A Year in Review, the Best Vocal Trance of 2006
2007 has officially begun and it is already turning out to be a great year with several new releases coming out the first few weeks of 2007. As 2006 has now closed it is a great time to reflect on some of the top vocal trance tracks of the past year. Although there were numerous notable tracks released in 2006 we will keep our list to what we feel were the top 5 of the year.
Coming in at number 5, we chose "Robert Nickson ft. Elsa Hill - Close Your Eyes (Original Vocal Mix)", this track is a beautiful production from Robert Nickson and the vocals from Elsa Hill are wonderful as well. The track is a great trancer that does not let down. The only reason we did not rank it higher was because we felt the FX Robert placed on Elsa's vocals seemed to detract slightly from the overall quality of the vocal. None-the-less the track is hot and deserves a place in our top 5.
At number 4 we picked "Judge Jules & Katie Marne - Ordinary Day (Karl G Remix)". The original of this track is great, but the Karl G mix slams, and this track really powers its way through any mix, whether melodic or progressive, and it is a great peak hour track. Kudos to Judge Jules on this one, he never ceases to amaze!
For our number 3 pick, we decided on 'George Acosta ft. Truth - Mellodrama (Gareth Emery Remix)". This tune has quality written all over it. The synths and pads are so full and fat, it makes us wonder how they fit all that sound in there with a vocal on top. The vocals from Truth are meaningful and sultry at the same time, which is a nice break from the sometimes over-the-top "breathless" vocals that have become the norm of vocal trance. The track is great and we feel it is destined to be a classic.
At number 2 we have "Interstate - Remember Me (Terry Bones Remix)". This tune is absolutely amazing, and it is everything you could want from a vocal trance track. The synth pads and lead are huge and recall the anthems of classic trance, but with a modern 2006 sleekness. The vocals carry the tune the rest of the way, powerful when need-be and whispered euphorically at just the right moments. We have played this record out at almost every gig since it was released and it tears the roof off every time!
Finally at number 1 is "Above & Beyond - Can't Sleep". This tune is the anthem of 2006, and for good reason. The side-chained pads and bassline roll through the track like a freight train, and the vocals from Ashley Tomberline rest beautifully on top of the well crafted synths. The production quality of the track is top-notch, and we would expect nothing less from the Above & Beyond boys. This song is already on almost every vocal trance compilation disc you can think of that was released this year, and we suspect the tune will be one of the top vocal trance tracks of all time.
To compliment our top tracks of 2006 we have mixed a "Best of Vocal Euphoria 2006" mix which will be released on January 15th. Be sure to check that out to hear the rest of our favorites from 2006!
Cheers,
Elucidate
M-Audio Torque Review
So as we have mentioned a couple times before, we now have the M-Audio Torque software in our studio and have used it on several mixes now. So, I thought I would write a review on it since it is fresh on the market recently released last month.
For anyone that has used the Rane Serato software, the M-Audio Torque will be a breeze to pick up. It functions almost exactly like Serato. In fact, the skin even looks like the Serato skin. Don’t worry though, M-Audio packed it full of preset skins to change the look of the program, you can even color match it to your lap top:)If you are unfamiliar with Serato or other programs like it, let me briefly explain the idea behind this new technology. For some time now DJs have been crossing over from traditional vinyl records on turntables to the new CDs played on CD turntables. This has many advantages, namely the fact that a DJ can play any MP3 they own on the CD turntable and mix it into their mix. There has always been a faction of DJs who have rejected this new style of mixing for various reasons. In all honesty, most of the DJs who reject the CD turntables, do so simply because they are too used to the vinyl mixing to even try CDs and thus, they make up reasons why CD mixing is inferior, when in fact they have never even tried it. There is however, some truth in their complaints. For most DJs it is easier to mix with actual vinyl. There is a record spinning there that can be touched and moved in order to match the beats and phrases, as opposed to a little wheel you have to move on the CD turntables and a cue button to phrase and beat match. The programs such as Serato and Torque bridge this gap. They allow you to spin any MP3 file stored on your lap top via an actual vinyl record. So DJs can now take their entire MP3 library with them to a gig and mix it on a vinyl record with all of their real vinyl records. Sound too good to be true? Maybe… but that’s how it works :)
As many of you are aware, or at least those who have seen pictures of the studio, Elucidate sets are mixed on 3 turntables with all vinyl. That includes the use of Serato for many of the tracks. We would sometimes run into problems when using Serato though. Even with a very fast processor in a lap top running only the Serato program, we would get some major lag. When recording a mix for the radio even 1 lag stutter would ruin the whole mix. So we quickly ditched Serato, or at least used it very little. Then we heard about the new M-Audio program. From what we had read, it was said to use far less processor then any of its contemporaries and supported VST effects to boot! Furthermore, the week it was release we reserved a copy of the program at Guitar Center.
