It's hard to believe it's been a decade. I know I am probably not the only one who is a bit nostalgic for those days.

I was wondering what everybodies overall thoughts were based on the last ten years of Trance "Progression" - Besides the obvious formulaic sounds and overused and misunderstood words like progression, what are some key differences that separate then from now. I'm talking just about the music too. Not vinyls, mp3s, traktor, etc.

If you can't tell by now, I miss those 99' days. I dig and dig for producers who produce 99 sounding music and have a total of 4 that do it and I'm not sure if they're going it on purpose or if they just don't know any better.

I can't think of anything more gratifying than to be able to bring back, or create, tracks that were made before the turn of the century. Remember when you actually had to make damn sure you knew what you were playing and when to break? These days, you could hand me (and any DJ worth their salt) 20 "trance" mp3s they had never heard before and I could play them without any major problems.

So I guess back to the question - What has changed, and if you want to take it a step further, what has changed for the better or worse in your opinion.

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I think the range and type of trance has expanded tbh. Easier access to high quality tools has enabled more people to create music and release it into the scene.

Sure if all you do is trawl the top ten lists then your going to run into a-like trance tracks, but if you've got your ear to the ground and do more than just listen to the banging reworks then there is lots of great music about.

Next time you hear a track and get annoyed with it being formulaic then just browe a bit deeper and listen to the original or check of remixes in a different genre, you can still play them in a 'trance' set. There is some amazing trance coming out of eastern europe - poland, latvia etc

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promo track: Mirco de Govia - Voller Sterne (Kuroi Remix)

There had been 'better' leads/basses sounds ,
nowadays we have saw basses that we cant figure out its pattern ,
and supersaws/square that sounds really phat.

Oh. The kick is harder.

And Trance is now less ''trancy'' , in fact someone should think of a new name for this genre. Now everything is focus on melody and uplifting vibes , no one cares about ''"trance"" anymore.

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Older tracks had fewer elements that just sounded better together.

Because they had more limitation in how many channels and sounds they could have in a project, thus forcing them to make the best out of the equipment and sounds they had.

While the number of channels and sounds these days are close to unlimited, so instead of making sounds sound good on its own its just layering and layering, and it does work to a degree.. but makes it less soulful and personal.

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10 years of crap imo, what a decade. now its time for good stuff again, its always every second decade 50s 70s 90s and now next 2010

I think the beginning of the end started in 2004, when bedroom producers starter spawning for real.

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^^ I agree. You would think you would have major frequency problems with the older Trance due to a lack of technology, but the limited use of instruments like you mentioned above gave the track clarity to the point where there was no need for the newer technologies like side chaining etc.

I also think that with fewer instruments, you got much more diverse sounds and styles of tracks. Yes, everything was still changing at 16 and 32 intervals, but a lot of the breaks and shifts in older Trance were very sharp. They were not layed out all pretty and cohesive like every Trance track produced these days. I personally miss that style. The tracks seemed so much more unique back then.

To the poster above who mentioned listening, I listen to every single Trance tune released on Beatport and have for over a year. I'm disappointed 99% of the time.

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quote:

Originally posted by Subtle I think the beginning of the end started in 2004, when bedroom producers starter spawning for real.

i think the reason behind trance¨s fall is more complex than that

it got REALLY mainstream in 1999 after almost 10 years of being underground and special. This beacuse of the anthem tracks that arrived that spesific year by ferry corsten and rank1 mostly. At the time i loved it but when listening to it now i cant almost bear it, while earlier stuff i still listen to.

someone understood that there was good money in it. which is the root of all evil imo.

the music got "dj friendly" so the djs would play it and therefore help promoting. Already here all the cool intros and breakbeats and difficult interesting elements disapeared and trance was stripped down to a 4*4 beat, hihats a snare a bass and two leads, all in 99.

armin van buuren got popular with his ASOT show, this is really when everything went to hell as everyone wanted to be on his show and copying the music he playd. Also the brickwall sound apeared here so everyone started thinking about compression, sidechaining and shit to make their tracks sound loudest on ASOT. This was around 2002/2003 i think.

then someone (a danish dude i think) come up with using happy bell/plong sounds in a track called Ice Beach. Then everyone tried to copy that and from there on I couldnt care anymore.

i dont really think bedroom producers where a huge problem beacuse thats what trance and techno has been always, but maybe avaliable software did mather more.

Thats your problem lol , Beatport is awful for trance. Only good for picking up tracks where you've found the name elsewhere or classics that have been re-released. The prog section is always worth a punt.

Trackitdown is great for smaller or new labels and my fav personally. Audiojelly has a good selection and their top ten is pretty reliable, for general browsing I've still not got the hang of it though.

Why would you think ASOT is good for trance, they only play one style that leans towards the housier end. There is so so many other releases that are available that don't fit Armins style. What about Marco V, SVD, J00F, Callaghan etc

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Kuroi
@ web/Kuroi Music
@ myspace/Kuroi Music

promo track: Mirco de Govia - Voller Sterne (Kuroi Remix)

I have no personal nostalgia with tracks before 97. So imo there has been great music, and crap music ever since then.
I personally like the newer sound better than the old. You just gotta embrace change people.
Musical genres will continue to evolve. No use to nag about it. If you think electronic music
was best before 99, then continue to listen to that stuff.
I have a friend who only listen to 60s 70s 80 rock. ONLY.

Can anyone ID these tracks for me? I have it from a mix by a local friend of a friend dj from around that time...


Heres one,
http://www.sendspace.com/file/hnad3v


This one has a really warm sound:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/5ep1tk

This one is obviously the same producer i think.. whoever it is has a signature sound, with those pluckish saw leads, and the overdriven but warm kick.. i wonder what synth that is.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/eexncr

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https://soundcloud.com/ghostea stuff

Last edited by mysticalninja on Apr-13-2009 at 13:54

Yea there is a laundry list of why Trance went bad. One thing that I'm proud of and always will be is I have never listened to ASOT, ever. I suppose that really isn't a big deal though considering the original rock star trancer (Oakenfold) had never even heard of ASOT as of 2 months ago. Maybe he has by now, but he can't operate an email account so I doubt it.

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Please send your demos to [email protected]
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