Progrez
Legendary Member
- Jun 17, 2022
- 3,687 Posts
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Shocking stuff that destroys what was once our trance scene
- Thread starter Julian Del Agranda
- Start date
the tech guy who's making a living from selling Gaz this epileptic bullshit wouldn't agree
TRANCEBLASTER
Elite Member
- Jul 21, 2020
- 1,701 Posts
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What does everyone think of this current dispute between Chicane and Calvin Harris......Chicane accusing him of ripping Offshore off with his new track??
and I always had the feeling that the synth melody of 'Offshore' was a bit inspired by:
D:Ream - U R The Best Thing (Perfecto Mix) [FXU] 1993
erickUO
Elite Member
- Jul 13, 2020
- 1,327 Posts
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Specific musical elements and production techniques got mentioned several times in this thread. But I always suspect they’re just symptoms.
There’s an interesting quote from a recent article on Mixmag (if I’m not mistaken) about the decline of underground in China, but could also apply anywhere. It says more or less, “the underground isn’t cool, people see them as an outcast, rejected from the scene”.
It was the more commercial stuff that got me into trance, until I learned the underground got a cooler factor: it was an act (or art) of rebelion. In contrast, common people see them as geeky/weird music instead of rebel music. I remember giving my friend a listen to West on 27th and Sacred Cycle (Quivver Remix). He said, “weird music, how do you find these repetitive drums and pipe/water drop sfx exciting?”. But that’s how I see the notion of the underground. The more serious, the weirder, the cooler it is. And that drives the genre to keep on exploring.
But back in the days the world was in peaceful, post-cold war era. So being a rebel was cool. While today, we live in chaotic world and people crave for certainty from what’s familiar. This could be the reason why commercial pop-ish EDM wins the masses, the what-used-to-be underground are getting similar one to another, and why me (maybe you too) prefers music with qualities of the past. The ones we feel at home, and the ones we’re more familiar with.
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On the other hand, artist/talent management also gives producers release targets on quantity. It's becoming a numbers game, no longer about the art. The music should be able to created and recreated in x amount of time, giving a way for templates and fabricated loops/presets to take over. When they're experimenting, it just sounds half arsed. All just to meet the target and the business going.
Just my 2c
There’s an interesting quote from a recent article on Mixmag (if I’m not mistaken) about the decline of underground in China, but could also apply anywhere. It says more or less, “the underground isn’t cool, people see them as an outcast, rejected from the scene”.
It was the more commercial stuff that got me into trance, until I learned the underground got a cooler factor: it was an act (or art) of rebelion. In contrast, common people see them as geeky/weird music instead of rebel music. I remember giving my friend a listen to West on 27th and Sacred Cycle (Quivver Remix). He said, “weird music, how do you find these repetitive drums and pipe/water drop sfx exciting?”. But that’s how I see the notion of the underground. The more serious, the weirder, the cooler it is. And that drives the genre to keep on exploring.
But back in the days the world was in peaceful, post-cold war era. So being a rebel was cool. While today, we live in chaotic world and people crave for certainty from what’s familiar. This could be the reason why commercial pop-ish EDM wins the masses, the what-used-to-be underground are getting similar one to another, and why me (maybe you too) prefers music with qualities of the past. The ones we feel at home, and the ones we’re more familiar with.
-
On the other hand, artist/talent management also gives producers release targets on quantity. It's becoming a numbers game, no longer about the art. The music should be able to created and recreated in x amount of time, giving a way for templates and fabricated loops/presets to take over. When they're experimenting, it just sounds half arsed. All just to meet the target and the business going.
Just my 2c
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juracid
Member
- Sep 26, 2023
- 126 Posts
- 128 Thanked
Still so sad to see thst John is fading away from his once Musical Genius. I just listened to Global Trance Grooves 13 (2004) during my flight to Japan and wow - Sonetimes I forget how good he was in chosing organic trance music even in the early 2000s.
Now he is just just a generic machine like so many others... maybe its just because he's getting old? He seems to forget to learn about quality trance...
Nevertheless still so sad because he once was the REAL King of trance.
