Dj Dawn – Nov Demo Set
Hardtrance

Cit. done by Dj Roz-e

Track 1
Opening track – Southpark Theme – Excellent opener – grabs your attention. When the track breaks, it creates the tempo from the start. A classic hardtrance bass line.

Track 2
The second track is dropped not long after the 1st tune breaks. Utilizing the flow of the track to set into the next track.

Track 3
Keeping the beginning of the set interesting. All done within the first 4 min of the set, already 3 tunes mixed.

Track 4
By the 7th min, track no. 4 riding the mix, easy flow into the next tune. Change-over is smooth, without you noticing – track 4 is in. Up-beat tempo, driving bass, but emphasis on melody, mids and highs. (Sputnik) – Classic tune – remixed and well produced, thus promoting feeling (Euphoria).

Track 5
10th min – track no 5, drop mix (Decibel) – Dj Dawn reduces the levels of Sputnik, making Decibel have a more prominent bass. Drops mix completely at the first short break. Dj Dawn uses most of this track, probably due to the construction of the track.

Track 6
16th min – Excellent drop mix – Hard house tune. My favorite mix on the whole demo. Rides the mix all the way, the flow of Decibel fades in the background. Flawless mixing. Stretching the mix to 1 min – (that is long for a mix). Fresh new bass line – much more driving, setting a new tone for the demo.

Track 7
20th min – Enough fluffing around – lets get down to business – although the tempo hasn’t changed, the new feel of the demo is more dark and driving. Track 7 is very busy – mini breaks in the melody to create a build up to the main break. Typical German production. The deep male vocal also creates the dark undertone of the track.

Track 8
22nd min – You feel the bass of the track no 8 coming in. Dj Dawn overlaps the mids and highs too soon in this mix, to correct his mix, he drops track no 8, however not losing the flow of the energy. The break of track no 8 re-grabs your attention, allowing you to forget the previous mix. This track reminds you of the hardtrance feel of the set.

Track 9
26th min – Track no 9 – smooth slider mix, sampling the vocals, dropping the mix at the break-beatish entro. Moving back into the driving bass lines. (We are one). The sharp synth again making the track very busy. Old school kinda design of a track much like hard house influences.

Track 10
30th min – Track 10, excellently mixed, sudden to the point. Track breaks with simple melody, nicely built multi-level bass lines. Well produced with an awesome break – trancy piano with moving melody. Make you stop to listen. Nice build up, drops to vocals and then breaks again – keeping the melody flowing over the bass line – this track changes, and sounds nothing like the beginning of the track.

Track 11
35th min – well mixed. The two melodies compliment each other. This is a long mix again. Staying with the classic hardtrance bass lines. Very busy synth lies between the melody and the bass line. (Come lie next to me) – Nice vocal break. Euphoric break that breaks into nice driving bass.

Track 12
39th min – Brings mix in when track 11 dips, perfect place to bring in the next track. (Milk Incorporated remix – Lavache) WoW – bring back the classics with a twist. Excellent remix. No more needs said.

Track 13
42nd min – Well placed mix. Brings the mix in smoothly. Fading out, then dropping the mix when the full melody of track 13 breaks. (Angle) Nice energy. You can not help yourself from dancing to this tune.

Track 14
45th min – This track bring with it a fresh new bass line. Quick short break, again showing that dark undertone. Full throttle driving. Nothing stopping you now. This is an excellent description of a multi-leveled bass line.

Track 15
48th min – I have nothing to say about this mix – or this track – except – “Kick your mother-fucking ass bitch – balls to the walls boys”

Track 16
51st min – The vocal overlay is of track 16. Brilliantly mixed. The dip of bass line in the mix is to create emphasis of the new track coming in. Well placed and constructed track.

Track 17
55th min – Riding the vocals into the next mix from track 16. Dropping the bass of track 16. slowly increasing the bass of track 17. This is another long mix +- 1 min. A bit messy, but dropping when the break kicks in.

Track 18
59th min – Smooth mix with a good change-over. Toning down a bit – but one of my favorite tunes on the whole set. I like the subtle melody that lies between the bass and the high synths.

Track 19
62nd min – Drop bass mix, straight after the break of track 18. Classic hardtrance tune – this is a mover, JUMP JUMP JUMP.


Track 20
65th min – Smooth mix – again riding the vocals. Fading bass – slowly reducing the volume to create the fade of the vocals out of the mix. Brings us back to the euphoric trance break. Then breaking into the driving bass lines again.

Track 21
69th min – Nice way to hear spot on mixing. Closing track – phases mix out to very melodic track. The journey has come to an end. This track contradicts the whole feel of the set. As if everything is ok now.

Over-all Cit.

1 Track selection - 10/10
2 Mixing - 10/10
3 Mixing technique - 10/10
4 Technical - 9/10
5 Creativity - 9/10
6 Mood - 10/10

Set as a whole

The beginning of the set grabs your attention. It sets the tone and the tempo. Dj Dawn plays this set at 150 – 152bpm. That is pretty dam fast for a hardtrance set, but he pulls is off perfectly. There is a lot of movement within the first 10 min of the set, having the classic hardtrance feel. By the 20th min, Dj Dawn moves into the more driving sounds, this continues right up to the 55th min. The peak of a set should usually be +- 20 – 30 min, but Dj Dawn stretches it practically throughout his whole set. All done without losing any energy. This set is a winner on the dance floor. Dj Dawn uses a lot of classic tune, all harder remixes, that fits together. His mixing is flawless, but on some tracks , cueing is a bit messy. This is most probably that he hardly uses even 5 min of any track on the set, mixing and cueing in the peaks of each track. Dj Dawn sets the bar for hardtrance dj’s – in my opinion.

Over-all set rating - 10/10