House/Trance people come in. If you exist.

SocialNumb

Damn Christians!
Aug 15, 2006
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Boyton, WPB, FL
I've been asked to do a House/Trance song for a vocal line. In the vain of Tiesto, tho apparently he is a DJ. I used to do breaks a long time ago, never gone into the House/Trance area. So I'm pretty much clueless. :erk:

At 1st I said "NO!":headbang: but a good friend, some convincing playing on my mixing skills or lack of, did the trick.

So now I'm all for it. So besides the kik/comp/bass trick. What else should I be looking for, as far as arrangement and tips n tricks.

I guess I'll use ultrabeat in logic for the kiks and hats, maybe snr too. Maybe some AD in there as well.

This is going to be tuff. What about the epic sounding pads I just heard in a Tiesto mix? Layering?

Please enlighten me. :worship: :lol:

Edit: Sounds like a shit ton of automation in the reverbs as well. Not good at that. How?

In logic pro. Do have a lot of keyboards. Nordlead 3 is one.

Also tempos?
 
Get Nexus 2.. Its the best VST for trance out there.
It has the most popular trance/dance/techno/house-sounds sampled in it.
If you get that one, you wont need anything else.

Another VST-synth that is pretty good for that music is Vanguard, but as i said above, Nexus makes all other trance/dance-vst's look like shit.

Ive done a little demo of the nexus:

http://media.putfile.com/hardcorevibes

(Download: http://rapidshare.com/files/187395199/hardcorevibes.mp3.html)

Compare with:



(I didnt make it to sound exactly like the original.)



Edit:
http://rapidshare.com/files/187401726/nexusdemo.mp3.html

Better demo, i used the same bellsound in that one though.
 
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Thanks guys.

Notuern, Good examples you got. Nexus 2 sounds perfect. Gonna have to bust out the wallet tho. :cry:
Maybe my friend will put in at-least half. :Smug: I'm a little put off by the Syncrosoft Dongle. :erk: Annoying things. I was happy when logic did away with their dongle.

Thats one crazy vid. :lol:

Got any info on reverb automation? Do you use Logic?

Edit: I do have Omnisphere. Maybe I can get along with that. It does sound amazing.


 
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Thats one crazy vid. :lol:

Got any info on reverb automation? Do you use Logic?

The people that was/is into happyhardcore was/is a bit special. ;)

I dont really get what you are talking about with that?
The only automation i can think of that is common in this kind of music is trancegates(Noisegate that opens and closes on chosen beats.).

I do my self use Fruity Loops when i do that kind of stuff.. Its the perfect software for that kind of music.

And that Nexus 2 might be worth paying for even if you only will use it for trance one time, because some of the sounds in that one can be used for various types of music.

So just chose the sound for your bassline, make a simple bassline with no more then 5 notes, and put a leadline on top of that, and then ad some trancegated pad/choir on top of that, and you are done! :lol:
 
I was watching this vid with Steve Angello on arrangement. At some point he starts talking about how he automates a reverb plug but he doesn't say how. Looks like he draws it in on Hyper Edit. The sound is the reverb opening up on the synth till it's fully open, then everything stops for a bit and bam kicks back in. Sounds pretty cool.



So just chose the sound for your bassline, make a simple bassline with no more then 5 notes, and put a leadline on top of that, and then ad some trancegated pad/choir on top of that, and you are done!
:danceboy:
 
Why don't you do what Tiesto and most other DJs do... steal everything and change tempos and mess around with effects so you can call it your own. Bahahah had do it, sorry. I don't even know if Tiesto steals his music, he could make his own shit for all i know.
 
Why don't you do what Tiesto and most other DJs do... steal everything and change tempos and mess around with effects so you can call it your own. Bahahah had do it, sorry. I don't even know if Tiesto steals his music, he could make his own shit for all i know.

A DJ "steals" music.. DJ = Disc Jockey, its what they do, mixes on other peoples songs.
Dance/Trance musicians is not the same thing as DJ's. ;P
 
You might be able to get some good trance-sounds out of that one, it sounds more like its designed for electro though.
 
The new interface in Reason 4 sucked to no end compared to the previous interface in Reason 1.x - 3.x :erk: I don't know why the hell they had to destroy everything that was good in it. The new interface has no logic, workflow or anything left. So if you want to check out Reason again, I heartily recommend version 3.x instead of 4.x.
 
The new interface in Reason 4 sucked to no end compared to the previous interface in Reason 1.x - 3.x :erk: I don't know why the hell they had to destroy everything that was good in it. The new interface has no logic, workflow or anything left. So if you want to check out Reason again, I heartily recommend version 3.x instead of 4.x.

I know what you're talking about. Friend of mine uses it. I think I'll stay away from reason all together.
 
Yep. In the end I think I "mastered" it on Nuendo, but just the "SSL Comp -> GClip -> L2" combo to get the loudness. I also did this one with some guitars, but listening now I would totally redo all the tones :erk:

I like Reason 4 because it has the Arpegiattor, the Thor synth and some other new features, but they should revamp all that MIDI editing grid (I always write the MIDI on Guitar Pro instead of Reason). Anyway, I´m pretty used to their devices, it gets the job done and has plenty of options for you create your own tones mixing the devices they give.

For a game as well?
 
If you use reason here is a tutorial, and it has the basic layout of whats involved.
http://evanderheide.demon.nl/tutorials/Progressive+Trance+arrangement+tutorial+made+in+Reason+3.html

Its all about tension and release with mind numbing arpeggios in C Maj. Layer your kicks, Automate 32nd note snare rolls.

Rebirth is available as a free download at the propellerheads site http://www.rebirthmuseum.com/ (Mac OS 9, X has some functionality issues).

Just build to a climax drop shit out and build it up again with something different on top or not.

Here are some free VSTi synths that are more for industrial but might have some use: http://www.novakill.com/killerz.htm

D&B is more my thing with a production forum almost as good as this one being dogsonacid.com.

Good Luck and Have Fun with it.
 
UT 3 is the shit. It'd be pretty sweet if you got picked up to do more of this shit for games by the developers in the future. Good luck, man