absolutely brillian fucking mix man.

as said your blending innocent thoughts and orange is outstanding. who would have ever thought! just really was a treat to hear one of my favorite tunes of all time (innocent thoughts) morphed and mixed with another great track. totally wasn't expecting that.

you don't let up either. the set is filled with brillant melody blending and exciting transitions. technically one of the best trance sets i've ever heard.

personally i got a bit bored with the track selection about after the halfway mark. for me it was lacking a bit of variety. great tracks and all and put together very well; i just wanted like a small section with somthing dark and mean. if you know what i mean. but i realize this is your style and you love it. and so does the majority of trance lovers so im not asking for change, just sharing a view point.

i remember the days of the magik series and the sets from oakenfold that really created something special. there were points in the mixes that at first you didn't really like, they were very different and a bit dark. but after a while you really liked them the most. they were darker and a bit erie. but most of all, unique; they gave you a new listening experience which was hard to forget.

lol, anyway, thats my rant. but what i meant by that was that while your sets are brilliant when it comes to transitions, good solid trackselection and energy; they could be made that much more with a focus on creating a new experience. focusing on bringing in that one special moment that the mix builds towards.

idk. i just felt like going off on a tangent i guess.

anyway, great mix. exciting. technically astounding. and just plain fun. your definately one of my fav ta djs. i cant tell you how much i apreciate the work you put in, and the vision you provide with each of your mixes. thanks again.

edit: oh yeah did u still want me to host this for you?

Last edited by JasonThomas on May-13-2006 at 05:48

thanks metatron, I know what you mean... i feel that in your sets, but it's not that easy to create it myself. I must try and focus on that sometime

about the hosting, yea, it would be great if you could switch oriental impact with this one.
cheers!

btw. when's your next set coming out?

___________________
My recent collaboration mix: Crosswinds (with DJ Metatron)

I just listened to it. Very relaxing stuff. One of the best sets I've heard on TA so far!

quote:

Originally posted by MoN-SooN hehe glad you had a great time listening Did you feel totally relaxed and absent? about Orange and Innocent Thoughts... I recognized Orange (Frase Remix) as Em... try to match the key in melody part. Im pretty sure about it. that might sound selfish, but im absolutely melted during the first four tracks... Sunspot is so mellow I also love the result of mixing Bali with Above sounds. Actually whole mix contains many subtle extra blending. I guess you are able to find it only when you know the tracks very well... Lol at me... but I'm so excited cheers!

jeje, you are right, I just checked it and Orange is in Em, I don't know what I was thinking, or maybe I mislabeled the tune =).

don't mind aboutbeing excited, you jus accomplished a new level with this one, so you should be happy with it.

Thanks

___________________
Here are my latest mixes:
Pepa - Pure Bliss (June 2007 Promo)
Pepa - Visual Thoughts (March 2007 Promo)
Pepa - Trippin' Again

Mash-ups:
Perasma Vs BT - Swing 2 Gravity (Pepa Live Mash-up)
I Trance You!

quote:

Originally posted by MoN-SooN thanks metatron, I know what you mean... i feel that in your sets, but it's not that easy to create it myself. I must try and focus on that sometime

i appreciate you saying that. i try. but it's not easy for anyone. it takes a lot of inspiration most of all. thats what i've been lacking lately, but i will talk about that more later. it's not a very tangible thing and i really think you should just keep doing what you want because what you've accomplished so far is spectacular.

quote:

about the hosting, yea, it would be great if you could switch oriental impact with this one. cheers!

ok, heres the link:

http://www.dj-metatron.com/sets/MoN...Edification.mp3

oriental is still up for now. but when i need to upload my newest i will have to take it off.

quote:

btw. when's your next set coming out?

it should be available by next week. hopefully.

cheers

quote:

Originally posted by Aquarian I just listened to it. Very relaxing stuff. One of the best sets I've heard on TA so far!

wow, nice to hear that thanks for listening!

quote:

Originally posted by djmetatron ok, heres the link: http://www.dj-metatron.com/sets/MoN...Edification.mp3 oriental is still up for now. but when i need to upload my newest i will have to take it off.

thank you, i'm indebted

___________________
My recent collaboration mix: Crosswinds (with DJ Metatron)

Downloading now. Definately awaiting to review this set as indepth as possible. One of my favourite tracks of all time is on here. Good to see 17 tracks on here in less than 80mins.

