Guest stringtheory Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 It is beyond my understanding why so many Goa fans flip out anytime someone releases a mixed CD. Astral Projection - In the Mix is a perfect example. Mixing can be wonderful if the set is great, and if the mixing is flawless. There are a number of brilliant progressive artists who have amazing mixed sets. Scott Henry, Jimmy Van M, and Dave Clarke come to mind. What I like about mixed sets, are that they are sets. They are one, large experience. Reminds me of epic prog rock albums from Pink Floyd, Tool, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. I love albums as a whole. Albums where no individual piece is as important as the album itself. I mean don't get me wrong, I love psy/trance, mixed or not. All I am saying is that Mixed CD's can be a great expierence too. Sometimes it seems like people are against them because it is the cool, or fashionable thing to do. Who gives a damn about cool. Being open minded is far more important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Full Lotus Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 maybe because alot of them might be budding DJ's who want the whole track(s).... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Matta Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 I personally don't like the muddy and often dissonant sound that happens in DJ mixes (there are some serious cringe moments on In the Mix). I also like the fact that songs can stand and breathe alone as individual pieces of art to listen to, rather than a lump of music stricly to dance to. Whenever I hear a mix album I immediately think "club" rather than "art." I do, however, appreciate when an artist creates intentional seques on an album, creating an on-going adventure and narrative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dam10n Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 True (all) but there's nothing like sometimes kicking back and slipping on a quality mix album, and letting the journey unfold on you - fine to be a pilot but sometimes nice to be a passenger mark allen's trancentral mix is probably the most played round my gaff; and the upcoming twisted sessions mixes will be luvverly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DD Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 Because it's no good trading mixed tracks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 "fine to be a pilot but sometimes nice to be a passenger" that sums it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tegma Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 Digital Structures gonna start a mix cd series this autumn:-) First up is Dj Metro aka Marcus Son kite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dovla Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 I think that the main reason is because psy trance music isn't made like techno. I have no fun listening to unmixed techno tracks, they sound much better when they're mixed together because they aren't so complex as psy trance, you can blend two or three tracks in a mix, you can play with all kinds of settings when you mix techno...but in psy trance there isn't that much to do. For example listen tu humus conspiracy...it's mixed but the mixing isn't perfect and yaniv doesn't do anything except moving the crossfader and maybe making a small effect here and there...and AP's In the mix album is the worst example, just crossfading, that's all...it's just a beginning of one track on to an end of the previous one...but i still love psy trance because the music itself is much more complex than any other techno crap out there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JanUa Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 DD, ahumm ... it's no good trading tracks anyway! make your own music and trade it, don't rip someone else off!!! These guy are trying to make a living but trough illegal routes you make it hard on these guy's to survive as artists! ... ever thought about that??? did anyone actually??? stringtheory, it has nothing to do with cool or anything ... whats cool about it? but like some already said, for dj's a mix cd is no good and you miss 1/5 off the original track ... a track is a story on itself with a beginning and an end. But sure, mix cd's are fun to listen, ofcourse JanUa ... . . . . . . . . . . . ....3ô... . . . . . . . . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stringtheory Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 JanUa, I think you are right. I had bought AP - In The Mix, and the mixing was crap. It does seem psytrance songs are too complex individualy to try to be mixed. I mean it is one thing if you are making tracks for the purpose of a mixed CD, but trying to take Goa tracks, and mixing them, doesn't seem to work very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stringtheory Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 typo...bought In the Mix...arrived today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khogg Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 I can understand why house music or techo is often mixed on CD's, becuase the music is made to be mixed. The whole tracks themselves frequently start and end with like 30 seconds of just beats with maybe a sound or two. That's dull to listen so of course it's mixed. But with Psytrance, most tracks are a complete thing in and of themselves. They have an intro, development, a peak(s), maybe some more, and an outro. If they are mixed down to 4 or 5 minutes, you miss all that cool stuff. Plus, it's rare that I like every single song on a CD (mixed or not). Then I have to start a few tracks in or skip a song here and there and it sounds terrible on a mixed CD, because you basically jump into the middle of the mix. Also, mixed CD's are useless for DJing. They are equally useless for burning your own compliations. Basically they suck in my book, and I avoid them at all costs, unless I'm sure I'll like the whole thing, or if the album comes with a second CD unmixed. It has nothing to do with what's cool or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mescalinium Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 many good points above, but i have another more circular theory... in most cases, a psy trance compilation that's mixed is (unfortunately) a sign of substandard release. usually it involves the dumping together of already-released material, some insipid and unispired "mixing", and the songs themselves are all shortened in an attempt to hide the all-to-often emberrasing lack of quality... ap's in the mix is a perfect example: they could have released an EP with all the new tracks on it (how many new ones are there, like 4?) but where's the money in that? so they put out 2 cd's worth of older astral projection fodder (peppered, of course, with "remixes" and the like) that's all haphazardly mixed together. another example is flying rhino's horrendous re:evolution series. 3 cd's with barely 1 cd's worth of listenable material... so in conclusion, i think it's a chicken/egg-like conundrum would goa heads be more keen on mixed comps if most of them weren't so bad? i don't know... you guys tell me! =Þ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Flying Kundalini Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 psytrance is made to be mixed like all other 4/4 music.. the only reason a psy mix is @!