Trancefusion
Producer Notes
One cannot to get into a discussion about this kind of disc without
first talking about drum loops. In the world of electronic and dance
music, loop libraries are an absolute must, and it seems there is
an endless well of kickin' pre-fab beats out there to draw from
(some better than others), letting you change and churn new creations
out of old material or create completely fresh jams. But anyone
will tell you that in dance music, or any music for that matter,
there's more going on than just the groove. On top of it you'll
have textures and colors - the stuff that tweaks the intellect,
while the drums slap away the backbeat. More than rhythm and harmony,
music is about transitions, those flying magic carpets, if you will,
that sweep the listener on a current of anticipation from one event
to another, diving head first toward a rocky face, then climbing
hard to clear a jagged peak. It's no secret that one of music's
great thrills is that build-up of adrenaline at the end of a statement,
as waves of sound gather strength and focus, growing in intensity
and enlarging into a massive turbulence before slamming into that
next big beat.
Up to now, while there's been no shortage of drum loops on the market,
there's been a definite gap in the area of flying carpets.
And so, TranceFusion.
We've put together a multitude of atomic sweeps and swirls to fuse
one groove to the next, to create that sense of anticipation for
the listener - plus hundreds of textures and arpeggios to fortify
your tracks with vital lifeblood. The sounds are decidedly electronic,
rich in flavor, ranging from noise sweeps and reversed cymbals to
slowly transforming, transparent, transcendent journeys into the
void. Every sound on this disc seeks to add contrast, intrigue and
emotion to your music whether it's spacious or dense, fluid or static.
This project sits on a mountain of collective work by Chris, Bob,
Mike, Mark and me. Between us, TranceFusion is the culmination of
years of effort and a love of electronic music. We'd be thrilled
if you have as much fun flying it into your tracks as we had putting
it all together. Let us know!
- Mark Hiskey
The Gear
We used a slew of vintage and not-so-vintage synths
in the creation of these sounds. It would be impossible to recall
which devices were used to make which sounds, but if you're curious,
here's a complete list of the arsenal:*
Mini-Moog®
Sequential Circuits® Prophet 5
Sequential Circuits VS (Vector Synth)
Rhodes® Chroma
Vocoder®
Oberheim® 4-Voice SEM
Oberheim Xpander
Oberheim OB-8
Korg® M1
Korg Wavestation
Korg Prophecy
Roland® JX-8P
Roland D-50
Roland JD-800
Roland JV-1080
Waldorf® MicroWave
Yamaha® DX-7 and TX-7
Emulator II®
Kurzweil® K2500
Outboard gear included:
Urei® 1172 and 1176LN compressors
Valley People® Gain Brain and Kepex
tc electronic® Fireworx processor
Digitech® Talker
Boss® SE-70 processor
Zoom® 1204 processor
Eventide® 949 Harmonizer
Aphex® Aural Exciter
Delta Labs® Echotron analog delay
Lexicon® 200 and PCM-70 reverbs
Roland SRV-330 reverb
Yamaha Rev-5 reverb
Dynacord® DRP-20 reverb
Software tools used for sound design included:
Bias® Peak and SFX Machine
Steinberg® Avalon (for Atari)
Antares® Infinity and MDT plug-in
Digidesign® Turbo Synth and Pro Tools
Opcode® Studio Vision
Passport® Alchemy
Much of the material was recorded on a Sound Workshop®
Series 30 console to an MCI® JH-114 analog 16-track, mixed to
MCI 110B and 110C two-track machines, Digidesign Pro Tools and Panasonic®
SV-3700 DAT machines. Additional organisms were genetically engineered,
incubated and given birth entirely within the confines of a small
beige box designed in Cupertino California, whose legacy, regardless
of the outcome, cannot be diminished.
* All trademarks are property of their respective
holders.
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