Trance

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Trance is a genre of Electronic Music typically characterized by a tempo typically lying between 125 to 150 beats per minute (BPM), repeating melodic phrases, and a musical form that distinctly builds tension and elements throughout a track often culminating in one to two "peaks" or "drops". It is often composed with synthesizers, drum machines, and computer software programs, though certain variants and songs may incorporate instruments as well, and while the genre is mostly instrumental, vocals ranging from spoken-word samples to fully sung lyrics are a fairly common feature.

As with many electronic music genres, trance is known for having many subgenres that have their own distinct sound; what ties them together, and what sets trance apart from other genres of electronic music like Techno and House Music is its greater emphasis on atmosphere and sound design, with melodies and compositional elements carefully selected to evoke an emotional response and a feeling of being lost in the music from listeners (hence, feeling hypnotized, or in a trance) by mixing layers of different sounds with a 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, and leaving the melody and/or atmospherics to stand alone for an extended period before gradually building up again.

Trance's origins can be traced back to The '80s, with Ur-Examples including Charanjit Singh's Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat (1982) and Bappi Lahiri's "Habiba" (1988) from India (the birthplace of Goa trance) and The KLF's "What Time is Love" (1988) from the United Kingdom. But it was in The '90s when trance really took off, with a few tracks that focused on regular 4/4 time, 32 beat phrases and kick drums seeping out of Germany. It was slightly faster than house music but it built up much more slowly while also mixing stylistic elements of ambient. Two tracks in particular, "We Came in Peace" by Dance 2 Trance and The Age of Love's self-titled song, stood out as Trope Codifiers for the dance genre, which would go on to split into several different subgenres with different atmospherics and aims for what kind of state it wanted to induce in the listener.

The subgenres are as follows:

There are also various artists who are harder to pin down, such as S.U.N. Project, which could only be described as "rock trance", and Gareth Emery, whose style is akin to a mix of trance, progressive house and pop music, which the artist himself calls "simples".

Trance has also influenced various other genres. For instance, from 1999 to the early 2000's, the Industrial scene began to incorporate various influences from trance resulting in a subgenre called "Futurepop." The modern strains of Eurobeat and Hardcore Techno (hardstyle and happy hardcore in particular) often utilize trance-based melodies, beats and song structures. Some Melodic Death Metal and Metalcore bands have also incorporated elements of the trance genre into their music. Even Dubstep has shown influences of trance, namely the Lighter and Softer chillstep subgenre, though some brostep tracks can feature certain elements to contrast with the dirty drops. More ambient/softer-leaning House Music tracks have elements of trance to them as well.

Not to be confused with the movie.

Tropes associated with the genre:

