Strange features in Trance tracks

Aug 3, 2020
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What are some of the strangest features of trance tracks that you've encountered?

Cosmic Gate - F.A.V. (Extended Mix)

The intro is boring and adds unnecessary difficulty for DJ's. Either make an intro mix from the 65th beat onwards of the extended mix or make an intro with kicks, claps and proper progression. This... is just a complete failure.

Cosmic Gate feat. Jan Löchel - London Rain (Back 2 Back 4 ReDub)

Man, those hi-hats at the very start (first 32 beats) are awful. My ears are hurting at the mere thought of them.

Cosmic Gate - The Drums (Back2Back Mix)

Same thing, but from 0:42 onwards. Do they even listen to their own tracks before releasing them?

Vascotia - Verano 2010 (Sean Tyas Remix)

Great track with an awful intro with little proper progression.

Roger Shah & Ralph Fritsch pres. Black Pearl - Rise [starts at 7:33]

Outro with 96 beats and it's not an album mix? Are you serious? I'm actually pretty convinced that this was released by mistake, as Roger Shah is/was the owner of Magic Island Records. But then... why wasn't it fixed?
 
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Zahi

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Jul 13, 2020
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Poland
Talla 2XLC - Terra Australis (Arisen Flame Remix) (from 1:12 to 1:24) - that "clap-only" part is ridiculous.
 

dmgtz96

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Kid Vicious - Proceed [2003] skips a few beats here and there

 

Bluemoon

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Vocals on almost all 90's trance songs sounded horrible. Its like they didnt know how to build the songs around the vocals or properly master it to fit the songs.

Ofcourse there are exceptions but most of the time it did sound really bad.

So many 90s songs i would have enjoyed a lot but they are destroyed by awful vocals on top.
 
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dmgtz96

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Vocals on almost all 90's trance songs sounded horrible. Its like they didnt know how to build the songs around the vocals or properly master it to fit the songs.

Ofcourse there are exceptions but most of the time it did sound really bad.

So many 90s songs i would have enjoyed a lot but they are destroyed by awful vocals on top.

For real. I think that's a big reason many OG trance fans don't like vocals in their tracks. Vocals from then feel off; it's like the tracks were produced independently, and the vocals were tacked on later. It takes skill to combine them well.
Tbf the Southern Sun vocals are also really bad, but I think that one is more from the vocalist being really bad, weird effects on the vocals or it just sucks compared to modern vocals (in trance or other genres).
 
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Aug 3, 2020
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Eco - People [2010] (starts at 3:21)

also has awfully mastered vocals. It's actually a perfect track if you want to make yourself deaf. For this reason I've always preferred the Rafael Frost remix.

Kid Vicious - Proceed [2003] skips a few beats here and there
Per Discogs, Jaytech - Genesis (Pablo La Rosa Remix) [2006] has a similar problem:
 
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dmgtz96

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I'm not a fan of those overly melodic outros as they can get in the way of mixing, especially in the latter case (even Tiësto got caught by surprise). See for yourself:
Call me crazy or from r/unpopularopinion, but I don't think that's the producers' fault. The DJs should know their tracks better and if they have a melodic outro or not.
 
Aug 3, 2020
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I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be listening for here, both those transitions sound fine to me?
Well, in the first case I don't really hear a transition from one track to another as the main lead in the outro of Elements of Life overpowers the intro of The Horizon. It's actually one of the weaker moments of the DVD, as Elements of Life itself is not properly mixed with the preceding track (actually, it's not mixed at all - see for yourself). In the second case, Tiësto lets Magikal Circus play for so long that the main lead kicks back in and you can hear it played over Goldrush which, if it's not a mistake, sounds weird at the very least.

So yes,
The DJs should know their tracks better and if they have a melodic outro or not.
but if the producer himself forgets about a melodic outro when DJ-ing then maybe it's not the best idea to build tracks like this, especially given the fact that not many of them are build like that (Elements of Life aside, it features the main lead throughout the entire outro). You can make an separate ambient version of a track instead.

Anyway...

Simon Patterson - Taxi [2010] (starts at 5:16)

I'd have nothing against this track if it were released in 2007, around the time of the release of Bulldozer. But it wasn't, it's a 2010 track that is 3 steps backwards in comparison with Thump and Smack. The drop is so bad that I don't even know how to describe it. Around 6:37, not long after the open hi-hats kick in, the track completely loses energy (as if it had a lot of it at that point anyway) when the beat suddenly stops (notice how that sound resembles those played when you lose in a video game [say Rayman Arena, or Rayman M as it's called in some countries], it actually angers me just as much in this track lol) and we have this useless breakdown that is followed by the outro. The transition from the piano to the climax isn't the best either, IMO it should've lasted for 32 beats instead of 96 as it's far less engaging as the related part of Thump.