Prior to downloading this set I knew several of the tracks which gave me a good indication of how well structured this set was going to be before reviewing. To be exact Track 1, 3, and 5 have always given me a feeling of eternal bliss with a nice dreamy feel. This on the other hand makes my review very biased but there were still alot of tracks in this set I have not heard of so I knew they would either make or break this set ;o)

01) Some clipping right from the start. One of my favourite melodies of all times, but I much prefer the Stel Remix over the original. Nonetheless its a very emotional track and a great way to start off the set.

02) 3:18 -- Good cut on the highs. 3:25 -- This track was perfectly blended with track 1. Exactly what I like to see where songs completely melt together where you can hardly notice a transition. XLNT technique.

03) 6:48 -- Good transition but the bass seemed too low. Without a doubt this is one of my favourite tracks of all time. Just love that melody at 8:56, nothing more blissful than that synth

04) 12:01 -- Very good transition. 12:30 -- Should have fully transitioned to track 4 instead of cutting highs at 12:37. I would have dropped this track in right when the bass kicked at 12:58 but this buildup worked great anyways. 13:26, 14:45, 15:43 -- Not a fan of excessive flanger use. 13:55-14:22 -- Clipping throughout. So far perfect flow as far as keeping the listener in a melodic state of mind.

05) 16:46 -- Final transition here was very good. So far this track is easily my favourite melodic trance tune of the year, but in this case I love the Original best -- However, I think with the previous tracks in place this remix was well suited to follow. XLNT choice.

06) 21:59 -- Perfect transition. Hardly noticed this was the next track. Some Clipping is evident throughout this track. Very soothing vocals in this track but I wasn't digging the melody at 23:52.

07) 25:44 -- Nice transition but again bass is too soft here. Good track to follow up on. 27:36 -- Quick breakbeat to give the listener a breather. Love that hypnotic synth.

08) 32:03 -- Ugh, that was a rough transition to say the least. Too much going on when you transitioned, you should have completely cut a freq or two. This tracks bassline completely changed the flow of the set. Never enjoyed the original mix of Green Astronauts and unfortunately Mr. Harding can't save this song either.

09) 37:39 -- Good transition to get the set a flowing a little faster. XLNT melody and good track to get the energy of this set kicking. Nice buildup at 40:54.

10/11) 43:13 -- Hmmf. When you transitioned there is almost no bass though to keep the flow thumping. The pitch is probably alot faster on this song than usual sounding like its skipping a beat making it seem like a double bass. Presume thats your style when you mix, like to slowly bring in the bass AFTER you've transitioned to the next track. This track didn't cut it for me. Definately gave me a nostaglic feeling but not necessarily a good one :P

12) 49:13 -- Fairly good transition. The double bass in the backround from that mashup was very distracting however. You should have cut the freqs alot earlier on. The melody wasn't too bad on this track but it got repetitive very fast.

13) 53:23/53:51 -- Should have transitioned here instead of 54:05 -- Double bass was very evident. 54:18 -- Quick change to this track as you increased the volume suddenly. Didn't like this track from the get go, seemed far too familiar. Glad you kept it short.

14) 56:23 -- With such a nice heavy bassline in the previous song you should have tried staying with a similar beat to keep the set a flowin'. Good piano melody nonetheless. This track would be more or less of an end of the night tune for me. A dreamy song that gets you thinking at the end of a long night of clubbing.

15) 60:07 -- Heard the bass slowly creep in here as you were turning down a freq. 61:08 -- Creeping in even more. 62:58 -- Final transition here was good. Unfortunately I could not stand this remix of the popular track Incognition.

16) 67:38 -- Good transition. This was a good end of the night tune but it still had alot of energy IMO and could have been placed a little earlier on. I still think you should have left track 14 for the conclusion of this set.


