Any links to free techno/trance music?

Hi, I'm running out of techo/trance/electronic music to listen to when coding. I find this sort of stuff very motivational. I alternate between C64 tunes, ace chip music/demo/trance mods from modarchives.com, Jarre, DJAttack, Psilodump, React, FACT, + loads of old 90s stuff etc. Some of these I've bought and some are legit free stuff like DJAttack and Psilodump (saw in someones sig once) ...

anyway I need some NEW material :-) Anyone got any cool links to legal downloads that you can recommend, thanks. Stuff that you've listened to and like.

Cheerz

I like to stream while I'm at the computer:

http://www.philosomatika.com/

groovy thanks, dude, I'm on it right now :-)

Imphenzia, who's also a Blitzer, creates what I consider excellent trance (and similar forms). I've bought three of his albums and they're among what I listen to while coding. He has many tracks available as free, legal downloads for listening at http://www.imphenzia.com/music/music.asp

Cool thanks for that, downloading NOW!

bugger, I download all the Imphenzia stuff as ogg and windows media player 10 won't add them to it's libray even though I have the latest ogg codecs installed. I'm going to try out Media Player 11 Beta, wish me luck ...

have a look at EdzUpMedia Player over at coders workshop :)

Say, you're right. Sorry, I use Winamp so I didn't notice.

And good luck! :)

ARG, not even Mediaplay 11 does it. Time to get a new player, that stinks!

back to Winamp then...

GreyAlien, give us an e-mail. I've got some top rave tunes for ya. :)

ENAY: OK.

Woo Winamp lets me put the oggs in the media library!

Thanks Enay. I'll listen to them in a mo, with modplugplayer :-)

Anyone want some cool chip music? http://www.jbcomputersolutions.com/misc/chip.zip (1.42MB)

Thanks for the chip zip tip, Grey - back to the 90s! :)

no one mentioned digitally imported?

www.di.fm

WendellM: no worries dude. I've selected that lot as the "best" from a wider selection. Some it's very clever. Hey I'm listening to Imphenzia FULL VOLUME now. And I mean 4x100W Warfedales pumping it out through a Kenwood Amp. Noone is home today (where I work) and I'm in a detached house, yay! :-D

ORca: Thanks, I'll check it out later. Guess I'll have to put up with ads though as I'm not paying :-)

The commercials arent that bad at all. When compared to normal radio stations.

I really don't notice em all that much.

You guys do realise that techo/trance/electronic music is annoying, repetitive cr*p... right?

lol @ JustTroll: It motivates me when programming and I like it. The rest of my vast music collections is classical, blues, rock, metal and and stuff like Jarre, Van Gelis, Mike Oldfield, etc. (oh and the entire C64 sid library thing) Thing is if I listen to guitar music when working it distracts me too much, so I prefer trance.

It's the repetetiveness in Trance that gets you going, it's got a pure, on-and-on rhythm.

That reminds me, the company that sells Euphoria CD's have tried to screw me over, I should call my bank to um, whatever you call it when you force the money back into your account :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/listen/

All the BBC radio content is free online, This includes a backlog of the specialst shows, I am sure you can find something you like on there

If the BBC do that with TV (they've started), then *nobody* can escape the TV license.

it'll have to be renamed the MultiMedia License.

they have already started doing it with TV as well.

cool, I'll checkout BBC too. I'm really into downloading though rather than streaming, call me retro.

Downloading is always better, cos you can listen again later.
I DETEST streaming, especially movie files that you can't save.

The key is to capture the streaming content, burn it to an audio CD, and listen to it in your car at high volume. :o)





...or so I've heard.

> The key is to capture the streaming content

Gimmie das secret codez.

Certainly Sir.

http://streamripper.sourceforge.net/

You know... I don't think I will ever get this style of music (trance)... Will someone try to clue me in to what is appealing about it?

I try to be open and accept music in any way I can... but so far trance has illuded my ability to understand the worth of the tracks.

