drishti

I use an Akai LPK25 and LPD8 with ableton. They are cheap and well made (given the price). These are not "pointing devices", but if you are serious about making music, you'll need some midi controllers for twisting the knobs and having "hands on" control over the velocity of your notes. I can really recommend them.

This one is easy to answer for me: Pleiadians on Ozora 2010. Everything was perfect. The music, the deko, the people, the weather, enough space to dance (as opposed to Pleiadians on Ozora 2011, where it was too crowded) and my personal condition. It felt like dancing in a huuuge cathedral.

Some links I collected over the past few weeks, because I'm just starting to try to produce my own music: Andi Vax has some pretty good advice: http://www.andivaxmastering.com/en/useful -- For Ableton users, I recommend the videos by Tom Cosm and Mr. Bill and Psylocybian: http://www.youtube.com/user/cosmcosm http://www.youtube.com/user/MrBillsTunes http://www.youtube.com/user/PsiloCybianLive also for Ableton these videos by Jaytech (not Psytrance, but he shows some good tips): http://www.pyramind.com/training/2013/03/23/elite-session-with-jaytech-anjunabeats-video-recap/ -- Psytrance: The Fatbass Principle (don't take it too serious, but still some good tips for absolute beginners): http://www.subconsciousmind.ch/workshops/basics/the-fatbass-principle Psytuts Webpage (some good stuff!): http://www.psytuts.com/category/tutorials/ -- Synth Programming: 10 Tips for creative patch programming http://www.innovativesynthesis.com/10-tips-for-creative-patch-programming-part-1/ How to program a synthesizer http://tweakheadz.com/programmer/ A collection of "Synth Recipes" http://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/1fc5im/getting_that_sound_preset_surfing_vs_programming/ Soundonsound "Synth Secrets" http://www.soundonsound.com/search?url=%2Fsearch&Keyword=%22synth+secrets%22&Words=All&Summary=Yes -- Access Virus: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug04/articles/accessvirustips.htm -- general stuff: 50 pro tips for breathing life into your electronic music http://getthatprosound.com/50-pro-tips-for-breathing-life-into-your-electronic-music 10 studio tips you probably haven't tried before http://news.beatport.com/blog/2013/06/06/10-studio-tips-you-probably-havent-tried-before/ -- And last, but not least, an easy to digest video about the science of sound:

Haha, no X-Dream weren't there. It was just a DJ with DAT Tapes. ;-)

I registered here to answer this question. So: "Hello everyone!" My most amazing experience on a dancefloor has been a while ago. In 1998 I was in Vashisht (India). I went to quite a few great parties in Manali, which is close by. Those parties were very small, financed by a donation box in the middle of the dancefloor, and generally very trippy(!). I remember a certain very small party in the mountains, the sun was rising above a snow covered mountaintop exactly at the moment when the track "Panic in Paradise" by X-Dream was reaching its peak. It was one of the most beautiful experiences I ever had! No party after that was able to come even close, and I already had lost hope that I will ever be able to experience true magic on psytrance parties again, until: 2008. My first Ozora (I was on Solipse 1999, too - which also was a very nice party - , but it wasn't called "Ozora" back then). The moment when the dancefloor was opened to the public, but no music was playing, yet. The people were slowly walking onto the dancefloor. It was very quiet. Nobody shouting. Everybody in quiet anticipation of the things to come. We were all just standing there, for at least 30 minutes (or so it seemed). It was a very beautiful, peaceful atmosphere. So beautiful indeed, that I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I was really touched! Needless to say: the party didn't disappoint. And I realized, that psytrance is not dead. There are still awesome parties to be experienced. Edit: I have never been to Japan, but in 1998 there were quite a few Japanese people around on the parties in Manali. They were really crazy, but not in a bad way (not like the Israelis ;-) ). They were always respectful to the local people, but when they were on the dancefloor there was nothing holding them back! I *loved* them!