Conclusion:

I've been having a very hard time finding very good trance tracks these days. There were several in here that were for sure winners in my books. Generally speaking I think this is a mix you need to listen to in a club so you don't notice some of the bass transitions. It would be a very good opener to set the mood for a big name DJ. As far as the mixing is concerned I thought the first half was done extremely well but your track selections throughout the second half did not have similar basslines causing the clash of what I call shoes in the dryer (double bass). Now this was only for a few of the tracks in the second half but it was very evident even the first time listening which distracts from the overall feel, hence you would not notice this as much in a big booming club. Nevertheless, your mixing as a whole has greatly improved from the last time I downloaded a set from you (must have been months ago, maybe last year). Once again I must stress as I do in every mix I review that when it comes to track selection I am very biased. Out of the 17 tracks I would say 8 tracks hit the spot dead on (3 of them I loved prior to downloading) and they were mainly in the first half of the set. Your flow was extremely well structured for the first 7 tracks and then took a downturn when that bass transition hit at track 8. I suppose this could be personal preference but it just did not fit right for me whatsoever. The remaining half of the set was a little more up and down with some tracks being a little more energetic than others. To conclude I must state that this mix can get a little tedious with so many melodic tracks one after the other. It does have more energy in the second half but it still carries that same feel of the first with a faster pace. One last thing, my review has 16 tracks only. So either I completely missed a track or you have another mashup somewhere near the ending. If it isn't a mashup, it shows you how good your melted those choons together; I'll have to give this a couple more listens!

And now for the good stuff:

Mixing -- 9/10
Flow -- 8/10
Track Selection -- 7.5/10

Set as a whole -- 8.5/10

Now for all you listeners out there, you should download this set immediately if you love off the melodic trance. Do not expect this set to have banging basslines with tones of energy. As MoN-SooN stated, this is chill out trance that you should listen to before heading to bed. On a side note this easily would have been a perfect set for a club opener/closer. Personally, I would love to have heard this at the end of the night to wind down and relax to some soothing melodics. Then again most people like ending the night with a set as hard hitting as possible, but for myself by then im toast and need something to chill out to.

With that being said if you have gotten this far down in this review download this set NOW and chillax to some very refreshing and at times uplifting trance which should give you those spine tingling moments you've been waiting for.

That should do it.

Ciao! 8^)

Last edited by Takayuki on May-14-2006 at 17:21

quote:

Originally posted by |3 |_ @ Z 3 |) ... OMFG REVIEW ...

first of all, many many thanks for your indepth review. dunno what to say, really Your states truly hit the spot. Im going to keep these in mind.

now, let me clarify few things or maybe add my point of view from time to time.

quote:

03) 6:48 -- Good transition but the bass seemed too low. Without a doubt this is one of my favourite tracks of all time. Just love that melody at 8:56, nothing more blissful than that synth

03) Refering to basses. I totally agree. I cut lows on previous track near the end to fit to Petibonum, but I should have increased basses on Petibonum instead. About that track... this is one of my favourites of all time. I love to have it played a little faster, like Armin played on WMC back in 2004. Saying this track is blissful is the best way to describe it!

quote:

04) 12:01 -- Very good transition. 12:30 -- Should have fully transitioned to track 4 instead of cutting highs at 12:37. I would have dropped this track in right when the bass kicked at 12:58 but this buildup worked great anyways. 13:26, 14:45, 15:43 -- Not a fan of excessive flanger use. 13:55-14:22 -- Clipping throughout. So far perfect flow as far as keeping the listener in a melodic state of mind.

04) Unfortunately, Petibonum ended on 12:48 with this chirping. But I still would turn down Petibonum to have more powerful buildup.

quote:

05) 16:46 -- Final transition here was very good. So far this track is easily my favourite melodic trance tune of the year, but in this case I love the Original best -- However, I think with the previous tracks in place this remix was well suited to follow. XLNT choice.

05) I can't see significant differences between LNQ remix and original apart from this additional, melancholic melody which appears later on the track.

quote:

06) 21:59 -- Perfect transition. Hardly noticed this was the next track. Some Clipping is evident throughout this track. Very soothing vocals in this track but I wasn't digging the melody at 23:52.

06) This tracks comes at 20:15 and Bali is noticable up to 22:27. Clipping here is really annoying :<

quote:

07) 25:44 -- Nice transition but again bass is too soft here. Good track to follow up on. 27:36 -- Quick breakbeat to give the listener a breather. Love that hypnotic synth.

07) Hmmm... I didn't want basses to be dominant in this set, but I can't remember if lows are cut here. I wasn't sure about this breakbeat part, I'm glad it worked here.

quote:

08) 32:03 -- Ugh, that was a rough transition to say the least. Too much going on when you transitioned, you should have completely cut a freq or two. This tracks bassline completely changed the flow of the set. Never enjoyed the original mix of Green Astronauts and unfortunately Mr. Harding can't save this song either.

