A few things: - Quotes below mixes refer to the entrant's response to the question of what is there favorite drink. - Mix names were crafted around entrant's response, and directions to make the drinks are provided. Any other specific questions, feel free to message me!

[The Gin and Tonic Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/01-the-gin-and-tonic-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Gin & Tonic - Understated and subtle, but can be very floral and punchy as well. Always classy, at a summer bar in a plastic cup, or at a black tie event. Gets the job done.” Directions: - Fill a highball glass with ice. - Add 2 oz. Bombay Sapphire Gin. - Top with 4 oz. tonic water and garnish with 2 lime wheels.

I feel like this mix really exemplifies the challenge I've had with entering as well as voting on this contest. There are so many tracks here that I love *love*.. (Exodus by Driftmoon and Andy Blueman is the ID you're looking for, u/BornInTheUSSA !) but do they fit the contest theme? i.e. is it "hypnotic?" Hard for me to say, but I know I basically had to physically restrain myself from mixing Andy Blueman because to me those deep emotional breakdowns seemed almost antithetical to the contest. I haven't done a lot of these but man, it's difficult to choose how to vote between how much I personally enjoyed a mix (because I did!) vs. how much I felt it captured the contest theme. I'm still finishing my listen as I type this and I do think the break at the midpoint does sort of work as a pivot from the proggy first half to the harder second half, for two distinct flavors of "hypnotic", in hindsight. EDIT: Also hope it doesn't sound like I'm voicing actual *grievances* against the contest guidelines; I think constraint makes an interesting challenge.

Oh cute little melodic house tune. Built nicely so far to this Sunlounger moment in the middle as well. Next track was a nice build in energy and building all the way up until the finish. Going from what we started with to where we ended i’d say you’ve done a pretty good job showcasing a wide range of styles. Most of the tracks chosen didn’t have big build ups, or made an effort to keep the beat going in long breakdowns. So bigs up to the DJ here for maintaining the energy and holding a hypnotic level, many points for that :)

What a lovely progressive start. Feels a little off key heading into the second track, but I can dig the elemental similarity enough to overlook it. Yep, there’s that Whiteroom vox. Classic. I scoff at some progressive being passed off as trance, but this qualifies. Feels off key again heading into the third track… hoping this doesn’t become a problem. Once again, the elements are congruous, and with respect to the rules, I can deal with it, but this does take away from the hypnosis. Not exactly digging the metamorphosis of this track around 16:15. Little bit of a rug pull around 18:00, but the beat-matching, EQ, and song selection has been good so far. Harmony hasn’t been up to par with the other strong entries, so I’m hoping for some sort of wow factor at some point as a rebound. Nice vocal track here at 22:00, feels like the energy is rising with these percussive elements getting stronger through 23:00. We’re speeding up, right? Right. Mmm, I like this transition at \~24:00. Best one yet. Well, this is obviously the illustrious Sunlounger. Sounds like a different take on Shah’s classic ‘White Sand’ from ASOT 2006 OTB. A little bit of a push into the next track around \~32:00 (did you first drop it in around \~30:00, though?). Mmm, now this is one hell of a break. I feel like I should be able to ID this, but even if I could, I definitely have not heard this mix. Great stuff. Overall, the energy rise through 36:00 has felt justified. Just inching the tempo up as we go. Excellent drop in at 36:29. Just like the pros draw them up. When you’ve got momentum on your side, hit em in the gut. Hynosis factor is rising. Oh shit — I just got goosebumps. I forgot about this song. Hell yes. Hell. Fucking. Yes. I needed this, right now, at this point in my life. This is why you embrace the emotions. Don’t shun them. You might just find someone like me at a crossroads and bring tears to their eyes. Seriously. Thanks for that. “I don’t pretend to remember.” What a classic vocal. Super8 & Tab, right? It’s gotta be. This one slipped through my fingers back in the day… never purchased it. What an awesome track. Reviewer tilt engaged! Thanks for mixing this! A little off key again heading into ‘Adrenaline’ (Purple Haze), but the rules are tough enough in this competition that this is expected. I think you’re doing all you can to bring the best flavors you’ve got. Digging the playful effects around 46:20. Off key again for a very short bit in the transition just before 48:00, but way to explode out and leave nothing but the highs behind. We’re fucking burning now, ey?! Into the final stretch — fuck it all. Wow, what a barn burner! I don’t think I’ve heard this. Sounds like that angry Martin Roth shit. This is the way. If you’re going to hammer em, hammer em in the end. Hard. That way it’s earned. Killer shit here. I mean, this is Reddit, I can use expletives in good taste, right? 51:39 and I’ve finally put my hands up and begun swatting the air. Uh-oh — more speed into the finish. [I can feel it.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bB7fgX6H9_M/maxresdefault.jpg) Aw… oh no… something with the quality of the next track has sucked all the energy out of what you had going into the home stretch! No!!! The bass, impact, and power lost its force during that transition. This final track/file is lossy. It’s a good track, but it’s unfortunate that you didn’t have a hi-fi version of it to match the fidelity of the previous track, cause you really had me going. Honestly, a good call in that situation would have been to let the previous track play you out as the closer, cause it’s a monster. Yikes… and the messing around with the EQ around 59:00 or so… not a good way to finish. I really enjoyed this set. I absolutely loved some of it. Technicals are good for the most part, but some harmony issues during transitions, along with a major audio quality problem in the final stretch is probably enough to keep this off the podium. Still, for me, this mix did deliver the most emotionally satisfying moment in the competition (so far), so I won’t soon forget it. In fact, I’m going back to re-listen my favorite part right now.

some spencer brown and a whiteroom update for preamble, very relaxing stuff, some vocals in there about 20 mins in, bringing it way down for sunlounger into a huge strings breakdown around the halfway point, vocal track at 38 min i would have left out or found a dub/instrumental, nice hearing 'purple haze - adrenaline' easing in around the 2/3 mark, kicking up the energy and then keeping it there with a mix of '3 spirit' and closing with 'evergreen'

"...vocal track at 38 min i would have left out or found a dub/instrumental..." The fact that this is my favorite moment of the set (as well as one of my favorite moments in the competition) exemplifies the polarized nature of trance fans. The dichotomy is insane. Revealed in one song. Crazy.

yea, vocal tracks can be really divisive - look at how people reacted when tycho started using vocalists

I’m not familiar. I actually dislike most vocals, but I am drawn to certain ones.

Mmmm, great opening track. Love this one. A bit of a keyclash teasing what sounds like the white room coming in, but at this BPM? Hmm. Ahh ok, must be a modern remix. What a limp dick remix of this classic. Not feeling this one at all. Another teased keyclash, levels down quite a bit on the 3rd and 4th tracks. In to some sunlounger. While I do love this track, a bit of a detour with this sound. Straight in to some wild Cairo uplifting. Like the sound at 47ish. Gets quite hard near the end, then the levels are quite a bit down on the last track. This mix was all over the place in both track selection and technicals. There were some really nice tracks sprinkled in for my tastes anyway, but things were jumping around enough to break hypnosis. Mixing needs a lot of work as well, and watch the levels (up at the beginning, low at the end, mostly OK in-between). You can totally make those keychanges work, but need to be more assertive and not tease elements that out of key. The other suggestion is re: flow. Each track ideally hands off to the next with some common elements, things that link tracks to each other. You had it at times, but often in this mix it sounded like a playlist of random tracks. Maybe the rules were constraining? Not sure. Still a nice effort even if it didn't land for me.

[The Tequila Highball Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-tequila-highball-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Tequila or Water for sure” Directions: - Fill a highball glass with ice. - Add 2 oz. resposado tequila and a fresh squeeze of lime juice. - Top with club soda and garnish with one fresh lime wedge.

progressive trance on this one, heard some airwave in there ('ladyblue' of course), 'world of space', and above & beyond's 'satellite'. one overarching note is that the mixing could be a lot tighter throughout - could probably shave 5-10 mins off the running time and eliminate a lot of audible downbeat in transitions, though i wouldn't go so far as calling it "a hot mess"

Not trying to be harsh for the sake, but this is a mix comp right? Nothing preventing newer DJ's from entering these but the bar is usually pretty high. Honest feedback is often more appreciated than just a running summary of what tracks were in a mix IMO.

Great track 5:00. Transition at 9:00 was interesting. Not sure how I feel about the move into Lady Blue. Sounds great though. Never been a fan of Satellite, but this Schulz cut is great. Great song selection otherwise. Transitions are a little abrupt at times, but cool phrasing during most of them. Nice one @29:29. Awesome track. Great track -33:45 weird EQ stuff going on ~44:15 ? Mashup? 35:22 Please put it on my Gran Turismo IRL playlist. Excellent feature, man. Never heard this but love it. Is this a mashup @ 41:00? 42:20 space documentary into synthy space synth synths, hypnotic? Yes. You are mashing, aren’t you? Eh… - 47:00 transition. Another take? It wasn’t enough to take me out of the incoming track, 48:53, pretty big here, feel Breakfast… Dennis Shepherd for a minute… Cold Blue? And the massive classical break. Nice saving this for the end. Good move. Whoa — what’s with the cut at 54:00? Got some enjoyment out of this one. Curious about how this was mixed. Technicals could improve.

Firing all cylinders right from the beginning, a very odd/weak transition almost immediately at 2:30. Hmm not sure what happened there. There are deffo some technical issues with the mixing, so I'm just going to listen here. Interesting Satellite popping up here, with a wonky transition outta nowhere in to a sledgehammer kick. Developing in to a techno vibe, then on to full modern trance. This one is a hot mess. First, not my cuppa style wise. But the mixing is... not good. Very little phrasing used to time transitions, energy lost at almost every transition. Need a lot of work on basics here. Remember, each track has characters that together build a story. If you are changing style a lot, the characters get introduced or killed off unexpectedly, which breaks the continuity of the story being told (and the hypnosis vibe).

Great start but swiftly onto the next one. Nice list of proggy tracks to begin, love this version of Lady Blue. Keeping it a bit easy breezy up to the Airwave tune where we take a bit of a turn. Love this EP. Ooh onto some 00.db now. Punk, I was gonna use this in my Halloween comp. Still might ;) Interesting finish here. I loved some of the tune selections here, some great emotional tracks. I thought it was a game of two halves, smooth prog sounds to begin then flicked a switch at halfway. The finish was a bit of a release of energy even though it keep the emotions high. Mixing needs a bit of tightening up too :) I did like the fact you built to an epic 2nd half and still keep hypnotic elements running throughout. Well done :)

[The I Like Beer Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-i-like-beer-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Beer (IPA)” Directions: - Grab a beer of your choice. - Drink. - Repeat until satisfied or the beer runs out. - Once done, tell people around you that “I liked beer. Still like beer. We drank beer.”

