I am making another rant about music again

This one is directed towards a specific genre i have always and will love,

Trance....

Forget the dubstep, forget the electro, forget the house, just....trance. The reason why i am ranting about this genre is because of how artists do things. I remember back when i was around middle school or so and i was introduced to electronic music. It was a guilty pleasure because during that time, not that many people actually liked instrumentals an stuff. Everything always had to had lyrics or it was considered shit. Well my mind had adapted to melodies and sounds rather than vocals because most vocals back then were always about generic topics. Sex, love, relationships, money, all that stuff. Trance had this dreamy and wonderous feel. It made me feel like i was in different worlds....i craved it.

However, when i try to look up trance around youtube, i would see stuff from like armada and other places. It is how it is designed though, that makes me feel disappointed. Most of them now would have your generic appergiated detuned saw or some random saw pluck. They never would have very unique sounds like this or this.

Other examples are like this or this.

But now these artists have turned away from there ways (except for blackhole) and now have jumped into the mainstream. I have checked out pulsates more professional works and....i just....feel horrified that he is now making these really generic songs like house and dubstep. Like what is wrong with these trance artists today? They are all like afraid to be different. They never use amazing basslines like in visionary, or bother with a unique lead. No they just use some detuned saw and that is it.

The only professional song i have ever heard that was entirely unique was this song (go to 2:50). No professional trance artist has ever even attempted to make this kind of sound.

Another good example is a very VERY early song by xkore. This one just takes my breath away because of this amazing synth you can hear at the start. It sounds like a square but really really different. (link)

Why does no artist do this anymore? Why must i have to listen to these songs from popular dubstep artists or these generic trance songs? Why will no one ever step up and bring back all this. All these amazing sounds that i practically grew up, why does no one make them anymore?

Is this like a certain genre or something i don't know about?

That is all i have left to say for this rant.

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johnfn 2012-10-12 02:32:16

If you work long and hard enough on electronic music, then eventually you will have to make a decision. Most people will give up before that point. But if you do keep working and do improve, then you'll have to make it, just like everyone before you. That decision is this: do you become popular, or do you stay unconventional?

The fact of the matter is that conventional, familiar, boring music sells. Why do you think that the Am-C-F-G chord progression dominates the charts on NG? Why are the most popular songs on NG obnoxiously repetitive and catchy, but lack a shred of emotion or meaning? Even among the 'unique' songs you linked, why are they all so similar - steady kick, long build up, swelling pads with echoey instruments in the high registers?

Familiar music sells.

Another thing to consider is that the really innovative artists aren't going to try to reproduce the styles of older trance music. They're going to push into new genres like experimental electronica and (yes) dubstep.

If you're wondering what the 2012 response to the beautiful trance music of your childhood is... well, it's not trance. I think it's a good response is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=555XMqqDYtU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=555XMqqDYtU</a> this song.

ArcaneSoul 2012-10-12 02:32:16

i will say that piece is a very unique sound tho i dont see how you could say that the songs i linked are NOT unique. Can you find a song like Soar? Can you find one like november?

To your factor about artists pushing on, so that is considered a good thing? Only way how to get well known is to be conventional?

The reason why i love those songs btw i listed above is because they are full but at the same time unique. Its not by the kick, builds, pads, ITS THE SYNTH SOUNDS I MEAN! No one ever bothers to really put alot of effort into a lead. They just make something basic and call it done.

There was a night a spent 30 minutes alone just experimenting and trying to find the right synth i wanted. Anyone can replicate a detuned saw in like 60 seconds. But to try and make some you can call your own? That is a difficult task.

johnfn 2012-10-12 02:35:40

Also I finally see why you care about lead sounds!

ArcaneSoul 2012-10-12 03:41:06

I still don't get your point. I feel like your arguing against me and saying i have poor tastes. So thousands have heard these more than dubstep songs? These carefully crafted songs?

S3C 2012-10-12 04:23:01

1. " It was a guilty pleasure because during that time, not that many people actually liked instrumentals an stuff. Everything always had to had lyrics or it was considered shit." -lol ur sooo edgy XD

2. People change, and their writing style as well, and sometimes their music happens to lean toward a more popular style.

3. Some of the artists you listed are signed to labels, which means they have a specific market that their music caters to, meaning they are more or less obligated to produce a certain style of music...the same way you think they should be compelled to make something that isn't along the lines of "really generic songs like house and dubstep". It really has nothing to do with "being afraid to be different" from the norm or not "stepping up". And from my experience, it's usually the seasoned EDM artists moreso that are biggest purists over any other style, and say something needs to be a certain way or it's not "2step Space Trance" or whatever absurd overly specific genre they try to categorize music as.

4. No one (meaning popular artists) makes "this" music anymore because it's no longer 2008. And no one made "that" music back in 2008 because it was no longer 2004. The reason why you have a strong connection to it is nostalgia: and you can never replicate a nostalgic time of your life.

5. You really don't know how much effort an artist puts into their synths and sound design. Nor does the amount of effort really matter, if a piece of work is good then it is good, if it sucks it sucks. If they feel a conventional sound fits their song, then use it. They shouldn't be forced to be experimental for the sake of being experimental.

6. Citing the I-vi-IV-V progression or similar as generic, is a very common, yet horribly over-simplified way to criticize music. There's infinite ways to play a I-vi-IV-V progression. Besides all chord progressions in every song ever created are ii-V-I (meaning predominate-dominant-tonic), this is easy to prove if the harmonic structures are analyzed in the same vein of over-simplification.

7. The irony here is those who criticize certain styles of EDM (trance specifically) fail to realize that the same music they produce is devoid of time signatures outside of 4/4, is always between 125-150 BPM, contains very little tonal center or key changes, for example. That sounds pretty musically generic to me.

ArcaneSoul 2012-10-12 04:23:01

also i cant talk to you without grinning cheesly at your profile pic.

S3C 2012-10-12 04:26:32

7. (continued) But does it matter? Not really! Trance music may just not call for these musical elements. It can become characteristic in different ways.

8. Artist trying new styles is ALWAYS a good thing. That includes popular, generic styles; they should explore it and try to instill their personal creativity to make a seemingly bland genre, not generic.

ArcaneSoul 2012-10-12 04:26:32

i know, i get that i shouldn't be complaning artists for changing there methods.

Its just hard though to find that feel again i had when i first found this music. And yes times do change. That was 2008, 2012 is all about the dubstep and heavy stuff.

So i geuss it means im asking for something that nobody really likes then? lol and also to your first statement well...i was kind of shy about my music. Everyones music would always be like some pop song or something.

This was a good discussion.