Trance music

Trance is a genre of electronic music that developed during the 1990s in Germany.[5] It is characterized by a tempo lying between 125 and 150 beats per minute (BPM),[5] repeating melodic phrases,[5] and a musical form that distinctly builds tension and elements throughout a track often culminating in 1 to 2 "peaks" or "drops."[5] Although trance is a genre of its own, it liberally incorporates influences from other musical styles such as techno,[3] house,[1] pop,[3] chill-out[3] classical music,[3][4] tech house, ambient, and film music.[4]

A trance refers to a state of hypnotism and heightened consciousness. This is portrayed in trance music by the mixing of layers with distinctly foreshadowed build-up and release. A characteristic of virtually all trance music is a mid-song climax followed by a soft breakdown disposing of beats and percussion entirely,[3][5] and leaving the melody and/or atmospherics to stand alone for an extended period before gradually building up again. As a result, trance tracks are often lengthy to allow for this progression and have sufficiently sparse opening and closing sections to facilitate mixing by DJs.

Trance can be purely instrumental, although vocals are also a common feature. Typically they are performed by mezzo-soprano to soprano female soloists, often without verse/chorus structure. Structured vocal form in trance music forms the basis of the vocal trance subgenre, which has been described as "grand, soaring, and operatic" and "ethereal female leads floating amongst the synths".[8][9]

History

Trance Energy Festival in Utrecht, Netherlands

Origins

Trance as a word in music has been used for a very long time. The first usage of Trance close to the origin of Trance as a music genre is the British act The KLF on their 1988 track "What Time Is Love (Pure Trance 1)", on which the record sleeve is also annotated "Pure Trance".[10] This track however cannot be classified as Trance but it is (Techno) Rave as it clearly lacks the features of Trance. The very first Trance record (also British) is "Age Of Chance – Time's Up (Remix)" [11] and dates from 1989, soon followed "Age Of Love" (1990, this one by an Italian duo).[12] The remix by Jam & Spoon of that track speeded up the genre. Dance 2 Trance is also an early example of trance music, having first released single in 1991.[13]

Psychedelic trance culture of KaZantip in 2006, showing the decorations common at trance music events.

Other schools of thought argue the name may refer to an induced emotional feeling, high, euphoria, chills, or uplifting rush that listeners claim to experience, while other suggestions trace the name to the actual trance-like state the earliest forms of this music attempted to emulate in the 1990s before the genre's focus changed.[5]

Some trace Trance's antecedents back to Klaus Schulze, a German experimental electronic music artist who concentrated in mixing minimalist music repetitive rhythms and arpeggiated sounds (specifically his 1988 album "En=Trance". In truth it was really Sven Väth, his labels and others in the same group that saw the initial releases of trance Another possible antecedent is Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima's electronic soundtracks for the Streets of Rage series of video games from 1991 to 1994, and the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune series.[14][15][16][17] It was promoted by the well-known UK club-night megatripolis (London, Heaven, Thursdays) whose scene catapulted it to international fame.

Examples of early Trance releases include but are not limited to German duo Jam & Spoon's 1992 12" Single remix of the 1990 song The Age Of Love.,[1] German duo Dance 2 Trance's 1990 track "We Came in Peace".[5]

One writer traces the roots of trance to Paul van Dyk's 1993 remix of Humate's "Love Stimulation".[1] However, van Dyk's trance origins can be traced further back to his work with Visions Of Shiva, which were his first ever tracks to be released.[18] In subsequent years, one genre, vocal trance, arose as the combination of progressive elements and pop music,[3] and the development of another subgenre, epic trance, had some of its origins in classical music.,[3] with film music also being influential.[4]

Trance was arguably at its commercial peak in the second part of 1990s and early 2000s.[19][20]

Production

Roland JP-8000, a synthesizer famous for its incorporation of the supersaw waveform

Classic trance employs a 4/4 time signature,[5] a tempo of 125 to 150 BPM,[5] and 32 beat phrases and is somewhat faster than house music.[21] A kick drum is usually placed on every downbeat and a regular open hi-hat is often placed on the upbeat or every 1/8th division of the bar.[5] Extra percussive elements are usually added, and major transitions, builds or climaxes are often foreshadowed by lengthy "snare rolls"—a quick succession of snare drum hits that build in velocity, frequency, and volume towards the end of a measure or phrase.[5]

A Simple arpeggiated (Roland JP-8000) Supersaw waveform pattern with chorus and flanging (some professionals used Lexicon Hall programs without pre delay).
A trancegate pattern at 141 bpm as it is heard on a software trancegate. The gated pattern gradually changes, to hear the various rhythms possible with a trance gate. Note that some trancegate patterns are off-beat. (A Roland JP-8000 with the supersaw waveform is used. Minor EQ edits are made).