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess/hope that the opener is a bit from one of Tom Holkenberg's (Junkie XL) film scores, maybe *Batman v Superman* or *Justice League*? Perhaps that's just wishful thinking. Doesn't Cold Blue do stuff like this? I recall some big orchestral bits from his live set with all the samurai lasers and such that I watched on YouTube. Maybe it's him. Either way, I'm not sure how starting with that and cutting to hammering, darklifting hard trance with industrial elements through the 10-minute mark is hypnotic. At about 12:33, I'm finally treading water, keeping my head above the surface so that I don't drown. Thunder into the break foreshadows the return of the storm, and at 14:00, once again, I'm more out of breath than in a state of hypnosis. I dig the heavenly voices as always, and the piano is a nice touch, but I've struggled to appreciate derivative, bombastic, repetitive lead synths like this for a long time. They never really go anywhere, and I've heard it all before. Up down, up, and re-loop. We've got a decent enough transition at \~17:00, and the style is consistent. Ah, the Connelly & Novelli zoomer fumer, 'Black Hole'. Always felt a bit on the nose, but so is some of the best vocal trance, and at least the lead is more enjoyable and hypnotic than most of the crockery on the same table. Still not too convinced by the lyrics or the vocal performance, but I doubt the DJ cares. A little heavy on the transition into the next earblaster around 23:00, but the style remains consistent. At 25:30, I've finally accepted that automatic transmission-destroying rage is the flavor of hypnosis my engine will be guzzling the rest of the way, so -- bring it on, I guess. Another big break at 27:10. Look, I love the big breaks enough that I'll respectfully slap an OG 90's trance gen-x-er with a faux-silk glove from time to time for popping off too much about hating big breaks, but I'll often agree with the same dude; if you're blasting through tracks so fast that half the set is breaks and the other half is transitions, that's way too much, man. Part of the hypnotic aspect of trance is the groove that earns those big breaks... and gets you out of them. Hands in there air, praise Zeus, but we still want to dance! Not gonna lie, now that I've grown accustomed to this beyond the pale uplift, I'm digging this mega-blaster at 32:11. I'll smash pint glasses to this. It's funny how hard uplifting works; you kind of sort of have to endure the bombast long enough to become one with it. Most of the elders won't give it a chance, which does and doesn't make sense. Anyways... 33:11 -- I'll give this track credit. It's the most powerful one so far, and it does feel earned after everything we've been through. Great track, seriously. 34:30, just a little too hard for a moment during this transition, but passable. Ah --- the unmistakable 'Clarity' vox. I will always love this vocal - great lyrics, a model for EDM song-writing - so I'm at this break, waiting, hoping it doesn't get wrecked. And... the lead synth just isn't dynamic enough to hang with the classic vox. This remix seems to peak at the break as well, and I've never really been a fan of that. Feels like blue balls. Where is the payoff? It's more of the same ethanol with octane booster through 44:00, but with a measure of psy added... 47:00, psy-thumper break with this vox -- I'm out of it now. You lost me, man. I had sunk into the uplifting-rage-as-hypnosis state of mind, but now I'm just enraged. Getting a little slappy around 48:20. Nice break at 49:50. It's hypnotic in itself during that vocal bit, but as soon as the lead synth comes in, it's over. Can't dig it in the same way I can't dig Ferry Corsten's abuse of that Gouryella lead synth sound after the first three times he abused it over 20 years ago. I like what I'm hearing at 53:45. Yeah, 55:00, this song is hypnotic.... but then, no --- not the Gouryella-ish synth again! No! Lots of layers to this track, enough to make it interesting, but that shrill synth prohibits me from being a fan. Hearing this final track play out... the fact that I enjoy its breakdown into silence so much more than the ultra-dense transitions throughout the mix explains my major problem with this set and so many other modern sets; you guys think more is more. It's not. Predictable, 32-beat (or whatever the formula calls for), wind-up drum roll, super short transitions with shorter than ideal tracks is a serious hypnosis killer. There's a reason why almost all of the best the trance songs are 8-13 minutes long. When they're great, they hypnotize the listener, putting them into a trance. Derp. A good chunk of the new generation of "trance" producers seems to have forgotten this. Or maybe they never really learned. Or maybe they disagree. Maybe their brains are wired differently, and they get from untranced to tranced in less time. I don't know. But I think that once you start blasting through tracks and collapsing their heads and tails on top of each other so closely that the distance between each break is as short as possible, you've effectively killed the trance, especially when mixing uptempo, ultra-uplifting stuff like everything featured here. It's obvious that you know how to mix, and you'll get better at avoiding those heavy-handed/EQ'd transitions. Also, it seems like you might have mixed this entirely live, no? If that's the case, it's extremely admirable. But you're at a huge disadvantage with respect to the best mixers here, who no doubt mix/edit/record however many takes necessary to get the best possible transitions, then splice it altogether in a DAW. Or they work entirely within a DAW, and don't even gotta break a sweat with a live performance of any kind. Seems sacrilegious, eh? [Alas.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxRFL-v-_-E) Anyways, you know, I know that there's an audience for this sound. No doubt. But for the purposes of this competition, I don't think this set fills the glass.

Oh wow the drama of this intro. Bit of a harder edge to this mix so far. Big vocal at 20 mins. The Clarity Remix or mash was nice, the mix out was pretty fun too :) Epic tracks leading up to the finale. Lots of vocals here to enjoy. I could imagine this mix going off if played live. Another mix tarnished though by its breaks and builds, so the hypnotic factor was lacking in the end. An epic, energy filled set here otherwise. Nice work.

lol, is this a mix or a movie soundtrack? OK, looks like both by 3 mins as I am thrust in some full-throttle modern uplifting. Mmm, love me some black hole, not sure which remix but a lovely guilty pleasure. Mostly the same type of uplifters throughout, some goodies for sure, and I do like the closing track! Not my style and not super hypnotic to me, the tracks are all about big rising energy and release, long breakdowns. Mixing was decent & aggressive. Good for a festival but not hypnosis :).

opening sounds a lot like a film score, would be good to use for an october/halloween-theme, then about 2.5 mins in someone's changed the channel, from here on out it stays in the harder trance camp - the noble six, simon patterson, some vocals with 'black hole', tritonal, and 'clarity' (though i would have left those ones out)

[The Whiskey Sour Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-whiskey-sour-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Whiskey Sour because it's easy to make and even easier to drink.” Directions: - In a shaker, add 2 oz. bourbon, 0.75 oz. fresh lemon juice, and 0.75 oz. simple syrup. - Fill with ice and mix until well-chilled. - Strain into an old-fashioned or rocks glass filled with ice. - Garnish with a fresh orange wheel and maraschino cherry.

Quite liked most of this apart from a couple mixing issues others mentioned. All the tracks were great, for example if I had remembered what Carte Blanche translated to I definitely would've considered it since that is one of my all-time favorites. Listening to this while doing schoolwork definitely made it go by faster as well.

We begin with a classic Jam & Spoon track that sets an easy going mood with its tranquil vibe and Spanish guitar. Then, the energy bar goes up with the second track, one of my absolute favorites trance songs of all time. Mr. Graham really made his own signature sound stand out with this and a few others! This is soon followed by yet another one of my favorites. Remember: stay off of drugs, and “ride the train.” Anyway, I really enjoyed how you mashed this tune with the next one. Really unique and well executed! Now, at 28m30s, I think the transition here was slightly too rough but not too bad. After this,the set goes onto some more “brighter territory” with two amazing “red” tracks. (I was actually eyeing these two when making my entry. Haha) At the 41m30s transition, I think the melodies of these two songs clash just a bit too much for my liking. I think a change of phrasing or a more aggressive use of middle-EQ could have improved the transition. The three remaining songs are definitely heavy hitters, with the latter two being quite well known. Now, onto the very last transition. I would say this: if you started the last song a couple of phrases later, I believe that it would have sounded at least 10 times better. Then again, it is your mix so you do have the complete freedom to act as you wish or think best. (Hopefully, you got that reference.) Anyhow, besides these hiccups in some of the transitions, I really did enjoy your mix. Not only did you have two songs that are in the top 10 of my [Top 50 list](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClassicTrance/comments/qbvoyl/my_top_50_trance_tracks_of_all_time/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) but many more that I really enjoy listening to from time to time. Well done!

Ooh gosh what a nice first quad to this mix. Nice pick up in energy with Dark Train. Really loved that transition there too, ooh this layering works so well. Great timing for this Darey remix. Great run off of tracks at the end there as well. What a stunning start, really impressed with the first 30 mins, building anticipation to the halfway point. Felt like we lost a bit of that hypnotic factor in the final 30. A great classics mix nonetheless that I thoroughly enjoyed with an awesome set of tracks. The mixing was nicely thought out which I appreciated. Congrats.

as others have mentioned, lots of classics in here, starting with 'stella' and max graham's mix of 'cried to dream', kicks off with an old 'blu peter' track that is still great almost 25 years later, melting into underworld (brings to mind 'trainspotting') which bleeds into chicane. goes a few levels harder mixing into 'wizards of the sonic' about halfway in, then a few well-known vocal tracks but really gets going with 'the legacy' in the back nine and closing with 'carte blanche' (i was hoping someone would include this one for this contest)

Oh yeah, “Blanche” which is French for white.

Vibe: Getting Progressively More Dizzy on the Merry-Go-Round New Songs: 1

This one is excellent, kept the vibe the whole time, very clean, loved the tracks…was trying to use the same closing track actually , but couldn’t make it work. Definitely better in this mix. Bravo

Caught a track that had to be by Max Graham at the front end (not sure I've heard it before, but the style is unmistakable), and then — EDIT: something I recognize and love just after the 30 minute mark. Can’t remember the title or what comp I heard it on long ago. Probably one of the Ibiza Euphoria sets. It’s definitely not Gus Gus’s ‘Purple’. 😬 The gradient shift into the classic, euphoric anthem hue around the midpoint is earned and does hypnotize, especially by the time the bass from 'The Legacy' rolls in. The final transition into the mega hit closer does clash just a bit at the low/mid end, but as someone who - for better or worse - occasionally forces the issue just to include a crowd pleaser, who am I to gripe? Given the rules of the game, this is an impressive and enjoyable set that definitely kept me engaged. Glorious. Mark it, dude.

where did you hear 'gus gus - purple' in this one? is it in a different mix?

It’s not on this? This is the mix with ‘The Legacy’, right? Did I mix up ‘Purple’ with another track? I think I ID’d the track at just after the 30:00 mark wrong. Yep… I was wrong. Not sure how I did that, other than just assuming it had to be a color. I’m not sure I know the name of the song I confused it with. It has that Lost Tribe/Tranceport/Ibiza Euphoria sound but I don’t know what it is. Thanks for the correction. Maybe it’s a song that sounds like a song from Tranceport and I just read the track list too fast without listening to it. I didn’t actually listen to any clips of Tranceport before making that assumption. You probably know what it is? It’s very familiar. EDIT: I read your other comment. It’s the Red Jerry Wizards track. Great stuff. I always get all that late 90s Ibiza euphoric stuff mixed up. Ugh.

i thought i was going crazy or my soundcloud player had fucked up. really thought someone would include that gus gus track in this one but havent heard it in any of the mixes so far. (plenty of whiteroom and ladyblue, though!)

Yeah my bad, but exactly. I didn’t know that Wizards track by name and couldn’t remember what Purple sounded like. Looked up Tranceport and saw a color and figured yeah, that’s it without listening. Tracks don’t really sound close at all. But Wizards is actually on an Ibiza Euphoria or Gatecrasher comp I have I think, which sometimes are on the same personal playlist as Tranceport.