It seems that anyone can write it with no understand of theory, and still managed to be popular. It also seems the more advanced it is the lower it is worth.

I desperately want to understand what makes good trance and what makes bad trance and what it actually boils down to.

I've heard very technical explanations of it, but so far I've noticed a lot of impure exceptions to the rules and few examples of the style that are considered good that follow the logic.

It almost seems that the more simple and non-complex and standard and basic the piece is, the better it is.


Will someone PLEASE tell me what I am listening for? And what makes it good and or have value.

DampeS8N: To me good and bad trance is obvious, but also it comes down to taste. For example, I'm not really into wailing women on my trance, or rapping blokes, I want it pure instrumental. Anything pre-1990 was a little too basic, all that acid stuff, some was just primative. Then it started to get really good. I was into pretty hard trance/techno stuff for a long time, but as I've got older I appreciate more melodic pieces, some stuff that I fully admit is cheesy I like a lot. To be honest I prefer minor pieces, although the odd major piece can work if the melody is uplifting.

There are also different beats, normally you've got the regular four four stomp, but there used to be lots of breakbeats and stuff before that turned into jungle and drum 'n' bass. A really decent drum track with good samples, and small rhytmic intricacies and changes helps a trance track a lot, but it still needs to maintain that fundamental constant beat, as it's for dancing after all.

Some of the techno stuf used to use chord progessions similar to heavy metal riffs, including tritone etc. Also I used to (and still do) really like analogue sounds, both bass, and lead. Quite of lot of trance has a nice reverb on it too to make it sound like sound/light cutting through the dark or something (hard to explain). Lots of trance has very recogniseable "riffs" that you can get into, but some is just more a blending of sounds that build up and down. It's all about making the mind and feeling go up and down without too much thought on the listener's part. Of course a big part of trance music for lots of people is drugs. I don't mean alcohol, as you can't really appreciate anything when drunk, but people do LSD and mushrooms to experience synaesthesia when listening to trance. Other people do more dance/movement oriented drugs like speed (ampetamine) or ecstacy. Whatever, I just like listening to it when coding as it makes me think I'm in some kind of sci-fi movie about this guy making a really cool game or something, sounds lame maybe, but it helps me to work fast.

Oh yeah, regarding skill. When I first started making modules on my amiga, I did that for a couple of years before making my first "rave" stuff when I was 15/16. I wasn't very good. Then I worked on beats, basslines, lead etc for years making tons of modules until when I was 19ish I was making my best stuff that got played at parties etc. I've only really pottered around with making modules since then due to my job getting in the way. A decent 5min module used to take 6 hours plus to write, and it was best done in a continuous block, so I used to make these often in the middle of the night to avoid interruptions. If I'd continued making them, maybe I should have tried to get them published, but I never did. Anyway what I'm trying to say is that it still takes a lot of skill to write one, and if you understand music theory a bit, it also helps to make more interesting tracks.

Sorry if I've rambled, maybe I've help you a bit.

well.... it is important to understand that time-consuming and skilled aren't the same thing.

I think, people often confuse this.

Lets look at jazz for example.

Jazz takes litterally no time to create, this is the entire point. You would be considered a terrible jazz musician indeed if it took you 6 hours to play a 5 min long piece.

So telling me it took you 6 hours to write something doesn't really mean anything to me....

I'm not saying it doesn't require talent, I'm saying that the time it took to make isn't an indication of talent or skill. At best, it is an indication of your stick-to-it-ness.

What I hear when I hear trance, particularly 'good' trance is very simple arpeggios and chords over a simple or sometimes complex but short beat cycle. Beats don't require talent to make, they require talent to play. So a beat in itself is created through trial and error when a new one is formed... And due to the very finite amount of beats possible in a 4/4 timed piece, the beat isn't a good indication of talent. It is only indicates that the person took the time to find something 'pleasing' or maybe a better word is fitting.

So what it really comes down to is, the melody, and the whole composition.

Since some 'good' trance has no melody, or a limited one, it is reasonable to surmise that it isn't of prime focus in Trance.

