Trance and it's place in Tankwa Town

[Captain Jon]

Radical inclusion is important for all burners, but being based in Cape Town we have a unique situation where outdoor events with any electronic music can be mistakingly pigeon holed into two words - Trance Party. I feel that if we split up the music geography of Tankwa town and have a 'Trance zone on one end say 2ish and a non-trance zone on the other end at 10ish, people could camp where they are most inclined to enjoy the music and we'll have less complaints of non-trance party goers moaning about the trance scene killing the burn.

Any thoughts? Is this notion against the burner principles?

[Travis]

Well now this is a helluva wildcat of a topic; well done for getting it onto the interweb, Cap’n.

I think it's an opportunity for creative solutions. I also think a loud/quiet zone structure will go a long way to ensuring everyone gets along well.

The trance crews have, over the years, made important and creative contributions to AfrikaBurn. Fact is that over the past two decades the trance scene has given rise to a whole subculture of people who are largely self-sufficient, environmentally conscious and are capable of producing amazing artwork in the most trying conditions. That said, it’s a fact that, despite many trance lovers being lovely people, their music doesn’t appeal to all ears. Hell, neither does Johnny Cash, but then Johnny Cash lovers aren’t known for playing their music for 72 hours straight at 130bpm through a 5K rig.

Provide an area for the trance crews to call their own. Locate it below the +/-1.5m dip that’s located behind the San Clan, making use of the lie of the land to absorb the bass. Put a call out amongst all the trance crews that attend to co-ordinate their décor and infrastructure so that the experience of the area is incredible. Create an avenue of flames or solar powered lights which provide a spectacular entrance/exit to the trance area. Engage artists who want to work with stretch decor, blacklight, lasers, EL wire and LED's to get involved. Make this area into a feature and a positive asset of Tankwa Town, where the colours are brighter and the music never stops! Give the trance crews a project to work on, a thunderdome to call their own and free reign to play for as long and as hard as they like!

Trance lovers are largely self-sufficient, capable, hard-wearing, dedicated and creative. Given an area to call their own, they’ll come up with something amazing, which everyone will want to see.

Result.

[ilanzo]

Excellent solution Trav! It would even make the Trancedome more appealing to non-trance lovers as it will be a spectacle to visit every now and then. I don't think it goes against any principles, its about improved planning and putting solutions in place to accommodate everyone equally.

It also leaves 10ish & 2ish zones open for other music genres to grow.

[Ard]

What exactly do y'all define as trance? One man's trance is another man's minimalist techno

Jon, as you said, one of our core principles is radical inclusion. This idea of segregation for trance makes me uneasy.

I think that the core issue is SOOP, not trance. Many of the SOOP offenders have played electronic dance music. If we have better ways of dealing with sound, it should go a long way towards solving the 'trance' issue.

I like the idea of using the dip for big rigs, but don't thing that it should be solely for trance camps.

The site layout needs to change this year, and dealing with sound will be one of the considerations.

[Travis]

Fair points, Ard. You're right, it's not a trance thing alone; a 'sound district' might have been a better way to describe what I had in mind. But hell yes, a heaving beaming thunderdome that sets the night alight, bring it on!

[mikesuss]

Um, yeah... Travis, 130 bpm barely qualifies as trance! Psy-prog maybe... but trance tends to be upwards of 135 bpm and full-on is in the 140-160 bpm range! And Ard is right - even within the psy-trance genre there are at least four distinct types (dark, prog, goa & full-on). And I think you will find that even different 'trance' camps will want to do different styles - this year there were at least three different styles at different floors.

I don't think we should have any input into genre at all, but rather focus on intensity, which could be measured by max. volume and possibly bpm... although for some folks, any relatively fast repetitive beat is equally offensive.

I have something to say about SOOP policy in the other section...

[liz linsell]

Great discushins here some random comments......

I am in favour of noisy and quiet zones, it needs to be planned and communicated extremely well beforehand and I think since many peepl who took the time to complain about it will happily engage with this subject when given a chance....... we may have a successful spread ov info around this.