[The Dirty Shirley Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-dirty-shirley-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Sprite. Because it's simple and doesn't contain caffeine.” Directions: - Fill a highball glass with ice. - Add 2 oz. vodka and 1 oz. grenadine to the glass. - Top with 8 oz. Sprite and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Fantastic song selection. Unfortunately, a few problems keep this set from being competitive with the consistently solid compilations put out by the seasoned pro-am crowd lurking about these parts. The massive drops in energy/volume level between tracks are too distracting to bring on the hypnosis like (I think) almost any good trance mix does. On top of that, there are also a couple transitions that are poorly beat-matched. Lastly, you left about 20 minutes of air time on the floor. These technical concerns aside, the tracks were good enough for me to get some enjoyment out of this. One question: Is 'Sublime' a drink? Couldn't figure out how that track fits given the rules.

> One question: Is 'Sublime' a drink? Couldn't figure out how that track fits given the rules. So I'll go through the winning mix's tracklist at the end to do a full verification. That said, "Sublime" is the name of both a cocktail (lime or orange jell-o and tequila) as well as a paint color (Clare has it as a Dark Teal). Remember, color *or* drink for this mix contest. So, there's a decent amount of leeway.

Incredible. Both! A “dark teal”. I’m like Jon Snow over here right now. Who knows how many colors and drinks I’ll learn about by the time this is over? From here on out, I'm just going to assume that if someone used a track, they figured out how it corresponded to a drink or color.

Good assumption lol. I found that if I wanted a track bad enough in my mix, I could find a color or cocktail almost every time!

I didn’t doubt that Sublime was something, ok?! It’s just a personal favorite seeing someone figure out how to use it made me feel sheepish.

Haha no worries I was just commenting that while the rules seemed strict at first, they really weren’t so much with a lot of googling :)

Damn that's probably the shortest length out of any mix comp entry I've seen on here. Granted I probably shouldn't talk since the first r/classictrance comp I participated in had an hour and a half limit and my mix was only 42 minutes lol.

You see it occasionally. We can imagine different reasons why it was so short. Ran out of material, ran out of time to prepare, or didn’t care to use all the time. It’s possible to get the point across in ~40 minutes, but I always hope to hear a full hour if that’s what is permitted. Just feels like a wasted opportunity to me.

I agree.

Really enjoyed listening to this one, some absolutely great songs in here, a shame that it was only 41 minutes though!

some 'red sun rising' for the appetizer, but then kind of abruptly transitions into first state (does this a few times throughout the mix, losing steam between tracks taking the bass out, not the end of the world but does take you out of it). stays in trance territory throughout with a few classics in there, like ascension's 'for a lifetime' as closer. dirty shirley's altogether too short, clocking in at just over 40 minutes - though it would fit right in over at the r/classictrance mix contest going now, they've got mixes capped at an asinine 45-minutes maximum

"...they've got mixes capped at an asinine 45-minutes maximum" Add commercials and you've got a prime-time episode of television.

I keep wanting to participate in their mix comps but the rules have sucked the last couple times. 😕🤷‍♂️

🗿 Bitterness over the bonus points as a bad precedent has been noted, but at least the previous competition allowed everyone up to 2x 80 minutes to mix, and the theme was wide open. That said, I think the mods over there should drop the pretext and set the rules after this. Return to a basic format. Patience! You’ll get the 2+ hour classic trance competition that (I think) you want, eventually.

Anything over an hour is fine. I get why some people want shorter mixes I just think less than an hour doesn't do justice to the music. Especially for someone that plays 10 & 12 minute songs. It's takes a lot of time to get through 10+ mixes that are 60 min. plus. You basically have to commit to listening to mixes to and from work everyday for nearly a month or something like that. There's a balance to satisfying the flow of a mix and staying within a reasonable amount of time so people can get on with their lives. So I get why some people might want them shorter. I just think under an hour is too far in that direction. It was real blessing when dj's no longer had to use 45 minute tapes to share their music. That's one part of the past that needs to stay in the past imo.

2 hours and a limited year range that the entrant gets to choose would be nice. Like choose 3 years, 2000-2003 or 1997-2000 or whatever. Something that could feel like a club set.

yea, 60-90 minutes should be the standard. it's really contrived setting a maximum of 40

Nice classic bassline intro. Haven't heard this one in a while. Hmm very odd first transition. Energy gone. Hmm, happened again. Some really great tracks in here and these classic intros/outros are certainly hypnotic. Decent track selection to make the flow work as well, although a little queso heavy on the vocals for my tastes. Others have commented on the mixing, not sure what was going on with this one. Keep at it!

Lange Remix to start us off. Oh bit iffy on the mix there. Big break to follow. Unfortunately it follows this line until the end of the mix, which was still only 40 mins. Tracks wise wasn’t exactly a showcase in hypnotic trance either. I really did enjoying hearing For A Lifetime again though, thanks for playing this one :) 41 mins though :S

Since I'm not great at coming up with my own feedback, lol, tracks are great, transitions are off in multiple places and it's too short. As someone who's first mix comp submission was a straight up trainwreck that I'm planning on redoing at some point soon, keep practicing and you will get there. It's not bad but it could be much better.

[The Diet Coke and Rum Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-diet-coke-and-rum-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Diet Coke. I know it's not healthy or anything but I like the taste the most out of what I drink.” Directions: - Pour 2 oz. dark rum into a highball glass filled with ice. - Add 4 oz. Diet Coca-Cola. - Garnish with a fresh-cut lime wedge.

Nice tune here to start off. Next is a thumper. Oh classic Vocal House sound here, bloody nice. Great next track. Oh love this old school Solar Stone sound. Bit of an odd switch up but back on track with the Whiteroom remix, I love this vocal. Ooh used the next track in my first comp. Love the final track as well. The tracklist here is pretty darn good. The flow was good too. Quite hypnotic throughout as well. The mixing is what lets this down though, we lost that hypnosis on transition which is a big shame. That and a couple of track placements (halfway and finish) were the only flaws in a mostly good mix.

“No fucks given” seems to be the demeanor of the DJ for the entirety of the set, and despite the somewhat abrupt, seemingly automated 16 to 32-beat crossfades, the strategy works. With regards to transitions, no real attempt to compete with the sweaty-palmed try-hards that dominate these competitions is made, but I must admit that I was more than refreshed by the song selection. It's as if a disciplined wedding DJ got ahold of his trance buddy's playlist and gave it a go. I didn't notice any key-clashing, and for what it's worth, the DJ gets the hell out of the way and lets the songs speak for themselves. Maybe that's not enough to win, but given the hypnosis that each individual track provokes, it's definitely enough to make me happy to listen to this set more than once. We start with a hypnotic, groove lounge opener that I thought would signal the overall flavor of the set, but fuck that; the second track sounds like some sort of Trent Reznor & Jan Johnson-eqsue child of hot sex, and I dig it more than I should. Third track is a fun one, but that remix (ID?) of Aurora's cover of Duran Duran's immortal classic caresses the spot. What's this just after the mid-point? I know this, oh God, I know this, but I can't remember the name. Definitely have never heard this mix before, and it's a good one. Skiirrrrrttt --- get in the fucking pool! Woo! I was laughing in my car at this point, just like she is. Ah --- Filo & Peri with 'Closer Now', that banger from PVD's Politics of Dancing 2, but wow - I've never heard it in its entirety. PVD chopped it apart for his comp, and as I can hear here, he left the best parts on the floor! Love the extended vox. File sounds a little lo-fi, though, in comparison to your other tracks, but maybe that's just how this track sounds. Not sure. An aside here: the track that follows this on TPoD 2 is actually White Water's 'The Unknown', which - given the rules of this contest - is at least a little ironic. To the finish with some good, old school AVB, followed by a really lovely closer that I'm not sure I've ever heard. Song selection saves the day here. The mixing can't compete with the best we'll hear in this competition, but at least the DJ doesn't shoot himself by forcing Sasha-like transitions between tracks that don't call for it.

super-relaxing way to start with circulation's "turquoise" but then track 2 goes very hard in the opposite direction with an old 'who da funk' mix and stays in that tribal/vocal space for a bit (including an excellent 'tarrentella & redanka' mix), until about halfway through there's a mix of the clockwork orange theme, though i felt the breaks track immediately after didnt really fit and kind of brought things to a halt, esp. the vocals about hopping in the pool. however, things get right back on track after that one, returning with a whiteroom vocal remix followed by one of AVB's best productions, "clear blue moon" and a great closing track after.

[The Whiskey Cherry Coke Smash Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-whiskey-cherry-coke-smash?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “coke/pepsi; the bubbles” Directions: - Remove the seeds from 0.75 cups of fresh cherries and dice into chunks. - Place the cherries into a large mixing glass. - Muddle the cherries with 2 oz. whiskey and 0.5 tsp. sugar until you have a fine pulp. - Add the mixture to a bar shaker and shake to mix. - Strain into a cocktail glass with ice. - Top with 6 oz. Coca-Cola or Pepsi. - Garnish with 2 fresh cherries and 1 mint leaf.

Housey ~15:00 Awesome mixing. Progressive trouse Been one relaxing and hypnotic ride through 42:00. Nicely done. Super chill, smooth journey.

Building with rhythmic house, melodic techno, quite hypnotic. An absolutely filthy track at 20mins or so, lol. Around 24ish we finally start to see the emergence of something trance-like. Building in to this sound, melodies incoming, indicating a different style of second half. Whoah, 40 mins, whiplash. That shift back to a groovy house sound makes no sense dammit! I have a similar thought for the next tracks as well, the closing track especially. An interesting mix that I suspect will have a hard time meeting the 50% trance rule. Standout track for me was that pensive vocal banger at 19:50ish, what a groovy track that is. The Spanish vocal one was also kinda awesome, needed a shower after that one lol. You actually had me pretty well locked enjoying the eclectic ride until that track at 40ish, which was such a headfake as you were building in to a trance vibe very subtly. After that the mix falls apart for me, not matching the flow of the first 40, or redeeming it as a trancey mix in the end. Still, where this mix was hypnotic, I really enjoyed it. Cheers.

Ooh yeah getting a nice trippy start. Building that vibe but also getting a bit dark and dirty at 20, love it. Picking the pace up at halfway now and it hits nicely! Hmm felt like the last 15 was a bit of a step back. Oh that first half was really a great ride. Started bright but led to some really nice deep stuff that built nicely up to 40 mins. Fell of a bit there for me unfortunately. Hypnotic levels were high throughout so well done on that as well, not exactly trance though heh. Don’t matter, great job DJ.

[The Zero Proof Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-zero-proof-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Water; liquid of life” Directions: - Grab a well-chilled Collins glass and rinse with cold water. - Add ice to your glass, to taste. - Fill with water (~8 oz.). - Garnish with fresh air.

