Jikkenteki
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Posts posted by Jikkenteki
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Nice stuff here with "Stranded". Probably not something a lot of the more "goa" or "full on" only types would like, but I dig this a lot. Its kind of long, but I like long tracks myself and it sucks me in, so that is no problem here. Good work I say since I can't really think of anything I would recommend changing.
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Updated version here with the kick changed and the sweep fixed plus a few other minor adjustments probably no one will notice. lol
http://www.par-2.com/choons/jikkenteki_-_d...heweaknk128.mp3
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Sorry, I missed you comment here. Yeah, you can order it off the website at http://www.par-2.com/.
Best,
Jikkenteki
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Well that same closing "almost" shut down Twisted Records too, if you read some of Simon P's interviews from after that went down. The really isn't very much money to be made, even by the "majors" these days. Many (most?) distribution companies only pay 4 times a year and in general they are notorious for being slow or behind on their payments. Many places also often won't pay unless the sales are over a certain amount and they "carry over" the current amount due until the sales pass that point.
Most labels now a days are literally using the sales of their last release to fund the next one so of all the things that can go wrong with a label, the only thing that I can think of that will kill a label faster than release bad music (and even that is debatable now-a-days) is their distributor going under. Even in Japan today, which is probably the healthiest sales market for psy-trance (hence why Japan gets most release a month before everyone else) the average sales of a comp on a decent label is about 1000 copies and for an artist album no more than 1500, with very few exceptions (don't forget these copies are often liscensed to Japanese labels too, so the home label isn't getting all the money either). There really isn't all that much money to be made in trance these days and most people doing it are doing it out of a desire to release the music more than make $$$ off of it.
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Thanks, that's pretty helpful as I don't want just bass sounds but good 'ripping' leads aswell.
You mentioned the some people prefer the sound of the Nord Lead 2 to 3, what is the difference in the sound?
Is this sound of the Nord Lead 2 the same as on the Lead 2X?
Also I notice on pictures of both Lead 2 and 2x there are less front panel controls than the Lead 3, does this mean they are less programmable? and the contols are less accessible and less easy to tweak in real time.
Like the Virus Classic Being basically a slightly souped up Virus B, The Nord Lead 2X is a slightly souped up version of the original Nord Lead 2. As for the difference between the Lead 2 and 3 soundwise, I think they both sound great, just somehow a bit different. The Nord Lead 1 and 2 basically have more or less the same sound engine as it were, while Nord changed it a hair with the Lead 3. Personally I think you'd be happy with either one so its probably more a matter of taste and budget than anything else.
As for the knobs, the Lead 1 and 2 basically have everything right there and there are no real submenu's to go digging through... Just pick a knob and tweak it. I think the Lead 3 is more or less the same, but I haven't touched one in a couple years and honestly don't really remember. Your best bet is simply to go to a music shop with the synths you are looking for and play around with them. I love both my Nord and my Virus and would never get rid of either one, but if I was FORCED to choose only one, I'd probably go with the Nord. That said I suspect that in an in-store test run, the virus would probably leave a stronger impression first (a lot of which is due to the built in effects). Either one is capable of ripping leads and just about any other sound you want so go spend some time with them and decide for yourself.
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I haven't posted any tracks online in an age, but for some reason I felt like doing it tonight, so here you are. This is a track that I am working on for my double album that will hopefully see the light of day sometime early next year.
There are a few things I am thinking about tweaking or changing, but I'll keep those to myself as not to bias any comments I might get. One quick word about the ending should be made though. The plan is for this track to drop straight into the next so here the ending probably seems a but aburpt. Anyways, enjoy and I look forward to any and all comments....
http://www.par-2.com/choons/jikkenteki-daysoftheweak128.mp3
Best,
Jikkenteki
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Typing here as I listen the first time through so the comments will probably be rather messy and random.
Like the into noises. Some of them sound farmilar to me from somewhere, but the vibe is nice. Kick comes in strong (maybe a hair too strong?). Bass is simple, but effective provided some variation comes in later. I like the snares and such, but maybe they are a hair high in the mix and could use some variations or fills or filters or something to make them keep shifting? The simply synth melody is again good, but I think some more variation, layers, doubling or morphing effects could be useful.
The dirty line and bass change up at about 4:00 I dig. More groove here, although a few of the change ups took me by surprise (although I do like that sort of thing). The dirty lead reminds of something again, but I like it. The other simple melody comes back around at 5-ish. If I were making this track, I'd completely throw it out for the second time around and make something new, if only a new preset or synth playing the same part. The variations are nice though.
All and all this is a decent attempt here. I think some more development on the ideas begun in the track would help it a lot and a lot of the drum sounds in particular seem a bit "preset"-ish, but there is some good stuff in here as well.
