Trance music

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Trance
Stylistic origins House,[1] techno,[2] acid house,[3] chill-out,[3] pop,[3] classical,[3][4] film score,[4] hardcore techno,[2] tech house, ambient
Cultural origins Early 1990s, Netherlands, Germany,[3][5] Belgium
Typical instruments Synthesizer, Keyboard, drum machine, sequencer, sampler, DAW, Roland TR-909, Roland JP-8000
Subgenres
Acid,[6] Balearic, Goa,[7] hard,[6]
progressive,[6] psychedelic, tech,[6]
uplifting,[6] vocal[6]
(complete list)
Other topics
Raves - Strobe lights - Glowsticking

Trance is a genre of electronic music that developed during the 1990s in Germany.[5] It is characterized by a tempo lying between 125 to mid 140 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 electronic music 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 by Age Of Love (1990).[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".[citation needed] In truth it was really Sven Väth, his labels and others in the same group that saw the initial releases of trance[citation needed] Another possible antecedent is Yuzo Koshiro's electronic soundtracks for the Streets of Rage series of video games from 1991 to 1994; and Wangan Midnignt Maximum Tune (series) series from 2001 up to present.[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,[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

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

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Main articles: List of trance genres and List of electronic music genres

Trance music is broken into a large number of subgenres.[citation needed] Chronologically, the major subgenres are classic trance, acid trance, progressive trance,[3] uplifting trance,[3] and hard trance.[citation needed] Uplifting trance is also known as "anthem trance", "epic trance",[3] "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, 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.[citation needed] 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").[citation needed]

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

  • India: The Sunburn Festival was launched in December 2007 as South Asia's first electronic music festival, and featured heavyweights like Carl Cox and John '00' Fleming. Located seaside in Goa, on India's west coast, the festival has its roots in Goa trance. Sunburn treated more than 5,000[citation needed] electro revelers to a three-day party by the beach in December 2008. At the 2009 festival, DJs such as Armin Van Buuren and Sander van Doorn participated with audience numbers running between 15,000 to 18,000 making it the biggest edition yet.[citation needed]As of the 2010 festival, it showed the likes of Paul Van Dyk and many other DJ's with estimated crowds of 30,000 people.[citation needed]
  • Thailand: Full Moon Party, since 1985. Held each month on the island of Koh Phangan. Thousands of people from across the world gather on Haad Rin Nok (Sunrise Beach) to dance under the full moon.

Europe

Clubbers at Gatecrasher on April 16, 2006
  • Switzerland: Street Parade, Zürich, since 1992. The world's biggest electronic music festival (more than one million visitors attend this event year by year).
  • Portugal: Boom Festival (the last edition was in Idanha-a-Nova), since 1997. This event is an outdoor festival running every two years with a duration of several days, focusing in psychedelic Goa trance. The festival also features workshops, presentations, and cinema.
  • Germany: Waldfrieden Wonderland, Stemwede, since 1997. The forest peace wonderland is an international open air music festival, which takes place every year in August. The main style of music is psychedelic trance.[23]
  • Sweden: Monday Bar Cruise has been arranged four times a year since 2002 and takes place on a 2000 people cruise ship between Stockholm and the Baltic countries. Styles include trance, psytrance, hardstyle and hardcore.[24]
  • Belgium: Tomorrowland, Boom, since 2005. The largest Belgian open-air electronic music festival. DJs such as Armin Van Buuren, Tiësto, Arty, Cosmic Gate and many more have been fixtures at the festival.
  • Czech Republic: Transmission, Prague, since 2006. The biggest indoor trance music event in middle and eastern Europe. Markus Schulz is a frequent headlining performer at the event.
  • Germany: We Are One, Berlin, since 2010. Headed by Paul van Dyk, the event plays several different styles of trance.
  • Finland: Summer Sound, Helsinki, since 2011. Biggest indoor/outdoor trance music event in Scandinavia. Starting as a one-day festival in 2011 and held in Suvilahti, Helsinki, it has since grown into 3-day festival partly inside and partly outside. Every summer, DJs such as Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, and Faithless headline the event.[25]
  • Greece: Dreamland, Ancient Olympia, since 2014. An innovative and pioneering festival which aims to achieve boundless cooperation among different types of electronic music, between art and culture as well as to promote the participants’ ecological awareness.[26]
  • United Kingdom: Gatecrasher also promotes sporadic events and have in the past also used venues such as Birmingham N.E.C.