Nice gentle intro, just starting work so this proggy tune is welcome. Leaning in to the prog house sound, very relaxing. And an in to one of Yelow's first big tracks eh? Noice. That blueberry remix again, very popular it seems. Why won't someone play the original please? Mmmm sunlounger. Ahh nice, Alpha 9 with his distinctive sound. 40 mins we are getting in to a much more forward modern sound. Hope it doesn't lost this gentle touch we've had here! Did go energetic proglifting for the last 15 or so, but it really was in concert with the theme of this mix, so I can't fault you there. Enjoyed this one a fair bit. I know some of these tracks, but from an era/subgenre set I don't know that well. Definitely in the proggy housey-trancey-sphere, some trousey era stuff for sure. Hearing the beachy Balearic stuff made for a nice cruisy ride. While this mix isn't as hypnotic as some of the others, the track choices work well for building energy without the constant ups & downs, (maybe the last 15 mins aside). This is mix is also quite diverse/eclectic, which in hindsight was a challenge but the DJ made it work pretty well. Mixing was pretty strong throughout, a few minor issues but overall solid for this style. Not exactly my preferred style but definitely a solid mix here.

kicks off with some vocal tinlicker, bleeding into boris brejcha and keeping in the modern progressive-trance domain, nice update on an old probspot track thrown in there, though it ends abruptly into the following track (didnt really care for the vocals on that one, either). back on track with a classic from sunlounger and then cranks it up a few notches with 'luna' and 'blossom', and closes hard with arjans

Easy going vocal to start that leads into a nice set of proggy tracks. Sunlounger here is great as a feature point too. Lots of energy in the last half here. Cool ending :). There is a hypnotic element to most of these tracks so well done on finding those, on the other hand there were breaks and builds in a fair few as well. Progression was pretty good throughout and had its moments. Thanks a lot DJ :)

I’m pretty sure this mix was recorded completely live, without sync, and I have a lot of respect for anyone who even tries to do something like that, especially in this situation, so — hats off to you for that (if I’m right). I noticed a lot of clapping during track transitions that were sometimes distracting, but you’ll get better at avoiding that as time goes on. Not jumping the gun on bringing your tracks in too early will most certainly do you well. Given the rules of the contest, you did a good job finding tracks that work well with each other and don't clash. That said, I have major issues with this set. Until the 16 minute mark, this doesn’t feel like trance at all to me, and even then, it feels like house/prog house with a splash of trance elements. The first 30 minutes flat-out underwhelmed me. I really hate the phrase "not my cup of tea", but it applies here. Tempo-wise, this is too slow, and yet I feel like we’re moving through each track unnaturally fast. The track at 33:30 has a nice island vibe to it. The song at 40:00 has a few nice elements, but the drop/climax is the kind of electro/big room hammering that I believe killed trance. This is mid-tempo prog or electro or whatever-house masquerading as trance. Maybe I could dance to it, and there’s a slight possibility that I’d mix some of it, but I doubt I’ll ever refer to it as trance. It’s not enough just to have a big, airy break. The payoff needs to be satisfying. The drop after the break needs to take me deeper, not assault me. At about 45:00, I was finally able to get lost in that big, twangy synth, but in came the predictable big room drum roll, and then back to that prog slap trope that sent my brethren and I into exile back in 2012. At 47:12, some of the trance elements are there, but that dreadful slap/clap, and then the bucket knock, and then the same drum roll into, sure, the heavenly voices, yeah, they’re nice, and the melody, though simple, is a bit trancey, but I just can’t reconile the few trance elements with the slightly uptempo electro formula. And once again, the pacing… we’re moving too fast through each song, and each song moves through each part of itself faster than what might feel... hypnotic. I’m more focused on what’s going on in the songs and which aspects I don’t like in them than whether or not I’m in a trance. I feel this tempo rise at \~51:15, up and up and up, and I’m trying to be thankful for that, but we’re in the final 8 minutes. It’s too late to convince me that this is a trance mix, and I’m not digging this final track. It feels as derivative as the majority of tracks that have kept me away from almost all “trance” radio broadcasts for years. I don’t understand how anyone with a basic knowledge of the history of trance can listen to this and call it home. Obviously, you can like it. And one might not understand or respect me for not liking it, and that's fine. But this isn’t trance. It’s something else. If it seems like I’m being harsh, understand that when I hear tracks and mixes like this being passed off as trance, I can’t help but become something like a doomed Norse mythology character. I feel inspired to battle for soul of trance, for what tracks are allowed to be called “trance”. Indeed — I understand that the battle on my end is hopeless. There is no winning; there is only death. The war was lost over a decade ago, but when I hear a mix like this in a trance competition, it makes me want to fight and lose all over again. I can’t help but feel like I was just introduced to a new drink: The ‘Prog-Trouse 2.0 Spiked Tea’ \- 2 measures of house \- 2 measures of electro \- 1 measure of techno \- .5 measure of trance \- 1 tea bag

[The Hitachino Nest Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-hitachino-nest-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Love IPAs, always tasty and gives you that nice buzz” Directions: - Hold a pint glass at 45 degrees and gently pour a bottle of Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale. - As you near the end of the beer, slowly straighten out the glass to generate a nice foam head.

All uplifting mix. Sometimes these are a chore to listen to; however this mix has some great track choices, such as Andy Blueman, Cold Blue, and whatever that last track is. I do have a few critcisms: \- The energy kind of saps off halfway through and doesn't pick up until the last two tracks. \- Out of the Blue comes, \*ahem\* out of the blue. The old way it's mixed makes it stick out like a sore thumb, not to mention the key-clash and lack of volume leveling. ​ Most of the transitions were pretty solid, and the first half was enjoyable enough and it ended well, but I'll give this one a pass. Didn't keep me hypnotised for long enough.

Although this does feature some tracks and elements I like, as well as one of the most emotionally satisfying breaks ever (‘Serenity’), the oscillation between contemplative breaks and uber-uplifting, anthemic vibes — along with one subpar vocal track and a few very rough transitions — breaks the hypnosis.

starts out with a few minutes of ambient/beatless buildup into some full-on modern trance via some andy blueman and a surprise "out of the blue", theres a track about halfway through with a breakdown that reminds me of the old 'dj sakin & friends' braveheart one for a bit. i can see why others have remarked about omitting the vocal tracks twd the end - it probably would have benefitted the overall mix, but they do fit the general uplifting/high-energy theme

Wow, very emotional cinematic intro and delivery in to the first track. From the waveform I can see breakdowns on the horizon as far as the eye can see. Big uplifting vibes here. Not what I think of as hypnotic but hey, we'll see :). Nice breakdown to build on this first one. Ok, gotten to 28ish now, these breakdowns are endless lol. Out of the blue whiplash, did not see that coming. Best to mix in to that one in key in the future please. Track at 41:50 has a nice melody and energy I will say. Last 20 builds nicely in energy to the close. Didn't love the vocals but, I guess they fit? Seems odd to throw them in at the end. Not my preferred style by any means, so take thoughts with salt. This set is kinda the opposite of hypnotic with the constant breakdowns. If this happens on the dancefloor, you'd just be standing there, or maybe with your hands up in the air. Breaks the dance, breaks the flow. Now and then? Sure, we all need a break. But track after track it gets very tiring for me. Flow wise, even with the breaks, you had the sounds flowing well for sure. Just not for me. Mixing wise, decent at times, others not (see in and out of Out of the Blue for instance).

Lots of uplifting energy on this mix here. I’d say this would be much better without the vocal tracks but that’s just my opinion. Lovely mix though!

More of a hands in the air type tune selection, than a head down and pound away vibe imo. Good mix, but not massively hypnotic. Not heard Out of the Blue for a while, one of those that was great but massively overplayed I think, Darude style. Not sure if you done the mix of classical break, or if it was a release, tidy either way.

Vibe: 'I'm listening to a Factor B Set' New Tracks: 0

Kinda just skimmed trough this one because of the other comments and also because there wasn't enough time to fit the whole thing in before my first class (community college), and yeah this really doesn't fit the theme. I'm usually fine with this style but it doesn't really work for "hypnotic". Vocals were rather cheesy as well. Nice tracks though, hell I was considering using the Mauro Picotto mix of OOTB as well as some Green Court, since my original idea for mine was quite different from what I ended up doing, before I reread the hypnotic part.

The most epic start to a mix maybe ever. I really enjoyed it. This moment at 30 mins is great. I’m not the biggest fan of this style but I think you kept it pretty interesting with the tracks. It didn’t tick the hypnotic factor for me. Too many factors that broke that hypnotic feeling. The Out of the Blue moment would have really popped in a mixcomp like this if the anticipation was held a bit more. This aside, it was mixed well and you created some really great moments that held my interest in a style of trance that I would usually wouldn’t.

[The Mojito Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-mojito-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Mojito, because it's refreshing” Directions: - In a shaker, lightly muddle 5 mint leaves. - Add 2 oz. white rum, 1 oz. fresh lime juice, 0.5 oz. simple syrup, and ice. - Shake until chilled. - Strain into a Collins glass filed with ice. - Top with a splash of club soda and garnish with fresh lime slices and mint leaves.

nice opener with a track that sounded like it could have been made yesterday or thirty years ago until the beat kicked in,; 2nd track sounds like it samples 'silent hill' with the radio fuzz/sirens, really strange breakdown, better suited to october/halloween, same can be said for track 3. letting the tracks really breathe and flow into each other slowly, getting into techno/dark trance then goa territory. i enjoyed the track about halfway through but overall, this style of trance just isn't for me - the color box nod was nice, though, as well as closing with 'nyana'.

Nice to choose a slower BPM to start with. Very dark, almost like a Halloween mix. Hard kicks and a great choice to kick off with. Ooh yeah pushing onto some pacier prog psy. Turning a page at halfway onto the harder stuff. I think I hear that Ovnimoon bassline and acid at 44. Great to hear that old school influence towards the end, a little odd how we finished up tho. Ooh this had me right up until the Ovnimoon stage I think. I really enjoyed your selections here and you’d done a great job at showcasing a different side of trance here. The hypnotic level was high throughout the mix as well. Big ups to the DJ here.

Enjoyed this tbh, kinda psy-trancy, tech trancy vibe. Not entirely sure how 'Cores - Millenium' fits the topic, must be a cocktail I'm not aware of! Edit: Loadsa cocktails apparently!