The night I picked up the program was crazy. I was in SF meeting with the other half of Elucidate and we were at a Guitar Center looking at synths. I had planned to purchase the M-Audio product that night and test it out at a gig I had later that night in another city. After perusing the synths at Guitar Center I went to purchase the M-Audio. Sold out. Not good news considering I had a gig in 3 hours in another city. With some quick thinking I had the sales associate at the SF Guitar Center call their store in Sacramento (the city where my gig was) and reserve their last copy of the program. I smashed down to the Sacramento Guitar Center in about an hour (normally travel time from SF to Sacramento is about 2 hours by car). I picked up my new M-Audio Torque and busted it open in the car. By the time I was at the gig setting up I had the program up and running. Being familiar with Serato I had the program down within minutes, and as people started pouring into the club I was rocking it on 2 turntables with all MP3s from my lap top. I switched to regular vinyl with ease and back to the lap top with not hiccups. I played for 5 hours that night without a single lag issue. This was my new best friend. Where Serato failed me, the M-Audio was a workhorse, running smoothly in a hot club environment for 5 hours straight.
For the next week or so I played with it and really learned the ins and outs of the program. One of the best features of the Torque is its support for VST and midi controllers. Elucidate is all about live production in cooperation with mixing records, and this program fits that bill perfectly. With the VST effects dropped into the program, when my partner is not creating synth leads or pads live from his lap top midi set up, he can mess with another midi controller connected to my lap top which controls a VST with effects to add flange, reverb, tape echo, phasing etc. to the records I am mixing live. In addition to this, since I am spinning MP3s on vinyl, I can mix all of the Elucidate remixes in on vinyl. For us, this program is perfect and performs amazingly. I recommend it to anyone looking at purchasing Serato, or Final Scratch… you will be pleasantly surprised with M-Audio’s program ;)
Hope this review helps everyone!
Cheers,
Elucidate
Deep in Vocal Euphoria 05
Well all this week DiVE 05 has been on the air streaming through various radio stations. The show that most of you caught was the Digitally Imported broadcast. As we do more and more shows, it always seems that the most current is the best yet! Hopefully everyone else felt the same way. Our guest this month was Suzy Solar, and she threw down an amazing set. For anyone who missed the show it will be available shortly for download on our website. The way we set up the downloads for the radio shows, is we have two files. One file being our set alone, the second file being the full show with both our set and our guest DJ's set. The reason we do this is because we receive many emails asking for our set alone. In addition, it allows listeners to have the mix on a CD if they wish, as the full 2 hour set would not fit on a CD. At any rate, we hope that everyone enjoyed this month's show!Cheers,Elucidate
Website is Down
As most of you are now aware our website was shut down this past weekend for reasons which still are a bit unclear. We have been receiving a large amount of messages via MySpace.com and other forums on which we are registered about the site being down. Thanks to all for the messages, and of course the site will be back up soon ;)
To make things easier, we decided to answer the most common questions from the emails, here in our blog.