I am not in fave of separating trance from techno from psy to goa to wot not.. its all too confusing!! As a trance and other muzic lover i STILL do not know where the boundaries are between techno and trance.

I am certainly not in favour of a music cut off time in the loud zone. In the quiet zone it makes sense but how... is it a recommendation or something we have to enforce (and here i feel uncomfy..) ideally the community shud make it happen??

Mobile music goes everywhere on the binnekring and is loud sometimes.. DO we suggest for a cut off time there? hmmm

We have the theme camps who register and declare their sound up front but wotabout the burners who go and camp just behind (almost on top of) the quietish theme camps and crank up their toones in the quiet zone. This is what has been problematic in the past. Ideally the community will deal with it but we have seen some nasty methods used and it would be great to avoid and prevent gennies gets sugared or or or...

Cud power be a dicsushinpoint as in no gennie's in an area?

is music/trance the main source of SOOP?? How bout the gennies that go on and on and on right next to yer ear?

I was fortunate the metalheadz used their gennie to drive a shaver (yes a beard remover) that only happened once and was quite something to watch and fotograf.. Charl shaving next to his gennie!!

So delighted no one is even thinking about the anvil .

groovy day (noisy or quiet to y'all)

Blom

[Shawn (KZN Burners)]

Ahoy! here is my input regarding SOOP.(add to dictionary) ahem.
As with all types of these discussions, first and foremost is the relevant principle involved here " radical inclusion and radical self expression" sound rigs being a medium of expression are here to stay so we need to manage them in a way we don't discriminate against any particular genre, sound systems and the sound the reproduce whether it is trance,techno,punk ect are all governed by the laws of physics, here follows a brief lesson.

1. Hi and mid frequency sounds are directional ie if you move off axis of the speaker the sound level decreases, also the sound waves energy drops off pretty quickly the further you move away from it(distance), this is why you always hear the doof of an approaching taxi first.
2. Bass sounds on the hand are omnidirectional(ie they radiate around) these sound waves are bigger and carry the oomph(power).
3.So the best way we can influence sound is by loudspeaker placement and directional control.
The best way to do this would be to simply focus them from a raised position downwards directly towards the center of the dance floor where the most people are as they will absorb some of the sound,

Subs or Bass bins work the best when they are placed on the floor it allows the sound waves to couple with ground giving you the thump you feel, the thing to do here is to raise them up by stacking them on a pallet for example to insulate them.

Ideally you would also need to point all rigs facing outward from the playa, this is tricky with regards to to how you would locate your entrance way to a camp. But can be worked around.

So how do we apply the above to Tankwa town?

1. Set a noise level limit in decibels Db this is easy to enforce as all you need will be a portable sound level meter,you simply stand in front of a rig and measure it.

2.Town planning have all the punters camping together,obviously this would not apply to theme camps and people who need to be near their art installation ect.

3.Create a buffer zone of art installations and theme camps between the sound zone area

4.Take note of the prevailing wind direction with regards to way it carries sound.

5.Communicate via" what to bring "to attendees that they need to be aware of sound systems and to bring earplugs if they want silence whilst trying to sleep.
http://www.burningman.com/preparatio...ity.html#noise

6.Genny's are also a SOOP there are ways to quieten them by enclosing them in wooden boxes, check this link from BM
http://www.burningman.com/preparatio...enerators.html


Hopefully we can sort this SOOP issue by some careful planning, the dynamics of South African culture being as they are it is best to sort it out in these early days through
a official policy.

What time is it? oh it's Kalingrad time........nasdarovia see you on the playa

[Shawn (KZN Burners)]

Reading posts from this years Burningman it seems there is a love /hate relationship with Dubstep at this years event, and from my experience at this years Afrikaburn it was trance, so it is obvious the type of music is not the issue but rather how we manage it to fit into the event, so everyone can enjoy.
Town planning and facing rigs outwards will help solve this.
We can anticipate an increase in sound systems at AB 2012.

See ya on the playa

[Ranger Bob]

spot on Shawn

its not the music its the attitude, communication, and consciousness of those making, as well as hearing the music