08) That's the technical turning point for this mix. I wanted to drastically change the key of the tracks for upcoming tunes (AFAIR Kay Stone was Fm while Green Astronauts Cm) and I wanted badly to play Green Astronauts. The only chance was here, because it's not a peak time tune obviously, so the later - the worse. Rough mix was a compromise.

quote:

09) 37:39 -- Good transition to get the set a flowing a little faster. XLNT melody and good track to get the energy of this set kicking. Nice buildup at 40:54.

09) wrd. Eternal Light aspires for a main track on this set IMHO.

quote:

10/11) 43:13 -- Hmmf. When you transitioned there is almost no bass though to keep the flow thumping. The pitch is probably alot faster on this song than usual sounding like its skipping a beat making it seem like a double bass. Presume thats your style when you mix, like to slowly bring in the bass AFTER you've transitioned to the next track. This track didn't cut it for me. Definately gave me a nostaglic feeling but not necessarily a good one :P

10/11) Both tracks (mashed up) started with kick only and bassline appears later :/. Double bass here is an effect of not cutting the lows on After Love entirely. My fault

quote:

15) 60:07 -- Heard the bass slowly creep in here as you were turning down a freq. 61:08 -- Creeping in even more. 62:58 -- Final transition here was good. Unfortunately I could not stand this remix of the popular track Incognition.

15/16) hehe, got you ;p
at 59:36 comes Zirenz blended with Angel. Angel gets back in 61:08
Then, on 62:58 there is a mix into Incognition. You must haven't known these tracks/remixes before

quote:

16) 67:38 -- Good transition. This was a good end of the night tune but it still had alot of energy IMO and could have been placed a little earlier on. I still think you should have left track 14 for the conclusion of this set.

17) My idea was to leave listener wanting more... Thats why the last track is emotional but on the other hand - energetic. For a while I was thinking about Epos - Vivagio for an ending.

quote:

Conclusion: ...

Thanks for your constrictive criticism, and also for your kind words about the set. I'm happy that you enjoyed it overall

___________________
My recent collaboration mix: Crosswinds (with DJ Metatron)

quote:

Originally posted by MoN-SooN 05) I can't see significant differences between LNQ remix and original apart from this additional, melancholic melody which appears later on the track.

Personal preference I suppose. The main melody suits my likings perfectly.

quote:

06) This tracks comes at 20:15 and Bali is noticable up to 22:27. Clipping here is really annoying :<

Really? Sure its not even earlier than that maybe? I definately need to have another listen.

quote:

15/16) hehe, got you ;p at 59:36 comes Zirenz blended with Angel. Angel gets back in 61:08 Then, on 62:58 there is a mix into Incognition. You must haven't known these tracks/remixes before

Definately had me stumped but I knew there was another mashup near the end. Absolutely right, never heard either of those tracks so I just assumed when Zirenz was being blended it was the climax of Angel. Very good job at melting these tracks together.

quote:

17) My idea was to leave listener wanting more... Thats why the last track is emotional but on the other hand - energetic. For a while I was thinking about Epos - Vivagio for an ending.

Providing that this would have been an opener for a main DJ or an opening act that would have worked splendid. I suppose I still think this set works best as a closer myself

quote:

Thanks for your constructive criticism, and also for your kind words about the set. I'm happy that you enjoyed it overall

and Thank You for providing the EDM community with great quality work and hard spent time. Look forward to future mixes as long as I'm still in town and not travelling the province as per usual.

Cheers!

This Mix is superb! I can now say your one of the best Harmonic Mixers in TA, i really enjoyed this mix, great track selection. Your mixing is on point in every transition. I will save this 3 Disk compilation onto my HD. You gotta show me how you key your tunes one day, looks kinda tough, By the way the picture theme looks amazing. Next time send me a PM if you can, on your next mix.

thanks John, I'm glad on what you've said

Keying tunes is not a big deal, you just need to spend additional moment on it while preparing the mix.
[[ LINK REMOVED ]]
could be the base, most of the tracks have key values filled there. But beware - some inputs may be wrong, so don't trust it blindly It is always better to check it yourself.

I will PM you with my next mix, no worries
I am now listening to your June promo. I must say it is pumpin! I'm gonna give you some feedback on it in the near future

Cheers!

___________________
My recent collaboration mix: Crosswinds (with DJ Metatron)