So I am left with the final composition.

However... What I see is a lot of samey samey end results among what is considered good. Where people say, I like it because it is my taste, or this or that with not technicallity to it.

And when people get technical they aren't able to express what is apealing about piece, even in basic terms.

Which still leaves me at a loss for understanding. I simply do not understand the appeal... and I fear, that is the only factor that can lead me to liking it.

Other forms of electronic music and techno aren't always so. There are a lot of people doing a lot of different things in techno. So there is the ability to understand it from a musical stand point.

Trance, prides itself seemingly on 1 thing, being able to produce it's namesake. The problem is, it isn't a matter of talent to produce this.

In other words, most other forms of music couldn't easily be written by a machine. I could program a computer to write Trance easily. (theoreticly) And it would almost certainly produce the best quality trance music, because it can follow all the rules, create an infinite amount of variation, and play endlessly on the fly like a music visualization program.

All of this adds up to commonplace, not scarcity, and the traditional way to measure something's worth is by how rare it is that it could have happened.

This is why every other musical form has worth, because it took increasing amounts of vision and talent to produce it. But I honestly can't tell the difference between the Trance I've heard created by no-bodies, the Trance I've heard that is very popular, and the Trance I've been told will be the new up-and-coming amazement.


Once again... I'm not saying it doesn't take talent... because something MUST be controling this. Something gives this worth.

But I am begining to suspect it has more to do with attitude and selling yourself, than the music itself.

Which is true to a certain degree in other musical forms, but seems to be the only truth in regards to Trance.


That people who like Trance will like most any Trance, and gravitate toward the Producer's other qualities.

I'll give you my take/history for what it's worth. Back in high school in the early 1980s (yes, I had to fight off dinosaurs while walking there across the local ice bridge <g>), a friend introduced me to Kraftwerk through their album, Computer World (audio samples here). Since I was taking German at the time and loved computers, I was entranced (forgive the pun). I bought that and the rest of their albums and kept a lookout for similar music. As time went by, I learned that this genre has since been designated "trance" (Kraftwerk was sort of "ur-trance" before the term existed).

What I liked about it was the simplicity and complexity at the same time, as well as the electronic instruments used and the technological themes. Upon first listen it sounds very repetitive, and it is to an extent, but if you listen closer you'll find that it's also subtly evolving over time with new elements being added and existing ones changing. To me, this makes trance something like a simpler version of Bach's fugues with their complex and evolving structures.

I also soon found trance ideal to listen to while programming. Unlike Bach fugues (which are fascinating to listen to but require a fair amount of attention to appreciate), trance's structure doesn't distract me. Its simpler evolving phrases can be enjoyed in the background. And good trance provides a certain energy and something like a "dramatic soundtrack" while programming. One fine example of this is "Himalaya" which turns a coding session into something almost heroic <g>: http://imphenzia.homeip.net/imphenzia_tracks/Imphenzia.Himalaya.[Radio.Edit].ogg



There's a fair amount of what I consider bad trance out there. Examples include extremely repetitive stuff that doesn't evolve over time and builds that go nowhere (accelerating drumbeats that seem to be building to a climax but which actually don't lead to new energy plateaus and instead collapse back to the same level). Also, while I enjoy some vocals (especially if by a female singer), some trance has too much for my taste - I prefer only a few phrases so that they don't distract the language-parsing part of my mind which is often busy programming while listening.

don't ever compare trance to counterpunctal fugues :)

It is like comparing a flashing LED to the grid-panel of a railroad system.

I do get your point, but fail to see the actual talent in the description. That seems to be what I get all the time.

People tell me why they like it, but not what makes creating it hard.

Being difficult to make is what gives something worth. There are always happy accidents, but they can be quantified after the fact... 1 hit wonders and all that.

Trance seems to become popular by just being at the right place at the right time and with the right people looking at it....

I confounds me greatly.