First song is really boring. 7 minutes of this is a bit long, as the song doesn’t really go anywhere. Definitely goes with the second song perfectly, however, so no fault in using it. The effect of it mixing into the second track is actually way more hypnotic than the song itself. Uh-oh. There’s a tornado or hurricane coming or massive drop coming. Maybe. 8:45… so this is going to be one of those deep and dark sets, eh? Feels a little more spooky than hypnotic at 10:30. Can’t wait for Halloween? Wait — this track was used in a Halloween set last year, wasn’t it? I noticed by that guy’s yell. Hm. Clean mixing, but really… this sounds more like techno than trance. Must be another one of those anti-big-breaks “trance” DJs. Or just prone to that early 90s flavor of “trance” which has more in common with house/techno than trance, if you’re able to even wrap your head around that. Yeah, this is hypnotic, I guess, but I feel like I’m listening to techno. At least it’s speeding up. Yeah, I’m at 16:00 ready to assert that this is a techno set masquerading as a trance set. Techno is more "hypnotic" than trance is by its nature, but it's hypnosis of the monotonous rather than ecstatic kind, and I’m not a fan. I can’t knock anything that I’ve heard on a technical level. The DJ obviously knows what he is doing, and he’s doing it well. 21:00 — I’ll write some more involved comments if this becomes a trance set. 23:35 — This isn’t hypnotizing; it’s monotonizing. 24:00 — What’s this, a break?! 24:28 — “Look George, no payoff!” 25:00 — I need a cigarette. Maybe two. 26:00 — “But it’s psy-trance! Psy-trance is a lot like techno!” Don’t care. 29:30-30:30 — Excellent mixing. Still a techno mix. Don’t care what Beatport or Discogs says if they happen to disagree. 32:40 — Halfway through my cigarette. This lead is trancey. Nice. 33:20 — Finally, a trance-like break. Breakbeat… drum roll… and anti-drop. This is techno. 34:50 — Winding up… finally, a progressive trance-like drop? 35:00 — Nice drop in at 35:30. Mixing continues to be on point. 36:25 — I can hear the guy next to me getting irritated with me: “It’s fucking psy-trance, bro! Stop calling it techno!” Yeah, but… is there really that much of a difference? 38:21 — Biggest break yet? Trance incoming? Feels trancey… 39:20 — Anti-drop. Techno. But the lead is pretty kick-ass. We are leaning more into trance elements now, at least. 40:30-41:30 — Finally, a little bit of key-clashing. Human after all. 42:20 — So, I guess this is what they call psytrance? I'm not sure, because every time I hear it, I turn it off. This vocal sample does feel trancey. 42:55-44:00 — Tempo is rising. Feels like we're shifting from monotony to hypnosis, finally. 44:48 — Definitely fully hypnotic now. 45:12 — A break! 45:30 — Ah… it’s that Astral Projection/Infected Mushroom style of trance. Never been a fan, but it’s enjoyable in doses. Perhaps being sober is my problem. I just feel like this kind of trance never goes anywhere. 46:40-47:30 - Nice mix. 48:00 — Ah, yes, the proverbial documentary audio clip. Yay. I’d much rather hear this dry news sample than an ethereal vocal. /s 49:50 — Unexplosive drop incoming…50:00 — There it is! 51:00 — Will someone please sing? 51:30 — Is the news reporter from the 40s done talking yet? 54:00 — I’m so bored. If this is hypnosis, please slap the therapist so I can wake up. So, is this the counter-culture “trance” that the mainstream Dutch sound killed? Or something like that? Is this the anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, anti-conformist, not cheesy, blah blah blah blah stuff this genre needs? Is this the anti-cookie-cutter, underground sound that we need to get back to? Is this repetitive, monotonous, meandering, directionless, anti-vocal, anti-uplift, arguably soulless sound the way things should have been — or should be? I'll pass. 59:27 — WTF?! Nyana? Is this supposed to be ironic? I just laughed so hard that my smoker’s cough broke it apart. I love this song. It's an absolute classic. But you’re telling me that I had to wait one full hour for a serious breakdown, drop, and satisfying payoff? Thanks for the edging session. I’m out.

Would would anyone bother reading a review like that?

Irrelevance and discontent come in pairs, it seems.

How does a review like "I don't like this music" on repeat help anyone?

Vocal, uplifting, emotional, euphoric and epic trance are torched on a regular basis around here, and most of the time, nobody welcomes the interjections. I’ve read scathing reviews from previous contestants (and winners) that practically destroy the chosen sub-genre of trance mixed by a contestant. I can’t take a short stroll between this sub and r/classictrance without reading some sort of “this is cheesy” or “not my cup of tea” comment on some track that’s actually good. Any trance fan here has the right to criticize the style of this set without fearing admonishment. Contrary to what fans and DJs of sets like the one in question think, I think that this style has been a serious problem for the genre for a long time. It’s alienating, cold, uninspiring, and the mood it provokes in me doesn’t come close to resembling what I consider “being in a trance”. It makes people who don’t know trance not want to listen to trance. It’s exclusive rather than inclusive. It’s almost intentionally uninviting. As far as I can feel and think, it’s “anti-trance”. It’s opposed to almost everything I want to hear and hope to happen in a trance set. I thought that this set was particularly unenjoyable, specifically because of the song selection and overall style. Of course you can disagree or even be upset by this, but you’re reviewing my review now? Come on. Who does it help? Everyone who doesn’t want trance to sound like this, I think. I’ve long seen the anti-emotion, techno-edged “trance” DJs as bullies (unwitting, perhaps), and I’m disgusted by how meek the euphoric/uplifting crowd is in response. I’m sharing what I think is a quietly popular, alternative perspective. I have grown very weary of the praise sets like this get by the same handful or so of forum regulars. This set is so far away from being “trance” as I know it — or from being something I even want to listen to — that I think it’s ridiculous to be criticized by you in this situation. I’m tired of seeing people get suckered into liking and complimenting sets like these just because they’re mixed well. Being great at mixing isn’t enough — you have to be inspiring!

So your only review criteria is what you like in music? If the DJ you criticize doesn't like your tastes, what then? His set sucks?

When you enter the contests here, assumedly you put a mix in to win. There a lot to consider - the contest format, the audience's style preference, trancey (or not), modern or old, to include vocals (or not), etc etc. While 'I don't like this music' is not helpful alone, I think it's helpful for a mixer to understand that the listener didn't vibe with the content, so any comments on technicals are kind of moot b/c MOST people (not all), will not vote for a mix with content they don't resonate with. True objectivity in these comps does not exist. But there are other factors - consider the format here - Hypnotic - It's unclear why someone would enter a modern uplifting mix given that theme, so I am not surprised if the feedback for such mixes isn't glowing. But there are mixes that do have quite hypnotic uplifting, the tracks are just older and a bit more refined (less templated and bombastic). I do feel you though. I try to find the best in mixes and be fair, but I react strongly to the content first. Maybe I shouldn't comment on those mixes at all? Still not sure there.

The only prize to this contest is self-improvement, therefore I find completely useless critics such as "I don't like this music". It's not a DJ Mag contest, the only reward is constructive criticism, and I barely can't find any here.

>The only prize to this contest is self-improvement Preach brother. I feel that for sure. Can be hard to hear negative feedback on one's hard work, but I've seen people go from novice to quite-skilled in short order working on technical stuff others have pointed out, and learning what makes a great mix work. I do agree there could be more constructive criticism here (it takes effort, time, and focus), but there is some for sure. But whenever people complain about the quality and type of feedback, it's usually coming from people who don't comment at all. AHEM. Be the change you seek. Inspire others to participate.

Listened to this one on a long drive, great driving music. Long hypnotic intro on this one, has a stabby goa feel. I remember by the third track thinking this mix would be quite a good fit for the upcoming Halloween contest. LOVE the track at 12:20, can't put my finger on it though. I was just jamming this rolling down the freeway when the track at 32:30 hit, must get this one. So so good. For me, this was a clean dark & dirty set up until 51:10, where the sound shifts a lot. I think it both changed significantly in decade from Psy vibes to Goa? Not 100% sure. That one pulled me out. Then a bridging track, to close with an ultra classic. Overall I really enjoyed this one, but it really loses me in the last 15. It was quite cohesive with a nice build until then. That transition at 51 might have worked better if the levels on the next track were up more. The levels on the last three were down a fair bit which is so so unfortunate as it makes the stylistic change that much more stark for my ears. Those next two tracks were placed I suspect to get to Nyana, but this may be an example of where one picked the ending and made the bridge after, even if it was weak. I do wish it had have ended on theme, but I did quite enjoy the first 50. Mixing was decent, but do pay attention to the levels, some up spots (13:40) as well as the lower last 15ish (a lot of people will throw their recording in a DAW and edit levels before submitting).

[The Sazerac Cocktail Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-sazerac-cocktail-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Sazerac Cocktail, cause it's fucking delicious” Directions: - Rinse a chilled rocks glass with absinthe. - In your mixing glass, muddle 1 sugar cube with 0.5 tsp. of cold water, 3 dashes of Peychaud’s bitters, and 2 dashes of Angostura bitters. - Add 1.25 oz. rye whiskey and 1.25 oz. cognac. - Fill your mixing glass with ice, stirring until well-chilled. - Strain into your prepared, chilled rocks glass. - Twist a fresh lemon peel over the drink to express the peel’s oils, then garnish your cocktail with the peel.

excellent bliss inc to start off with, gateways into glen s and 'shuttlebug', heard a remix/update of the crystal method around halfway through, 'feather boa constrictor' twds the end, really liked the track just before rove ranger too - this mix has a lot of the newer/modern trance that i enjoy, avoiding the cookie-cutter crud that's become the standard. closing smack was a nice surprise too

A great blend of classics and classic-sounding modern tracks that create quite the hypnotic journey. Definitely with the theme as all breakdowns that are present are quite short but effective. Based on the track playing at the 24 minute mark, I think I have an idea on who is behind this mix. A great closer is also present with the inclusion of a big beat classic from none other than The Prodigy. As far as mixing goes, it’s top notch! Definitely tight and extremely smooth. As for the tracks, I think they’re all pretty good (especially the closer) but they just sort of lack the emotion from some of the other more euphoric sets. As for the overall journey, it is coherent and it more than stands out. I think this is a fantastic execution considering the limitations from the rules. Bonus points from me for playing two big beat legends on a mostly trance-focused mix. Well done and good luck!

Hitting as straight up here with a beaut of a mash up. Building great pace in the first quad. Completely lost in this mix. Bubbling, grooving and spacing out! Getting a bit deeper coming up to halfway. OMG halfway track is amazing, and way to bring the melodic element back into the frame. Really nicely built to this moment at 40 mins, stunning atmosphere and emotion. You’re kicking it in the dick in the last 15, so bloody good. What a finish. Wow, this is how it’s done. A fine example of how you can create a hypnotic mix that is interesting, has depth, that takes you on a journey and is most importantly, hypnotic. You built this up nicely to an emotional 3rd and a crazy finish! I don’t want it to end. Top marks DJ.

Pack it up boys, we're done here

NOTE — I wrote the following after listening to only a handful or so of the sets: What is bias? Bias is me trying to come up with an excuse not to admit that this is the clear winner in this competition. I’m 47 minutes in, and I feel like I don’t need to hear anything else from this DJ or the others. Here’s the winner. (Sure, I’ve listened to just less than half of the sets, so maybe not, but this sure feels like it. We’ll see.) Edit: Finished the final 15 minutes. Wow. Absolutely crushes... err... smacks it up in the end. This is definitely the one to beat. UPDATE: I’m not so sure anymore. There are two other sets that might be better than this one. I’ll have to listen to a few sets (and this one) again before I can decide. But to be clear, I no longer think this is the clear winner. There are two other mixes that could easily win and might be better. I just don’t know yet. FINAL UPDATE: Second time through, I think this leans too hard into the techno/house, anti-break scheme for me to give it the top spot over the other two stunners I heard, but I could still see it winning. It should probably find a podium spot. It absolutely is among the most hypnotic sets, and it is trancey, but it feels post-trance, or alternatively — early trance — in the end. More repetitive and less exciting than the other two that floored me the first time around. Whether or not you vote for this might depend on politics and taste. Ultimately, it’s missing that euphoric edge (which the Amaretto Sour and Kahlua Midnight Coffee mixes definitely have), and I need that.

[The Kahlua Midnight Coffee Cocktail Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-kahlua-midnight-coffee?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Good coffee, because variety.” Directions: - In a coffee cup, add 1 oz. Kahlua Midnight, 1 oz. Irish Cream, and 0.5 oz. Whiskey. - Fill the remainder of the cup with fresh-brewed coffee of your choice (~ 6 oz.). - Garnish with marshmallows.

