The Cynic Project
Encyclopedia
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
project started in 1999 by Alex Smith. It is known for its uplifting melodies, as well as standard club beats. It rose in popularity with the upbringing of mp3.com
MP3.com
MP3.com is a web site operated by CNET Networks providing information about digital music and artists, songs, services, community, and technologies. It is probably better known for its original incarnation, as a legal, free music-sharing service, popular with independent musicians for promoting...
in 2000, where it hosted its music, which was downloadable for free. Much of the earlier works were relatively short, considering trance standards. The project originally started as an experiment and developed into the high energy trance project it is today.
Smith formerly lived at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities Campus). He studied piano from grade school through high school with private teachers and also played the double bass. Creating electronic music using MIDI and MOD tracking software has been a hobby of his for years, but his music was never recorded or distributed until the summer of 1999.
Smith currently is aboard as an instructor at DubSpot in the Big Apple, NYC where he educates on technique and style mass in music productions.
Smith began to earn significant profits from mp3.com's "payback for playback program." His dance track Matrix (now known as 'grid') hit #1 on the mp3.com music charts in November 1999, and in December he was the top earner on the site, receiving $5,261 in profits, which mp3.com paid based on revenue from on-site advertisting. Smith went on to build a home studio and started production on a CD. The first CD release, Soundscapes Sampler, was completed early in spring 2000. A Sidewinder single was released in the summer and Soundscapes 2000 was released in the fall of the same year.
Smith's inspiration for writing electronic music started when he heard Robert Miles
Robert Miles
Robert Miles is an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ in electronica and alternative music.-Biography:...
' Children on vacation in Paris. He soon discovered the trance genre and cites several favorite artists including ATB
ATB
ATB may refer to:*The US Reorder tone is often referred to as an ATB, for All Trunks Busy*Active Time Battle system is a feature of role-playing games*Mountain bike is an off-road bicycle...
, Ayla, BT, Ferry Corsten
Ferry Corsten
Ferry Corsten, also known under the alias System F, is a Dutch producer of trance music, in addition to being a DJ and remixer. He also hosts his own weekly radio show, Corsten's Countdown. He routinely plays at events all over the world with crowds in excess of tens of thousands. In 2009 Ferry...
, Chicane
Chicane (recording artist)
Chicane is a British electronic dance music act, and the guise of British musician, composer, songwriter and record producer, Nicholas Bracegirdle....
, DJ Tiesto, Lange
Lange
-People named Lange:* Algot Lange, Swedish explorer* André Lange , German bobsledder* Andrew E. Lange , U.S. astronomer* Antoni Lange, Polish poet* Artie Lange , U.S...
, DJ Sakin
DJ Sakin
DJ Sakin is a Turkish-German dance music producer, remixer and DJ. Bozkurt started producing music and DJing in 1990....
, Tomski, Rank 1
Rank 1
Rank 1 is a Dutch trance group, formed in the Netherlands in 1997. Widely regarded as one of the originators of the Dutch trance sound, the group have produced a number of dancefloor hits since their conception...
, Energy 52
Energy 52
Energy 52 was a solo project comprising Paul Schmitz-Moormann and Harald Blüchel. The 1993 track "Café del Mar" became one of the most heard trance songs in the world; its dozens of remixes have appeared on hundred of compilation albums. In April 2011, the song was voted number one by BBC Radio 1...
, Kosmonova
Kosmonova
Kosmonova is a DJ and music producer.-Discography:AlbumsSinglesRemixes-External links: ...
, and Solar Stone.
One of his biggest hits, Grid ][ (Trance Mix), was originally known as Matrix ][. Mp3.com forced every artist to rename every song that contained a commercially dubious name, even though the song had the name before the first Matrix movie
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
was known to the public.
Despite an acclaimed career, The Cynic Project failed to continue producing tracks and disappeared from mainstream electronica. In doing so, a dubious and acclimated sound was founded, which has been hailed in bands similar to Avicii.
Discography
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