johnb820

Thank you for this post Richpa. However, I think it's maybe not fair to make comparisons for so many reasons. Let me list those first and then give my interpretation of these masterings. So the first thing is that, as I have learned, the mix is 90% of the final sound. Goa Overdose 2 was released in 2011 and who knows how old the track is. The point being that Celestial Intelligence has probably changed their production a lot over the years. This could account for an overall change in sound. Second, each one of these tracks were asked to fit the overall sound of the albums they appeared on, a product of many artists and many styles. Third, there is of course what the label wants of the music they release. So then I think the best comparison here would be to look at these tracks from the perspective of how each masterer generally approached Celestial Intelligence's sound. Which final product fits the artists' intentions the most? My answer in general would have to be Tim Shuldt with Deimos not far behind. I cut Trogdor the Burninator some slack because he has had to master some pretty shitty mixes on tracks from "artists" who practically don't know what they are doing, who may or may not post on these forums, and may or may not be posting in this very thread at this very moment.

I'm sorry you feel the album is too loud and/or compressed. I personally do not hear it. I've realized over time that Tim Shuldt's mastering has been remarkably consistent over the years. Artist styles have come and gone, but the overall volume levels of all suntrip releases has remained the same even when other albums are getting louder and louder *cough* Goa Classics Remixed *cough*. Maybe try comparing older releases with this album. As for the comparisons to those other artists I think it's pretty fair, but I feel Celestial Intelligence has a different approach to pacing and song structure. This album is relentless but not over the top and unpredictable.

Buena Vista Social Club https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaerapRPS64

Chi-A.D. - Exit Eternity

You're famous now Penzoline. There's no turning back. Just don't let the fame go to your head!

Jumping the gun with the Celestial Intelligence release makes me a happy person today. Valentine's Day came early this year.

Most major file formats have analysis tools available for debugging purposes. Not sure if there is any reasonable way to manipulate a data encoding. You would have to have knowledge of the format specifications. Presumably, if there was something wrong with an encoded file that was not caused by something externally such as hard drive corruption then it would have to be a bug in the encoder which is entirely possible. However, they are not complicated pieces of software.

A manifestation of a universal existence.

Electric Universe released some pretty mind numbingly bad tracks... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLulG9z9Eb4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q29j5F_r4JA This one at least has some interesting percussion but how do you get that bassline so wrong? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yBuv3FwTvM

Yes - Heart of the Sunrise

Shakey Meganeura? Am I getting warmer?

I've been listening to Mighty Sun a lot since this album dropped. I think I am addicted to that percussion! In general I felt very inspired listening to these tracks because there are so many different, unique ideas from these artists. Celestial Transvibration really lives up to its promise to show us a different side of goa trance. Favorite tracks on here include Ritual Algorhythm, Mission Atlantis, one of Arronax's best Wings Of Laniakea and Mighty Sun. Oh and Jiggle of the Meganeura.

Awesome yes! Thanks!

Thanks for the response! I guess I was not really clear in my original post. I suppose I am looking for esoteric philosophical ideas about music in general not just psytrance, what it means, how we understand it, why we enjoy it, and so on. I could start from the wikipedia page for Philosophy of Music but it seems a bit sparse and I am not really sure where to look from there.

I was not sure where to put this in the forums since we don't really have a generic music subforum, so mods feel free to move to where you feel it may be appropriate. I am looking for books or discussions on the philosophy of music, aesthetics, or theories. I was listening to a podcast yesterday and was struck with a desire to understand more about these sorts of topics so I am wondering if anyone has any good recommendations. If not I'll just have to do my own research.

That last track!

That's true. I was mostly aware of TIP still being a big name label for Goa/Psy artists.

Really? I mean we've had some releases from older artists of their previously unreleased songs, but has anyone really released a remix album of old tracks like this?

Yea I would have to agree with everyone else about the volume of the final master. Naturally, I went straight to the LSD remix, listening to it through headphones for the first time. I got to about the final third of the song when it began to sound really harsh and brittle. I turned the volume down and it didn't help. I turned it down even more and it still didn't help. Oh well. I'll still give it some more listens. I'm interested in the rest of the tracks because it's AP, duh. I was just unexpectedly put off by the harshness. It's kind of remarkable that such an album was even made to be honest though. These original tracks date almost 20 years and yet someone thought it would be commercially viable to do it.

I like to pay attention to what this guy is doing... Azure Bell https://soundcloud.com/azurebellmusic#utm_campaign=bulk&utm_content=track_notification&utm_medium=notification&utm_source=soundcloud&utm_term=20141213

Depeche Mode - Delta Machine Don't ask me why I've been listening to lots of Depeche Mode lately.

Depeche Mode - Violator

Well, the best non-remix AP ambient track is easily Electronic. The bassline on that track... and those tom fills... mmmm. I also really enjoy Still on Mars. Honestly though their ambient stuff is not very compelling. It's just their goa tracks at a slower BPM, a broken beat, and half the musical ideas cut out of the original. And the less we talk about Ambience the better.