Chapter 20: Music Festival

[Chapter 20: Music Festival]

Ryan quickly shook his head. "No need to make it so complicated."

He explained that his vocal sample was just a simple "3, 2, 1, go!" and nothing irreplaceable.

"That's awesome!" Dead Mouse visibly relaxed and grinned, saying, "If I didn't hear the full version, I wouldn't be able to sleep. This is so cool, man."

This time, Ryan was working on the climax of the track under the watchful eyes of Dead Mouse, along with his VJ and assistant.

"Is the bass too heavy? It sounds off-beat," Dead Mouse quickly pointed out that Ryan had made a rookie mistake in the climax.

"That's what makes this track special," Ryan insisted, showing no intention of changing it. He had planned it that way from the beginning.

Dead Mouse helped Ryan find a new female vocal sample, and Ryan spent just half an hour completing the transition from the climax to the second interlude. He added an extra bit of the climax and created an outro, refining the transitions.

With that, the final version of Tremor, running 4 minutes and 54 seconds, was finished. Ryan even added "Original Mix" in parentheses after the title, indicating it was the original version.

The name of the track already carried that character, and Ryan copied it down verbatim. At this point, Ryan felt he had recreated about 90% of the original track in his mind, with a few harmless details left -- he had essentially completed the song.

"In other words, are there other versions like a radio edit or a remix?" Dead Mouse immediately asked.

The radio edit usually had a one to two-bar intro, jumping straight into the song, which, as its name suggested, was used for radio play. The extended version was the opposite, featuring a 12 to 20-bar long intro, designed for DJs to mix on-the-fly.

Together with two remix versions from other DJs, they could compile a maxi single, consisting of five tracks. In the past, seven-inch records would have different versions on the A and B sides. In the digital age, this selling format fell between a single and an EP, priced between $2.99 and $4.99.

Once all the production was done, Dead Mouse and his two assistants became the first listeners of the original mix of Tremor.

"This track is different from the house music you've played before," Dead Mouse noted.

"It has a stronger bass; it's big room house," one of the VJs recognized the style.

Dead Mouse got excited, "If this single gets a good response at the festival, we could totally release it commercially in Canada!"

...

The next day, Ryan and Dead Mouse arrived early at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami. This was the main stage for the Ultra Music Festival that year, with the Miami Heat's home, the American Airlines Arena, just to the south -- talk about a prime location.

The mainstage's framework was already constructed. Two metal towers, several feet high, reached toward the sky, draped in semi-transparent black mesh, which displayed the Ultra Music Festival logo resembling a computer power button. Through the mesh, a large matrix sound system hung from the metal structure. Between the two "towers" lay the main stage, where crew members were still finalizing the setup.

Ryan followed Dead Mouse and stepped onto the stage. From this view, he noticed a series of tents set up in one corner of the park, indicating that some of the most passionate festival-goers had already arrived.

He also saw many people dressed in outrageous outfits, wearing giant fluffy boots in turquoise and bright pink, ballet skirts at their waists, and tops that ranged from bikinis to body paint, or sometimes nothing at all.

Some even sported oversized "fairy wings," as if they had just returned from the Land of Oz, or wore artificial daisies in their hair. A normal person might think they had taken something strong.

Clearly, this crowd seemed to be "on something" most of the time. Ryan noticed several crew members in reflective vests distributing items with "DanceSafe" printed on the back and a hotline listed below.

"The bags they're handing out probably include some small umbrellas, a pair of earplugs, and a guide on 'How to Safely Party Without Risking Your Life,'" Dead Mouse explained, shaking his head as if this was old news. "There are cases each year where underage kids end up overdosing at events, which is why you're here. You don't have tattoos, you played football in school, you don't smoke, and you've auditioned for country music contests. You represent a whole new DJ image."

"Right now, the whole industry needs to distance itself from raves," Dead Mouse added.

"That's not easy," Ryan replied, glancing at the colorful crowd.

"You're right; rave parties were all the rage in the early '90s, but it wasn't as open as it is now. They were illegal events, where ecstasy and HIV were rampant among adults and teens."

"The landmark event was Rave America in 1993, where over 17,000 people gathered at the Knott's Berry Farm in L.A. Since then, various cities and states have enacted numerous laws limiting such gatherings. At one point, if you attended a friend's party in Chicago, you might get fined $1,000. In New Orleans, party hosts could even be charged like drug dealers," Dead Mouse continued.

"That's also one reason American radio stations shunned electronic music, but it wasn't the deciding factor: the underlying issue was that record companies couldn't figure out how to develop electronic performances into a sustainable career for album-selling artists. No label would invest resources into musicians with no visible return.

However, everything has been quietly changing with the rise of the internet. People are now streaming DJ mixes on YouTube and discussing it on social networks and forums. More and more people are engaging in electronic music events like the Ultra Music Festival, including last year's epic performance by Daft Punk at Coachella, with their glowing pyramid -- they set the standard for live electronic performances!

I've never been more confident about the rise of electronic music worldwide than I am now. Maybe soon, DJs will become the rock stars of this era," Dead Mouse said, breaking into a grin.

Ryan, however, felt no excitement. Rather than dwell on this, he thought it would be better to rehearse for tomorrow's performance.

But Dead Mouse shook his head. "Being a DJ is less about playing an instrument and more about performing. The better prepared you are, the less you have to do during the performance -- even just hitting the play button! I don't think that's the right approach; I prefer to showcase the true me in front of the audience, and that includes you."

'What kind of twisted logic is that?' Unable to convince him, Ryan decided he needed to head back to the hotel to prepare, parting ways with Dead Mouse.

Ryan felt unlucky, constantly running into problems, but as he remembered he was in Florida, it all made sense.

The following afternoon, the Ultra Music Festival of 2008 officially began.

*****

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