quote:

Originally posted by Rjen It is better to have a crappy song that is perfectly mixed and mastered. Then a great song that is poorly mixed and mastered.

Personally speaking I agree with this but of course if you can combine original good memorable content with good mixing then that's the best of all outcomes. Loads of well mixed releases are throwaway and non memorable derivatives.

Your second track down 'Some sort of hurricane' is a real pleasure on the ears and I love that little mid bass sustained wobble in the background, that sort of sound is what makes a techno track good.

I sort of sensed already that labels want a finished article and not tooing and froing with an artist, but reading your narrative here brings this into sharp focus for me.

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Last edited by Richard Butler on Jan-09-2015 at 13:22

quote:

Originally posted by Rjen It is better to have a crappy song that is perfectly mixed and mastered. Then a great song that is poorly mixed and mastered. And I will even go as far as saying that this is a FACT. And I know a bunch of record labels that will tell you exactly the same thing.

This is exactly why trance sucks now.

double post

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quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery This is exactly why trance sucks now.

Could you elaborate please.

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cit. "Back then people danced to a dj set. Nowdays they are recording it with their smart phones."

quote:

Originally posted by TranceElevation Could you elaborate please.

Seriously?

Everybody just wants their mix to sound great and nobody concentrates on the actual songwriting, since apparently that is what the labels actually prefer. Cue thousands of tracks that are mixed and mastered perfectly, yet you forget them as soon as they are over.

I would take a badly mastered masterpiece over pristine sounding turd any day.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery Seriously? Everybody just wants their mix to sound great and nobody concentrates on the actual songwriting, since apparently that is what the labels actually prefer. Cue thousands of tracks that are mixed and mastered perfectly, yet you forget them as soon as they are over. I would take a badly mastered masterpiece over pristine sounding turd any day.

I guess then we live in different worlds cause I don't see these perfectly mixed and mastered tracks nowhere!

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cit. "Back then people danced to a dj set. Nowdays they are recording it with their smart phones."

By today's standards "perfect" seems to mean "loud as fuck" to most producers.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery This is exactly why trance sucks now.

Nail on the fucking head - and its not just trance, its most dance music.

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quote:

Originally posted by TranceElevation I guess then we live in different worlds cause I don't see these perfectly mixed and mastered tracks nowhere!

OK, but that's a slightly different argument. The point is, all these producers spending an inordinate amount of time trying (not necessarily achieving) to get the perfect mix, at the expense of crafting an actual song is why the market is flooded with so many forgettable tracks.

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For mastering 3 things are important:
1. Quality Room
2. Quality Conversion & Monitoring
3. Skills.

Your mileage may vary.
BTW mastering IS NOT putting on a comp, add some EQ and squeeze it into a limiter until it sounds "phat" in your bedroom or headphones.

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quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik OK, but that's a slightly different argument. The point is, all these producers spending an inordinate amount of time trying (not necessarily achieving) to get the perfect mix, at the expense of crafting an actual song is why the market is flooded with so many forgettable tracks.

Sorry but I disagree. Trance sucks nowadays and I know it, but imo the reasons are far worst than what you're advancing here.
Spending time on improving your mix might suggest perfectionism, which isn't a bad thing at all. The perfectionist pushes the boundaries, is very self-critical and has very ambitious goals. These guys are everything but perfectionists.

These "new" producers simply have no ideas. They're not creative, and a little bit dumb frankly. As mentioned in my "Uplifting Trance Nowadays", most of these people became producers dreaming to achieve the sound of that "x" producer they fell in love with. In other words they are followers, not leaders.

Regarding strictly the mixing aspect: mixes totally suck. These people don't understand that a mix should be appropriate for the song. They think everything has to be loud, which as a consequence makes everything bright, so much that it becomes painful to listen to. 9/10 trance track nowadays clip. Is not about over-compression, is about bad compression. You can compress everything in your mix and still make it sound exciting and actually enhance the dynamics IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. They do not know what they're doing. They are dumb and thick headed. And that fucking side-chain, why do they think it is mandatory on every damn element?

In conclusion, what I mean is: these people don't spent time at all. It is much more probable they use presets, which would explain why every trance track sounds exactly the same.

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cit. "Back then people danced to a dj set. Nowdays they are recording it with their smart phones."