Getting a good groove

How do you do it?

I've found a good system in Logic, where I can lay down a simple trance beat on separate tracks, then slide them around with the sequence delay until they feel smooth. It's then a matter of gating layers to create holes before laying down some rhythmic elements.

Doubling up the kick, clap and hi-hats with differing sounds helps me to give individual elements movement in volume and pitch... A technique I discovered after listening to trance on high definition monitors while watching a spectrum analyser...

Just wondering how everyone else attacks this problem, and how they tie it in with the melodic layers... There seem to be a lot of techniques involving delay and panning that can help that head-swing factor!

Tequila

<Tequila sniffs his armpits>

Errrrrr...yeah! Not quite sure what you mean there mate! To me, if the shit fits - keep it!

Maybe I'd have been better off putting this one up on the techno forum!