I produce uplifting trance and I feel like my tracks are always “missing” something. What I mean is that when I listen to popular trance tunes and compare them to what I’ve written, I can never seem to capture the energy or the feeling that the sound is as full and vibrant as those songs.br
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So, I’ve tried to teach myself what I’m missing by trying to re-create, as exactly as possible, 4 bars of different songs that I like, in order to try and figure out the little things that will make the difference. One of the ones I’ve done is BT - Skylarking:br
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Original 4 Barsbr
My Reproductionbr
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I use Ableton, and here’s my project file (requires Nexus and a crash sound effect of your choice). Is it just that the instruments I’m using aren’t as good? Am I missing chords? Some kind of effects or something? I’d love to hear your thoughts as to why the original sounds so much better than my reproduction.br
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Thanks :)br
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~~Affection
hi mate your instruments are fine, from what i am hearing, you need more delay, more FX, and more synth and strings layering. Also better EQ on the drums and mixing. I would suggest if you can find you favourite artist and see if he has done a masterclass and goes through the track you will definatelly find whats missing. Its that 10-20% that separates the pros from you 
but don;t worry, keep learning you’ll get there.br
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here is what i mean: Armin van Buuren In The Studio With Future Music - YouTube
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hope all this helps:)
I think you’re on to something with the “layering” – any specific ideas for this particular piece? Do I need more chords, or just more instruments playing the same notes? One thing that’s incredibly difficult (for me, at least) is hearing and picking out chords in music that is complex (highly layered), so I never know if I’ve captured all the music.br
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Thanks!!!
well i don’t know how its done in trance music, but i do know in hardstyle they change the chords or notes, for electro house they pretty much keep them same. I would recommend try both and see which ever you prefer. How many synths do you use, i would suggest maybe 5? Like 4-5 different synths playing the same . Have a look at the futuristic polar bears tutorial and you’ll see how they do it and what i mean. Let me know how it goes
Will do, thanks again 
Honestly I think its because their song is quite spacious yours sounds right up in front of you…I’ve been using waves stereo imager on my white noise recently and it sounds almost identical to theirs pushed back and nice in the mix try putting some saturation on your high hats and just making them drive a little bit morebr
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it is a nice recreation none the less
You are also missing a ton of notes. There’s quite a complex melody going on there… I’ll have look at it in the studio this week see if I can get closer.