Trance is a style of electronic music that developed in the 1990s. Trance music is generally characterized by a tempo of between 140 and 165 BPM, featuring repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and down throughout a track. It often features crescendos and breakdowns. Sometimes vocals are also utilized. The style is arguably derived from a combination of largely electronic music such as ambient music, techno, and house. The origin of the term is ambiguous with suggestions that the term is derived from the Klaus Schulze album Trancefer or the early trance act Dance 2 Trance though it is likely that both these uses are linked to the perceived ability of a drum beat to induce altered states of consciousness. As this music is almost always played in nightclubs at popular vacation spots and in inner cities, trance can be understood as a form of club music.
History
Trance begins as a genre
The earliest identifiable trance recordings came not from within the trance scene itself, but from the UK acid house movement, and were made by The KLF. The most notable of these were the original 1988 / 1989 versions of What Time Is Love? and 3 a.m. Eternal (the former indeed laying out the entire blueprint for the trance sound - as well as helping to inspire the sounds of hardcore and rave) and the 1988 track Kylie Said Trance. Their use of the term 'pure trance' to describe these recordings reinforces this case strongly. These early recordings were markedly different from the releases and re-releases to huge commercial success around the period of the The White Room album (1991) and are significantly more minimalist, nightclub-oriented and 'underground' in sound. While the KLF's works are clear examples of Proto-trance, two songs, both from 1990, are widely regarded as being the first "true" trance records. The first, Age of Love's self-titled debut single was released in early 1990 and is seen as creating the basis for the original trance sound to come out of Germany. The second track was Dance 2 Trance's "We Came in Peace", which was actually the b-side of their own self-titled debut single. While "Age of Love" is seen as the track which cemented the early trance sound, it was Dance 2 Trance (as a result of the duo's name) that probably gave the sound its name.
The trance sound beyond this acid-era genesis is said to have begun as an off-shoot of techno in German clubs during the very early 1990s. Frankfurt is often cited as a birthplace of trance. Some of the earliest pioneers of the genre included Jam El Mar, Oliver Lieb, Sven Väth, and Torsten Stenzel, who all produced numerous tracks under multiple aliases. Trance labels like Eye Q, Harthouse, Superstition, Rising High, FAX +49-69/450464 and MFS Records were Frankfurt based. Arguably a fusion of techno and house music, early trance shared much with techno in terms of the tempo and rhythmic structures but also added more melodic overtones which were appropriated from the style of house popular in Europe's club scene at that time. However, the melodies in trance differed from euro/club house in that although they tended to be emotional and uplifting, they did not "bounce around" in the same way that house did. This early music tended to be characterized by hypnotic and melodic qualities and typically involved repeating rhythmic patterns added over an appropriate length of time as a track progressed.
[edit] Commercial trance
By the mid-1990s, trance, specifically Progressive trance, which emerged from acid trance much as Progressive house had emerged from Acid house, had emerged commercially as one of the dominant genres of dance music. Progressive trance set in stone the basic formula of modern trance by becoming even more focused on the anthemic basslines and lead melodies, moving away from hypnotic, repetitive, arpeggiated analog synth patterns and spacey pads. Popular elements and anthemic pads became more widespread. Compositions leaned towards incremental changes (aka progressive structures), sometimes composed in thirds (as BT frequently does). Meanwhile, a different type of trance, generally called uplifting trance was becoming popular. Uplifting trance had buildups and breakdowns that were longer and more exaggerated, being more direct and less subtle than progressive, with more easily identifiable tunes and anthems. Many such trance tracks follow a set form, featuring an introduction, steady build, a breakdown, and then an anthem, a form aptly called the "build-breakdown-anthem" form. Uplifting vocals, usually female, were also becoming more and more prevalent, adding to trance's popular appeal.
Immensely popular, trance found itself filling a niche that was 'edgier' than house, more soothing than drum and bass, and more melodic than techno, which made it accessible to a wider audience. Artists like Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Above & Beyond, Ferry Corsten, Johan Gielen, and Paul Oakenfold came to the forefront as premier producers and remixers, bringing with them the emotional, "epic" feel of the style. Many of these producers also DJ'd in clubs playing their own productions as well as those by other trance DJs. By the end of the 1990s, trance remained commercially huge, but had fractured into an extremely diverse genre. Some of the artists that had helped create the trance sound in the early and mid-1990s had, by the end of the decade, abandoned trance completely in favor of more underground sounds - artists of particular note here include Pascal F.E.O.S. and Oliver Lieb.
As trance entered the mainstream it alienated many of its original fans. As the industry became bigger, record labels, Ibiza based producers, clubs (most notably Ministry of Sound) and DJs began to alter their sound to more of a pop based one, so as to make the sound more accessible to an even wider, and younger, audience.
[edit] Post-commercial trance
An alternative evolution would be to fuse trance with other genres such as drum'n'bass, various artists have attempted this but it has still to break into acceptance even in the underground. Frustrated, extreme versions of trance have mutated through gabba into violent fringe genres of "hard-trance" such as terrorcore and drillcore.
