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Subgenres of Trance

12 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment

by goamusic in Uncategorized Tags: beats, dance, djs, electronic, music, psy, psytrance, subgenres of trance, trance

• “Classic” trance. While this isn’t a specifically defined subgenre, this refers to early trance that began in the late 80s. This subgenre has a tremendous focus on repetition, slowly changing over the course of the song. Classic trance can be said to be ported from contemporary classical music’s “minimalism” developed by contemporary composers such as Steve Reich, Terry Riley, La Monte Young, and Philip Glass.
• Acid trance. Acid trance is mostly similar to classic trance, except that it has a much more hypnotic and “trippy” feel to it. It has a unique sound that is often achieved by playing with filters, pans, and oscillators to create a “science fiction”-esque sound. See Roland TB-303.
• Progressive trance. This subgenre defined the popular “build-up and breakdown” themes that are often associated with trance. By slowly building up a progression of melodies and creating a pseudo “tension”, an outburst of emotional bliss results at the peak of the melody as it “releases”. These releases are often done by creating a brief lull in the melody before quickly returning to the main theme. Other common techniques include pausing, using rests, rapidly speeding up the BPM, and using progressing kicks from quarter- to eighth- to sixteenth-, note kicks, and so on.
• Goa trance. This subgenre shares many of the characteristics of acid trance, but has a unique “organic” sound to it. Goa trance is such a complex and structured subgenre of trance that many other “sub”-subgenres originated from goa trance, itself.
• Psychedelic trance. Also known as psytrance, this subgenre is very similar to goa. In what goa trance creates for an organic feel, psytrance creates an electronic, futuristic feel. Psytrance tends to use more sci-fi ambient sounds together with the techniques used in acid trance.
• Ambient trance. This subgenre tends to use a much slower BPM and places less emphasis on the quarter-note kick. Many ambient artists do away with the quarter-note measure altogether and drop to half-note measures or other measures. Ambient trance generally uses softer sounds and maintains an “easy listening” feel, while still retaining the repetitive and emotional characteristics associated with trance.
• Tech-trance. Tech-trance is a fusion between techno and trance. It is very tough. It doesn’t focus on a melody, at times a melody will be used in the breakdown. Usually focuses around the talent to manipulate one note and edit it to make a very industrial sounding synth. Some names to check out who specialize in tech-trance are Sander van Doorn, Abel Ramos, Bryan Kearney, Randy Katana, and Marcel Woods.

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