with added melody

That's true. I don't perceive 'neo-trance' as a conscious counteraction to the overblown epic trance, more like some trend in techno that was maybe a part of the ubiquitous 90s revival. Seems to me that people who were a fans of the older trance sound were responsible for coining the term with hope the good old days may come back in some form.

It's wishful thinking that might probably be never completely fulfilled.

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Originally posted by isoterra the problem i have, is there are loads of possible routes for trance to take to avoid the aforementioned cliches, and what is classed as neo-trance doesn't seem to be an evolution of trance at all.. but rather one of minimal/tech house with added melody

That's because the current version of trance is shit and not worth messing with it at all. To come up with good music, i'd think it's better to take the base from tech house, and then add the trancy elements on top of it. The other reason is that the people experimenting with neotrance all come from the tech house/techno/"minimal" side of things, so it's no surprise they try making tracks that will fit with the usual sort of stuff they spin on their sets.

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i'd agree with that. trance generally tends to have tougher, more driving kickdrums & a more prominent bassline. the first vid posted by paul andrews on the previous page had NO sounds in it that i'd associate with trance.. the second one has a few trancey sounding synths it though, as well as a tougher kick. i haven't heard many other so-called neo-trance tunes in that vein though...

I know this is highly subjective, but I really can't understand how you don't associate the first vid with trance, it screams "HEY THIS IS TRANCE" to me. The entire track is arpeggio melodies played on classic synths, layered on top of each other. Plus hypnotic sci-fi'ish sound effects. It sounds like a combination between what M.I.K.E. would come up with 5 years ago, and what Cosmic Baby would come up with 15 years ago. Maybe the BPM is a bit slower, but that's it.

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Originally posted by noikeee That's because the current version of trance is shit and not worth messing with it at all. To come up with good music, i'd think it's better to take the base from tech house, and then add the trancy elements on top of it.

subjective again. i personally can't stand the 'sounds' (kicks/bass/perc/general synths etc etc) that tech house is normally made out of and much prefer the kinds you get in trance, irrespective of any 'musical' factors (like structure/melodies or whatever). and to say it's shit is reason enough to want it to evolve, surely?

i'd prefer to see trance made with the same instrumental buildup as it is today, only with less emphasis on big chord changes & breakdown/buildup, and more emphasis on hypnotic/layered evolving melodies. i'm surprised there aren't many who've tried it (without going deep & proggy)

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The other reason is that the people experimenting with neotrance all come from the tech house/techno/"minimal" side of things, so it's no surprise they try making tracks that will fit with the usual sort of stuff they spin on their sets.

well yeah, obviously. my qualm with why those guys chose a trance-related name in the first place

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I know this is highly subjective, but I really can't understand how you don't associate the first vid with trance, it screams "HEY THIS IS TRANCE" to me. The entire track is arpeggio melodies played on classic synths, layered on top of each other. Plus hypnotic sci-fi'ish sound effects. It sounds like a combination between what M.I.K.E. would come up with 5 years ago, and what Cosmic Baby would come up with 15 years ago. Maybe the BPM is a bit slower, but that's it.

my reasons for disassociating it with trance are less to do with the melodies themselves (which could be transcribed to trance pretty easily) than the instruments it uses, which make it sound more like some kind of 80s electro/synthpop/electronica* than trance to me


*(take that attempt at pigeonholing with a fistful of salt)

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Originally posted by isoterra the problem i have, is there are loads of possible routes for trance to take to avoid the aforementioned cliches, and what is classed as neo-trance doesn't seem to be an evolution of trance at all.. but rather one of minimal/tech house with added melody

that's exactly how i was defining the genre before i knew it was neo trance.

I'm tired of music historic and genre naming. So many song can't enter any genre classification, they weren't produce with the idea to be analyze, classify into a genre in which they won't even fit anyway. Naming your track with your own word will always end up being better then to categorize them into an already way to vast sub genre. Many track I came across is so unique that it merit to get is own sub genre. Genre classification just cut off the thinking part were you really have to define the song as a whole and express how you truly feel about it with no generic 1 word subgenre classification that doesn't mean shit.