The only other form of music that gives me this headache is rap... but only some rap... Like 50 cent's In Da Club... I can't for the life of me figger out what makes it any better than some of the other club-fluff that comes out...

There is rap I respect, either because the lyrics took talent, or the music is something different and talentful.


Someone with the knowhow to explain In Da Club to me can try to make me understand both these systems and I'll be very happy.




It is important for me to note. I actually like a lot of what trance does... I just don't tend to like it as a whole... or a composition as a whole..

My favorite band, Tiamat ( www.churchoftiamat.com ) has a ton of trance and techon influences in it. But it also has complex melody, great lyrics, musicianship, and explorations into some very un-treaded on music theory. All without straying too far from something fun and easy to listen to.

Hmm... I don't really care if creating it is hard or not. My appreciation doesn't come down to an evaluation of the work that went into it, I just like it for what it is and that's enough for me.


But isn't that the case with all music? I have friends who like jungle, rap, and heavy metal. Now, that's stuff that I don't get, so I can appreciate your confoundment of why I like trance by pretending that I said that I like that stuff <g>. They explain how they like the beats, lyrics, and general mood created, and while that at least lets me understand their reasons abstractly, it doesn't let me share in them (respect <> enjoyment for me). So, I just accept that there is something there for those who like it and go on listening to what I enjoy. "De gustibus [or music] non est disputandum" I suppose.

Monotone. Yuck. 'Nuff said.

I think you misunderstood me. It isn't a matter of wanting to like trance. I will never enjoy it.

I want to understand what separates the good from the bad to those who like it.

I have a wide set of liked music.

Classical, Jazz, Metal, and lots of others.

I do not like Country, or Folk, but I understand what makes good Country and Folk...

I understand why people like country, and it mainly boils down to a combination of a love for that lyrical style mixed with the musical style. Musically it is crap, this is acceptable as Country's worth comes from Musicianship, Lyrics, and tho it annoys me to know end, Vocalism.

It is quantifiable.

Trance doesn't seem to have anything that regulates the good from the bad. There isn't an attribute sought after.

It seems to come down to things that don't require talent to make, which doesn't befit a business model, as there would be so many producers that the funds couldn't ever be divided to support them all.

Something has to be there to enable the cream to rise to the top.

I want to know what that is, because there-in lies the focus of Trance, that factor that matters most to people, and which is what separates the good from the bad. The stuff that sells, doesn't sell, and goes gold.

Oh, Cygnus, I agree... but something had to be there to make that song the hit of the album, and the others not.

It is that which I am after.

What denotes the song on album of Trance that gets the most play in a club.

There's just something about trance and synthesised music that will be always better than 'regular' cheesy music.

Fact: You will get more work done listening to trance and fast rave music.

DampeS8N: hmm, I haven't read all your stuff yet but when I say it took 6 hours to make, that's because I was putting skill into each area of it, refining it, making it better, trying different things, remixing etc. Your basic point about time taken is not an indication of skill is true, but time taken *can* also be an indication of skill and that's what I was trying to say, and you know it. The rest is pedantry. Sorry, I have to disagree. Good beats DO take talent to make, or at least they used to before all the music programs started coming with free loops you could just plug in. The difference between an amateur making a beat in a module track and an expert is huge, and a good professional beat adds a lot to a track - after all the bass has to work with it.

OK, I've read a bit more and WendellM's point about he doesn't care if it's technically good or not, he just likes it, is of course true about trance and other music (at least for me). It's like art, you know what you like and it may or may not take a whole load of skill to make. I still say that good trance *does* take skill to make, plus also the right equipment/software. I was often hindered in the past by not having the money for the technology I needed to express my ideas. Also again, if people like a certain type of trance music and record companies are producing that, then it takes skill to identify and deliver what people want. That music has to be somewhere between complete cheese and total hardcore so that in clubs people can feel "cool" listening to it and enjoy themselves. It needs to have the correct sort or creshendos and changes to build a vibe that everyone can get into, especially if they are wasted. I'm not talking about me here, just theorising about what I know and have seen. It's the same with all genres, there is some bad heavy metal and some very good heavy metal. There's plenty of crap blues and some really good blues. There's some amazing classical, and other stuff that really isn't worth listening too imho etc.

