Music Festival

Ryan quickly shook his head. "There's no need to go to all that trouble."

He explained that his vocal sample was just a simple "3, 2, 1, go!" and wasn't anything irreplaceable.

"That's great!" Deadmau5 visibly breathed a sigh of relief, then grinned. "I wouldn't be able to sleep if I couldn't hear the whole thing. This is so cool, man."

This time, Ryan finished producing the climax with Deadmau5, his VJ, and his assistant all watching.

"Is the bass too strong? It sounds like it's off beat." Deadmau5 quickly spotted the kind of mistake in the climax that only a beginner would make.

"That's what makes this track special." Ryan clearly had no intention of changing it; he'd planned it that way from the start.

Deadmau5 helped Ryan find a new female vocal sample. After that, Ryan spent just half an hour finishing the section from the climax to the second breakdown, pasted in an extra repeat of the climax, and made an outro before polishing the transitions.

At last, the final 4-minute-54-second version of Tremor was complete. This time, Ryan added a note in parentheses after the title: Original Mix, meaning the original mix.

The song title Ryan had gotten from Déjà vu already included those words, so he'd copied it down without changing a thing. By then, Ryan had reproduced about ninety percent of the original track in his head. The remaining differences were minor details, so this could be called the track's "complete form."

"So there are other versions, then? Like a radio edit or an extended mix?" Deadmau5 asked at once.

A radio edit usually had only one or two bars of intro before quickly getting into the song. As the name suggested, it was generally made for radio play.

An extended mix was the opposite, with an extra-long intro of twelve to twenty bars, making it easier for DJs to mix tracks together live on their decks.

With these three versions and two remix versions by other DJs, they could make an expanded single—also known as a maxi single—with five tracks. Seven-inch records used to have different versions of a single on each side. In the digital age, this kind of release sat between a single and an EP, and sold for $2.99 to $4.99.

Once all the production was finished, Deadmau5 and his two assistants became the first people to hear the Original Mix of Tremor.

"This track sounds a little different from the house music I've heard before," Deadmau5 said.

"The bass is stronger. It's Big Room House," the VJ said, recognizing the style.

Deadmau5 perked up. "If this single gets a good response at the festival, you could absolutely release it commercially in Canada!"

·

The next day, Ryan and Deadmau5's group arrived early at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami. It was the site of the main stage for this year's Ultra Music Festival, and the Miami Heat's home court, American Airlines Arena, was just south of the park. It was a great location.

By then, the main stage's framework had been assembled. Two metal towers, each several feet tall, had been erected, their fronts covered in semi-transparent black fabric. The Ultra Music Festival logo, shaped like a computer power button, was printed on it. Through the fabric, they could just make out the large, matrix-style sound system suspended from the steel framework. The main stage stood between the two "towers," and a few workers were still making final adjustments.

Ryan followed Deadmau5 and the others onto the stage. From that angle, he could see a stretch of tents set up in a corner of the park, meaning some of the festival's most devoted fans had already arrived.

Ryan also spotted plenty of people in outlandish outfits: huge, furry boots in turquoise and bright pink, tutus around their waists, and either bikinis, body paint, or nothing at all on top.

Some wore enormous "fairy wings," as if they'd just flown back from the world of The Wizard of Oz. Others had artificial flowers resembling daisies perched on their heads.

A normal person seeing people dressed like that might have thought they were tripping.

Clearly, many of them were indeed "tripping" much of the time. Ryan saw a few workers in reflective vests handing out some kind of supplies. The word "DanceSafe" was printed on the back of their vests, with a free helpline number beneath the logo.

"The bags they're handing out probably have a few condoms, a pair of earplugs, and a safety guide called 'How to Get High Without Risking Your Life,'" Deadmau5 said with a shake of his head, as if it was nothing new.

"Every year, minors die from taking drugs at festivals. That's why you need to be here. You don't have tattoos, you played football at school, you don't smoke, and you even auditioned for a country singer's talent show. You represent a whole new image of a DJ."

"The whole industry needs to distance itself from 'rave culture,'" Deadmau5 continued.

"That won't be easy." Ryan looked at the crowd in their outrageous outfits.

"You're right. Rave parties were popular in America for a while in the early nineties, but back then they couldn't be held openly in parks like they can now. They were illegal parties. Molly and HIV were spreading like wildfire among adults and teenagers."

"The landmark event was Rave America in 1993. More than seventeen thousand people gathered at Knott's Berry Farm in Los Angeles. After that, states and cities across America passed all kinds of restrictive laws throughout the nineties. At the strictest point, people who attended a party with friends in Chicago could be fined a thousand dollars. In New Orleans, the people who organized parties could even be charged as drug dealers," Deadmau5 continued.

"That was one reason American radio stations rejected Electronic music, but it wasn't the deciding factor. The real problem was that record companies couldn't figure out how to turn electronic performers into professional artists who sold albums. No label would invest radio promotion resources in musicians when they couldn't see any return."

"But things are quietly changing with the rise of the internet. People stream DJs' mixes on YouTube and discuss them on social networks and message boards. More and more people are taking part in live Electronic music events like Ultra Music Festival. That includes Daft Punk's perfect performance at Coachella Festival last year, with those enormous, glowing split pyramids. They set the blueprint for live Electronic music performances!"

"So I'm more confident than ever about the rise of Electronic music around the world. Maybe before long, DJs will become the rock stars of this era." Deadmau5 grinned.

But Ryan couldn't get excited. He thought he'd be better off rehearsing tomorrow's performance instead of worrying about all that.

Deadmau5 shook his head. "DJs are performers more than musicians. The better prepared you are, the less you need to do onstage. You might even just have to press play! I don't think that's right. I'd rather show the audience who I really am—and that includes you."

What kind of twisted logic was that? Ryan realized he couldn't convince him, so he said he needed to head back to the hotel and get ready. Then he parted ways with Deadmau5.

With no other choice, Ryan returned to the hotel to rehearse the "live PA" segment he had to perform the next day. He also uploaded the complete Original Mix of Tremor to a number of online paid-download platforms, including Beatport.

On the way back to the hotel, Ryan happened to rescue someone. She'd gotten into trouble while parasailing over the sea and drifted toward shore, where she ended up caught at the top of a not-too-tall palm tree. The parasail's lines had wrapped around her, leaving her unable to move. Ryan climbed up using his hands and feet, had her hold on to him, and cut the lines tangled around her before bringing her down safely. The woman was unusually tall—taller than Ryan—with long blond hair. Her companions surrounded her as soon as she was off the tree, and Ryan quickly left.

Ryan felt unlucky, always running into trouble wherever he went. But then he remembered he was in Florida, and it all made sense.

The next afternoon, the 2008 Ultra Music Festival officially began.