To me the 2 vid are more retro than neo trance.

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Originally posted by Algenis Who cares about neo trance, who cares about definitions, its all about good music.

so true

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Originally posted by isoterra subjective again. i personally can't stand the 'sounds' (kicks/bass/perc/general synths etc etc) that tech house is normally made out of and much prefer the kinds you get in trance, irrespective of any 'musical' factors (like structure/melodies or whatever). and to say it's shit is reason enough to want it to evolve, surely?

I know you have a different taste in music and respect that, I'm just presenting my point of view which i believe to be shared by these guys who make "neotrance". IMO the current trance is completely uninteresting and pointless to mess around with. Fluffy, anthemic, dumbed down, soul-less, bleh. It can evolve, but why mess with it if we're not interested at all in it, surely it's better to leave it alone for others to try and evolve it?

I believe the mindset of neotrance is the following: the last 10 years in trance have been a mistake, lets forget them and try to pick up from when trance was still good. And while we're at it, let's try mixing it with some elements from the genres that came up meanwhile in these 10 years, that we like. It's kinda a retro-revival thing with a hint of experimental-ness.

thats what i said in my post one page before

ah ha so thats neo trance. i had a feeling thats what my favorite tunes were all this time. but they were always filed under "techno" or "minimal" on beatport/juno.

i think the problem with trance all these years was that the beat was so mind numbingly boring. doof doof doof. they had some of the best symphony sounding orchestrations, top of the world opera classical stuff, but the beat was always in the same bpm range, and the beat was not very creative or very groovy. people got tired of it.

this new stuff is great. its what ive always wanted back when i would play stuff like junkie xl/tiesto - obsession, or solarcoaster ... to an empty room. i wished there was something that had the melody, good vibe feelings and beauty, but in a slowed down more groovy housey version.

heres some of my favorites:

akzidenz grotesk - isbjorn
hugg and pepp - snabeln
guy gerber - sea of sand
johannes heil - one
martin buttrich - full clip
sven vath/anthony rother - springlove

those are all "hits", and kinda old. just happened to have my old folder open.

it would be cool if we could keep this thread or make a new one where people just list tracks of this cool new sound.

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Originally posted by stev�sto i think the problem with trance all these years was that the beat was so mind numbingly boring. doof doof doof. they had some of the best symphony sounding orchestrations, top of the world opera classical stuff, but the beat was always in the same bpm range, and the beat was not very creative or very groovy. people got tired of it.

Speak for yourself <_<

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Originally posted by SMC I understand what "neotrance" refers to. Slightly melodic (or trancy) but still with the stripped down raw quality of techno or tech-house.

YES! This is exactly what I�m trying to say. The music people mistakenly call neo-trance is actually techno/tech-house/minimal or a combination of all that, not neo-trance.

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Originally posted by InDeepSpace Neo-trance is a hybrid of minimal techno and early nineties trance. It goes really back to the roots. I totally dig this stuff at the moment. Its absolutely warm sounding stuff makes you drift away.

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Originally posted by paulandrews That's true. I don't perceive 'neo-trance' as a conscious counteraction to the overblown epic trance, more like some trend in techno that was maybe a part of the ubiquitous 90s revival. Seems to me that people who were a fans of the older trance sound were responsible for coining the term with hope the good old days may come back in some form. It's wishful thinking that might probably be never completely fulfilled.

You guys make some great points and hit the nail on the head with what I was trying to say in my first post. This is another less obvious flaw which I did not address earlier. I say less obvious because this mistake is easily made and that is using the word neo-trance to describe style of trance music that came out in the early to mid 90's, when in fact there is already one for it and it goes something like this:

proper/pure/classic trance <---You guys still remember that one I hope

or just simply...

trance.

Conclusion: Drop the trendy neo- prefix and let the trance revival continue!