Now he is just just a generic machine like so many others... maybe its just because he's getting old? He seems to forget to learn about quality trance...
Nevertheless still so sad because he once was the REAL King of trance.
One can't be an active part of the scene and not let it have an influence on them. There are several labels, fsoe uv, forescape, mistique music etc that made this generic ploddy boredom the new normal for underground progressive scene. A lot of the same producers that are releasing there sooner or later come to JOOF, because there's nothing and noone else to release. Or they can release new tracks from Basil a few times a year and a few John's releases and that would be it but as a label you can't choose quality over quantity to this extent.
Long story short it's completely natural that the scene is watering John down, noone could be immune to that for such a long time.
Progrez
Legendary Member
- Jun 17, 2022
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Well, he is probably doing it just to remain relevant and doesn't want to go through the painful journey of playing beautiful tracks. There is no money to be made in make beautiful music people don't want to hear that they want to hear something that's boring and comfortable because it's the path to least resistance.
Maybey trance has just run out of ideas after 3 decades. It’s pretty hard to make something original after all that time. Combine that with the lowest entry barrier in history and here we are. Thousands of tracks a week in multiple genres. I would be constantly stressed if I was a producer. You have the keep out pumping tracks to be visible and keep the label running. And every track has to be original / groundbreaking / competing with maaaaaany other tracks to reach the masses.
Progrez
Legendary Member
- Jun 17, 2022
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Get real dude I could say the same thing about House music.
facade1984
Senior Member
I'm always dubious about the attitude that "things aren't changing". Do they have to? House music and rock & roll haven't changed much (I don't think they need to) and they're both popular as ever. It's a weird way to criticise a trance track of all things
Progrez
Legendary Member
- Jun 17, 2022
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People with the same names.
www.beatport.com
AÍRWAVÉ (SL) Music & Downloads on Beatport
Introducing AÍRWAVÉ (SL) the dynamic DJ and Producer hailing from the vibrant city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. Since launching into the electronic music scene in 2020, AÍRWAVÉ has quickly made an impact with a captivating fusion of Progressive House, Melodic, and Organic House beats. Their breakthrough...
www.beatport.com
I second that, in fact I wish trance changed less than it already did in the late 00s/early2010s, that was definitely an unnecessary twist where the genre lost its identity for a while, trying so hard to fuse with commercial edm and some other stuff like dubstep even. ironically enough for that I believe it lost some respect from the other, more consistent genres DJs/fans. now it's good to see that it's gained some of that respect back for being more self-reliant so that it's even making the commercial sellout guys like tiesto pretend to be a trance dj again
Magdelayna
Elite Member
Arnoud
Senior Member
They are too occupied with Social Media and other non music related stuff, trying to stay relevant. It has been said before, music comes second or maybe even lower. Most modern Dj's look like 'Jersey Shore' people to me, they look ridiculous.Maybe an unpopular opinion but something ive thought recently - all these modern DJs/Producers getting headline slots and being praised and idolised - but theyve never made one 'classic' track between them ever??!
TRANCEBLASTER
Elite Member
- Jul 21, 2020
- 1,701 Posts
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Maybe an unpopular opinion but something ive thought recently - all these modern DJs/Producers getting headline slots and being praised and idolised - but theyve never made one 'classic' track between them ever??!
'Carl Cox' has been touring the world for over two decades without ever needing a 'classic' track in his discography. also being a great dj doesn't necessarly make you a great producer and vice versa. nowadays, it's often more important to have a successful set on 'Boiler Room', 'Mixmag', or 'HÖR'.
Magdelayna
Elite Member
Yeah but hes a 'proper' DJ....these modern trance producers arnt...just click the sync button.
TRANCEBLASTER
Elite Member
- Jul 21, 2020
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maybe that's true, but in my opinion, djing is more about the right tracks at the right time. the crowd doesn't pay for a ticket to spend the night analyzing the dj's technical execution. the same applies to production, the end result matters far more than whether a melody was performed on a synthesizer or programmed with a mouse. the crowd doesn't care.)
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