Rapid arpeggios and minor keys are common features of Trance, the latter being almost universal. Trance tracks often use one central "hook", or melody, which runs through almost the entire song, repeating at intervals anywhere between 2 beats and 32 bars, in addition to harmonies and motifs in different timbres from the central melody.[5] Instruments are added or removed every 4, 8, 16, or 32 bars.[5]

In the section before the breakdown, the lead motif is often introduced in a sliced up and simplified form,[5] to give the audience a "taste" of what they will hear after the breakdown.[5] Then later, the final climax is usually "a culmination of the first part of the track mixed with the main melodic reprise".[5]

As is the case with many dance music tracks, trance tracks are usually built with sparser intros ("mix-ins") and outros ("mix-outs") in order to enable DJs to blend them together immediately.[3][5] As trance is more melodic and harmonic than other electronic dance music, the construction of trance tracks in the proper way is particularly important in order to avoid dissonant (or "key clashing," i.e., out of tune with one another) mixes.

More recent forms of trance music incorporate other styles and elements of electronic music such as electro and progressive house into its production. It emphasizes harsher basslines and drum beats which decrease the importance of offbeats and focus primarily on a four on the floor stylistic house drum pattern. The bpm of more recent styles tends to be on par with house music at 120 - 135 beats per minute. However, unlike house music, recent forms of trance stay true to their melodic breakdowns and longer transitions.[22]

Subgenres

Trance music is broken into a large number of subgenres. Chronologically, the major subgenres are classic trance, acid trance, progressive trance,[3] uplifting trance,[3] and hard trance. Uplifting trance is also known as "anthem trance", "epic trance",[3], "commercial trance", "stadium trance", or "euphoric trance",[5] and has been strongly influenced by classical music in the 1990s[3] and 2000s by leading artists such as Ferry Corsten, Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, Push, Rank 1 and at present with the development of the subgenre "orchestral uplifting trance" or "uplifting trance with symphonic orchestra" by such artists as Andy Blueman, Ciro Visone, Soundlift, Arctic Moon, Sergey Nevone&Simon O'Shine etc. Closely related to Uplifting Trance is Euro-trance, which has become a general term for a wide variety of highly commercialized European dance music. Several subgenres are crossovers with other major genres of electronic music. For instance, Tech trance is a mixture of trance and techno, and Vocal trance "combines [trance's] progressive elements with pop music".[3] Balearic beat, which is associated with the laid back vacation lifestyle of Ibiza, Spain, is often called "Balearic trance", as espoused by Roger Shah. The dream trance genre originated in the mid-1990s, with its popularity then led by Robert Miles. There is also a slower bpm trance music, this styles are often called "psybient" (synonyms are "psychill", "ambient trance").

Since the 00's, trance music is often divided into Uplifting Trance and Progressive Trance so as to appeal to a wider pop music generation, the latter in particular is more 'electro-pop' than trance and has become the baby of most online former trance shows and DJs. Thus, many well-known compilations such as A State Of Trance usually showcase Progressive Trance in disc 1 and Uplifting in disc 2. Labels once associated with only Uplifting Trance have also been known to set up more progressive-oriented imprints, for example, Enhanced Music, Alter Ego Recordings, Infrasonic Recordings and Anjunadeep. As opposed to Uplifting Trance, Progressive Trance, which is now usually presented simply as 'progressive' given its departure from its trance roots, features a slower bpm, predominantly remaining around 130 - 140, higher emphasis of grooving bass lines rather than kicks. The tempo has a rule to be higher in Progressive Trance than in Progressive House, since it can be very similar to each other. A common thought-process for trance artists delineating from traditional "uplifting trance" structures and foundations is that the slower bpm allows for more interesting groove creation. Prominent labels releasing Progressive Trance are Armind, Lost Language and Anjunabeats.

