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Direction of trance
Listening to most melodic trance tracks these days they all seem rather boring with the standard elements. It also seems that less and less record labels are continuing to put out melodic trance while they seem to be moving more and more towards progressive elements. The tracks are getting more complicated with less standard arps blaring euphoric arps and more innovative breakdowns.
Where do you, as an artist, see trance music progressing? Are you being innovative or do your tracks sound like reproduced tracks from 1999?
Just want to hear some opinions on the "progression" of melodic trance music.
My style isn't going to change anytime soon.. The pure melodic element of trance is 70% why I listen/produce it in first place. So long as groups like Airbase and System F stay popular, I would say there is nothing to worry about. The day trance focuses more on beats & lyrics then melody will be a sad one.
As for where I think it's going VS. where it is today, after listening to AVB's A State Of Trance 2004 I think that as synthesizer technology advances beyond the Nord 3 and Virus C you'll start seeing a lot more experimenting with sounds. Meaning, rather then a fully composed arpeggio melody, for example, you will see more producers taking there melodies and slicing them up to get a completly different and new sound.
The melodic element of trance will start to rely more on your producing skills to get a fresh sound rather then your composing skills.
Re: Direction of trance
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| Originally posted by FuzzyGreen Where do you, as an artist, see trance music progressing? Are you being innovative or do your tracks sound like reproduced tracks from 1999? |
I expect Trance to get cleaner in the next couple of years. By that I mean that it will be time-corrected by virtue of BT's forthcoming book on time-correction. I can't imagine how tight Trance would be if time-corrected.
It will go where the crowd want it to go. Right now its recessing into a slightly more proggy/darker sound in general, with the vast majority of release being less commercial. Thats a good thing in a way, but it also means you are more unlikely to hear the next Sandstorm or Castles In The Sky currently. Whether you deem that to be a good or bad thing depends on how narrow minded your view of the scene in general is. Personally I would much prefer the current generation to be getting into trance/house/techno or whatever than Urban. Cheesey groups with cheesey tunes making it into the top 40 ultimately influences the music children like and they are the ones that will push the scene forward when the long term DJ's and producers are gone. I would imagine sometime around 2006/7 will see a trance revival to the heights it was in 1997. It reflects current happenings in the world and in clubland, trance music is undeniably lacking popularity in the UK at the moment and I guess thats reflected in the darker trance.
Thats my incoherent two pennies worth. 
I totally agree with mossey.
As for myself, I'm always looking for a way to bring some original sound to the mix, romodelling after Fluke - Zion, Faithless and the like, but also find myself being drawn back to the trance principals that made it popular in the first place.
I love the experimental sound, and creativity is never a bad thing, so just as long as we have a foothold in next gen sounds and keep making the more conservative tracks with our producers, I believe any direction we head in will be a good one.
I wish that i had a style yet, think that ill have to be producing for alot longer than i have before that truly happens.
As far as where trance is going. I say that the newer sound of trance is going to have fast and interesting basslines. No more off beat basslines. They are so boring i just die listening to more than one song in a row with that style of bass.
The style of trance in the future is represented today by songs like "Dirt Devils - Music is life" or the classic "binary finary - 98" brought up to speed with the '03 "Ronski speed Mix"
The last mentioned is a good example of what will retain of the classic trance sound that we know and love with the sound of tomorrow.
So i hope you like it cause i know i do.
Dont worry we rule the world! ... Soon
BTW : what's standart element?? Pure guitar It rocks in trance not in rock music
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| Originally posted by Sebraaa12 BTW : what's standart element?? Pure guitar It rocks in trance not in rock music |
"The standard elements" worked well in 97-98, when they still were quite fresh elements of trance. And indeed, trance might seem a bit boring these days. If you ask my personal opinion, trance music is in some kind of "searching mode" nowadays, where it seems to have the standard elements of 97-99 trance as a steady ground, from which it seems almost impossible to let go off for 100%, but at the same time trying to find influences from the old trance music, as it all started. In a somewhat near future, I suppose there will arise a new generation of trance music, pictured in my list below as generation 3.
Generation 1: the old classic, highly-repetetive trance music.
Generation 2: the trance boom sound of 97-99 (appr.), which we could in some say call a revolution
Generation 2+: the trance sound of today, relying on the previous two generations.
Generation 3: the next revolution, still to come, where I'm hoping to see a totally new idea incorporated in the trance genre (but still not changing the main idea of trance, of course).
Keep in mind, that this is only something that visualises the ideas and thoughts I have in my own little brain. Feel free to criticize if you think my "generations" are way off the line. 
What I'd like to hear a lot more of (and, dare I say it, produce) is that older style. Nowadays, so much trance follows the Gouryella/Rank 1 formula, with big huge hooks that come out of nowhere. Sure, it sounds nice. And sure, at 4am on a dancefloor, it's going to drive me insane.
But what I miss are those classics like BF - 98. In fact, everything on the first Tranceport album. That's the style I really love. Progressive, yes. But also deeply melodic. And most importantly, it's music that flows. Cafe del Mar, for example, is possibly one of the most perfect trance tracks ever produced. Why? Because it doesn't rely on snare fills to build up the track. Uses them, yes, but the track would work almost as well without them. It follows logical musical concepts that we've all grown up with, and seamlessly flows from one phrase to the next.
