PROGRESSIVE

[DIONYSOS]

Progressive - probably one of the most debatable terms in EDM culture today. How often do you hear a tune and go "is this Progressive House or Progressive Trance"? If you're as much indulged into the scene as most of us here are, this question is one that constantly poses itself upon you. This is why I am set to attempt at briefly clarifying the notions in order to help you be a little more accurate in your labels.

We all know the unmistakable difference between House and Trance - House is often alluded such adjectives as "repetitive", "monotonous", "funky", "jazzy", while Trance is often attributed such descriptions as "uplifting", "melodic", "psychedelic", "euphoric", regardless of the sub-genres of the track at hand. One common trait that can be found in both genres however is Progressive, and can equally be found in Rock. The reason why I'm bringing up the issue of Progressive Rock is because this is specifically where the Progressive sound was born, and not in EDM as most beleive, and it is thus imperative to trace the etymology of the word to its etiology (i.e. trace its meaning to its origin). Progressive Rock's main feature was, obviously, the progression of elements: the various components of the song would slowly build-up to reach a climax where they are all synchronizing in harmony.

This is can surely be found in both House and Trance, however, as I indicated earlier, there is much dispute on the nature of particular tracks that seem to oscillate between both genres. Take, for example, Tilt's The World Doesn't Know, a track we all adore - is it Progressive House or Progressive Trance? Tough one to answer... The beat seems structured on House rules, while the melody is so trancy that Armin was hammering this baby for months non-stop... Some people just go on naming it "Progressive" without specifying the genre; you can do that I guess, just as you can label it either Progressive Trance or Progressive House, both connotations are correct in this case. This is because what we are talking about here is the new progressive sound, or what I personally call New-School Progressive, a fusion of House & Trance that seems to have fused their distinct crowds and made its way through the tracklists of top jocks from both genres.

New School Progressive is currently my favorite genre (feel free to use my expression anytime by the way), but if I was to introspect on my past taste, Progressive Trance holds the thrown there compared to the other sub-genres of this beautiful music. Back in the old days, Progressive House was easily recognized away from Progressive Trance - the Sasha & Digweed sound for the former via the Airwave & Push sound for the latter. Airwave & Push still are my personal favorite producers, and they still hold true to the original sound of Progressive Trance while assuring its evolution and thus its survival. Just listen to Airwave's 2004 album I Want To Believe or Plastic Boy's (just another alias for Push/Mike) latest It's A Plastic World and you'll get a firm grip on what I call Old-School Progressive Trance is all about.

I hope now you'll be able to tell the difference between Old-School Progressive Trance and New-School Progressive that integrates both House and Trance into one magical combination. But in the end of the day, labeling a track as being of this or that genre or sub-genre is just for classification purposes - good music is what we all seek, and good music can be found anywhere, from the deep forest tribes to your favorite DJ's microchip.


Oh and I want to see this section more active!

[Proof]

[samer]

[DIONYSOS]

[Genesis]

thanks for the info Dion.
i'd also like to add Freq and Pig+Dan (recognized by many as top
Progressive Trance DJs)
i also strongly agree on the evolution that isnt only progressive-wise but
had also took over the trance and dance music scene as a whole regardless for its sub-genres.
names like Orbital and (as u said urself) Sasha and Digweed changed the
sound or progressive house and also influenced the trancy section of progressive. for instance, PQM and Deep Dish r known for their progressive house style, funky, groovy and sexy. but in Deep Dish themselves, Sharam starts by the sexy sleezy housy set and Dubfire takes with a faster upbeat and starts to move into progressive trance (James Holden sound).i like that a lot, its done with such high skill that u cnat even tell who took over and how the sound changed. but as u said, its not easy to tell a difference because u cant basically keep on spinning the same style all night. i find the hardest to be for such a classification: Sasha. no question about him being a progressive house DJ, but in many gigs he blows it out of proportion and vandalizes the progressive house limitations. the names u mention in 'Old school progressive' r also (imo) changing their sounds as i concluded from MIKE's latest. there's a thin line between both... Tall Paul still spins pure progressive trance as well and doesnt mix it into progressive house.
thanks again for the info, i needed to read this. u nailed a number of
points that i never noticed before.

[bxtreme]

i always wanted to bring that topic up, so thanks for addressing it Salim! Dont u remember how i used to tell u how i love the new progressive house tracks but ud say how it was prog. trance... well i guess the way u summed it up is the best way to look at it. take Leama and Moor's remixes and productions, Tilt's TWDK, some markus schulz productions, and Ozgur Can productions as well? I do really get confused between naming tunes as prog trance or prog house, but in the end, its the tune that matters. and just like u Salim, that is probably my favorite category at the moment! The way i define it, its anything that is more laid back and slower than trance, has dreamy and melodic elements, and may also include some vocals.

For the past year i've been loving the prog sound of James Holden, Ozgur Can, Leama and Moor, Tilt, Probspot, Markus Schulz, and OFCOURSE SASHA!!! whether its progressive breaks, progressive trance, or progressive house.. ITS ALL GOOD

[gabrielbatz]

yeah...........but y'all keep to forget someone.....


ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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www.gabrielbatz.net

[exhauster]

WOW DIO perfect exlanation .. now i can c the difference .. i always presumed both to be progressive trance .. now i can c the diference and can tell which is HOUSE .. 10x a lot

[tranquility]

Thank you Dio and for the other members additional notes with respect to defining Progressive and distinguishing between Prog House and Prog Trance!

Cheers!

[System.S]

Well Explained,
U call it New School i call it NU-TRANCE, and i love it myself as well, its a rich sound with lot of elements to experiment with.

And it just SO FUSION when percussions are added, to form a tech-tribal like ambiance, and or electric guitars...... AMAIZING stuff.

I beleive as well that categorizing tracks is not realy important, your last phrase says it all:

"But in the end of the day, labeling a track as being of this or that genre or sub-genre is just for classification purposes - good music is what we all seek"

One last thing, we should not forget the history, in matter of WHO AND WHAT CAME FIRST, it is very important, and that is "un-skipable".

[habib]

samer u r 100% right
and dio thanks man for share man
i love progressive trance cause it s great it s something that we can t explain it kills me.
and about house waw no comment

[Path;)s !]

[jackbeans]

[LargeDoses]

[samer]