***Anyway, I still want some more links. Anyone?*** Thanks.

WendellM: I keep coming back to Himalaya, I was listening to it when I read your post :-D It rocks! or perhaps I should say it "trances"... Really nice piece.

This is so true and was the point I was trying to make, which is why, although I live blues, rock, metal, I don't often code to it as it stops part of my brain from working properly on code.

you don't need anything more than www.digitallyimported.com unless you like dnb... then check out www.bassdrive.com

bass tonality is not part of the beat. Beats are by their very definition easy to make.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=beat

They may not be easy to add tonality to, but the tone isn't part of the beat itself. The beat is just the driving force of the music, where the notes will fall, and what aspects define that.

Often it is done with drums of some kind, or something acting as drums. But the basic parts are very limited.

There is the down, up, and various grace or ride additions, such as a high hat. The main focus in the down and the up, then there are other downs or up that aren't as pronounced and they are graces, and then there are rides, which provide a backbone to a beat. These basic parts take NO talent to make. At best, they take trial and error, espectially with a looping tracker. Just loop through the same 4 bars over and over until the beat you are making sounds good. Hell, even my brother was able to bang something good out in fruity loops and he can't tell a french horn form a bass guitar and thinks In Da Club is one hot track.

You might like to disagree, but if anything takes talent it is the bassline and any tonality included as part of the beat... Which is much more common then you think, as it is a large part of trance, what I call the rhythmed arpeggio. Where a quick sucsession of notes either follows the beat or adds a new fancy sounding but ultimately expected layer to the beat.

Especially Trance beats, which have a very strict way about them.


And time taken is not even partially an expression of skill or talent. As I said, jazz takes no time. Other forms of music take little time to write either. Infact, I would argue that taking into account the style of music, the faster you can write it, the more skilled you are.

If I can bang out a symphony in an hour, the time it took me isn't the gauge people will judge the music by, how it sounds, based on the rules of that style, are what it will be judged on. So If those that are judging it say it is just as good as some other guy that spent 2 weeks refining his piece, then who is more talented?

Herein lies the problem. I think people are placing undue amounts of worth on a craft that is easy to master. All it takes is time, and perhaps in todays fast paced lazy world where no one wants to do anything that takes time, they rather not sit down and spend 6 hours making that.

Or, since the market is a dance market, they just grab whatever is there and don't worry about where it is coming from, and a few better publicised people float to the top regardless of talent. And because people who bother to do it are scarce, it works out?

It really can't just be hype and marketing. Can it?

Although... I guess it could be. After all, pop music talent is a combination of country line dancing ability, sexuality, and hype. It has nothing to do with the music either, even tho it has a set of rules for it's sound. Which boils down to danceable and candy coated. And since professional musicians write the stuff, and not the stars, there are often catchy melodies in pop tunes, although they aren't always what makes a song rise to the top...


Thats really what it boils down to.

On any given album, what is the reason one song is listen to the most. Is it just that this song was chosen to be released as a single? If so, why was it chosen in the first place, at random?

DampeS8N: When I say beat I mean "Drum Track", I should have thought that was obvious, sorry if it wasn't. Get it now? So I mean bass drums, snares, hats, cymbals, claps, + other percussion + phasing + dynamic volume on different hits + tuning drums to each other and the music + quantising (or not) etc etc. That is what I mean when I say it's hard to get it sounding good. Are you a musician at all? I can't recall if you are or not. If you are not, then what is the point in saying that trance does or doesn't require skill to make if you've never done it? How would you even know? If you are a musician (and aren't just full of technical terms) then why say it takes no skill, if you find it easy, because you must be skilled by definition, if you are a musician.