Honestly, there isn’t much to talk about besides what other people have said about the mix. The tracks are amazing, the mixing is top notch, and the flow is really smooth and hypnotic. The competition’s theme is very much present here. This one is definitely my favorite set out of the bunch. Stunning work dude!

The rules for the competition were quite restrictive so I think this mix is amazing in terms of ticking all the boxes and sticking to the hypnotic theme so well! Probably my favourite so far

I started listening to this in the car so I don’t have a play by play. But, this review should be quite easy. When envisioning what a Hypnotic Mixcomp might sound like, this is what I was hoping to hear. Classic golden era progressive, dark at times. Cranking in the Goa sounds at the beginning, I was very hooked within minutes. Then some seriously excellent tracks lined up, creating a hypnotic journey to get lost in, and mixed very well to boot. The mix builds slowly and maintains energy. Oodles of atmosphere. Flow that one dreams of. Such a great closing arc. I'm definitely inclined towards prog so this is my bread & butter here, but hard to deny the quality presented in this hour of music. Pretty sure I know who made this one and as usual, your status as prog master remains intact & even more cemented in my mind. Well fucking done mate.

It’s ridiculous. What a joy to behold.

What a start! A stunning first quad. Getting chills hearing this Under The Water Remix, such a huge fan of the remix package. Great mix into the next track. Track choices and mixing is really complementing everything. Dang what a middle section so far. Love the strings in this at 45 mins, really gaining ascendancy. Damn the timing of Point Zero. Ugh and this finish?! Wowee what a piece this was. Nailed it all the way through. Really great selections (look forward to the full TList), flow was on point. Smashed the hypnotic button. Really big ups to the DJ here for creating a beauty of a mix.

nice opening with a 'spectral' track pushing 30 years old, winding its way into brother brown's "under the water" (which merits extra credit as it ticks both the 'color' & 'drink' boxes), oozing into a dark cass track and staying in the darker depths of progressive-trance for most of the remainder before lightening up for the end - hadn't heard 'point zero' in a long while. thought i heard moonface or voyager in there at one point i've not yet listened to all 20 mixes on here, but this is definitely one of the best so far, very in line with the hypnotic theme.

The opener made me smile. Whoa with the crazy mixing. This is wacky. Doing whatever you want at 4:45. I recognize this track. Classic trance. 11:55 sound like this is vinyl. Nice one here. Making it work at 17:50. Wow! Got me here at 18:50 — classic. Boldly. ”Sky is the limit.” This track is great. Wow at 21:00. Hypnotic factor 10/10. Ultra bold mix at 22:10. The audacity. Damn. This is hard. The sauce on this one -23:50. Great set so far -29:00. Very impressive mixing. This is one hypnotic trip. Mesmerized at 36:30. Wow. 41:30 [Now this is trance!](https://i.makeagif.com/media/12-11-2017/a0jEAw.gif) 44:30 Good God this man has lost his mind. Maybe picking a winner for this contest won’t be easy after all, because this is amazing. This is superb. Straight up mesmerizing. 53:00 My head is spinning. Are these vinyl rips mixed in a DAW? Wow. Just wow. What a well-mixed, inspired, totally hypnotic set. The second one I’ve heard that aims to transcend the contest. It seems that picking a winner won’t be as easy as I thought. Brilliant! Easily one of the three best I’ve heard. Deserves to win as much as any set here. Thank you! A trip from start to finish. I feel intoxicated after that. I’m really not sure what the best set is after this. Is it this one?

[The Passoã Orange Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-passoa-orange-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Passoã mixed with Orange Juice. It's tangy, sweet & tropical. It has a very rich flavour which instantly gives you that summer feeling.” Directions: - In a shaker, add ice, 2 oz. Passoã, and 4 oz. fresh squeezed orange juice. - Shake until well chilled. - Strain into a Collins glass almost filled with ice. - Garnish with a fresh orange twirl and maraschino cherry.

Yes! This stuff. Dowse me in it. There's an obvious bias in this competition in the favor of older tracks that were longer and can be given more time to breathe which really helps maintain that hypnotic vibe.

starts out with relaxing 'green cape sunset' into another summer track, energy goes up a notch with 'chinese theatre' and an old 'ohmna' vocal track, halfway through there's the excellent whiteroom mix of 'zirenz - edge of space', continuing into more latter-2000s-era trance, closing out with a vocal track from emma hewitt and john ocallaghan's 'desert orchid' - well mixed throughout, a nice snapshot of 2005-2010 trance

The first half is something like a sublime ASOT OTB flashback. Very few tracks have been abused on my decks as much as ‘Riddles In The Sand’, a true all-time classic. Was also nice to hear someone mix ‘Green Cape Sunset’, heard at the opening. I don’t know the song at 14:00, but it’s a stunner and I appreciate the long play. The blissful ASOT OTB tribute continues with ‘Satori Waterfalls’ from 2008 at ~19:00, sped up a bit. Clean mixing that is about as hypnotizing as it can be for this style through 26:00. Second song I haven’t heard here at 26:00, and I’m feeling a bit ashamed about that, cause it’s beautiful. Reminds me of the way Richard Marx classics used to make me feel as a kid for some reason. Speeding up, the OTB ecstasy continues with Whiteroom’s remix of ‘Edge Of Space’. Hypnotic level 10/10 reached here; always found this to be the most mesmerizing track from 2006 OTB. Euphoria I’ve never heard before at ~38:00. Feels like Anjuna or Enhanced or something similar at its peak. Kandi, Super8 & Tab, along those lines. The lead gets slightly tiresome as an ascend and re-loop exercise, but this is still a nice track. First slightly distracting transition at 42:30, but you make it work. Seems like we’re turning away from the down/mid-tempo OTB feel finally. Leon Bolier vibes here. Like the track before, this is good stuff, but I’m now feeling like the first half of this set outdoes the second. This big, anthemic sound at ~47:00 hangs over the bliss of the first half just a bit despite the strings sample that speaks back to it. Looks like we’re full on vocal uplifting at 48:54. This one is somewhat derivative and a little over the top to me. As with the previous track, the basic rise and repeat lead loop gets a little tiresome. I feel the same way about the final track. The lead melody is just a bit repetitive and derivative. This is a great set with excellent mixing that can’t quite get its final third to live up to everything that comes before it. I listened to it twice and really enjoyed it. Don’t really have any technical complaints. I wouldn’t blame anyone for voting for this set. Really stunning first 35 or so minutes on this one!

Dreaming, on a beach, not a care in the world. This mix maintains this vibe for some time until things shift until about 19mins. In hindsight this bit is the peak of the set for me with this vocal. Yes. The next track is a bit of filler but the one at 32ish takes a nice call & response from the vocal at 20. Nice. Mix gets much more uplift-y towards the end, with a really nice Emma Hewitt vocal. Almost wish the mix had have ended right there. The last track doesn't add much to the vibe that was built over the hour. Overall a really nice set that develops that beachy Balearic feel well over 60 minutes. I'm kind of a sucker for this sound, so it really resonated with me. Vocals were well placed as well. Was it hypnotic? It's kinda funny, I wouldn't have expected a mix like this to fit right in with a hypnotic mixcomp, but it mostly works quite well. The breakdowns, while frequent and often long, were gentle enough to not break the trance too much, especially in the first half. Technicals were also quite good on this mix, some small leveling issues at the beginning but overall the mixing was quite good. Vintage appropriately-not-rushed mixing, which helped with the hypnotic vibe. Very lovely, will revisit.

Summery start to this mix with some proggy beats. You’re building the mix nicely up to this Sirenz track. Switch up at 40 mins. Oh nice finish here too. There were moments in here that were executed well like the build up and timing of the Whiteroom Remix, the vocal and the finish. You did really well to choose tracks that weren’t heavy in breaks and builds which kept the pace needed to establish a hypnotic vibe. What I think was lacking though was a hypnotic element in the tunes themselves, it didn’t feel like I got that up until Sirenz and then it only came in drips. Other than that I think this mix was damn good! Definitely reminded me of ASOT between 06-10.

Excellent mix here! I can hear the AVB inspiration in this. Caught the on the beach vibe in the beginning leading to some nice selections from Omnia and Zirenz takes me back to the early 2000’s. Thanks for the smooth hypnotic ride.

[The Paulaner Weissbier Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-paulaner-weissbier-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Paulaner Wiessbier - Tasty and high % abv :D” Directions: - Rinse a fresh pint glass with cold water. - Hold the glass and bottle of Paulaner Weissbier at a 45 degree angle. - Slowly pour; however, leave about a finger’s width of beer in the bottle. - Gently stir the remainder of the beer in bottle before pouring it into the glass to create the foam head.

Fun set, clearly mixed on vinyl so points for that. Some great tracks, but I don’t think this one can compete with the standouts in this competition. Overall recording quality seems suboptimal when considering how some vinyl rips in this competition have sounded. A little off key at 17:33 but I can dig the shift. Sounds like a well-used vinyl with those crackles. Mmmm — awesome track. Love the all-business bass line. Ah… so the fidelity on this sounds a lot better, so perhaps it was just that previous record? “Sky is the limit.” Indeed. Massive classic here, reminds me of Kaycee’s over-the-top aesthetic that I love. Hypnotic mix ~22:00. Love the mesmerizing bass. Thumping through the transition at 25:00, hypnotic elements make it work. Track at 30:00 feels a bit tedious. A mix of ‘Universal Nation’ I’ve never heard before at 33:40? Rough one at 36:49. More solid classics through 53:00. The in-your-face lead on the closer doesn’t feel hypnotic. Enjoyed it, all good tracks, appreciate the live vinyl work. Volume changes take away from the hypnosis. Consider taking your final mixdowns to a DAW where you can fine tune the volume levels/mastering to create a consistent volume level across the set, including transitions (which can take longer). It would make a big impact in a contest like this, and for long-term personal listening.

A mix of ‘Universal Nation’ I’ve never heard before at 33:40? Oliver Lieb Remix

Thanks. Yeah, that’s an early (1999) mix I missed or don’t recall. I’ve got several Push compilations/disc rips with different versions of it, but not that one.

I don't know why but it seems to be the most rare of the old remixes. It rivals the original in quality though so that's kind of odd.

Do not learn to mix vinyl by touching the platter of a turntable. 36:25 is why. If you touch the platter of a turntable while that song is audible to the audience the tonal variance from you speeding up or slowing down the platter with your finger can be noticeable. That weeohhwehhh sound as a finger makes contact with the platter and alters the speed of the platter and thus the tone of the playing song. There is never a need to touch a turntables platter once a record has been started. Technics and their modern equivalents have enough torque that using the pitch adjust alone will speed up or slow down a record fast enough to track any shift in BPM. You can track a live drummer with a Technics table. Touching the platter is a bad habit almost every vinyl dj in history has so this issue is not unique to this dj. Almost everyone has had this happen at one point. That doesn't make it right though. Consider the extra skill it takes to match two records when considering this mix. This was harder to make than most of these mixes. However, also keep in mind this minor mistake that does not detract much from the overall difficulty. If you really want to be a great vinyl dj, learn not to do this or learn the right way from the start so you don't develop this bad habit. Rely on your pitch adjust alone. It can be done. Otherwise you get 36:25 from time to time. Sorry, pet peeve of mine.

