The trajectory of Goa trance

[MikroMakro]

You need to see the wood from the trees to feel music and dissection is a type of affliction for some, it is very important to have an "OFF" switch for it (for broad objective reasons to broadly feel what has been made). Anyone involved in music production tends to, to varying degrees. Having some variation through production choices (not lack of knowledge or equipment) is good and normal. When you make your own tracks you can dissect to the nth degree and you should if that is the way you wish to work, to your definition of perfection, that is achievable with your current skill level. But unless specifically being asked, small issues won't typically make or break a good piece of music.

As far as where it (new Goa) has been going it seems mainly 2 camps of production, retro re-creation with loose Juno/303/101/Novation Bass Station type B-lines or modern psy trance bass with melodic Goa style leads on top.

Where it goes depends on what a producer gets off on, the technical stuff, recreating authentic retro sound, mixing up styles, writing great melodies, enjoyment of synthesis and creation of new or old sounds. But whatever, we seem to be stuck in 4/4 kick and bass land whatever way it is cut in order to be understood as Goa/psy. If you start not to have an underground sound or are influenced by too many sounds outside variations on those accepted as "psy-ey" or "Goa-ey"  then you are labelled as "not real psy" or its not very Goa sounding.

Conversely (and it is unfair and difficult to generalize) but some new listeners or labels hear night time/foresty stuff and it bears little lineage back to Goa. So many modern listeners have no history in place (I have visited Goa since the mid 90's and many times since. But please don't see this as a holier than thou commentary.) I did not follow Goa Trance deeply at the time but had a strong awareness of the music every time I was there, it was unavoidable with the CD sellers in Anjuna. So maybe Goa style music is a refreshing form of Psy trance for some younger ears (that is more melodic/ musically complex) and for some it reminds of the good old days. (Contrary to belief there are many from the early days who follow and love psy trance in the U.K. it is not all looking backwards.) I can hear some psy artists nod back to the 90's in their sound (often full on i.e. Electric Universe/Mad Tribe), you will hear Goa-esque sounds and techniques in their leads and some modern tracks are totally devoid of any reflection on the sonics of the 90's.

In the end it is all part of a rich sonic and cultural tapestry.

 

 

[Oopie]

Lots of social factors come at play when you try to figure out how "the scene" came to its current standards. 90s was a period without internet, or at least the social media was non-existing. You'd just do your thing, with no need for constant attention seeking or self-promotion. You'd sit in whatever psyhole you had there, compose, play at a party and the feedback would occur the natural way, via real human contact. These days you need following, likes and what not - it's all virtual though. And hey! You can also buy the likes, psyscene is under capitalistic law like it or not. 

All that's been said is affecting us all. Social media is giving us access to infinite amount of information and what kinda happened is our minds are focused on trillion things at once trying to swim through the pool of data. The consumption mode is on when it comes to psytrance, too. So many artists, so much music! As a reflection of a sort, haste & desire for recognition have unfortunately become major driving forces for many musicians. The social media driven world shows no mercy, it's just the state of things for the time being. 

Patience, vision and focus. I reckon the amount of these qualities has dropped significantly and hence understand the frustration of many. Only thing that might, just might, ease the pain is the fact new Sab Kuch Milegator album is only one track away... 

[MikroMakro]

Goa scene was also under capitalism. In the 90's to make trance you really needed money, I suspect studios were not built selling necklaces in Anjuna for 150 Rupees. A Mackie 24-8-2 was £3,500.00 - An ATARI 1040STE £400.00 (or an Amiga) A slightly lesser project 24 channel console (Soundtracs Topaz/Soundcraft Spirit 24/Studiomaster) £2,300.00 - Then you needed a few synths that could be £5,000.00 -  a sampler with memory £2,600.00 Reverbs and delays £400.00 a go. - You needed to have some cash behind you to make decent trance. I suspect the outlay for some of the "bigger" artists project studios of the time was circa £20,000.00 - Today you could potentially make a superb track for £ 2,000.00 with a pc. 1/10th of the cost.

