[DJ_Eezergud]

This is aimed at the new DJ who is thinking about getting into Trance

Trance is one of the most popular forms of EDM, it is as popular, if not more so, as House and Techno. In fact it was very likely that it was a Trance track that introduced you to EDM in the first place.
But what is it? and what isnt it.
first off Trance is NOT DJ Sammy, Milk Inc. etc.. this is dance pop, unfortunately, alot of times these guys you "trance cliches" time and time again and people mistake them for Trance.
Trance is also not techno, wich is is most commonly (along with all forms of edm) mistaken for, unlikes trance techno tends to be extremely minimal.

Trance is, Complex, smooth, dreamy, and epic. and at the moment, Trance is reigned by two master DJ's/Producers,
Tiesto
and Armin Van Buuren (my personal god)
Trance has a incredibly diverse audience as well, it is played in underground raves as well as Velvet rope clubs where posh models hang out and everything in between.
There are quiet a few different forms of Trance as well
Progressive
Tribal
Epic
Vocal
Acid
Euphoric
Psy and Goa and more
to make that all simple however the top 6 are more in the style of buuren and tiesto, where as Psy trance and goa tend to be on the darker harder edge of the genre.
Mixing Trance is all about setting a mood, unlike other forms of EDM Trance is about atmosphere and not so much a balls to the wall dance yer ass off kinda thing such as Happy Hardcore.
Because of the genre's complexity being knowledgable of key mixing is absolutely essential. There is alot of stuff going on in Trance, this can make it difficult to mix and key clashes will stand out and make your mix sound terrible.
Trance is a genre that should be mixed Seamlessly, It should flow together nicely and i feel people shouldnt really be able to pick out when one song comes in and one song goes out. Abrupt changes are generally not favored in Trance altho there is a difference between a abrupt change and a sudden energetic change, and that is something you will have to figure out yourself as you develop your style.
As i said this form of EDM is about atmosphere therefore being a master at song selection (being able to pick the perfect song for the right moment) is essential.
Trance is about buildup unlike other forms of EDM the breakdown *the part with no beat* is not just a place in the track where your dancers can rest there feet, it serves as a build up, a tension setter until the release *when the beat comes back in*
because of this my personal style of mixing Trance is what i refer to as, Tantric.
for example most of the time i will start a set with a slow track, around 125-130 thru the course of the mix i will build up from minimal to more complex tracks then take it back down to more minimal and build back up to more complex tracks, all the while increasing the bpm slowly, so by the end of a mix i (hopefully) have very high energy tracks going on at about 140-145 bpm. the orgasmic release if you will. That is just a example of what i do, i encourage you to find out what works best for you, and build your own style.

Lastly, if you havent already bought your equipment *mixer turntables and such* and your serious about mixing trance, i highly advise against buying vinyl turntables, unfortunately Trance just isnt released on vinyl much anymore, there used to be 6 record releases a week, and now we are down to two or so. Every Trance DJ i know relies heavily if not exclusively on Cdj's, this actually is not a bad thing there are alot of plus's to it, for instance, buying a mp3 or wav from beatport or dancerecords.com for 1.49-2.49 a track is alot cheaper then buying a record with most commonly two tracks sometimes four on it for $10
Also your CD's will never wear out no matter how much you play them wich is great because those annoying clicks and pops can destroy the atmosphere you are trying to create.

[SoLoR6]

So Cdj's are the way to go ...... thank you

[whenyournex2me]

plus, carrying vinyls around suck... unless you are bringing on small case with 45 vinyls... i cant seem to do that. and i carry four or five crates with me... i want cdjs.... it will jsut take time. i need a new mixer first.

[burrow2010]

Originally Posted by whenyournex2me

plus, carrying vinyls around suck... unless you are bringing on small case with 45 vinyls... i cant seem to do that. and i carry four or five crates with me... i want cdjs.... it will jsut take time. i need a new mixer first.

Ditto Im totin around 3 crates worth as of now

[ukeyouee]

my vinyls are all in storage, I think I have one crate (all opera and eric clapton, go figure...) because they're just too heavy to ship.

Jeff, can you go back and reformat your post just a smidge and put some spaces in to the big block of text? I cannot for the life of me read it...but the parts I've been able tog et through are awesome and I wanna read all of it.