The main question we have been receiving is what happened? Basically the reason the site was shut down resulted from certain transfers that were supposed to be made when we moved our site to a new server a couple months ago. Apparently the site was transferred but the domain was not. This lead to issues in the ownership of our domain name. Once we no longer owned our elucidatemusic.com domain name, some enterprising company immediately snatched it up and was attempting to sell our name back to us for a considerable amount of money. We contemplated several methods of handling the situation, and the solution finally came from our webmaster who really handled the whole situation for us very well. He spoke with the previous hosting company and explained the situation. After hours of discussion with the hosting company he was able to get our elucidatemusic.com domain name back.
Another question we have received a large amount of, is when will the site be back up? According to the hosting company it should be up within 1 or 2 business days. So that should be tomorrow (Tuesday).
Additionally many people have been asking us if we had stopped making music. No, we have not stopped making music under the name Elucidate, we will continue providing mixes, shows, songs, remixes, and other fun stuff for all of you until we either die or become so senile we can't tell the difference between a turntable and our feet.
Hope that answers everyone’s questions about the site being down. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Cheers,
Elucidate
Deep in Vocal Euphoria 04
Tomorrow our next radio broadcast "Deep in Vocal Euphoria 04" will air. This month Ciacomix will be our guest for the second hour of the show. In addition to Ciacomix's guest mix, we also have an interview with him. We will post the interview in the forum tomorrow during the show for all of you to check out. See you all there!Cheers,Elucidate
White Mix Airs Today
OK Everyone!! The mix was uploaded to DI this weekend and they emailed us today and said that the White Mix will air today at 2pm eastern time. Hope to see you all there, and feel free to post up about the mix in our forum, and let us know what you think :)
http://di.fm/calendar/event.php?event=4142Cheers,Elucidate
The Results!!
Well here it is folks as promised. The new top 10 DJ's as voted upon in the DJ Mag poll.
01. PAUL VAN DYK – Non-Mover – Highest Trance DJ
02. ARMIN VAN BUUREN – Up 1
03. TIESTO – Down 1
04. CHRISTOPHER LAWRENCE – Up 10
05. DJ DAN – UP 19 – Highest House DJ
06. FERRY CORSTEN – Down 1
07. SASHA – Down 3 – Highest Progressive DJ
08. JOHN DIGWEED – Down 2
09. ABOVE & BEYOND – Up 10
10. DEEP DISH – Down 2
What does this mean? Well as we had predicted, PVD took the top spot again this year. But, there were a lot of surprises in this year’s poll. Christopher Lawrence at the #4 spot!! That is a huge jump from the previous year's poll in which he took the #14 spot. Also house hero DJ Dan up to the #5 spot is an astounding 19 place jump for him. Many people are going to questions these numbers, but really they all are pretty accurate when you take everything into consideration.
Christopher Lawrence may not be huge globally, but in the US, he is the number one booked trance DJ. He had a huge year in 2006 and his 10 spot ascent is a reflection of that. Also, Above & Beyond have been no doubt enjoying much success this year with a plethora of hot tracks pouring out of their studio and their Anjunabeats label churning out hit after hit. Their 10 spot jump into the top 10 is not only expected but also well deserved. Armin Van Buuren moves up 1 more spot to grab hold of the runner-up title. As mentioned before in our previous blog post, this is a well justified spot for him, and we are very pleased to see him move into the #2 seat. The real surprise though is DJ Dan. Dan has been a respected house DJ for years but has never been a global superstar. His 19 spot jump into the top 5 is due mostly to the massive year in the US he has been having. Both house and trance are finally moving out of the rave scene and more into the club arena in the United States. This migration from the underground into the semi-mainstream is a likely explanation as to why the two most popular DJ's in the US are now in the top 5 in the world. Is this the end of European DJ supremacy? Highly unlikely, but it is nice to see the States finally getting some recognition for some of their top artists.
If you are interested in the full 100 DJ's list you can find it in our forum under General Discussion. Congratulations to all of the DJ's in the poll, and thanks to all who voted this year!
Cheers,
Elucidate
