TRANCE (music genre)

Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s in Germany. It is characterized by a tempo of between 125 to mid 160 beats per minute (BPM), repeating melodic phrases, and a musical form that builds up and down throughout a track. Trance is a genre on its own, but also will include other styles of electronic music such as techno, house, pop, chill-out, classical music, and film music. 

A trance refers to a state of hypnotism and heightened consciousness. This drifting sensation is portrayed in this genre by mixing many layers and rhythms to create build and release. For example, a characteristic of virtually all trance songs is the soft mid-song breakdown, beginning with and occurring after the orchestration is broken down and the rhythm tracks (typically provided by a Roland TR-909 drum machine) fade out rapidly, leaving the melody, atmospherics, or both to stand alone for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Although this genre can be devoid of vocals, with mixes done by semi-amateurs posted online at informal locations, mixers who have gained recognition of major labels put out mixes for the radio market with mostly but not limited to female vocals, typically soloists and notably photogenic. Vocal talents range from mezzo-soprano to soprano sometimes without verse/chorus structure. These are categorized as vocal trance. Vocals have been described as "grand, soaring, and operatic" and "ethereal female leads floating amongst the synths".

Origins

Germany is regarded as the birthplace of electronic trance music, with the original melodic trance sound first appearing around 1993 in Frankfurt.

The origin of the term is uncertain; one theory suggests that the term is derived from the Klaus Schulze album Trancefer (1981). The earliest reference to 'trance' in modern dance music is 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'. Dance 2 Trance is also an early example of trance music, having first released single in 1991.

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.

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. In truth it was really Sven Vath, his labels and others in the same group that saw the initial releases of trance. In France, Jean Michel Jarre, an early electronic musician, released two albums in the late 1970s: Oxygène in 1976 and Equinoxe in 1978. Also a possible antecedent, Neil Young's 1982 electronic album, Trans, bears resemblance to the trance music genre. Another possible antecedent is Yuzo Koshiro's electronic soundtracks for the Streets of Rage series of video games from 1991 to 1994. 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., German duo Dance 2 Trance's 1990 track "We Came in Peace".

One writer traces the roots of trance to Paul van Dyk's 1993 remix of Humate's "Love Stimulation". 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. In subsequent years, one genre, vocal trance, arose as the combination of progressive elements and pop music, and the development of another subgenre, epic trance, had some of its origins in classical music., with film music also being influential.

Trance was arguably at its commercial peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Armin Only is an all-night electronic dance event featuring solo performance by Armin van Buuren. The event consists of trance music, light, laser and firework shows and supporting acts of vocalists or artists such as Sharon den Adel, Nadia Ali, Racoon, Ilse de Lange, Audrey Gallagher, Richard Bedford, Eller van Buuren.