Music festivals

The following is an incomplete list of dance music festivals that showcase trance music.

Asia

Notes:' Sunburn was not the first festival/event to specialize in India in trance music much earlier pioneers of Goa parties [23] held events as early as the late 80's and through all of the 1990s [24]

Europe

Clubbers at Gatecrasher on April 16, 2006

Netherlands

Sensation White 2006

Electronic Dance Music festivals in the Netherlands are mainly organized by four companies ALDA Events, ID&T, UDC and Q-dance:

South America

The trance scene in South America is constantly growing. Countries like Brazil and Mexico have many great DJs. The most important trance festival in South America is called Universo Parallelo.

North America

Canada

United States

Electronic music festivals in the US feature various Electronic Dance Music genres such as trance, House, Techno, Electro, Dubstep, and Drum & Bass:

Australia

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bom, Coen (2009). Armin Only: A Year in the Life of the World's No. 1 DJ. Oxford, UK: Dutch Media Uitgevers BV. ISBN 978-90-488-0323-1: p. 15
  2. 1 2 "Trance". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Fassbender, Torsten (2008). The Trance Experience. Knoxville, Tennessee: Sound Org Inc. ISBN 978-0-2405-2107-7: p. 15, 16, 17, 19
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Webber, Stephen (2008). DJ Skills: The Essential Guide to Mixing and Scratching. Oxford, UK: Elsevier Press. ISBN 978-0-240-52069-8: p. 35
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Snoman, Rick (2009). The Dance Music Manual: Tools, Toys, and Techniques – Second Edition. Oxford, UK: Elsevier Press. ISBN 0-9748438-4-9: p. 251, 252, 253, 266
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hewitt, Michael (2009). Composition for Computer Musicians. Knoxville, Tennessee: Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1-59863-861-5: p. 9
  7. ↑ "Goa Trance". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  8. ↑ Hawkins, Erik (2004). The Complete Guide to Remixing. Boston, MA: Berklee Press. ISBN 0-87639-044-0: p. 51
  9. ↑ Trance Music — What is Trance Music? http://dancemusic.about.com/od/genres/g/Trance_Music
  10. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/KLF-What-Time-Is-Love-Pure-Trance-1/release/92768
  11. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Age-Of-Chance-Times-Up-Remix/release/485399
  12. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Age-Of-Love-The-Age-Of-Love/master/80049
  13. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/artist/4762-Dance-2-Trance
  14. ↑ McNeilly, Joe (April 19, 2010). "Game music of the day: Streets of Rage 2". GamesRadar. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  15. ↑ Ryan. "Streets of Rage 2 Original Soundtrack (US): Review". Square Enix Music Online. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  16. ↑ "Streets of Rage 3 review — Sega Megadrive". Mean Machines. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  17. ↑ . IGN http://m.ign.com/articles/2007/03/02/yuzo-koshiro-the-dj. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/artist/5379-Visions-Of-Shiva-The
  19. ↑ http://www.clubglow.com/dj-news/is-trance-dead/
  20. ↑ http://www.toucanmusic.co.uk/articles/trance.html
  21. ↑ Hewitt, Michael (2008). Music Theory for Computer Musicians. Boston, MA: Course Technology. ISBN 978-1-59863-503-4
  22. ↑ Paterson, Angus. "Above & Beyond talk shop on Australian tour & ’trance 2.0’". inthemix. nthemix Pty Ltd. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  23. ↑ D'Andrea, Anthony. "Global Nomads: Techno and New Age as Transnational Countercultures in Ibiza". https://books.google.lk/. Routledge, Jan 24, 2007, Page 177. Retrieved 25 January 2016. External link in |website= (help)
  24. ↑ St John, Graham. "Rave Culture and Religion". Routledge, Jun 1, 2004, Page 242. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  25. ↑ Meadow, Matthew. "Martin Garrix & Other Top 100 DJs Helped This EDM Festival Break Massive Record". Your EDM. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  26. ↑ https://www.wald-frieden.de/index.php/en/
  27. ↑ http://www.mondaybar.com
  28. ↑ http://www.summersound.fi
  29. ↑ http://dreamland-greece.gr

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