• Ambient: Trance began with DJs attempting to fuse the genre's stylistic elements with house and techno music to varying degrees, depending on the subgenre and the emotional effect intended.
• Auto-Tune: Like many other electronic genres, trance sometimes utilizes the software to go for a more "distorted" sound or to add audio effects to vocals rather than to correct pitch. It's much more prevalent in psytrance and tech trance to make vocal sound alien or robotic.
• Boléro Effect: Perhaps the most distinguishing element of the genre is its focus on evolving musical motifs, slowly adding in more instruments as the musical progression builds up before releasing all the tension and shifting into a new song movement. Some styles such as psy, tech, Euro, or hard trance employ multiple build-and-release cycles to maintain an air of excitement and drive dancers crazy, while other genres such as uplifting, Goa and prog approach musical progression more slowly, with sounds gradually phasing in and out throughout the length of any given track. Extended sets are also known for evoking this, taking their time first building up with calmer, ambient songs playing for some time before steadily building up the energy throughout and then playing heavier, faster tracks at the last hour or so.
• Broken Base: Trance is quite possibly one of the most divisive genres in electronic music with arguments mainly centering on what qualifies as "true" trance. The fandom continues to schism at an alarming rate due to the ever-increasing number of trance variants in the current scene and the many different directions the genre has been going, especially in the increasingly commercialized climate of the ongoing Electronic Music boom.
• Classical Music: Many trance artists draw inspiration from Western classical music in their composition methods and sound design, and remixing classical compositions into uplifting or progressive trance styles is also fairly common. While modern synthesizers and DAW software has made composing trance music easier and more accessible to those who aren't classically trained, having a good grasp on music theory is still expected and encouraged within the genre.
• Doing It for the Art: A lot of trance artists tend towards this, often making music as an artistic outlet or simply to entertain. This is common in the scene due to its greater emphasis on musical exploration and individuality than other popular electronic subgenres.
• Electronic Music: For the most part. Trance can incorporate traditional non-electronic instrumentation such as strings, woodwinds, and tribal percussion but the genre is mostly characterized by a largely electronic sound.
• Epic Riff: A common feature of most trance music is its emphasis on long, flowing, highly melodic synth riffs that build up in intensity over the course of a particular track. A great number of trance tracks have enjoyed lasting popularity thanks largely to their memorable main riffs, and genres like Eurotrance and uplifting trance have made riff-driven compositions a requirement.
• Epic Rocking: Many trance songs go on for 6 minutes or longer, focusing on long build-ups before going into a breakdown. Trance DJ sets and mixes are also known for going for hours on end, intending to take the listener on a musical journey. On the other hand, tracks meant for radio airplay, video games, or CD compilations are edited down to only 2-3 minutes, but are often released with an extended mix of the "proper" length and structure.
• Ethereal Choir: Vocals on uplifting trance songs are often this, with soprano singers (usually female) belting out grand, soaring and operatic vocals. Some of the darker trance tracks, meanwhile, go for Ominous Latin Chanting or, in the case of psy or Goa trance, Sanskrit chants or similarly styled singing in less familiar foreign languages.
• Follow the Leader: The so-called "138" movement in contemporary trance, so named after a Running Gag in the A State Of Trance radioshow where tracks from hard, psy, and tech trance producers, which typically had a tempo of 138 BPM or higher, would be played at the latter half of each episode as a reaction to slower progressive and big room trance tracks that were popular in the early 2010s. The faster and more powerful sound proved hugely popular among newer trance fans, and beginning around 2015, many artists started producing harder-tinged tracks at that tempo. By the latter part of the decade a new wave of artists producing trance at 138 BPM or higher has emerged, with labels such as Armada and Black Hole Recordings widely promoting the uptempo style, and dedicated labels such as Outburst and VII almost exclusively catering to the demand for faster, more rave-focused tracks, with the tempo ceiling being pushed as high as 150 BPM is some cases.
• Genre-Busting: Many producers are known to mix several different trance subgenres in songs and sets together, and trance is generally known for being easy to mix with other genres of music, electronic or otherwise.
• Genre Popularizer:
  • Klaus Schulze was credited as an early pioneer of the genre during The '90s, his album Trancfer being a Trope Codifier for what would later become the signature trance sound.
  • Younger generation fans, meanwhile, cite Armin Van Buuren's A State Of Trance radio show as a driving force in bringing trance music into mainstream acceptance, ultimately inspiring several other trance-centric broadcasts such as Aly & Fila's Future Sound of Egypt and Ferry Corsten's Countdown.
