dhollmusik

i've just ordered this on CD as i really rate Astrancer's work. Hopefully there'll be a bit of room to EQ, maybe even stick the signal through an expander.

ha well i'm not normally one for quoting myself, but seeing as this forum's not so busy anymore...so for posterity...check this wikipedia entry out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ftanng!#History "In September 2013, FTANNG! returned with the free online release of their third single Meaning in various formats via their website as well as multiple online platforms. Produced at 4CN-Studios by Tim Schuldt it was released in two different versions: a regular version, mastered to achieve maximum loudness on earphone-based mobile devices such as smart phones; plus an audiophile version, mastered for playback on home or car hi-fi systems, which attempts to capture the full dynamic range of the song as experienced in the studio."

Valuable topic, which still today has much relevance. It's enlightening having responses from many people in the know. I'm just a listener, no expert. I rate fine electronic dance music as on par with the best music from any other genre (rock, classical etc) so this perspective is more about the longevity of Goa Trance as musical art we enjoy, why good Goa which we can listen to at home will last forever, while good Goa which we can't listen to so much at home has a limited cultural life. So I have to agree with the naysayers: this so-called brickwalling (loudness-maximisation, PA-optimisation) is tiring to listen to for home enjoyment. I understand the reasons for it: that the sound is consistent on big soundsystems. That unfortunately doesn't make home-listening any better. Back in late-90's/early-00's at clubs & festis - before the loudness wars were won by the brickwall - there would often be volume-discrepancies and frequency issues in DJ sets because mastering back then allowed for more room to breathe, and thus more room for inconsistencies between different artists and labels. But which albums/comps get the most love for home listening? It's those from that era, with breathy roomy mastering. Or as Filteria pointed out, it's not just necessarily the mastering: contemporary producers are mixing their tracks already in that brickwall way. With that in mind, maybe there's a gap in the market for labels to offer two versions of their releases: one mixed/mastered for the big soundsystem, Tim Schuldt-style, and one with an eye (or rather an ear!) for home listening. The advantage of the former is obvious: every artist and label wants their tunes played at the big parties. The advantage of the latter may not be so obvious until we realise the cultural worth of 20-year old musik still being enjoyed in homes & headphones around the world. As much as I admire what Suntrip and co are doing, it remains to be seen if their releases will still be enjoyed in the home 20 years from now. There's also musical reasons for this: there's less adventurousness in the compositions these days, and I wager this also is the influence of the festival season: even Juno Reactor have gone to a brickwall sound with monotone composition and get headline bookings at all the biggest parties for it, but I expect their Mutant Theatre album won't be listened to as much 20 years from now as Shango or Bible of Dreams. If feeling philosophical, one might say what is keeping Goa Trance alive is also killing it. This issue is quite specific to the glorious subgenre we know as Goa Trance (whether old or new school). If you look at darkpsy, forest or hi-tech this issue isn't as prevalent as that musik sounds damn fine in both environments (soundsystem & home) from the same master, it doesn't have this discrepancy of listening pleasure, dependent on the environment, like Goa. The musical appeal of Goa Trance was rarely about the drive, the kick drum, the FX or the bass. It was about the mysticism that arised out of complex melodies, unexpected key changes, and compositions which would stucturally change quite drastically, keeping the listener on their toes (and enthralled). The elements making those sounds were often synth lines, and they were dominant. When those synth lines get flattened to make room for the kick to dominate, we lose some mysticism. When producers feel they don't want to make too many dramatic chord or structural changes as it may affect their dj-playlist potential, then the home listener has less reason to keep listening. Does this matter? Well, good music is timeless and will potentially be enjoyed forever. Music made just for a moment in time will be enjoyed for that moment, but perhaps when that moment is done then so is that music. Then again, if the alternative is the Goa Trance scene dying out (again) as the bookings dry up due to PA-unfriendly mastering and experimental compositions, then that's not ideal either. Some nerd enjoying your album 20 years from now won't help you pay the bills this month. No easy answers. Maybe there's a workable compromise somewhere in the middle, and we're all working our way towards it Just my two pence. My respect to the labels and artists for keeping the scene alive & kicking!