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Originally posted by Project-K Neo trance is just trance. The problem is that for ages people have been calling 'trance' stuff that shouldn't be called trance.

definately, it's just a new name for something thats coming from a new genre that you'd be ashamed to call trance
my example is Gabriel Ananda + Cio D'or - Lauschgoldengel, the best trance track of recent fucking times

yeah but nowadays "trance" is a dirty word. people think of tiesto and armin and that stuff. so if you're a DJ who plays this stuff, why not call your music neo-trance. the trance revival has a loooong way to go if it's going to overcome the popularity of today's well known popular "trance".

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Originally posted by Az definately, it's just a new name for something thats coming from a new genre that you'd be ashamed to call trance my example is Gabriel Ananda + Cio D'or - Lauschgoldengel, the best trance track of recent fucking times

i was browsing juno when i heard that and had to buy it. i didnt care if it was a one sided vinyl. never heard another dj play it, and still haven't, love it. but fuck me, that's trance? maybe im stupid, but for as long as ive known, trance is paul van dyk - words, plastic boy - silverbath, midway - monkey forest, accessive rhyhtm - activate. You cant play lauschgoldangel with that stuff. -8 to +8 is not enough range to match the bpm.

i think the core of it, is this new stuff has the trance sound and feeling, but with a slower groovier bpm.

imo isoterra pretty much hit the nail on the head

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Originally posted by TranceArmstrong yeah but nowadays "trance" is a dirty word. people think of tiesto and armin and that stuff. so if you're a DJ who plays this stuff, why not call your music neo-trance.

exactly. the "neo" thing is just a random name to differentiate.

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Originally posted by stev�sto i was browsing juno when i heard that and had to buy it. i didnt care if it was a one sided vinyl. never heard another dj play it, and still haven't, love it. but fuck me, that's trance? maybe im stupid, but for as long as ive known, trance is paul van dyk - words, plastic boy - silverbath, midway - monkey forest, accessive rhyhtm - activate. You cant play lauschgoldangel with that stuff. -8 to +8 is not enough range to match the bpm.

it's not made to played with that stuff.

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Originally posted by noikeee it's not made to played with that stuff.

exactly. because lauschgoldengel is not trance. thanks for supporting what i said!

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Originally posted by stev�sto but for as long as ive known, trance is paul van dyk - words, plastic boy - silverbath, midway - monkey forest, accessive rhyhtm - activate.

Well, if this is your definition of trance (don't get me wrong, that is trance, but a very wrong way to look at it), then Lauschgoldengel isn't trance. But if you're looking on trance as on trippy and hypnotic music that will entrance you then Lauschgoldengel is definitely trance

Trance isn't as much of a narrow genre as it may seem, there are many different types of trance that don't necessarily mix with each other, altho this can be considered borderline stuff..

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Originally posted by isoterra 80s electro/synthpop/electronica

Bingo. The first video is simply not neo-trance. 70's and 80's disco used much of the same type of sounds, and people like Alden Tyrell have been reviving that sound for years.

Listen to a track like Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom - Rise (DFA Remix) which is quite a few years old. Listen to those synths. Pure disco revivalism. Sure it's long and repetitive, and quite spacey, but that doesn't make it trance.

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Originally posted by TranceArmstrong yeah but nowadays "trance" is a dirty word. people think of tiesto and armin and that stuff. so if you're a DJ who plays this stuff, why not call your music neo-trance. the trance revival has a loooong way to go if it's going to overcome the popularity of today's well known popular "trance".

Do we even want it to?

I'd say leave "Trance" as the "bad" word, for the masses, to describe anything from Scooter to ATB.

Part of the appeal of this sound to me, is that it isn't part of the hype so far. Yeah, neo-trance is passed around EDM forums all the time, but outside the scene, nobody has a clue. Thats what i like.

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Originally posted by stev�sto exactly. because lauschgoldengel is not trance. thanks for supporting what i said!

he didn't support what you said, he just said it's different. It's fucking trance

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