Trance more loyal to its roots has begun to rear its head on the internet more recently however, with the abundance of legal music download sites - including the likes of Audiojelly, Trackitdown and Beatport - enabling enthusiasts to avoid having to track down hard to find vinyl by downloading mp3s, updated on a weekly basis. As a result, both commercial and progressive trance now have a much more global, if not chart-bound, presence, with big-draw artists such as Tiësto, ATB, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Ferry Corsten, Above & Beyond, Paul Oakenfold, Johan Gielen, and the US's George Acosta able to maintain their esteemed positions while upcoming producers and DJs can also breakthrough into the public domain.
[edit] Trance production
Trance employs a 4/4 time signature, a tempo of 130 to 165 BPM, and 32 beat phrases , somewhat faster than house music but usually not as fast as rave music. Early tracks were sometimes slower. A kick drum is placed on every downbeat and a regular open hi-hat is often placed on the off-beat. Some simple extra percussive elements are usually added, and major transitions, builds or climaxes are often foreshadowed by lengthy 'snare rolls' - a quick succession of equally spaced snare drum hits that builds in volume towards the end of a measure or phrase.
Synthesizers form the central elements of most trance tracks, with simple sawtooth-based sounds used both for short pizzicato elements and for long, sweeping string sounds. Rapid arpeggios and minor scales are common features. Trance tracks often use one central "hook" melody which runs through almost the entire song, repeating at intervals anywhere between 2 beats and several bars. While many trance tracks contain no vocals at all, other tracks rely heavily on vocals, and thus a sub-genre has developed. The sound and quality of the production relies to a large degree upon the technology available. Vintage analog equipment still holds a place in the hearts of many producers and enthusiasts, with names such as Moog, Roland and Oberheim staples in the trance sound palette. However, the mainstream availability of digital technology has allowed a whole new group of producers to emerge due to the fact that while top shelf digital (or analog modeling) synthesizers cost thousands of US dollars, high demand and a small supply of clean vintage analog synthesizers causes them to be extremely expensive.
Trance records are often heavily loaded with reverb and delay effects on the synthesizer sounds, vocals and often parts of the percussion section. This provides the tracks with the sense of vast space that trance producers tend to look for in order to achieve the genre's epic quality. Flangers, phasers and other effects are also commonly used at extreme settings - in trance there is no need for sounds to resemble any real-world instrument, and so producers have free reign.
As is the case with many dance music tracks, trance tracks are usually built with sparser intros and outros in order to enable DJs to blend them together more readily. As trance is more melodic and harmonic than much dance music, the construction of trance tracks in such a way is particularly important in order to avoid dissonant (or "key clashing", ie out of tune with one another) mixes by DJs who do not mix harmonically.
Trance festivals
The best known Trance festivals in the world are held in the Netherlands, as well as some in Great Britain.
[edit] The Netherlands
Trance festivals in the Netherlands are mainly organized by three companies ID&T, UDC and Q-Dance:
Armin Only, Ahoy, Rotterdam: the only DJ to mix at this event is the very popular Armin Van Buuren. Organized by UDC.
Dance Valley, Netherlands: an outdoor festival organized by UDC.
Qlimax, Gelredome, Amhem (20,000 visitors): a Hardstyle, Hard Trance event which has been gaining in popularity recently. Renowned for its impressive laser show. Organized by Q-Dance.
Sensation, Amsterdam Arena (80,000 visitors on two nights). Not a trance-only festival, many genres such as house and hardstyle coexist. Famous for the venue (a football stadium) and the lightshow. Organized by ID&T.
Trance Energy, Jaarbeurs, Utrecht (30,000 visitors): a festival which features only trance music, and very popular for diehard fans of trance. Many well-received DJs have played sets at this event, helping to create its fame. Organized by ID&T.
[edit] Great Britain
Global Gathering festival, promoted by the Angel Music Group. The weekend long Global Gathering held every summer features the Godskitchen arena as its centerpiece, showcasing the best trance and techno acts in the world and attracting 45,000 people between a Friday afternoon and a Sunday morning. The organization promotes other stadium trance events under the Godskitchen brand, the largest being Godskitchen: A Gift From The Gods which brought 12,000 revelers to the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham UK back in April 2003.
Cream's annual Creamfields festival has also showcased an 8,000 capacity trance arena for the last 8 years at various venues across the United Kingdom.
Non-European festivals
Monster massive, a Los Angeles Sports Arena event held once a year around the night of Halloween. Typically an audience of 15,000+ electronica enthusiasts attend.
Ultra Music Festival, Miami, Florida, USA: (80,000 visitors): A two day-long event with eleven stages playing various genres of electronic music with the main stage focusing on trance. Famous for their impressive lineup of the most famous and influential DJs in the world along with pyrotechnics and light/laser shows.
Ultraworld and Universe Kryal Castle, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia: a 12 hour long event, comprising mainly Hardstyle, Hard Dance and Hard Trance (also featuring happy hardcore) event held in a replicated medieval castle.
World Electronic Music Festival: held annually in Canada, this three-day-long outdoor event, comprising mainly of Trance, Hard Dance and Jungle (also featuring happy hardcore) has been held for the past ten years. It is also known as WEMF.
[edit] Other
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.
Many other countries lack such festivals due to legal restrictions. Public prosecution departments in many countries — notably France — have been reluctant to give permits for techno and trance events, due to perceived drug issues.[citation needed] Recently however, ID&T has been expanding operations and begun to organize festivals in Belgium and Germany.