• Genre Roulette: Extended sets tend to invoke this, with most artists transitioning between different trance styles throughout their sets, depending on the audience's overall energy or mood. For example, a DJ might start off with progressive or dream trance, then slowly build up to a more uplifting sound, then raise the energy with some Goa, psy, or tech, and then peaking with harder and faster tracks at the last hour or so.
  • It is also not uncommon for trance artists to change their preferred trance style throughout their career, either to keep up with trends within the subgenre or as an artistic outlet for ideas that find better expression in a style other than what they normally produce. For example, an artist who started out playing uplifting or progressive trance may later shift to (or dabble in) harder styles like tech, acid, or psy, and conversely some artists who started out in the harder styles can experiment with more uplifting or progressive material later on.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: While the genre has its origins in Germany and surrounding countries and is popular all over the world, it's especially huge in the Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom, Egypt, and Australia.
  • The psychedelic and full-on varieties are very popular in Israel with many big name acts like Astral Projection, Future Prophecy and Infected Mushroom coming from there. Psytrance scenes have also popped up in South Africa and northern Europe, and India remains a stronghold for the genre due to its association with the Goa rave scene.
  • Latin America has a growing underground trance scene largely fueled by the rise of the "138" movement, with genres such as uplifting, progressive, and tech being popularized by artists such as Heatbeat, Chris Schweizer, Scorz, Impulse Wave, and many others.
  • Zigzagged in the USA - trance is arguably one of the most well-loved genres of electronic dance music, even though commercially, it falls behind its harder sounding brethren. Nevertheless, the genre's steady growth since the early years of the American "EDM Boom" has surprised even the biggest names in the business.
• I Have Many Names: Many of the artists listed here are either going by stage names or have numerous alter-egos that they release material that deviates from their usual productions under.
• Instrumentals: Like most forms of electronic dance music, trance places greater emphasis on beats and melody. In fact, so many songs and artists are instrumental that Vocal Trance became its own genre.
• Limited Lyrics Song: Combining Epic Rocking with a heavier emphasis on instrumentals, and what results are lyrics on the simpler side. Uplifting will have emotional lyrics about subjects such as love, happiness, and other positive emotions; psy meanwhile will have samples or sentence-length lyrics talking about strange topics (be it supernatural, paranormal, extraterrestrial, scientific, etc) to enhance the psychedelic effect.
• Long Runners: Many of the artists featured on this page started their music careers around The '90s, some even earlier. Many of them also maintain dedicated followers going as far back as the beginning of their careers.
• Mind Screw: Most psytrance and Goa tracks are known for invoking this by taking relatively simple dance tracks and adding in all sorts of random noises, samples, melodies and effects to throw off the listener's expectations of how the music is supposed to sound, and in the latter's case, sounds from acoustic instruments (particularly traditional Indian instruments) to up the ante.
• Minimalism: Some varieties of acid, prog, psy, and tech trance favor a more stripped-down composition style, mainly focusing on sparse 4/4 drum patterns, offbeat bass, and repeating musical elements fading in and out every few bars or so to induce a hypnotic effect.
• Orchestral Bombing: Very common in uplifting trance and sometimes used in other trance styles to create a more powerful, bombastic sound.
• Periphery Demographic:
  • The genre as a whole is popular with Rhythm Game players, and many trance artists have produced music for such games.
  • The uplifting, progressive, Hands Up, and Eurotrance subgenres are very popular among Otaku and fans of Japanese Pop Music, as many J-trance artists have had their songs featured in various anime and Visual Novel productions.
  • Psytrance and Goa trance enjoy great popularity among stoners and New Age enthusiasts, thanks in part to the Goa rave scene's historical association with hippie culture, mysticism and recreational drug use.
  • Like its sister genre Eurobeat, Eurotrance has a strong association with car culture going all the way back since the '90s, developing an association with highway and endurance racing in parallel with Eurobeat's popularity within the drift racing scene.
  • The Hands Up subgenre is popular among Internet-based subcultures due to its association with memes, short-form content, and Web 2.0 nostalgia.
