New to Trance?
Check out a couple of my recs below to grow acquainted with the genre:
(All links keep you within this webpage)
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1. Beautiful, Energizing, & Repetitive: • Angel (Eteson&Nicky Dub)
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2. Uplifting Symphonic Trance (Hard, Repetitive-yet-Beautiful) • Everlasting (Original Mix) [Skips intro (Skips first 2:32)] • Everlasting (Original
Mix) [Don't Skip Intro (long version)]
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3. Uplifting Symphonic: • Amnesia (SoundLift Remix)
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4. Video of a Concert (Song is an Electro-y Hard Electronica Anthem): • Elements of Life
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5. Yet More Anthem Trance:
5a. Old-School Soothing-yet -Energizing Anthem: • Airwave
5b. Frenzied Euphoric Fast Old-School (1990s) Intense Uplifting Anthem: • Walhalla
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6. Uplifting Vocal Trance: • Just Be (Antillas Mix)
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7. Balearic Vocal Trance (Sad/Reaffirming) • Lost (Original Chill Mix)
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8. Progressive Trance (Harder, Multi-tempo Chill-Out): • Fake Awake (Blizzard Remix)
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9. Uplifting Trance (Electro-y & Latin-y): • Sounds Rushing (David West Remix)
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10. Vocal Progressive Trance (Laid-Back): • Punta Del Este (Beach Mix)
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11. Vocal Trance (Midtempo Melancholy): • Miracle
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12. Vocal Trance (Harder):
• Falling • Everything (Cosmic Gate Remix) Concert Video
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13. Progressive (fast & uplifting) :
(Wonderful Video of Penguins) • Make This Your Day (Gareth Emery Dub Rmx)
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14. Vocal Anthem: • Nothing But You
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15. Brief Transitions:
• Blossom (Lounge Mix) • In the Past
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16. Chill-Out Balearic Trance:
• Sunny Tales (Original)
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17. Trance Downtempo • God Surrounds Us
Listening Tips
Remember these:
that the long
buildups
condition you to be as strongly
emotionally affected by the breakdowns or climaxes, to condition you to resonate at the right frequency; as mentioned,
for example, in the Blizzard remix of Fake Awake at left, the two climaxes are at two different speeds. The first
(slow) buildup is meant to slow your body down so that the slow climax resonates perfectly; the second buildup is much
faster & aims to speed up your being so that the fast climax resonates perfectly; iof you listen to eachother climax
without first hearing the buildup, neither will hit the spot, and neither will be as satisfying.
some parts are meant to be somewhat frustratingly repetitive as a way to buildup to a very satisfying release when the
climax or new phrase begins; in most cases, the patience is worth the wait: Most trance is not meant to be instant
gratification music but instead uses delayed gratification to create more satisfaction &, if at times dissonant, more
appreciation of beauty
unmixed pieces tend to be "dj friendly": this means that the start and end are just a simple beat (& sometimes just a
little
more), usually for the whole first and last minutes.
Because trance is built on melodies, it is hard for dj's to mix two pieces together, as the melodies may not sound good
superimposed on eachother. Therefore, the start and end of the piece remove the melody and other elements, making it easy to
mix with the previous or next song.
Useful Definitions you probably know but, in case you don't, here they are:
Breakdown: You'll recognize this as the softer, simpler, and usually quite beautiful interlude in the middle of
the piece. It's called a "breakdown" because the orchestration and structure is broken down by removing almost
all the elements and instruments of the piece to leave just a few. Usualy the main beat also disappears.
Dub: A Dub is just a remix where either all or almost all the words have been taken out.
Mashup: A mashup is a remix where two different songs are put together.
The left & below links show 4 trance genres:
- Uplifting/Anthem Tr.
- Progressive Trance - Vocal Trance - Balearic Trance
(Within these, trance producers
often merge trance with house,
jazz, ambient, classical, indie,
electro, psy-trance, pop, hip-
hop, techno, alt., Euro/HiNRG,
Latin, chill-out, or downtempo.)
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In case you like a couple of my recommendations at left, below (random order), are
more of
my all-time favorites:
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Concert Video: Classical-Based Distorted-Sounds Anthem:
• Adagio For Strings