#$ is b'cause the DJ is mashed :-# mixing psytrance can be slightly harder than other kinds of 4/4 but it's still not that hard - U just have to be in the zone.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fuzzhead Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 dj brian e does a good job mixing psy trance.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 good mixing? its more than theoretical. go to www.microdots.org (internet radio station) and request 'dj basilisk - speaker for the dead'... vote if ya like it =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PPP Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 I never buy mixes cause i want to have the whole track. I love those litlle sounds at the begining and the intros. Also as mescalinium said mixes are usually compilation of older tracks, which also turns me off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bugbread Posted May 9, 2002 Share Posted May 9, 2002 Flying Kundalini; that's only true really for prog/psy-tech. Melodic stuff has intros and extros not for convenience sake, but because they're part of the song, and are meant to be heard, not eliminated in order to get to the beat part. Heck, psy evolved with intros and extros BECAUSE it couldn't be mixed (records warp in hot sunlight), so I don't see where you derive that it's "meant" to be mixed. New stuff is made with CD-Js and airconditioned clubs in mind, which is why more new stuff is meant to be mixed, but I think Psy includes stuff from the early nineties (Hallucinogen, etc.), not just the music produced in the last two or three years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greg Posted May 9, 2002 Share Posted May 9, 2002 ? HUH ? All dance music is meant to be mixed, IMHO... Old psytrance was and still is mixed too... its just more difficult, the fuller and more melodic the music... Did the older psy-trance parties you went to not include a DJ mixed set? Mine did.. "Evolved with intros and outros BECAUSE it couldn't be mixed?" It could be mixed, the artists just wanted each track to be a complete unit on its own, just like most new psy-trance too... you can mix it those intros/outros if you want, or whatever... thats up to the DJ.... Oh well, just my thoughts ;-) Cheers Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David Posted May 9, 2002 Share Posted May 9, 2002 Psy Trance and Goa is no different than any other dance music. It should be mixed by a DJ that gets in there and plays the @!#$; fucks it up. Crap DJ's or wanna be DJ's have held this scene back more than just about any other aspect. There have alwasy been DJ's that travelled with their vinyl and tore @!#$ up and there have always been posers. There is STILL a small percentage of damn good talented PSy Trance DJ's in relation to the crap ones, but I think it is slowly but surely changing and hopefully one day we will have as many fine DJ's in this genre as in any other genre. Producers are'nt DJ's. Label owners are'nt necessarily DJ's. Some Skilled Psy Trance DJ's: Sid Shanti, Mark Allen, Dutch, Atum, Hugh Sharpe, Vajra, James Meadows, Aeon(Dallas, TX) Psy Trance can be mixed long and hard and sound perrfect. I dont;' want o go up and down with every track, I want an extended journey with peaks and valleys that flows and lives. - David UMP www.umprod.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bugbread Posted May 9, 2002 Share Posted May 9, 2002 Greg: Sorry, sorry, my bad...I meant beatmixed, not mixed. Sure, psy is meant to be mixed. Older stuff is not meant to be beatmixed, that's all. As for bad DJs holding the scene back: I personally have more of a problem with technically skilled DJs avoiding perfectly good tracks because of the long intros, or with them chopping out half a song in order to show off their pHaT beatmatching and crosscutting skills. Too many artists pander to this, too, by avoiding time signature changes or rhythm changes, "because it would be hard for the DJ to mix". There's too much focus on the DJ and on beatmixing, and not enough on each tune. Some DJs make the "peak" of the night 3 hours long, with one hour "valleys" scattered around. NOBODY in the audience can peak for three hours. The body doesn't work like that unless you're on speed. Peaks shouold be realistic, and there should be some time to breathe! That's why I like psy: it's not an uninterrupted beat that wears you down in 20 minutes, but it brings you up, floats you down, lets you catch your breath, and spins you back into the air again. And just a random note: if you can dance completely uninterrupted for 30 minutes without collapsing, you're either an Olypic athlete, or you don't dance hard enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khogg Posted May 9, 2002 Share Posted May 9, 2002 There is not doubt that trance is expected and, to a certain extent, meant to be mixed. In my earlier post I said: "I can understand why house music or techo is often mixed on CD's, becuase the music is made to be mixed." I should have said: "...is made exclusively to be mixed." Whereas Psytrance is also made so that each track can stand on its own. That's why I think it's fair to say Psytrance is expected to be mixed in certain situations, and it's party made with that in mind, but it's not exclusively made to be mixed like some other genres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PsiLoCyBe Posted May 10, 2002 Share Posted May 10, 2002 "Why are Goa fans so against mixes ?" *rant start* Becoz most mixes are @!#$ !! I'm well up for a good mix but OMG !! Did you hear that Yahel and IM mix in Japan ????? What a load of WANk !! UTTER @!#$ !! (like sooooooooooooooooo many other mixes ... it's embarresing listening to it !) Such awesome art getting defaced by the people who PRODUCE IT !! No boys ... stick to production rather and leave the dj'ing to the D FUCKING J's ... I love both ! Non mixed and mixed ... BUT PLEASE ... know HOW TO mix if you want to mix ... or DON'T ! *rant over* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest complex Posted May 10, 2002 Share Posted May 10, 2002 aeon is also a montreal producer (nuclear ramjet) and dj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mescalinium Posted May 10, 2002 Share Posted May 10, 2002 excellent point bugbread! I think any dj who spins an entire set at the same bpm has to be on some seriously wack drugs... if a song has a great intro, play it out! give the dancers a well deserved break, maybe even change the tone of the set... however, I have to disagree with you when you say that trance is too focused on the dj. While I think the scene's become more dj centered in the last 2 years or so than it was before, especially with all the minimal stuff coming out, I don't think there's a lot of music made exclusively with the dj in mind. Like somebody pointed out above, most other dance music tracks begin with the same bass drum/hihat loop so they mix right in... thankfully we don't really see that a lot in goa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.