• Popularity Polynomial: The genre began in the early 90s and grew to popularity within the then-growing European club and party scene through the decade, splintering off to several different subgenres. Trance continued to maintain a very dedicated fandom that gradually grew more and more through the Turn of the Millennium all over the world, eventually peaking in popularity from 2002-2004 and still remaining big up until 2009, but at the same time it was being written off by house, hardstyle, Drum and Bass and techno fans as being cheesy and sappy, with numerous think-piece articles proclaiming trance as a genre had "died". Then The New '10s came in and an EDM explosion took over the world, starting with America, and while trance wasn't quite as commercially successful as Electro House, Trap Music and dubstep, it still benefited greatly from the exposure, and several DJs, new and long-established acts alike, began experiencing a major surge of new fans. The immediate selling-out of tickets for Insomniac's 2015 Dreamstate festival (which primarily featured smaller-name producers in its lineup) firmly silenced those calling the genre dead and sparked renewed interest among older fans. Trance-focused stages started appearing in big-name festivals such as Tomorrowland and Ultra, and many DJs and promoters have spoken glowingly of the genre's growth in the US and worldwide. While progressive and uplifting trance are still the predominant styles in the mainstream consciousness, the harder styles such as acid, hard, psy, and tech are also growing in popularity thanks to better-quality production techniques and an increasing demand for "pure" trance sounds driven in part by fans of the "138" movement
• Public Medium Ignorance: Mixed with a little Pop-Culture Isolation, to the non-electronic listener, trance is generally known as either "that cheesy European club music" (for uplifting and progressive) or "that trippy-sounding EDM played in weird hippie-inspired raves" (for psy and Goa). The genre is also confused with Electro House and Hardcore Techno by listeners who are unfamiliar with the less-mainstream variants.
• Sensory Abuse: Full-on, hard trance and most festival/mainstage trance sets can come across as this, with performances focusing on creating a massive wall of sound synced to flashing lights, pyro, and hypnotic visuals in bright colors to further reinforce an "immersive" experience among concertgoers. In the increasingly competitive climate of the modern EDM scene, this is more or less expected of DJs as they strive to entertain ever-younger crowds. There are occasional aversions to this, such as Gaia's debut performance at Ultra 2014, with subdued visuals and more atmospheric tracks, and due to restrictions brought about by the global pandemic, many performing artists have taken to playing live sets in their homes or in closed-off locations such as abandoned warehouses, thereby also largely averting this trope.
• Silly Love Songs: Many uplifting vocal trance songs are this, with very heartfelt and emotional lyrics to reinforce the euphoric effect.
• Start My Own: Many trance artists are known for having founded and maintaining their own record labels/imprints in addition to producing and playing music. Some have even founded more than one record label.
  • Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto is probably the ur-example, having been founded in 1989, before the genre was codified, and carrying a wide variety of electronic music before focusing more exclusively on trance.
  • Ferry Corsten co-founded Tsunami in 1997, then founded Flashover Recordings in 2005, which later became a sub-label of Armada Music.
  • Tiësto co-founded Black Hole Recordings in 1997, then founded his own imprint Magik Muzik in 2001, and then founded Musical Freedom in 2010, handing over control of his trance labels to fellow producer Richard Durand.
  • Armin Van Buuren started the Armind imprint in 1999 on United Recordings, then later co-founded Armada Music and moved his Armind productions under the Armada umbrella.
  • Paul van Dyk founded Vandit Records in 1999.
  • Anjunabeats started in 2000 as both a record company and a production alias for Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamaki. They released only one track using Anjunabeats as a producer name before rebranding themselves Free State. (Tony McGuinness joined the duo to form Above & Beyond in 2002.)
  • Markus Schulz founded Coldharbour Recordings in 2005, after the street in London where he had a studio.
  • Andy Moor founded AVA Recordings in 2006.
  • Aly and Fila founded Future Sound of Egypt Recordings, named after their radio show, in 2009.
  • Solarstone founded Pure Trance Recordings in 2014.
  • John Askew and Simon Patterson's VII was founded in 2016, originally with a fixed lineup of seven artists, but the label later went on to feature other artists that have joined their touring lineup.
• Supergroup: A common way for two or more notable trance artists to collaborate is to co-produce tracks under a different brand/alias instead of being jointly credited for producing tracks/songs. Many such collaborations are short-lived, project-based affairs, however a few such groups have achieved Long Runner status, examples being Gaia (Armin van Buuren & Rank 1's Benno de Goeij), Key4050 (Bryan Kearney & John O'Callaghan), and the VII Crew (a more or less Revolving Door Band with John Askew and Simon Patterson as its core members)
• Trope Codifier: Jam and Spoon are considered to be the ones who set the standard for what trance is all about.
• Trope Maker: Depending on who you ask, it's either The Age of Love's "Age of Love", the remix by Jam and Spoon, or Dance 2 Trance's "We Came in Peace".
• Ur-Example: Either Klaus Schulze's album Trancfer or Jean Michel Jarre's album Oxygène, among many others.
• Watch It Stoned: Averted. While the genre is very popular with stoners, acid heads, and ecstasy lovers, it's widely agreed upon that drugs are not needed to enjoy it, even by drug users themselves, as the music alone can evoke emotions and sensations similar to those associated with certain recreational drugs. Many trance artists also consider sobriety a valuable trait due to the intricacies involved in producing trance music long-term.