That's such bull, you are just looking at it from one point of view i.e. Good developer can make code to do X in half the time as not so good developer. Fine I agree, if X is a very well defined thing. But if X allows for some creativity so that users can say, oh yes, this X is better than that X (don't start arguing about subjectivity, let's assume that 99% of user says the same X is better), a good developer could spend much longer on it than a not so good developer and at the end X is better because he has applied more skill over a longer period of time refinining it. That's what I meant all along, surely you must understand this otherwise I give up. What is the point in arguing a point, completely blindfolded to the other possibilities as if they don't exist?

To finally prove your point, make a trance track and post it. It should be as good as the stuff I'm listening too now if you are a musician and your theory is correct (i.e. it takes very little skill). Aha, I've just remembered, you *are* a musician, you made tons of midi files ... I don't have any trance that I've made that compares to what I'm listening to despite years of learning how to make it better, am I crap or is there still more to learn, plus of course I've already mentioned that I had limited technology 12 years ago (and still do now i.e. no synths or decent music programs or decent samples)

I don't have any tracker software that can be saved... and I don't have the money to buy one.... I could aproximate in midi... but obviously that wouldn't be very good.

I really didn't understand your X thing... I don't mean an insult by that... I just really can't follow it, english wise.... prolyl my fault.

If you still want me to write a trance track, I'll do it... I can't dynamicly pan the music, and it will be general midi instruments... if you can look past those limitations and just imagine them being in there... like if the sound pans, it will not be smooth, but you can just assume it would be smooth... then... I'll do it.

If you won't be able to look past that, or the fact that i'd be limited to a very narrow range of tone textures... then I won't bother.

I'm not saying it is easy to make, I am saying I don't understand where the difficulty lies... It doesn't mean it isn't there... it just means no one has been able to show me where it is.

Damp: you talk a lot, and -sorry to say- a lot of it is quite generalizing or plain bull..

First: when talking about what makes trance (like the stuff on digitally imported), we're mainly talking about producing it, not about composing it. Composition is less of an issue with trance (tho not completely unimportant), it's mainly the producing/arranging that's the main part. The composition then again heavilly interacts with the actual producing.. most simple example would be the tons of reverb and echos involved, one writes notes that sound consonant with the reverb/echo-trail of the previous notes. So, the longer the reverb/echo-time, the more you have to count with notes farther away in time.
It's this producing/mixing that also makes or breaks a beat.. usually a lot of compression is used to pump up the lot. Compress things flat, and soft ghostnotes suddenly pop-up loud .. Compress things flat and notes become longer, as a natural decay becomes a sustain. Sync echo with the beat and the echo creates notes that interlock with the original line. Add a flanger or phaser, make sure it sweeps at the right moment, and the sweeping harmonics can act as some kinda crescendo/climax to introduce a new verse.
These are all examples where producing/mixing creates composition aspects. Things that are quite unconventional when you only think in notes and conventional composition methods.
And really, one can bitch around about how a handclaps should sound for hours.. just try to find the perfect combination of reverb, amplitude and compression, to make *that* sound. Such a dillema Bach never had.

Next on: jazz. The arguement that good jazz takes no-time is too generalizing. Perhaps you're referring to those small bands only? With a contrabas, drumkit, piano and a trumpet orso? Playing almost script-based variations of Autumn Leaves or other settled chord-schemes?
What about bigger jazz-pieces for medium/large orchestras? Big band stuff etc. sometimes you hear it passing by in movies ("Catch me if you can" (John Williams) features quite some jazzy parts, scattered between the more conventional score). That's not made in 5 minutes for sure.

Create a hypothetical app that creates trance? Bold statement.. prove it. As long as it doesn't produce/mix it, you won't succeed with just notes/midi.. (if you want any decent quality, that is..) This requires the progammer to know stuff about DSP and synthesis... the app gets more complex with every line I write.. :)
But even if you have all that, someone else comes around the corner with a tune with a structure you didn't count with, and you can label your app incomplete and obsolete again.

Besides, *if* such an app would be, it would for sure create pop/orchestral/etc. music also.. at least when I would be coding it. This simplism you see in trance equals the simplism I see in other kinds of music.