Mistakes like this from the composer of Thump and Smack? He should've known better. I suspect it was requested by Armin for ASOT 2010. If that's the case, he should've just taken Miss You instead.

Thankfully, John Askew - Blackout (Simon Patterson Remix) serves pretty much as a follow-up to Thump.

Lange & Andy Moor - Stadium Four [2009] (starts at 4:56)

Another useless second breakdown that causes the track to lose its energy. I'm pretty convinced that it's generally the best idea to always go from a tech climax straight to the outro, without a breakdown.

There's actually an Armin van Buuren edit of this track, from Universal Religion 4 (it starts at 41:28)

Which is much better than the original because it lacks the second breakdown. I've never heard it played by Armin in other sets, so I guess that he was fine with the original as it is. I guess he removed that part only in order to fit more tracks onto the CD. It should be really easy to recreate it, by the way.
 
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dmgtz96

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but if the producer himself forgets about a melodic outro when DJ-ing then maybe it's not the best idea to build tracks like this, especially given the fact that not many of them are build like that (Elements of Life aside, it features the main lead throughout the entire outro). You can make an separate ambient version of a track instead.

Gotcha. That's weird Tiesto forgot about the structure of his own track
unless, of course, he did not produce it

The second would have been a quick fix. Just loop it, lmao. I guess that by that point he was on "auto-pilot," though. It also seems that it was intentional, but Magikal Circus happened to be arranged that way.
 

Archon

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Lol what happened to the title of this thread?

We have reasons to believe his account was either hacked or his credentials were stolen. We were able to revert his posts (they were all ABCD...), but the titles would have to be redone manually. More info here.
 
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dmgtz96

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We have reasons to believe his account was either hacked or his credentials were stolen. We were able to revert his posts (they were all ABCD...), but the titles would have to be redone manually. More info here.
Ah, I see.
Just a fyi, but a phrase of randomly-generated words is one of the best ways to protect your online accounts. A brute-force algorithm would take centuries to crack "mergersdecadelabeledmanager." as oposed to a shorter password of letters with numbers in-between (ex. s1p1i1n).
The key is in having legit randomly-generated or uncommon sentences, vs. something that would be common ("thisisfun"). Hackers have also started attacking common sentences, too. Also, adding spaces can help.
 
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Archon

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Ah, I see.
Just a fyi, but a phrase of randomly-generated words is one of the best ways to protect your online accounts. A brute-force algorithm would take centuries to crack "mergersdecadelabeledmanager." as oposed to a shorter password of letters with numbers in-between (ex. s1p1i1n).
The key is in having legit randomly-generated or uncommon sentences, vs. something that would be common ("thisisfun"). Hackers have also started attacking common sentences, too. Also, adding spaces can help.

Yes, length is a huge factor for brute-force algorithms. But there are also dictionary attacks, and, as you said, the sentences have (and will) become vulnerable at some point (though length and randomness is also a factor there as well). That's why the combination of length and randomness in general works the best, because it's unpredictable and hard to crack. Though it's just not memorable, so you need a password manager to keep track of all your passwords (which can also become vulnerable). There's more info in the resources I've linked in the thread.
 
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dmgtz96

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De Niro - Mind of Man [1996]
Always thought the stabs in this one were SUPER annoying. You can hear them at 3:01 onwards.
I don't know how '90s club patrons handled this in clubs. It's already pretty bad with headphones, never mind blasting from loud speakers.
 

dmgtz96

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That shout in Universal Nation...it used to scare my brother as a kid haha.
Haha, this is a good one. I remember thinking WTF when I first heard it. Seems a bit out-of-place and equalized a bit too loud compared to the rest of the track.

Age of Love - Age of Love (Jam & Spoon Watch Out for Stella mix)
The acid at 1:53 slowly ascends into cacophony and feels unbearable by 2:17. Can't imagine hearing this out loud in, say, a club or a party.
You should check out the waveform for this track on Audacity or Virtual DJ. It's pretty messed up. The sections without this acid line are fairly silent, but the sections with it are loud.


There's another Platipus Record with a similar issue. Let me see if I can find it. It's from one of their compilations, vol. 1 through vol. 5.

edit:

Pob - Boiler (Humate mix)
It would be an exceptional trance track, but the cacophony from 0:02 to 0:30 really kills it.
 
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IZE

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Jul 19, 2020
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De Niro - Mind of Man [1996]
Always thought the stabs in this one were SUPER annoying. You can hear them at 3:01 onwards.
I don't know how '90s club patrons handled this in clubs. It's already pretty bad with headphones, never mind blasting from loud speakers.
Ah yes, that annoying feedback when 2 mics are too close to each other. love hearing it on zoom these days
 
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