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Every synth has its strengths and weakness. A lot of those punchy basslines you refer to are made simply with Cubase's VB-1. As for hardware though, between the Nord and the Virus I would probably go for the Nord considering what you want (especially in the bass department). Many people prefer the Nord Lead 2 to the Lead 3 soundwise. I personally own a Lead one and have plenty happy with it. Its a fairly straight forward synth and doesn't have any effects built it, but I can't imagine ever selling it. It does take awhile before you really start to realize all you can do with it but I highly recommend it. A friend of mine once summerized the Nord Lead perfectly for me by saying that "it doesn't always give you the sound you are looking for, but it always gives you the sound you need".
The Virus is, I guess, a bit more "all purpose" than the Nord and has build in effects and all (although I tend to not use a lot of them). It's not as good for psy-type basses as the Nord (that's not to say you can't get them, but I find it much easier to get them from my Nord), but is great for crazy ripping lead type stuff, pads and just about anything else. I own a Virus B also and find the contrast of the Virus' and the Nord's audio characteristics to off set eachother nicely. The Virus is nice and ripping, but tends to be a bit "dark" while the Nord is a much "brighter" sounding synth over all. The A is the original Virus while the B was a serious upgrade. The Classic is basically a reissue of the B with more memory and some other small tweaks. The C was an additional upgrade and I believe there are some nice additional filters there, but I don't have one so I can really say.
The MS2000 is a decent synth for the money. Its pretty simpy and straight forward and not as flexible as the previous two synths, but can give you some nice sounds if you work with it. If you run across one cheap it might not be a bad buy. As a first synth I'd probably go with one of the earlier models of the two above than this though.
As for Reaktor I use it a lot and love it, but I'd say it is definately a soft-synth you need to buy because a manual is a must (not to mention access to the free user libraries online which can supply you with free new synths, effects, samplers, etc for years). In all honesty I haven't even scratched the surface of using this and I've owned it for about 2 years now. I do use it for something in just about every track I have made since I got it though, if only for back ground stuff.
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Also the driving force behind the Matsuri Productions label and involved in a large number of the projects released there.
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Actually, since this is an import directly from Japan that price isn't much of a surprise. Brand new in record shops here in Japan it goes for about 2500 yen, which is close to $25 USD. CD prices in Japan are a rip off in general, so while I'll think the price is crazy, it does reflect the average market price of a CD here.
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Yes this is Suzuki Tsuyoshi. This is his own label and there is actually a second comp released just after this mix CD that features only Japanese artists that is OK. Tsuyoshi's track on it didn't do much for me (Although a lot of my friends seem to like it), but some of the other tracks are pretty good. I haven't heard this comp yet as I must admit the title "God Is Back" turned me off a bit.
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I don't know if its still there now, but IM was giving Beauty And The Beat away on their website at full 320k back around the beginning of the year. My impression was (and still is from listening to itagain ) that is was simply ok, but sub-standard for IM compositionally at best and figured that IM was giving it away for that reason. To be honest, I am surprised it is on here unless they did some serious tweaking to it since they uploaded to their site.
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Not a CD, but I think Twisted Records' reissue of Hallucinogen - "Twisted" on vinyl should be redone. Granted Twisted had a lot of problems with the quality of their wax over all a few years ago (possibly more the printing plant's fault than Twisted's ?), but Twisted Record's vinyl version of "Twisted" is pretty flat sounding to my ears (both copies I own). Anyone know is the original Dragonfly version sounds any better?
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We are kind of taking a bit of an old Matsuri or Blue Room approach by not sticking to any particular sub-genre. Basically my partner in crime and I got bored of compilations that basically sound exactly the same from front to back...etc... Basically our only criteria is "do we like it?" and "does it fit the general concept for the release?". Neptune's Garden is loosely based around a "the many shapes of water" theme. We are still hammering out the general theme we want for the next comp right now, but Goa is no problem....
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It comes out on Sept 7th in Japan. The head of Elf Music dj'ed at my own CD release party a couple of weeks back and he gave me a promo copy then, which this review is based off of. Given the usual situation in Japan I suspect it will have worldwide distribution about a month after it's out in Japan, but I'm not sure off hand.
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TRI-Force - Entrance to Reality
Elf Music 2005 DDCE-4009
01 - Layerd Oscillation
02 - Aquasphere
03 - Trance Personal Waves
04 - Spectral Breeze
05 - Interstellar Harmonics
06 - Dream Circulation
07 - Longing / Love -Moondance Remix-
08 - Oncoming Oriental Transformers
Elf Music is back with another solid CD, this time from TRI-Force, who was previously featured on their "After 10 Years of Japanese Trance" compilation. This time around the emphasis is a little less on the "psy" and more on the "trance" with this airy, somewhat progressive work. This album reminds me of a mixture of the better parts of the old school progressive trance vibe of about 5 years ago (not to be confused with the new subgenre of "progressive" which is utterly different) with some strong psy touches, especially in the bass, kicks and track construction.
Layerd Oscillation starts us off with some heavy melodic work that sets the tone for the album. Lots of melody and nothing to too distorted or filtered and pitch shifted to death. Aquasphere is next and gives us some nice ethnic intro action before jumping back into the fray and gating the hell out of those same bits later on.