That's what I'm trying, and failing miserably to do. One day..
Yep, the Gouryella-concept is probably ten times easier to follow than the oldskool style, at least if you ask me. I guess many of us tend to hold on to the, already overused, classic melodic trance genre mentioned above, just because it at least isn't the most difficult of trance subgenres to produce. Buildings a trance track with build-up intro -> silent part -> main lead part -> build-down outro, including snare rolls every here and there etc., and you automatically has a frame to produce your music in. One should instead dare to experiment more outside of this classic concept (although I can't say I'm one of these innovators, instead something totally contrary to that ).
Music in general is not helped at the moment with the stupid amount of pigeon holing that journalists are responsible for. Is it tech trance? Is it hard trance? Is it progressive melodic trance? No. Thats killing music. If anything strive to be undefinable! I like Sander Klienenbergs philosophy on dance music - he plays music, if its good he plays it regardless of whether its not deemed prog or house or whatever.
With regards to off beat bass lines, its not the bass line that is boring. People unknowingly dance to the bass line, but too many (mass) producers rely on concepts that work instead of using a concept that works along with new ideas. Hard house died because of a 'formula' being applied to almost every tune that you heard - some producers putting 4 records out a month, every month. If its for the money, its not good for the scene.
Trust me, trance will make a massive come back, and I plan to be at the fore-front, leading the charge slicing the heretic urbanites throats 
We are currently experiencing an era of post modernism, not only in trance but in all other forms of art. Just look at the film industry. How many remakes of old movies are made now days? How many comic books are brought to life on the big screen?
With trance it's very likely that we will see a trend of going back to the basics but in an enhanced form. The hypnotizing basslines are the cornerstone of this genre, but I would expect more melodies and pads interweaving with the rhythmic elements to create beautiful, driving soundscapes-trance symphonies.
I hope the pads will slowly go away or something. Also Rank-1 rips should be banned forever lol. I like the stuff that is coming out lately. Ton T.B. and stuff like that, I appreciate that stuff. If I listen to the older trance nowadays it doesn't do me anything anymore, I really like the progressive trend. Sounds like the ones in traffic and such I hope to never hear again. The usual trance is just not my thing anymore, I hope I don't have to find another message board now 
With melodic trance I mean Push and the likes, I'm not into that sound anymore. But that's Push's fault, he over-re-used it in every single song he released I hope that some new type will evolve out of trance, something way different, but still respecting the emotions of the listener.
The problem, of course, is that by its very nature, trance must be formulaic. Sure, there's lots of room to play within those structures, but when it boils down to it, we're stuck with intro-first motif-small break-first motif and build-big break-melody-build-outro.
We can't stray too far away from that, or the music no longer becomes recognizable as trance. Annoying, I suppose, but it's always fun to have to work within limits.
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| Originally posted by alanzo The day trance focuses more on beats & lyrics then melody will be a sad one. |
I think it's unfortunate that trance is taking on progressive elements. Not one new trance track in the past few years has given me "chills" or has stuck in my head as much as the older tunes like in the 2000ish era. Even back then they had progressive AND melodic, both popular in their own way. I just wish progressive wasn't taking over melodic...I wish they could exist side by side and have their own following..not just one big genre with elements from both.
I can't get any of my tunes released. I hear the same reason every time from DJs and labels: It really would have been huge 3 years ago.....and that sucks because that is the kind of music I like and still listen to!
It's just strange with trance that songs from just a few years ago aren't "cool" any more even though you can turn on a rock radio station and hear shit from the early 90's...
It seems as though producers who made epic/uplifting trance are making techy or more progressive trance. It seems as if the heavy synth saw lead sound is being replaced by the lush pad. All of the hardtrance producers seem to make mostly hard techno/hardstyle songs.
evrybodys gonna go back to digital synths like in the 80's and all VA's and real analogs will drop in price massively....melodic trance weill die out for awhile then poeple(dj's and producers) that don't have much money will start producing this lush uplifing type sound because they are using the cheap outdated hardware that nobody uses anymore and the genre that will inevitably spwan from this, is an erruption of something called trance!!
sounds realistic...well thats exactly what happened and history can repeat itself slightly.
Remeber that trance music is originated from tribal music(not tribal house..real ethnic trib stuff, whatever)..to help the trib memebers to reach that higher state..with drugs of course
Limit Out!
ultimately one overused sound (happy hardcore piano, squelchy acid bass lines, rank 1 style pads, supersaw???) will be replaced by the next big thing. it always happens, a new sound is 'invented', the pioneers make quality tunes with it, the sheep make mundane efforts that people may have been impressed with if it had been 2 years earlier, and the innovators are onto the next sound.
that said, stop worrying about using a specific synth or copying your fav tracks, and get on with producing quality tunes. I cant really think of any time in the past when I thought this tune would be amazing if he had used 'such and such' a sound. Its about making people dance, and frankly its about knowing people who are influential that will play your tunes. thats if your wanting to make a full time living out of music.
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