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Expressing creativity as a trance DJ

Hello there,

I wonder if you guys get a chance to show creativity as trance DJs. Granted, creativity is ensued in the producing department (read producers) and DJ's just get to mixing what was created but surely there is scope for creative expression.

My original take on DJ'ing was in fact with trance when I was 14. I just DJ'ed in my bedroom for the pleasure of listening to the music yet realised that all I was doing was cuing the tracks and making sure they beat-matched and weren't out of sync, occasionally correcting the equalizer for a smooth transition. Over the years I went onto other electronic genres which allowed for more creativity, as I would mix three decks at the same time, selecting heavy bass tracks with bass-muted melodies, spinning acid loops, etc.

I understand that the pleasure of trance is actually listening to the track as it is, how every instrument synergises to provide an unbeatable experience. However, as a trance DJ, how do you guys go from standing out from the crowd and expressing your own creativity? Of course, having the latest tracks is imperative but do you get to express yourself when DJ-ing? I like to tune into trance.fm but notice that all DJs do the same, cue and beat-match.

Simply curious.

i just show them my penis.

This really strikes at the core of who I am and what I put forth for everyone to soak up no matter by choice or some other more fierce medium.

Trance certainly does deliver an unbeatable experience as you previously attested to. The synergy of each element combined with the brute and gruff expectation of the next beat is suddenly masked by the onset of some misunderstood feeling lashing out callously from the underbelly. Under the duress of the subsequent alignment of harmony and incorrigible atonal syncopated melodic feedback an entire civilization can be created; veritably playing in some vacant diorama in the furthest reaches of the mindscape. Some senseless show, a forgone masquerade given release or plunder at the pinpricks of intuition.

There's a gift doled out genetically at the birth of each aspiring trance dj. The ability to swap supersaws. Much like a tantric kiss in the receding hours of the night that overlap the boundaries of the incredulous and sludgy mirth that defines the moistness of the lips. Each track of mine, be it from Euphonic, Electronic Elements, Bonzai, Armind, ASOT, Anjunabeats, Discover, Discover Dark, Captivating Sounds, Coldharbour, Coldharbour Red, Armada, Armada Digital, Club Elite, Perfecto, Vandit, Black Hole, Flashover, Soundpiercing, Monster Tunes, you know, whatever, they all arouse this part of me that is buried deep beneath the scandalous entrapment of my clattering teeth. A binding truth that burns each time my neck moves and kindles the jagged edges of its adherent consequences.

More often than not I use a PIONEER DJM 800 to steer this ship of sonic suspense. Each turn of a knob switches a light on in one of my neurons, pulsing outward to my fingers to perform the same act in succession with a multitude of symbiotic actions that culminate and undulate into the formation of a fabulous set. In the shape of a double helix.

It's just something about trance, really.

I also like to sample porn into my uplifting trance sets. Not a lot of people do that. So I've heard.

i agree with ted promo. trance music has changed my life, at times my girlfriend would get naked, fat ass, big titties. i kept on listening to trance any way, realizing that it was the true key to my heart. once the waves and frequencies hit me, i was thinking "man, i've finally found my atlantis".

trance isn't for everyone though. it takes a sore heart to listen to some of the captivating lyrics and melodies that are pushed into the listeners ear. a real heavy heart. i remember my girlfriend broke up with me one time and i was living alone, on the other side of the continent, far from family and "REAL" friends, friends who also listened to trance and could relate to my emotions. i simply put on a trance mp3 and started crying, the next day i woke up feeling a revelation as if i had just awoken from a psychedelic trip on mushrooms.

creativity in trance comes from truly understanding ones heart. after that, one stutter effect on a pioneer djm800 can create beauty and mystery within the soundscape one is privileged to hear. remember, trance is a privilege, not a right.

Some beautiful posts in this thread. Here is my $.02, as trance has truly shaped my entire life and I don't know where I would be without it.

Expressing yourself creatively as a trance DJ is not unlike being King Leonidas, leading a small, yet fierce, group of loyal denizens amongst an evil sea of radio pop garbage. Only, in this story, victory is obtained. With trance, everybody wins, because it unlocks the keys to your soul and unleashes peace, love, unity, and respect onto an unsuspecting world. The light which trance has unlocked in my life is rivaled by no other sonic experience I have ever had the honor and privilege of becoming one with, and has made me... nay, has made the world a better place.

The main defining element, for me, is the supersaw... the looking glass which pierces deep into my heart and reveals things about myself that I never would have otherwise known. The broad audio spectrum and the thick, layered warmth that they provide do nothing short of bringing tears to my eyes as I learn how good of a person I truly am. The comfort that follows this realization is truly incredible.