Impossible to answer as I haven't yet heard both pieces. That hour-piece can be complete crap, and the 2-week piece can be brilliant. No need to hire Poirot to find out who gets my vote eh..
Actually, the only comparison I can imagine in this special case is Vangelis, who composes realtime with his load o' Direct devices, but that's all heavily based on layers, patterns and how all these things change eachother realtime. So, an hour symphony would be Vangelis' Mythodea. Some people keep referring to The Planets by Holst (just as they did for the OST for Gladiator), so I guess I'll jump on the bandwagon and compare Mythodea and The Planets. Both are completely different, but in the end The Planets do win the race.. I dunno exactly how long it took Holst to compose it (would be easy to find out, but I'm too lazy atm) but it was definitely more than an hour!



Counterpoint is just a composition tool, can be applied to everything, even trance. With which I'm not saying that all trance has been made using counterpoint, but it could be possible.



Is it? Or do you think it is because you're burried under all the TV-ads about all this dance? I don't think for example Celine Dion got rich because of the *dance*-version of 'My heart will go on'. (that was a VERY bad concept! :P)
Just because TV ads shout about dance every minute doesn't mean the 'market is dance'.. other genres prolly need less advertising because they sell by themself already..


Anyway, in a nutshell: stating that trance doesn't require talents is nonsense. Ok, as printed score you wouldn't want to show it to Bach, but that's also not really the concept of trance anyway. It's interaction with the production to create broad landscapes.


'k time to eat..

There's some really nice tunes you got there Grey Alien.

Also you guys, stop posting such large messages. I just can't be arsed to read further than 2 sentences in. :)

no.. I meant that trance was designed with dance in mind. That clubs are what popularize trance, and such.

at least finally I got an answer that satisfies me. I still can't recognise good from bad tho.

And does the general populace recognise this, or do they just hear something they like and that happens to be the mechanism that makes it so not just anyone can make it sound the way they like, which would give it worth.

Remember... I didn't say that trance doesn't take talent to create. I said I didn't understand what talent it required.


Now.... if you can tell me what makes something like In Da Club have worth, I'll be very happy.

ENAY: hm.. let's hope that doesn't mean your typical blitzcode doesn't exceed 2 lines either :P

here's a little clip of some trance i produced. btw, i only like euphoric trance (is there any other? and don't say Goa, Psy, or any of those crap sub-genres). if you get the chance, listen to Airbase - Genie.

http://www.strafed.net/audio/inprog%20-%20pike.mp3

DampeS8N: Shame you can't understand my X thing, but I can't type any more. Sorry for the language problem. Nah, don't bother making a trance track in Midi as the point was well made by CS_TBL that it's all in the production (I shoulda used that word earlier) and Midi just ain't going to deliver. That's also why mine doesn't sound top notch as it was very hard to "produce/mix" a piece on an Amiga lol, modules are hard to work with, you have to master all the effects, but even then it's hard work. For what it's worth, I've heard some of CS_TBL's music (classical) and it's very good, totally pro (but it is his job).

CS_TBL: Very informative thanks. I laughed about spending hours getting the clap just right, that's just so true. Then you apply that to all the other drums in the beat and hours have gone by and you haven't even started the bassline yet (or maybe you did it earlier and spent hours on that too, and now just realise it needs changing :-))

MardD: wow you made that, it's very good. All the correct elements - got any more? I like euphoric trance too, I've never thought to describe it like that, but that's what I've been "On" all day today :-)

euphoric trance is as addictive as crack. it'll make you smile, laugh and even cry. i swear some euphoric producers are from another planet.

have a listen... loud... with headphones.

http://www.airbase.nu/store/demos/AP-G010.mp3

WOW. Thanks dude, that was great - I'd love to hear a pure non-mp3 version. Guess I'll have to buy a CD :-) I know what you mean about another planet (maybe it's produced by greys). Some of the music is so powerful it affects my entire body. This thread has been cool, I've found some great stuff. **MORE** I need more, gimme that trance pipe biatch.

