Trance and it's place in Tankwa Town

[Tim Gregory]

I love trance parties and love huge booming sound systems, but when I'm at Afrikaburn trance in particular is one of the most aggravating and unpleasant parts of the event. No other genre seems to play at the same tempo, volume, and for the same duration at Afrikaburn, but I guess it would be possible to have the same problem with techno or dubstep or whatever.

I am lucky enough to live in Cape Town, and if I want to listen to trance music in the summer I can attend an outdoor party every weekend, and in winter there are many club nights catering to trance fanatics. Many AB attendees enjoy the same, so it's really quite easy to find a good trance party if that is what one is after.

Afrikaburn is not a trance party, and I like it that way. I would be sad if the trance drove participants away from the event.
In a broader perspective of 'radical inclusion', we should be looking to include people in the event that are not regulars at trance parties.

Some of the ideas that might help with the 'problem' and that could be used together in some combination:
- a couple of hours every night of quiet time - e.g. no amplified music, no unmuffled generators between 4am and 8am for instance to allow everyone some time to get rest and enjoy the stillness of the place
- encourage mobile sound systems on art cars rather than fixed installation systems - the mobile systems tend to be smaller and they move their noise around from time to time.
- allow self-regulation through a complaint system, e.g 5 or more complaints and a sounds system needs to turn off or move
- enforce limits on amplification, e.g. 2KW maximum amp capacity per system

[liz linsell]

I ditto ditto, vritten ditten yer sentiments mister Shawn... an if it aint trance its gonna be disco and if it aint disco it could even be techno let alone learner
rock bands and lets not forget how some simply HATE that anvil!!..(that BWAAAHHHH that blasts early in da morning and randomly thru the day- totally
insensitive to any earplug cos it shakes the whole of the binne kring ~ and all the souls sleeping around it !!) I personally LOVE the anvil and camp as close to it and its masters as possible...
but those who hated it stole it... (grrrrrrrrrrrr)

There will always be sumtin that pisses peepses off but it makes for great debate and an excellent opportunity to keep on challenging ourselves within the ten
principles

presstick makes the best and cheapest earplug!!

rock on...

[Senor Neek]

On the advice of my cardiologist, I no longer pay any further attention to those bloody anvils...they make me jump every time. However, any person that lugged something that heavy through that desert probably gave it a "Vegas Funeral", i.e. a shallow, dusty grave. RIP Mr. Anvil.

As for the trance junkies, i suppose you can't keep everyone happy all of the time. I think that quiet areas work better than noise curfews. Sometimes, even us old timers get carried away by the lure of the impending sunrise and would like to keep on stompin' until the desert dawn.

[Simon Max Bannister]

Dig a hole, build a wall, rather drastic in a flat hard as mars desert. I would define a general courtesy "rule" - No stationary camp can bang tunes for more than 3 hours at top volume. Allowing another 3 to pass and giving people a chance to move on, the rig a rest and enjoy the other delights. Mobile sound systems can deviate and move the vibe (love that dynamic).
I have been involved with trance and its enough to make you run for the hills, which are quite far, out there. I enjoyed firing up some beats and then putting them away, variety and diversity are great and I appreciate the plethora of tastes on offer. I say mix it up, keep it fresh and evolve the soundscape out of the ordinary!

[Richard H. Palmer]

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 hate Psytrance.
I love Minimal Tech Trance.
I love suggestions.
I hate rules.

I believe Town Planing is key.
Quiet area behind "Bass Camp/Main Camp",,, what ever the fuck it's called. All sound rigs to face 12 o'clock. Apart from the moving ones of course, which must face inwards/towards the centre of the 'Brown ring" sorry Biner kring. Size of rigs are to be declared in advance and positioned appropriately. (Facing 12 o'clock and not behind another camp)


and most of all, I hate "honkey-tonk-tear-jerking sing-a-longs." Singing about "My horse died, my girlfriend left me and my farm burned down."
Listening to music with lyrics is a lot like watching soap operas for me. I have an eventful enough life as it is, I don't need to hear all about your dramas too, thank you very much. I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick.

and secondly...... if we start making rules about sound at an event like this, we could end up with the Fourth Reich before you can say "Turn that shit down"
If you are a light sleeper, camp far away for fuck sakes. You've come to an event of "Art, Naked, Alcohol, Lights, Cameras, Music, Fire, Action" and now you want what? Quiet? Book your self in to the Blikkiesfontain retirement lodge if you want quiet. Or maybe just change your perception.
A "Burning Man" visitor said they found Afrika Burn to be exceptionally quiet. Go figure?

Make no mistake, I love the quiet of the desert. I have spent many a night in both the Karoo, and the Namib blissfully drenching myself in the defining silence. An exceptional experience, most defiantly comparable to a week at Afrika Burn,.. but please. You are at an event were one of the core principals is "Radical Self Expression" and you want, nay demand quiet. Sorry. You came in through the wrong gate. You are at the the wrong event. Please feel free to return once you have received your 'Attitude adjustment"

[Paul Papenfus]

Now that Afrikaburn 2012 is over I have read the forum posts about SOOP from before the event and noted the useful suggestions there. It's a pity that the best ones have not been implemented. I have also read one forum post that had it that, basically, if you don't like the loud music at Afrikaburn, find another festival. No rules, every man for himself.