A list of well-known trance artists, bands and musical projects:

• 1200 Micrograms
• 4 Strings
• A*S*Y*S
• Above & Beyond
• Abstract Vision
• Ace Ventura (not to be confused with the movie)
• Airwave
• Bjorn Akesson
• Alex Di Stefano
• Alex M.O.R.P.H.
• Allen & Envy
• Alstroemeria Records (Experiments with Trance from time to time.)
• Aly & Fila
• Andy Moor
• Arctic Moon
• Arty
• Davey Asprey
• Astral Projection
• Astrix
• John Askew
• ATB
• Will Atkinson
• Avalon
• Azax
• Barakuda
• Gai Barone
• Basshunter (mixed with hardstyle)
• Ben Gold
• Ben Nicky
• Binary Finary
• Blastoyz
• BLiSS (mixes trance with Eurobeat, contemporary EDM and Noise Rock)
• Ilan Bluestone
• Bobina
• BT
• Captain Hook
• Cascada: Trope Codifier for Eurotrance
• Chicane
• Chris Schweizer
• Christina Novelli
• Cold Blue
• Coming Soon!!!
• Cosmic Gate
• Daddy DJ
  • 2000 - Let Your Body Talk
    • "Daddy DJ"
    • "The Girl in Red"
    • "Over You"
  • 2012 - Folder
• Matt Darey
• Darude: Best known for his 1999 release "Sandstorm", which became a rave classic in the early 2000s and later went on to achieve Memetic Mutation status on the web.
• Dash Berlin
• Thomas Datt
• deadmau5 (sometimes, with progressive house elements)
• Jorn van Deynhoven
• Mike Dierickx: Best known for his aliases M.I.K.E. Push, Solar Factor and Plastic Boy.
• John Digweed
• Dimrain47
• DJ Tatana
• DRYM
• Richard Durand
• James Dymond
• Electric Universe
• Adam Ellis
• Gareth Emery
• Emok
• Factor B
• Fady & Mina
• Faithless (mixed with Hip-Hop)
• Ferry Corsten
• Ferry Tayle
• Fisherman & Hawkins
• John '00' Fleming
• Freedom Fighters
• Martin Freeland (also known by his aliases Man With No Name and Positiv Noize)
• Gabriel & Dresden
• Gaia (Supergroup consisting of Armin Van Buuren and Benno de Goeij of Rank 1)
• Goa Gil (Trope Codifier for Goa trance)
• GMS
• David Gravell
• Groove Coverage
• HANA (mostly Synth-Pop with trance influences, has collaborated with trance producer Durante on two EPs)
• Maria Healy
• Heatbeat
• Tomas Heredia
• Hilight Tribe
• Humate
• Hybrid
• Indecent Noise
• Infected Mushroom (later releases fuse psytrance with Drum and Bass, Electro House, dubstep and Hard Rock)
• Insomniac
• I've Sound (mixed with Japanese Pop Music)
• Jam & Spoon (Trope Codifiers)
• Jean-Michel Jarre: His albums "Oxygène" (1976) and "Equinoxe" (1978) are considered to be predecessors.
• Sam Jones
• Menno de Jong
• Judge Jules
• Junkie XL
• Juno Reactor (fuses trance with cinematic score and world music)
• Bryan Kearney
• Key 4050 (collaboration project between John O'Callaghan and Bryan Kearney)
• KI/KI
• Tetsuya Komuro (the Trope Maker for J-trance)
• Kors K
• Yuzo Koshiro
• Kyau & Albert
• Lange
• Christopher Lawrence
• Liquid Soul
• Lisa Lashes
• livetune (overlaps with Electro House)
• Marco V
• MaRLo