Grey :) you are a rarity. not many people feel what you're feeling. i've been at it for over 4 years and it NEVER gets old. i have two 100 CD cases in my car overflowing with compilations and burned mixes. got lots of darkside jungle and dnb too.

http://home.arcor.de/cyberstorm/TT/TT_V2.4.zip

download and rename to .mp3

on the case ... while I clean my teeth. Thanks dude! Hey there's another file on that server. I'll get it tomorrow. Hope it's above-board.

Hi Grey - I don't listen to much music, know very little about it but I do like a lot of the examples of 'trance' posted here. It is easy to listen to and code at the same time. If I were to go to my local record store could you give some pointers as to what quality groups/artists to look for who make this stuff on CD?

Just to add to the mix of tastes, I like the stuff I listen to to be a bit... 'tighter'... a bit 'cleaner'... less of the wall-of-sound and loose reverb sorta stuff.

Here's the first example I found that fits the bill - it's from that Philosomatika stream I mentioned earlier. I love to have this sort of stuff going on in the background while I do stuff - without lyrics to distract me, my mind can be occupied elsewhere while my soul feeds. :o)

Come to think of it, the sort of stuff I listen to (and trance in general perhaps??) would make great background music for the sort of game (some kind of shooter, I'd imagine) where you need to be concentrating on the action but your emotions are 'pumped' by the music without you even realising...

http://www.intermediaware.com/index.php?id=97

Absolute Blue ^^ has come good trance

markd: yeah it does.

Matty: hmm, thing is I'm really stuck in the past, so I'm not up to date with what modern trance is good. That www.imphenzia.com/music/music.asp site sells CDs and I'm seriously considering buying a couple.

LineOf7s: Yeah loads of my trance is like that, like Halucinogen and Total Eclipse etc. I've jsut got more into "euphoric" trance recently.

Hi Grey - I looked up 'trance music' on google and it came up with some free radio website that streams the stuff, good enough for me for now.

During the early 90s when a lot of the 'Mod tracker' style music stuff was around I didn't have access to a PC capable of playing it although I quite like what I've heard (downloaded those tunes you had in your post a few posts higher up) .

Matty: Those mod tunes are "chip" tunes so they sound kinda retro like from the Amiga days. They are great and also very small. I have some great trance mods too but they are a lot bigger and I don't have the space to host them really...

Heh pretty sweet MarkD!!

[edit]

I still havent recieved my Euphoria CD >.<;;

Cyg: What's this "Euphoria CD" sounds like it might be up my street...

http://www.discogs.com/release/49501

Quite a few nice tracks IMO, Even the "Will I" track actually doesnt have many words, just says "Will I" three times in the middle, unlike the original which did my head in.

Wonder what's up with it? o.O

you gotta be careful with "euphoria" compilations. sometimes they're not as euphoric as you hoped hehe.

I was lucky, I quite like the majority of the tracks on Total euphoria :)

Cyg: Sounds interesting thanks. Wouldn't mind hearing a few snippets to see if it's my scene.

I just bought a few airbase tracks today, only 1Euro eachb (66p-ish).

good for you, he'll be greatful. did you pick up JZ - Monday PM? Jezper uses lots of aliases.

you can hear a sample of the CD here;

http://212.67.202.170/~dance/euphoria/altotal.htm


You'd think they would put a little more into their website, huh? :D

markd: I got emotion, genie (had to), white feather, ocean realm, monday PM, and Pandemonium.

Cyg: Thanks for the link dude, I'll check it out...

how do you like the breakdown in Monday PM? it's amazing.

It's really good, fades to nothing then builds up and up! Those 6 tracks I've got are great, each one has these cool things to discover in them. I love the build up in Pandemonium too :-) It's all so good LOUD.

Cygnus: Ouch, those samples are really crackly! Sounds cool though... I've put an 80p bid on Ebay :-)