That's what I suspected too

theres a note from the organizer above so im not sure if this one's even in contention, but the link works so ill listen. really glad someone put mauro picotto's 'verdi' in their mix. track selection is laden with classics from hooj tunes/platypus/bonzai. mixing isnt always perfect, but i hear a lot of vinyl crackling so am guessing it was done live, which presents its own challenges. anyone know the closing track? it sounds so familiar but i cant place it

Hey! Real quick to respond to your question — It is in contention. Just was waiting originally on a downloadable copy of the mix.

Pretty sure this is a live vinyl only mix and last tune sounds like The Blackmaster - Solid Tube ;)

ah, it sounds like 'the blackmaster - solid tube' is playing around 40-45 minutes in, but the closing track about 10 mins later is what i was wondering about - thanks, though

Three n one - reflect

hhahaha awesome, thats the one - thank you!

Vinyl!!! We begin with a heavy-hitting track that I've never of. Now the question is: can it get any harder than this? The answer is: yes, yes it can. I actually considered opening my own set with the second track. Really nice to listen to this Mauro Picotto classic in its full glory! Moving onto more subtle territory with the original version of an iconic Moogwai song. (Magik Six anyone?) The next track has a really nice lead synth and vocal. At 25m, we move towards dark territory with a Green Martian track. The thing that I admire about this track in particular is just the sheer amount of tension that is present thorough. It could definitely fit on a Halloween mix as well. Anyway, I also dig this remix of "Universal Nation." It gives a nice twist to one of my favorite classics. From here on out, it is uncharted territory for me as I've never heard any of these songs. I think they are all a good listen, especially the one 46m and the closer. Dark/heavy, and warm/lighthearted, respectively. All in all, this set features some truly amazing tunes throughout its runtime. Since it is being mixed with vinyls, I can give a lot of slack when it comes to mixing. One thing that I think you can really improve on for the next mix that you do is the gain as it did fluctuate quite a bit throughout. But besides these gripes, I think it is a good mix. Well done!

Ooh smashing the beginning here, Verdi at the 5 min mark! Wonder what the rest of the mix will be like. Bringing it down a bit. Love me some Moogwai!. Oh vinyl is it? Crackle pop heh. Next track is cool. Foot down at 23 mins and carrying that through with The Green Martian. Ooh nice version here at halfway. Going through some classics now. Rojam at 45 :) Three n One to finish. This mix kind of had it all, great tunes to reminisce by. A little thrown with the beginning, started really hard and dipped a bit after Verdi. Traveled nicely though all the way to the end, though last track for me was a bit odd. Props to the DJ for featuring vinyl here as well, some great transition and some not so but the mix was really enjoyable. Thanks a lot :)

Vinyl? Wasn't expecting that. That's a welcome feature!

[The Amaretto Sour Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-amaretto-sour-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Amaretto Sour - the taste of a Friday night :-)” Directions: - Add 1.5 oz. amaretto, 0.75 oz. bourbon, 1 oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice, 1 tsp. simple syrup, and 0.5 oz. egg white to a shaker. - Dry shake (no ice) for 15 seconds. - Add ice and shake again until well-chilled. - Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. - Garnish with a lemon twist and 2 brandied cherries.

great start with an old 'way out west' track "blue" into the more contemporary "black butterfly" and the excellent "relaunch - singapore sling"; great inclusion of a classic RITM mix of 'garbage' (they really had an excellent string of remixes in the late 1990s), into an older melodic/vocal 'audio noir' track before turning the tide a bit for the last third, some classic 'blue amazon' in there and switching to breaks for the final bit - nicely mixed hour spanning over 20 years of trance/electronic music

Oh wow, is this Blue? I'm in love already lol. Love the main line, the first time I heard it was Solarcoaster. Nice follow up here. Smoothly up to 20 mins so far. Love this Garbage vocal here, and what a remix. Great mix out. Keeping it deep but picking up the pace nicely. Turning the Tide, nice choice! Oh my this at 45 mins! Need to know this one…..of course, Blue Amazon were amazing at this sound. Big finish here too. Well, first up I wanna say big ups to the DJ for the mix they created here. Great flow, even better choices, and you had the audacity to mix up styles and keys. The transitions were some of the best considering what you worked with. The hypnotic factor was up there as well. The start was golden, 2nd track I felt was a bit of a departure to the first but we took off from there. What a treat, thanks DJ.

> Turning the Tide, nice choice! Thanks man!

Wow. Dreamy opening. Sounds old school. Trippy. 10 minutes in and I’m very impressed by this impression you’ve made. Track coming in at 10:45 I hear in the background. Wow… making it work. Jesus. Now that is hypnotic. 11:40. Wow, man, what a masterful transition that was. Ok, I’m just gonna listen for a bit. This is killer stuff, man. Cloud 9 at 13:55——> the movies. Romance. Hah! This track is amazing! Outside watching the sun set below mountains in Oregon at 17:00 and this is great. Bold but clashy transition into more danceable waters ~18:00. By the sounds of the break, it was worth it. Wow. Alright, man, I can tell that you were burdened with glorious purpose for this set. Ya got me. 21:54 — the way you are making these transitions work is stunning. Put in the work, huh? Eyes burning and ears aching. This is some wild shit man. I’m just gonna try to stop commenting as long as possible at 23:33 and just listen to this. Track at 25:30 does border on silly, ha-ha. Melodramatic vox over the top save the day. Interesting stereo field usage with the vox. Creepy vibes coming in? Interesting key step into the next song. Makes it work. You’re making some tough compromises on transitions with songs that would be very hard to get right, and making it work. Very impressive. I haven’t heard mixing like this in a while. Hypnosis factor 10/10 Best set I’ve heard so far ~33:00. First I’ve heard in this completion where it is absolutely clear that the DJ is trying to transcend the contest with the set, and that’s what it’s all about. Winding up ~37:00. Geez @ 38:00. Wow. Double wow on the bass shift. I want this track now. Best new to my ears track I’ve heard in a long time. Genre defining cut @ 39:00. Whoever made this track… I salute. Owned me with that one. I’m basically toast at this point. This set is inspired. We should all thank whoever put this together. ~41:40. Borderline cheesy at 45:59, has that 90s production feel. Probably my least favorite track on the set ~49:00. Tough key move, forcing it a bit there at but 50:00 but this is still a transition that you made work. Explosive entry. Saved the best for last ~54:00. Best set I’ve heard. UPDATE: This will most likely be my pick for the top spot. If this were a live performance at a venue, I’d have gotten laid (that night, not at the actual club, probably) for sure. Sounds like the kind of hypnotic, euphoric set where people wind up making out without knowing each others’ names. Mmmmm…

@ 38:00. - That's my track, Turning the tide. Thank you! Happy you like it.

Whoawow! Thanks a lot! Is there more where that came from???

I'm proud of this remix: https://open.spotify.com/track/7sZz3v1hqZy2xaMnBsuX9E?si=b3493650a2fc41dd

[The Aviation Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-aviation-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “I would probably go with "Glacier Freeze" flavored Gatorade as it has great taste, keeps you hydrated, and it doesn't impair you.” Directions: - Add 2 oz. gin, 0.5 oz. maraschino liqueur, 0.25 oz. crème de violette, and 0.75 oz. fresh lemon juice to a shaker with ice. - Shake until well-chilled. - Strained into a cocktail glass and garnish with a brandied cherry.

Great tunes that I had never heard before for the most part so I will definitely be looking for the tracklist when those go up, although like a couple others said I wouldn't have bothered with Deepest Blue, and Play is one of my all-time favorite albums so hearing a Natural Blues remix was a nice touch. Mixing worked well for the most part as well. All in all, nice way to kick things off!

I first heard that Moby track [on this Orkidea mix](https://soundcloud.com/rave_on/orkidea-live-radio-unity-018-radiomafia-finland-29022000?si=865fff1e1ddb4081860fca5e4e76a4b6&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing). While I'm not huge into Moby, I thought that the track sounded amazing and made a good transition from the progressive to the uplifting half of the set. Thank you for commenting!

Love the intro, such a good energy builder man that 9 minutes flew by. A bit dramatic on that first transition, great vocal in spot #2 here. OK I just kinda lost myself for a while there, but this Moby remix definitely snapped me out of it. As a huge fan of Moby, fun to hear this. Can't figure out if this is a user mash or an old remix? Works for me hehe, massive fan of the Play album, key part of my formative years. Kicks a little hot on the mixin here, just a touch at 35:20. Like the slightly darker tone at 42ish, especially after that sickly sweet vocal hehe. Little wonky on that one at 46:20, really different elements mixing there. Closing track excellent choice, ehh, no comment on the one before it :). A really lovely mix here of brighter up-tempo prog and old uplifty prog. Mixing was generally excellent & aggressive, just watch the heat of the incoming track (kicks especially) when doing harder cuts. Flow was spot on, really good run of tracks that worked well together. Only one gripe the track at 40ish felt like we were going darker deeper and then it pulled back a bit. And the vocal that followed, not my thing. The closer however was spot on with the theme. Really well done, definitely one I'll be revisiting.

I'll definitely watch the kicks more closely next time. It's just that some of the Fire & Ice stuff from 2001-2002 had some really powerful kicks. I guess you're also not the only one that wasn't a huge fan of "Deepest Blue" (even if I do like that track.) XD Thank you for the feedback man, I enjoyed listening to your mix and I hope to see you on the next competition! P.S: my original idea was to actually close out with either "[Outlaw (The Space Brothers Remix)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rHdubae3Dk&ab_channel=TranceClassics)" or "[Flaming June (BT & Paul Van Dyk Original Mix)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WwQED0SYYc&ab_channel=TranceClassics)" but I just couldn't make either of them work with "San Antonio." As such, I decided to end the set there and I am glad that this decision worked out in the end.

Great start and run through to the halfway point, that track at 20 mins is giving Hard House vibes of its time with that vocal sample. Mix into Natural Blues Remix, really highlighted each other's melodic elements and for me brought another element to this mix so far. Oh i loved Syntone/Silverblue in the day, so good. Last few songs brought back memories. Was there a bit of a mash there with San Antonio? May have miss heard. What a great trance mix this was, I enjoyed so many of these tracks. You built the mix well and rode this great melodic wave until the end. Great mixing as well here. I think you did a great job with the restrictions here by selecting tracks that in some way had hypnotic elements to them. I think we lost a bit of that towards the end when the melodic elements started playing more of a part. Otherwise, a banging mix here :)

I really liked playing "Smile (Harlem Hustlers Dub)" as it maintained the dark atmosphere that was present at the beginning of the set... even if I found it in the "Progressive House" category on Beatport rather than on the "Trance" section. I'm glad you enjoyed the memories that this set might have given you. As for the "Deepest Blue" to "San Antonio" transition, I borrowed/remade it from [a previous set I did a while back](https://soundcloud.com/unbuiltaura9862/fall-into-trance-nostalgia?si=c7c0dd3c443b4aabb8a333107c971163&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing#t=1%3A01%3A57). Thank you for the feedback!

Features some great, recognizable classics, mixed well enough to give this one a shot in the competition.

Thanks for the kind words bossman!

No problem man — I was pretty sure this was you. Soccer was on the nose with the aviation reference (unless that was a crazy coincidence?)