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:

  • Armin Only, Jaarbeurs, Utrecht: As the name states, the only DJ to mix at this event is Armin van Buuren. Organized by ALDA Events. Armin Only 2005 was held in Ahoy Rotterdam. The 2008 and 2010 editions were held in Jaarbeurs Utrecht. The 2013 edition was held in the Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam
  • Dance Valley, Spaarnwoude: an outdoor festival organized by UDC.
  • Sensation, Amsterdam Arena. Organized by ID&T.
  • Energy, (Formerly Trance Energy) Jaarbeurs, Utrecht: Previously Trance only under the name "Trance Energy", the festival was renamed "Energy" in 2011 and begun to incorporate other genres. Organized by ID&T.
  • Amsterdam dance event, One of the worlds trance and electronic music festivals held every year in Amsterdam in October.
  • A State of TranceAFestival:rmin van Buuren's weekly radio show A State of Trance celebrates every 50th episode with an event in the Netherlands, usually in Utrecht.
  • Electronic Family: Organized by ALDA Events.
  • Mysteryland. A series of electronic dance music festivals held by the Netherlands-based promoter ID&T. Being the first of its kind in the country dates back to 1993.
  • Luminosity: Amsterdam, founded in 2007. With the slogan "Spreading The Love Of Trance Music", the Luminosity festival is organized by the foundation Luminosity Events.

South America

Many DJs from all over the world join in either Brazil or Argentina to perform in festivals. The most well-known are the A State of Trance Festival (ASOT Fest) that takes place in Argentina almost every year.

North America

Canada

  • Bal en Blanc is a rave party that is hosted annually, in April during Easter holiday weekend, in Montreal. This event usually has two separate rooms, one catering to house music and the other to trance music. It usually lasts for more than 14 hours.
  • Digital Dreams Festival in Toronto featured a full trance stage in June 2014

United States

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

  • Decibel Festival, an annual music and digital arts festival started in 2004 in Seattle. It is dedicated to live electronic music performance, visual art and new media. The core of the festival comprises concerts, performances, commissioned work, film screenings and exhibitions. The programming is presented in a variety of locations throughout Seattle, centered on the Capitol Hill neighborhood and Downtown. Since its inception, Decibel has hosted over 750 acts ranging from underground dance and experimental electronic music to transmedial art.
  • Ultra Music Festival, an annual outdoor electronic music festival that occurs in March in the city of Miami, Florida. A State of Trance has frequently held milestone celebrations at the festival.
  • Electric Daisy Carnival, an annual massive organized by Insomniac Events that was held in Southern California from 1997 to 2010, and was moved to Las Vegas in 2011. In 2009, the festival was expanded to a three-day event.
  • Nocturnal Festival, are annual events held in southern California and Thorndale, Texas organized by Insomniac Events, held at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, California in either August or September.
  • Beyond Wonderland, an electronic dance festival in northern California organized by Insomniac Events.
  • Electric Zoo Festival, an annual electronic music festival held over Labor Day weekend in New York City on Randall's Island Park.
  • Electric Forest Festival, a 4 day annual festival in Michigan.
  • TomorrowWorld, a 3 day annual festival in Chatahoochee Hills, Georgia. Organized by ID&T, TomorrowWorld is a sister festival to TomorrowLand.
  • Sonic Bloom, 3 day annual electronic/psytrance music festival in Rye, Colorado.
  • Spring Awakening, 3 day annual festival in Chicago, Illinois.
  • Dreamstate, the first ever all trance music festival in the United States held by Insomniac Events. Its first show was in November 2015 and held in California.

Australia

  • Doof - A type of outdoor dance party, which is generally held in a remote country area or just outside big cities in surrounding bush or rainforests and similar to raves or teknivals. Doof generally has live electronic artists and DJs playing a range of electronic music, commonly goa trance, eurodance, happy hardcore and psychedelic trance.
  • Defqon.1 Festival - A music festival that mostly plays hardstyle and related genres such as hardcore techno, hard house and hard trance, the event has been hosted in Sydney in mid-September since 2009 at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.
  • Rainbow Serpent Festival - A large electronic music, art and lifestyle festival, located in Victoria. The festival is mainly known for psychedelic trance and minimal techno music, but also features other genres of electronic music and non electronic music in the smaller stages.
  • Stereosonic - Largest Electronic music festival in Oceania, two days celebration since 2013, located in Australia. The festival features a full Trance Stage every year during the day in summer, and also includes big names of Trance music in the Main Stage such as, Armin Van Buuren, Above And Beyond, etc.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 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. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 Fassbender, Torsten (2008). The Trance Experience. Knoxville, Tennessee: Sound Org Inc. ISBN 978-0-2405-2107-7: p. 15, 16, 17, 19
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 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. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 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. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Hewitt, Michael (2009). Composition for Computer Musicians. Knoxville, Tennessee: Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1-59863-861-5: p. 9
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  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. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  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. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ https://www.wald-frieden.de/index.php/en/
  24. ↑ http://www.mondaybar.com
  25. ↑ http://www.summersound.fi
  26. ↑ http://dreamland-greece.gr

External links

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