When I discovered trance, I was in a deep and dark place. Armin and Ferry were able to help me piece together the sparkling shards of my damaged and broken soul. I feel like I owe my life to them. I can remember the day like it was yesterday. The breeze was gentle and the sun was slowly setting, but I just could not enjoy it. I could not feel true happiness. I did not even know what happiness was. I sat at the little cafe, bored with my pointless life, and decided that it was time to end it all. I honestly just had no reason to live... nothing that made me feel alive in the first place. I paid my bill, left a generous tip, and left the quiet patio. I whistled for a cab, and when it came near, the license plate said "Fresh" and it had dice on the mirror. If anything, I could say that this cab was rare... but I thought, "Nah, forget it... yo holmes, to Bel Air!" I pulled up to the house about 7 or 8, and I yelled to the cabbie, "Yo holmes, smell ya later!" I looked at my kingdom, I was finally there... to sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel Air.

Oh god yes I get what you mean and then I harness your meaning and I add it henceforth to my meaning. Much like the melancholic blending of an older Max Graham track like Does She Know Yet with an even more sombre timbre emanating from the sagging canopy of chords providing the mid-range makeup of a primordial 2004-era Deepsky remix. It sits well with me, heaving in my iron lung and swallowing me whole for a fleeting moment of misconception. The knot in my throat morphs into a noose, priming into a vestigial gag lumping and throbbing inside the inner walls of my vocal chords, robbing me of my right to discord.

Trance has done this and continues to do this to me, at me, but any more, very seldom with me toward any sort of treaty. With eather myself or a better cause, a firmer firmament.

I also find that PIONEER CDJ 1000 MARK THREES are the absolute lowest in quality I will ever go to properly emit truetrancerays. It takes the might of all of my forearms to make this happen night after night. Year after year. Drug after drug. But I do it.

quote:

Originally posted by Ted Promo truetrancerays.

thread over, we have a winner

Re: Expressing creativity as a trance DJ

quote:

Originally posted by ManWithCurls show creativity

quote:

creative expression

quote:

which allowed for more creativity

quote:

expressing your own creativity

quote:

express yourself

well, that all depends on you. if you wanna show "creativity" then you bypass the music and showoff your own ingenuity. ya don't express creativity my friend -- you are creative because of what you do on the decks. creative is what others call you, you can't assign that name to yourself. think of all the little tricks that djs use -- that's creativity. it's the difference between some wanker saying, "I'm creative. I'm the creative type," and doing it.

Can I ask out of curiosity what age the above trance lovers are?

Fucking outstanding.

Sorry bro, trance blows.

You know, I really began to think the other day as I sloshed about an octagonal glass full of pure agave nectar: where has all of this gotten me? I mean, the sheer amount of glowstix I've broken open with my gurning teeth, that used to be my only vitamin. The only thing that could temper the incessant pulsation of each chamber of my interlocking veins. Nothing But You would come on and I'd think to myself, "Why did there not ever happen in this world of spacetime and string theory, a 93 Returning remix of this track?"

I want to 93 Returning Remix so much I can't even begin to-

Fuck.

I presume you mean creative mixing, as opposed to being creative in constructing a set. Constructing a set is the same for trance as any other genre - control of mood, energy, flow and different types of tracks to create a holistic listening experience.

It's definitely true that mixing trance rarely, if ever, involves things like looping, scratching, cutting or use of three decks, but that doesn't preclude creativity. Most trance DJs are very boring because they only have one type of transition, which is the bassline switch. In part this is because they've bought generic tracks with identical structures. With trance, I personally like to mix trance tracks from places that are not "supposed" to be mixed, particularly breakdowns. If you're buying good, interesting tracks though, you shouldn't need to think of ways of being creative because the tracks challenge you. I think good DJs are the ones that relish this challenge, and can think of inventive ways of dealing with inventive tracks.

I think the Jules Verne remix of LSG - Netherworld is a fantastic example. This is the kind of track that sorts the men from the boys. There's no bassline switching here, no percussive intro or outro, no easy, routine, mindless transition that will work. A good DJ's mind starts racing when he/she hears this kind of track:

I fucking love mixing that TRACK.

GATECRASHER

IM GONNA GO FUCKING READ NEUROMANCER TO THESE SYNTHS

i try to find short loops i can use to spice it up a bit. i also like to find fx combos that create interesting transitions. its hard for trance, since so much of the music is effect heavy and blends well already. i think you mostly gotta focus on track selection and set structure. you gotta figure out where the journey is gonna go, and try not to fuck the energy up.

Yeah. What the top bloke above me referred to. You see, trance if done right is like a lost Harper Lee novelette. There's so much within the tapestry of everything that for all of it to coincide, it is utterly asinine to mix two corresponding John O'Callaghan tracks together and make sense of what Atticus Finch really might have meant.

Slavery might be long gone. And it might be overall considered an uncouth interaction between biped human protein batteries, but in a musical sense the benefits of human slavery really shine. And this most often occurs during a set in which there are many troughs and lofts between tracks with sidechains, supersaws, and labels including but not limited to In Trance We Trust.

If you can foment the energy of a generation to till the fields of the inescapable dancefloor for a higher calling, then the music in your PIONEER HDJ2000 HEADPHONES will only reiterate the course you've taken for the betterment of the scene as a whole.

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