Thanks to your post I checked this out and do indeed enjoy the synth-driven morning vibes...but that annoying clacky snare never stops: it's mixed too upfront as well, so it just sounds like that annoying fella on the dancefloor who won't stop shaking his plastic clapper thing about. Mix that clicky clacky snare in softer, then take it away completely for the lush synthpad sections, so we can focus on the trance. My own top 3 would be: 1. Shaolin Wooden Men - Remember the Slime 2. Soluna - Dancing Spirit (original) 3. Tandu - Alien Pump zero weak spots edit: Psychaos - Chaos to Order and Juno Reactor's Feel the Universe are incredible yet I don't really count them as part of the old-school goa sound, more like psychedelic industrial techno, tho' at some point we start splitting genre hairs...Remember the Slime could be proto-forest psy rather than old-school goa and Dancing Spirit more hi-nrg trance rave

The ultimate one-hit wonder as this just might be old-school goa's greatest piece, yet the artist only dabbed in psychedelic trance just this one time, I believe. It appeared on the Pulse 5 comp and has everything: insane trippy vibes with an epic climax full of forest creatures tickling your balls while the big slime monster swallows you whole: Shaolin Wooden Men - Remember The Slime

is this the original video? the song starts at 2:15 and the flute-ish sound at 2:45

I used to have a CD back in the early-00's, and I don't remember anything about it other than it had one unreal killer track on it near the beginning. It had a dark full-on vibe. It had a sort of chorus which appeared I guess twice in which a growling demonic heavily-FX'd vocal would almost sing in time with the beat. Did I say it was EPIC? Anyone with an encyclopedic knowledge of late-goa, early-fullon era? Not that many had demonic vocals as a repeating chorus, I expect.

Interesting...I've got the fluffy original which is ok but I prefer the phenix/mosgorvet Terminator sound so will keep an ear out for this one.

ay up, mate - what does your link mean? It just shows a really tiny screenshot of something...can't see it properly, it's about like 4 x 4 pixels big

Flower Powder's the don

In defence of the mix cd: I really like it, tho' I agree with you guys that it does not feel like a Distance album. As somebody said above: it's sort of progressive tribal (actually perfect for those summer holidays chilling and tripping on the beach). For me, cd1 is mostly boring (I'm a big fan of Distance 1 - 6 too).

That's interesting...i don't quite understand everything you're saying tho', sorry. Is the HD280 a good choice for CD-DJ in your opinion? I'm looking to upgrade my HD201 which are too weak to effectively use as a DJ.

ay up, anyone know the producer & title of this gorgeously hypnotic number? http://www.megaupload.com/de/?d=62IF1C5M (80 second mp3 sample - track from some dj set) cheers!

sounds home-made to me

Panick - Blind Sensations

List your killer 2-step rolling bass chord changers! What am I on about? You know those killer tunes which cause madness and massive grins on the dancefloor: where the rolling bass chords down a notch, then back up, then down again and so on ... normally in 2-, 4- or 8-bar loops. Blimey, this is hard to describe :clapping: Okay, I better just start the list: Claw - Ellines Eimaste

Hi all, what a great site this is! One of my favourite ever tunes was on cd1 of an otherwise substandard 4cd collection called something like Trance Pioneers...I lost the cd and can't find this beauty anywhere. I found a (dodgy?) site which plays a low-bit version: http://skylive.fm/rid-0x2616b-psychaos_-_c...mp3-stream.html Anyone know a more reliable source? Thanks!

I still can't get enough of: Derango - Boomorgon (Rmx) For me, the best psy trance tune ever! A very close second is: Psychaos - Chaos To Order But I've flipping lost it!! Can't find it on the net anywhere... third: Juno Reactor - Conga Fury

Yeah! I love this sound as well but it's difficult to pigeonhole: I remember hearing some percussive psychedelic stuff which had the techno vibe (no 16-bar structures, just hypnotic flow) - sadly i was too foooooked to ask the dj some producer names. Some Dronebixie comes close.

I agree, most of the stuff post-Shango is just boring. Come on Ben, go back to the future...make some Goa!!

Since the early 90's I've progressed from: uk rave (110bpm - 130bpm) to euphoric trance (130bpm - 135bpm) to techno (detroit, lock n acid) (135bpm - 140bpm) to goa (mid-to-late 90's style although I discovered it in around year 2000: @135bpm - 145bpm) to currently darkpsy (145bpm - 150bpm) I'm going faster as I get older :posford:

could you call this one progressive? Tromesa - Muchomory I love it but haven't found much that sounds like it. It appeared on Distance To Goa 10.

For me it's more songs rather than albums that define my tastes: best (bold are the absolutely like among the best musiks ever made): magnetic icecube feel the universe conga fury komit kaguya-hime hule-lam badimo nitrogen (part 1) zwara conquistador II worst: god is god guardian angel so a clear win for the 'best' team then

That should be: Pondscum - Output 1-2 (RMX) I also find Parus - X-Bilet funky.

For funky as fook check out Pondscum - Output 1-2 I've got a copy filched from a dj mix set but haven't been able to track down the comp it appeared on: In Crypto. The Psyshop sample only introduces it and doesn't show you the really juicy dancy disko funkathon minimal perc swipes...you just wanna dance like Michael Jackson!