This year was my second Afrikaburn. For the reasons I outline below it may be my last. I hope it won't be.

I am a musician and I have passionate views about all kinds of music. I do not like trance music or any form of repetitive electronic sound. There are many people who love it and I invite them to keep making their views known. And like many of them, I love playing my music loud. I have learned the hard way to be considerate towards those who do not share my passion for my favourite genre.

For the second year now I have been force-fed electronic music at all hours of the day and night. I love the rest of what happens at the festival but, to me, loud, all-consuming trance/electronic/[insert your label here], all the time, just doesn't fit. The festival is about creativity in every sense. People come up with the most amazing ideas for scupltures and vehicles. Why do we need to put up with such a narrow spread of music then? There are so many amazing kinds of music in the world, and some other genres did get heard, but not nearly enough. If Afrikaburn was a dance music festival then the music I heard in 2012 would have been fine. But it isn't.

I realise that there are loud and quiet zones at Tankwa to try to accommodate people of all tastes in noise levels. I'm aware of two problems that remain. The first is that it is not always possible to find a spot in the quiet zone. Especially if it's true that the majority of festival-goers actually like to camp in relative quiet. But of this I cannot be sure. The second problem is that many of the sound systems are so powerful that they sound loud from anywhere. The music near our tent was so loud that I could feel the bass, earplugs or not. I like Afrikaburn's emphasis on inclusiveness. But surely, someone who plays ear-splittingly loud music at two in the morning cannot be considering other campers as much as him/herself. This is not community. It is selfish.

Perversely, the presence of these audio systems means it is nearly impossible to actually CREATE some new music. You simply get drowned out. It kills the whole idea of jam sessions and being creative with other musicians. Again, it is ironic how the rest of the festival encourages creativity but how any chance at random musical expression gets gagged just because some people fear the concept of having rules at the event. We do have very prescriptive rules about MOOP at Afrikaburn (single-ply toilet paper or bust, remember?) so surely rules about consideration for your neigbour's eardrums are not Out Of Place?

I could easily bring my own generator and amplify my instrument or chosen type of music. But this could turn into something I've seen many times as a musician: an arms race for the loudest noise. Everyone keeps turning themselves up until only the loudest one prevails. I really hope Afrikaburn will not continue to be at the mercy of whoever can afford the biggest sound system.

I will not be adding any new suggestions. There are many in this forum that can sort it all out. Enough people know what can be done to make this better. For next year, can we get to more of them please?

I have heard that some of the music tents have been politely asked to look for ways to be less disturbing. This is very helpful. But I'm not sure if what has been done this year is enough to warrant me going back. If the majority feeling is that Afrikaburn should continue to welcome all levels and forms of loud music, all the time, in the spirit of radical self-expression at all cost, then the people have spoken. But I probably won't be there to hear it.

[EarthHouse CapeTown]

I agree with ARD .. the site layout needs to change to deal with sound. Please. I like trance & all music, but it sounded like the doef-doef just took over day & night.. I felt I was at a trance party during the night. Other than this, we had an absolutely amazing time, thank you to all! (:

[wintershall]

Don't like soop ? Well, have steak... Vegetarian ? Go fishing, but don't hurt that poor little big fish... I don't think this year was all tranced out, considering a much bigger community I feared for the worst, but thank the gods all 4 trance camps were literally next to each other around 10'ish, a sector I avoided but a place others spend a whole week, which is a bummer, 'cos there's so much more; I think, in the build up to the burn and after a camp has indentified itself as a trance music camp and BEFORE placing them on the map, one should engage with the head of camp (hoc) and explain or make him/her aware of the fact, that on 51 weekends a year there're trance parties in the western cape and if it's really fundamental to play psy-trance for 5 days continuously ?!? There has been a great variety of sounds in recent years (remember in 2007 there was a centre stage with a forced line-up with a average listening crowd of 2-5 people); unfortunately, the domain got destroyed in the storm, this was a free-style jazz haven of note... Personally, I hated all electronic music in the early 90's (the sound quality was a little better than cardboard) but when a returned from india in '96 I sold my drumkit and bought myself decks... Now I love it all, there's also to consider that it's a lot easier from a logistical point of view to set up a soundsystem & a dj compared to dragging a whole band out to tankwa (respect to mashed-up who played live music off their truck since 2007). If you camp in the quiet zone and bring your earplugs, you should be safe for your beauty sleep, I do this a all major festivals, the furthest away from any stage and comfortable earplugs, i'am very sensitive in that regard; despite the latter I managed to get a few hours of good sleep at this year's burn, in the loud zone and without earplugs (I don't do drugs, didn't even smoke a joint, meaning I wasn't spaced out or clouded). I do admit that a 30k rig is out of place in tankwa town; it does give a sound of clarity though if only running on 30%...and again, it's those 2 principles that form a enjoyable community, immediacy & civic response-ability, if you don't serve a big crowd turn it down, no-one has to sleep at the burn but some wouldn't mind a little kip; as for the night of the burn (saturday/sunday) and the following night it should acceptable to party all night long and make the loud zone proud...

[haront]

I actually love Trance music and though there is a very thin line with thinking it is trance music and actually considering it as something that is a little far apart, that is a wild throw at it. With consideration to what specific things are actually available to that type of ground, it would be tougher call between that and actually having burners appeal to the ears.