Why today 's music just sound like crap.
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I grew up listening to Eye Q trance classics, and still do listen to them from time to time. I wish there was more of stuff like that, not really into the progressive “kiksu” sounds of the 00s to be honest… But isnt that the stuff the kids are into these days?
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The fun thing about rediscovering it now is that years ago all I was really listening to was the probably mainstream vocal trance, like Tiesto and BT, so now in my advanced age I get to explore all the hidden gems I missed.
Keep the recs coming!
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Same! There is so much good stuff. Especially the earlier 90s stuff
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Trance on the progressive side…
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Man Holden was amazing back then. Still super talented and interesting but I really loved his earlier stuff, both this proggy stuff and also the slightly later period where his stuff got a bit more fucked up but still 4/4 (The Sky Was Pink etc).
That Mad Dogs track is one of my all time faves. Used really well in this amazing Mixmag cover CD mix
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It’s great stuff and has aged well imo. I’m always digging around for info on the production from those days.
Holden before The Idiots Are Winning is not something I was familiar with, excellent stuff.
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You may have already seen it but I posted some stuff I’ve found up thread Trance - #71 by tdmusic
The courses mentioned here and here on producing classic trance on modern DAWs seem interesting.
Holden is interesting as he was an outlier at the time of this stuff. Most trance people were still using hardware with a MIDI-only DAW for arrangement but he was using the (amazing freeware) Buzz Tracker for all this stuff! So he was 100% ITB way before it was commonplace. Smart guy.
Any interesting stuff you’ve found?
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Ah he did some lovely progressive trance stuff and was a bit of a sensation when he hit the scene as his production was a cut above most stuff around at the time. He was also only young. You should also check the stuff like his Britney Spears remix which I think came before “The Idiots”, where he still had some trance influence but was starting to go a bit weirder. I really like that era.
Not trance but have you heard his amazing At The Controls mix CD? His Balance mix gets all the love and it is very good (and more trancey) but I always preferred that one.
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Great set too. I love this genre. I’d kill to be able to make tunes in this style.
Always loved the sizzle of the HP filter of the Way Out West remix of Horizons.
A Break In The Clouds is a great one from his more rhythmically interesting beginning:
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Some sort of magic dust going on here.
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i love that phase of James Holden‘s career. Anyone have any production tips for this style? I already found an interview from Music Radar, but haven‘t watched it yet.
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I’ve spent a lot of time looking in to this style. One thing that stands out to me is the underlying percussion and groove loops. Interesting sounds (often from filter modulation) and lots of syncopation seems to be the order of the day for building up that layered sound. Similarly, lots of ear candy courtesy of hits drenched in reverb and delay for creating an atmosphere. I also remember reading this in an interview with Holden a few years ago:
JAMES HOLDEN
Well, they’re just following the rules of how to make a good-sounding piece of music. I guess, you’ve all heard a lot of people telling you what you can and can’t do in a mixdown. I’ve read so much rubbish on the internet, people’s opinions of how to mix music, and what’s correct.
GERD JANSON
For instance?
JAMES HOLDEN
Just things about the right frequency balance, how compressors should be used, never put a compressor on the master when you’re working. For years, the first thing I’d do when I turned my computer on was put three compressors and a limiter on the master. Then you put a kickdrum 20db too loud and it squashes everything and that’s a really exciting part of the music. You make the resonance much too hard on the synth or a bass part and it’s squashing everything else. When you’re at a live gig, and the sound is too much when the band go too crazy, that’s part of the experience, when it’s squashed through the speakers, through your ears, your perception, to make these “too much” moments, I think is really important.
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It has multiple facettes, i like the tribal feel in this one.
Nice combination of genres…
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daws really were the death of proper trance. give me that Metropolitan sound all night long
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