Inspiration for 'progressive trance' tracks?

Spatialsound

Member
Aug 18, 2022
25 Posts
7 Thanked
I know I posted a thread not too long ago and I'm still pretty much stuck, but this feels like a different enough question to make a separate post for, may sound somewhat rambling so apologies 😅

I've been listening to some mixes by Nigel Dawson recently (especially Whoop Records Collection Two and Renaissance Presents Vol 1) and the production on virtually all of the tracks blows me away, there's so many complex-sounding FX and synth lines, and I can't even think up sounds like that, let alone create them.

It feels impressive but also disheartening to think that these tracks were made back in 1998 and yet are so much better and more complex than anything I can do almost 25 years later, even with infinitely more resources at my fingertips. How did producers even think them up/create them back then? Are there any tips for things like that?