I think a Roland JD-800 was £3,000.00

Now anyone with the inclination can make music the limit being only ideas and intention.

[MikroMakro]

A bit OT but I am pretty sure a 24 channel Mackie was £3,500.00 - I was lusting over one every other Saturday morning in the music tech shop, lol. I could not afford the Mackie so got on one of these back then.

It was actually a decent desk (only semi parametric EQ unlike the Mackie which had a bandwidth (Q) knob which was rad back then.) It was the only Studiomaster that I recall that had a very low noise floor and MIDI mutes. (Some of their earlier designs had a bit of a bad reputation for being hissy)

[MikroMakro]

I recall seeing these at music technology (expo's) exhibitions, expensive bit of kit. Apparently very good sounding synth.

Thinking a bit more about trajectory of Goa trance, I suppose its trajectory was that it turned in psy trance. But keeping with Goa trance inspired tracks (other than neo Goa) this one always blows me away. I heard it one morning at a party and it was incredible, one of the memorable moments you can have, with smiling faces all round. Love the 303 vibe bass line, ok yes I dissected it on the dance floor, guilty ! I was thinking how cool the aciddy 303 style B line was. Available on Beatport.

 

[Veracohr]

On 3/3/2020 at 10:08 PM, Psychedelic Superbeast said:

Capitalist:

"I have 30cm cock and you only have 12. I’m going to take your 12 and charge you to replace it with a plastic one that will break in a year. Oh and it might give you cancer.

There, fixed that for you. 

[RTP]

On 3/3/2020 at 1:52 PM, Diaks said:

If you wanna make a real change, go produce what you think is the proper goa trance instead. [And pray that it might have some impact.]

Please, take this sentence and put it up more visibly. On a transparent or something. Because this is a very good solution indeed - and I think for everyone!

Starting to produce music yourself will make you see the whole thing quite differently.

At least that was the case with me / us:
Remember that bold sentence from my signature some time ago that went "We got tired of the way goatrance sounds today. So we created our own." Yeah. Now tell me, what has that "NPNK" track down there in my sig [at the time of writing] in common with goa  ... man I have to laugh how stupid I was taking that all so seriously  ...
Granted, at first we DID make something in the line of "goa" ... (please have a look on our Soundcloud and you will see) ... we were set (in my head) to make a great "goa album" ... but when you produce more and more, you will see it is actually hard to make tracks "like you imagine them to be", not every melody fits, not every concept you can make sound like you want it to sound. And then you start experimenting and hey, suddenly you have some pop track made ... or dubstep ... and then? So what, why should we abandon it, just because it isn't true to that sentence that was once said...? Tolerance versus determination - what is better ... I think you have to use the right dose of both.
Anyway, I'd in no way be so bold to commit to anything anymore at this point in time ... it's a fun project afterall. Other genres and styles also hold many secrets and hey, sometimes it's the other way round and what you believe to be hard becomes easy and what you believe to be easy takes AGES to get even remotely right...
In fact these days I'd say, when something listenable comes out of all the experiments, we are happy men    

...but at least we do no harm ... because we have no impact 

[vv303]

lol, this thread is a joke. The ‘expert’ chimes in with such sage advice as  “be unique” and “lower your bpm”

[astralprojection]

16 hours ago, Diaks said:

 

The impact of this thread is shattering the fabric of spacetime. It sent gravitational waves rippling through space.

 

haha. i feel this. I think the whole world is going crazy though.

[Kitrinos]

Btw does anyone know when the term 'Goa trance' came into use? And what were people calling this style of music in the mid-90s?

And what about late-80s - early-90s at the parties of Goa? Anybody been there at that time? In what terms were ppl talking about the music in that remote past?

 

[Dolmot]

40 minutes ago, Kitrinos said:

Btw does anyone know when the term 'Goa trance' came into use? And what were people calling this style of music in the mid-90s?

I investigated the matter in this topic! (Mainly concentrating on release titles and descriptions which can be dated.)