Trance Personal Waves gets things shaking a little more mixing some traditional clean and glittery progressive trance moods and melodies with some more modern crazy psy-influenced flybys and effects. Nice stuff. Spectral Breeze is next and is a hair dark with its big bass sonic blobs in the beginning. This track could go full-on, but TRI-Force again chooses clean glittering synth sounds rather than zippy distorted ones and off we go soaring again.
Interstellar Harmonics you might know as the great start off track to Elf Music's "After 10 Years of Japanese Trance" compilation. As was the case then, it is a great track, 'nuff said. Dream Circulation starts off a hair hard and dirty before going into full attack mode on the big airy progressive trance sounds. Full on psy fans might find this cheesy, but I love it.
Longing / Love -Moondance Remix has a lot of full on psy sounds going on between the bass and kick and the crazy flyby effects, but this ain't your usual full on by any means. We even get treated to some major piano action in the second half of the track. Finally we have Oncoming Oriental Transformers closing out the album. Again we have this sort of "modern full on" background used for more clean progressive sounding trance sound going on. Things get built up to full boil at the end with lots of fairly dense melodic action.
I'm sure lots of full on and psy purists will argue that this release maybe shouldn't be here and is boring, too cheesy, and generally not "killah" enough, but I say the hell with that. I say ignore your subgenre addictions and give this a shot because this is just good trance purely in "trance" terms. As a psy-trance fan, I might not listen to this all the time, but its definitely high on the list when I want something a little less crazy but still keeps the feet moving. Especially recommended for those who like uplifting vibes and melody. Not recommended for those who only listen to dark distorted stuff.
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PAR-2 Productions announces the release of:
A Walk Through Neptune's Garden 2005 (PAR001)
1. Keiretsu Versus Soliptic - Ripples (Imprint Of Creation Mix)
2. Jikkenteki - Slippery Slopes
3. Zekazy - Unicorn
4. Phi - In The…
5. Zekazy - Broadcast
6. Jikkenteki - Modori Odori
7. PAR-2 - It Is (What Isn’t)
8. Anjin - Nesta's Soft Escape
Now available for $10 with free shipping worldwide. For more information, audio samples and ordering please visit
contact@par-2.com
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The "A Walk Through Neptune's Garden" comp Solpitic mentioned above is available here.
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I seem to recall reading awhile ago (about a year ago I think) from a fairly reliable source (I think an interview with Simon himself) that the Metal Sharon album was basically finished back quite awhile ago when they were waiting for the mastering or something like that. Fairly soon after that is when Twisted's distributor tanked and everything got massively delayed, so I have always assumed Twisted was waiting to get fully back on its feet financially after losing all that money when EFA went bust before releasing it. When looked at from a business perspective, it makes more sense to release Shpongle and UnS2 first as they are basically guarenteed sellers which would give you something of a financial safety net again before releasing a brand new collaboration that may or may not be well received.
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Maybe not the instant fix advice you are looking for, but the only real way to get better at making finished tracks is to always finish the tracks you are working on. Yeah the first few might be uninspired, but the more you make, the better they get. The best and most effective way to get better at something is simply to to do.
My personal approach is that I simply do not start another track until I am finished working on the current one. Granted this doesn't always happen, but I am never working on more than two tracks at the same time. One thing I found that helps is when writing, don't simply loop in 4 or 8 bars and work only on that, but rather loop the entire section you are working on together with the section before it and some empty space after. This enables you to see the flow more effectively and start imagining what should come next. Obviously when you are working on a particular percussion loop, etc, you should zone in on the 4 or 8 bar loop, but I think most of your writing should be done with a sort of wide view from above rather than a microscope looking at one tiny section after another.
The Best Infected Mushroom Album ?
in General Psytrance
Posted
I want to say the Classical Mushroom is my favorite IM album, but upon serious reflection I have to say the B.P.Empire is my fav. My initial impression of both The Gathering and Classical Mushroom were stronger than B.P.Empire, but the Gathering worn off on me quickly. I still like Classical a lot, but B.P.Empire just kept growing and growing on me to the point where I can say that it is one of the few album were I know every note and it still doesn't bore me.
Basically for me it is the album that has stood the test of time the best for me. Classical is perhaps more inovative or ground breaking, but B.P.Empire is just put together a bit better IMO. The Gathering has lots of great energy, but I find it bores me often. Converting Vegetarians never really did it for me. There are a couple tracks I dig, but I don't think it has been outside of the CD case for 2 years now. IM The Supervisor I want to dislike due to a few tracks that make me go ????, but the rest of the album, especially the last half, I found I actually really enjoy a lot, maybe more so than about half of the Gathering... (shock gasp... even to myself). In all honesty I don't really mind IM exploring all these different new areas. I may not like all of them, but I'd rather have them try new things than release the same record over and over and over and over and over and never evolve.
For me the list would have to go
1 B.P.Empire
2 Classical Mushroom
3 The Gathering
4 IM The Supervisor
5 Converting Vegetarians