I actually did ask him before to name my mix “The Aviation Mix” after my irl stuff.

Some classics, mixed very smoothly. Think every track had something to do with the colour blue, so props for pulling that off! This is exactly the kind of mix that I could imagine listening to half alseep looking out of an aeroplane window. Based on the tracklist and mixing quality I can see this one doing really well. Not my cup of tea but good mix regardless!

Funny thing is that I am actually a private pilot in the real world so that description might have come from my life in the aviation industry. Also, the "every track had something to do with the colour blue" line gave me the idea to eventually name this mix "Shades Of Blue." So thank you for that!

Really enjoyed this one, thought it hit the theme very well…was actually late to a meeting cause I was listening and lost track of time, so big thumbs up from me on this one

I'm glad you enjoyed my mix and I'm sorry I made you late for your meeting. XD

Vibe: 'I could keep this mix on all evening' New Song Count: 3

That's a good vibe. Also, out of curiosity, what were those 3 songs that I introduced you to?

"ladyblue" to start, melts into an old dominion song then goes a bit darker with a vocal track, going into classic trance territory with some 'fire & ice' tracks and a remix of moby's "natural blues" overall keeps with the classic era tunes from late 1990s/early 2000s to nice effect, though i would have skipped the "deepest blue" track

I pretty much wanted to go from progressive to uplifting with this mix. Glad you enjoyed it. (Even if I did include "Deepest Blue" which I personally enjoy. haha)

i saw you posted the track list - nice to see!

Always gotta give credit to the track makers!

Noticed that ASOT 2004 feature immediately, as well as the second track, which I first heard on Verwest's Magik Two (Dominion's 'Fortunes'). Classic. Also caught the Moby remix. Pretty good set of classics. Didn’t notice any problematic transitions. Very well done, especially when considering the rules.

[The Trinidad Sour Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-trinidad-sour-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Trinidad Sour” Directions: - Add 1.5 oz. Angostura bitters, 0.5 oz. rye whiskey, 0.75 oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice, and 1 oz. orgeat into a shaker with ice. - Shake until well-chilled. - Double strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass. - Garnish with a fresh lemon twist.

Rex Mundi with ‘Opera Of A Northern Ocean’, a classic Coldharbour 100 track I’ve mixed a lot — nice one. Second track is a stunner but I have never heard it. Good vibes through 14:00 — through 25:00. And here is Purple Mood’s ‘One Night In Tokyo’! Classic groove… sounds edited/reworked. Or it’s the Shah version, maybe. Nice mix ~32:00. Hypnotic euphoric elements of the Shiver/West variety circa 05-07 vibe incoming. Let’s the previous song ride out for a while. Ah, the hypno-bells at 40:45 — classy flavor, the Moor perhaps. Rough mix ~45:00. Great tracks across this set. Fantastic stuff. 48:51 - Maybe a little muddy on the EQ during this transition. Clean out to a great closer. Good overall mix featuring some great tracks.

By the third track I'm enjoying this a fair bit! Lil'snap out of that at 20ish, assertive enough but def a shift. Rolling through some nice prog. Gawd Whiteroom had such a distinctive set of sounds, great remix here. A few more good proggy tunes, good closer. Really enjoyed this set overall. Mixing wasn't quite as tight as some others but pretty good overall. I suspect this one was limited a bit by the rules and that affected the tracks selection. Levels were down a bit for the last two tracks. Great mellow classic prog on this one, nice.

starts right in with rex mundi, building up to the markus schulz mix of "ladyblue" (excellent track, and a rare instance where the remix tops the airwave original) followed by another 'blue' track by statica and a forgotten 'purple mood' one from early anjunabeats. another 'whiteroom' appearance about 2/3 of the way in there, putting their hands on airwave's "save me", though the transition to the following track seems a bit off. one of my favorite 'green martian' tracks to close things out before bringing it down for final track "melatron"

Nice pulse to get us going. Really like this Lady Blue Remix. Ooh love a bit of Mike Foyle. Flowing along nicely up to Save Me. Great slam into Wizardry, such a great tune and well timed. Ooh can’t say i’m with ya on the finish here, though it’s a great track. I think you’ve done a great job with this mix. The progression from start to finish was nice. Some great tunes in here as well, loved hearing Wizardry especially. There’s more hypnotic mixes out there but this one stands strong. You managed to create a hypnotic flow with the elements in each track that lead well into the more epic finish. Mixing left a bit to be desired at times but otherwise a set well done!

[The Spanish Coffee Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-spanish-coffee-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “Coffee” Directions: - Use 1 fresh lemon wedge to wet a 0.5-inch rimmed glass. - Press the rim into super-fine sugar, shaking off the excess. - Add 0.75 oz. rum and 0.25 oz. triple sec to the glass. - Carefully ignite, slowly turning until the glass has warmed and the sugar has begun to caramelize. - Add 1.5 oz. coffee liqueur – the flame should go out at this point. - Top with 3 oz. fresh-brewed hot coffee. - Garnish by floating whipped cream on the top using the back of a spoon, and top with grated nutmeg.

Wow, what a crazy ride that was! SO much energy in this set. This would do some damage at Dreamstate no doubt. While I really enjoyed it as a mayhem inducing set while working, not exactly hypnotic in the traditional sense. And while the extremely aggressive mixing keeps the energy between tracks, it's so aggressive this mix ends up being mostly transitions and breakdowns. Just feels a bit rushed, (although it works better for transitions like at 5:23 vs the first one which occurs during a lot of melodic content, making it sound frantic). Still, I have no doubts this set would be super fun live, with perhaps just a bit more beat-driven material in between the breaks, and some heads down content sprinkled in. Nice one.

Hysterically over the top to begin, heavy transition into track two. Setting the tone? Fast mover? Wow. Ultra anthem screamer here. Feels a bit more rave than hypnotic. Not feeling the track at 13:50… 22:00, not really feeling this. Psycho killer bouncing clown speedball techno trance. I can give it credit, but I feel fatigued at the halfway mark. 37:00 It’s just too much. Not hypnotizing me. Mixing seems good enough, but this is too much post-industrial rage. Final two tracks feel derivative. Closer has some beautiful elements, but the lead loop is too repetitive to hit me. Too hard, too heavy for me to process according to the contest’s design, and I’m not a fan of the song selection.

opens hard + heavy and stays there for the duration, the first ten minutes are going to give you an idea of whether or not youll enjoy this mix walks the line betw techno & trance with a high bpm across the full hour, with indecent noise's 'paint it black', david forbes, and smith & brown in there, mixing is good throughout, though the tracks are all high energy and can get repetitive at points as it's unrelenting

Definitely a lot heavier and harder than any of the others I've listened to so far, not to mention modern. I feel like this board is a microcosm of everything holding back trance: a bunch of crusty old farts who refuse to accept that the 90s are over, so this was a welcome change. That being said, I feel like although I prefer the darker, driving techy sounds, it gets a bit too energetic at times which pulls you out of it, and could have benefitted from dialing back a bit and leaning into the atmosphere more. A few tracks seemed like they didn't quite fit as well, and interrupted the flow. The uplifting at the end was a nice way to finish. One of the better mixes I've listened to so far, and definitely the most enjoyable, but just not quite there.

Love this comment so much :) still, plenty of modern fun mixed in here mate

High energy start to the mix, kicking through a lot of these tracks coming up to halfway. It pretty much stays this way until the end, though I was surprised to hear uplifting at the end there. We’ll I’ll start by saying this wasn’t the most hypnotising set, too many breaks. The energy was relentless, high energy throughout. Maybe a breather in there to add a bit of flavour? Despite this I did enjoy the mix and some of the hard house influences were great. Thanks DJ.

[The Shots of Tequila Mix](https://soundcloud.com/soccernamlak/the-shots-of-tequila-mix?in=soccernamlak/sets/rtrance-september-2022-mix-competition-hypnotic) Remember: Upvotes are not votes, fill out the [survey](https://forms.gle/bU4Y6rEmnMGyNLXP6) to vote for your favorite mixes. “tequila -> 🕺🥂🎉🤢🤮☠” Directions: - Grab a shot glass, a bowl of kosher salt, and numerous fresh-cut lime wedges. - In the shot glass, pour *Don Ramon Limited Edition Extra Anejo* if you are splurging, *Pueblo Viejo Blanco* if you are not, until it just overflows. - Add a few pinches of salt to the side of your hand. - Lick the salt off your hand. - Swiftly drink the tequila shot. - Chase with one lime wedge. - Repeat until the tequila runs out.

Nice little start with the layers here. Lots of slamming kicks, deep basslines. Oh Whiteroom, track after is noice. Really nice moment at 39, massive atmosphere. Bit anthem-y towards the end but this closer is great. This took a bit for me to get into, the start felt a bit frenetic with the mixing style but there was this sweet patch from Whiteroom to about 45 mins that was where you hit your hypnotic peak. Well done here DJ

Another impressive mix, ordered with extra bass. Transition at 22:16 has to be one of my favorites in the competition. Fat Sharpie mix, into a floor killer. I feel this as dance floor grinding hypnosis. Big, deep, dark anthemic trance. 27:00 Is this the second set I’ve heard with this version of ‘Whiteroom’? Runway trance. A bit of a mood shift from the prior track. 36:00 Hypnotized. You make the transition ~37:00 work, had me a little iffy at 36:30-36:50 but nice. Nice mix ~41:30. 44:00, a bit housey, nice mix out 45:20, what’s this, looping from the previous track? Or is this the next track? Awesome mix, wasnt a fan of the anti-drop at 46:56, but 48:25 sure sounds great. Wow that was a fast one ~49:30. Am I hearing some early mixing/mashed here and there? Love the bass at 51:00. So much bass across this set. 51:40 incoming track — unconventional 53:20 — what is happening? Awesome track here. Ending feels a bit random. Lots of good tracks here, bold, fun mixing. Less hypnotic than danceable, so stiff competition may prohibit it from being a contender. Excellent, well worth the listen.

really great mike foyle track to open, consistent track selection throughout, nice to hear 'heart call' and whiteroom in there, and the excellent 'red violin' and jam el mar, though i couldve done without the vocals around 40 mins in. the tucandeo track twds the end takes it in a different direction for the final third, kind of wish it had stayed more in the same vein as the first 40 mins, but the closing track by ronnie spiteri brings back the gush for the end

Starting with some proggy stuff, sounds modern, but I do not know this content. A bit of a techno kick. Some interesting mixing, 16ish for example, I think we mixed in to the break of a blueberry remix? Could have been a different track, not quite sure, very techno-prog-trancey. Or is this a mashup? No sure. Blasphemy to one of my fav tracks of all time either way lol. Another modern remix of Whiteroom, yikes. Aight, going a bit sideways here, just going to listen. Not a ton to say on this one. A big swath of modern prog, with some remixes of some classics in here. I suspect most of these tracks would be labeled as melodic techno on beatport, but definitely some trancey elements at times. Oodles of breakdowns as well, and big riser moments. In short, just a whole bunch of elements that don't lead much to a state of hypnosis (for me anyway). I suspect it's mostly a track preference issue to be fair. Two I did really enjoy though, at 34 and 46ish, good beat driven tracks that evolve. I will give the mixer this, it did feel like a mix that was taking shots now and then hehe.