• Roman Messer
• Robert Miles: His 1995 composition "Children" may not be the first dream trance track, but it's almost certainly the Trope Codifier for that subgenre.
• MIYUKI
• Myon & Shane 54
• Neptune Project
• New World Punx: Supergroup consisting of Markus Schulz and Ferry Corsten
• Nhato
• Robert Nickson
• Nifra
• Ørjan Nilsen
• John O'Callaghan
• Paul Oakenfold
• Hiroyuki Oda (also known by his Vocaloid producer alias HSP)
• Omnia
• Omiki
• Orkidea
• Giuseppe Ottaviani
• Outsiders
• Pakito
• Simon Patterson
• Photographer
• Mauro Picotto
• Darren Porter
• Simon Posford: Known for his material as Hallucinogen and Shpongle (alongside Raja Ram). Considered the Trope Codifier for mainstream psytrance and its fusions.
• Eric Prydz (mixed with progressive house, Trope Maker for the "Pryda Snare" sound used in many modern trance and EDM tracks)
• Pure NRG (supergroup consisting of Solarstone and Giuseppe Ottaviani)
• RAM
• Ranji
• Rank 1
• Nate Raubenheimer (known for his stage names Protoculture and Shadow Chronicles)
• Andrew Rayel
• Will Rees
• Manuel Reuter
• Rex Mundi
• Rinaly
• Ritmo
• Rodg
• Ruben de Ronde
• Mike Saint-Jules
• Sash!: Best remembered for "Encore Une Fois" and "Ecuador".
• Sasha (not to be confused with the above)
• Markus Schulz
• Klaus Schulze (the Genre Popularizer)
• Scot Project
• Sesto Sento
• Roger Shah
• Mark Sherry
• Signum
• Simon O'Shine
• Mark Sixma (including his M6 alias)
• Snap!: Mixed with techno, house and eurodance, best remembered for "The Power" and "Rhythm Is A Dancer".
• Sneijder
• Solarstone
• Sonique
• Standerwick
• Jordan Suckley
• Sunny Lax
• Super8 & Tab
• Susana (big-name trance singer known for her numerous collaborations)
• System D
• Talamasca
• Talla 2XLC
• Tenishia
• The Thrillseekers
• Tiësto (earlier material, crosses over into House Music)
• Tokyo Ghetto Pussy
• Kai Tracid
• TDJ
• Tritonal (mixing progressive trance with Electro House before genre shifting to the latter completely)
• Timmy Trumpet (occasionally produces psytrance)
• Sean Tyas
• UCast
• Underworld
  • 1994 - dubnobasswithmyheadman
  • 1996 - Second Toughest in the Infants
• Union Jack
• Armin Van Buuren
• Paul Van Dyk: His 1993 remix of Humate's "Love Stimulation" is considered to be the groundwork for uplifting trance in general.
• Sied Van Riel
• Veracocha (collaboration between Ferry Corsten and Vincent de Moor)
• Vibe Tribe
• Vini Vici (also incorporates world music and big room elements)
• W&W: Genre Popularizer for bigroom trance before shifting more towards Eurotrance and Hands Up, though still producing bigroom-style tracks in between their newer-sounding releases and also under their NWYR alias.
• Waio
• Jake Williams
• Marcel Woods
• Satoshi Yaginuma (known for his musical supergroups fripSide and ALTIMA)
• Yuuhei Satellite