n.-a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s in Germany. It is characterized by a tempo of between 125 to mid 140 beats per minute (BPM), repeating melodic phrases,and a musical form that distinctly builds up and down throughout a track. A trance refers to a state of hypnotism and heightened consciousness. This is portrayed in trance music by the mixing of layers with 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.
There have been many times where I've tried to explain to others just exactly what trance music is and why it means so much to me. The soaring melodies, the driving beats, the incredible breakdowns...impossible to put into words. When I've tried to pick a particular song to show what trance is, one after another comes to mind for all sorts of reasons. How can you pick one song to display the music that's created for anything and everything?
Trance is the ultimate form of what music can be. It has the power to fit any and every situation and is perfect for whatever you're doing. It can take you to all new emotional heights and bring you up out of your lows. It is by carefully crafted design and namesake meant to put the listener into a hypnotic trance like state where everything is better because of the music. This kind of music and the feelings associated with it can become addicting, where you simply cannot feed the craving enough and more is always better.
To take this up a notch, one of the sub-genres within trance is called uplifting trance which is on the higher end of the trance BPM range, usually at around 138-142 BPM. When done properly, it takes the listener to a higher state of euphoria, where the intense excitement and happiness can be so strong that you simply don't know what to do with it. Having experienced this countless times myself, I can't tell you enough how amazing of a feeling it is. Being lifted off your feet emotionally because of the music is like a high that you never want to come down from. I've tried to explain it to others before as a sweet drink that you just keep drinking in but never get sick of and never has to run out.
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| The king of trance, Armin Van Buuren |
For me, trance is a life force that I rely on to keep me going and keep me positive. Be it at work, in the car, or hanging out with friends, trance is the musical blood that flows through my veins and fills my head from my alarm in the morning to guiding me to sleep at night. The strong impact trance has on me has lead me to needing an outward expression, where I'm not just taking in the music but doing something with it. To that end, I've created my own monthly radio show/podcast called For The Soul, where I mix about an hour's worth of tracks together as a DJ set and publish it under the moniker DJ Adaman (https://www.facebook.com/ForTheSoul.DJAdaman). If you haven't checked it out yet, now is the perfect time to do so as the current episode, number 18, is my finest work yet and is on display at the top of this post.
I'm often asked when I try to describe what trance is, "oh you mean techno?" or "isn't that what a lot of pop artists are doing now, that edm stuff?" In responding to this, I try to clarify the differences. EDM is the over arching genre, the broadest label, similar to calling a song Rock music. While that does categorize it, that's a huge category and isn't very clearly descriptive. With Rock, do you mean it's alternative rock, classic rock, heavy metal, indie rock, punk rock, etc.? All of those are very different genres, but they all fall under the label of rock. Now, looking at EDM, you have techno, house, progressive, dubstep, and others including my main favorite, trance. Within each of those genres, you have sub-genres such as uplifting trance, progressive house, progressive trance, and so on. Imagine it like a tree, where EDM is the trunk and everything branches out from there. There are differences between each, hence their existence, but the lines between each often become blurred.
One of the most fascinating parts of trance music is how it has lead to the creation of "trance families" worldwide. I've seen the music bring people together, with fans flying in from around the globe to attend landmark events hosted by the world's top artists. I've also heard shout outs and voice messages, including my own several times, from listeners around the world on those artists weekly radio shows. It's fascinating to hear the voice of someone from Kenya or South Korea, knowing that you're on opposite sides of the globe but are still listening to the same show. There are communities, such as Trance Family DC, that pop up in response to the music and come together to attend shows, share music, and spread the love of trance. A phrase that's often used to describe this outpouring of community is PLUR which stands for Peace Love Unity Respect. While this phrase has gotten beaten down in recent years as EDM has gone more mainstream, the music still creates a feeling of joy that you want to share with others while allowing them to share it with you. The music is powerful because it brings out the good part of our humanity that we don't often display in our daily lives.
Overall, trance is a key part of my life and I hope it remains that way. As I've described above, it has given me the most incredible emotional rides I've ever experienced and it keeps me going day after day. The concerts I've been to range from the smallest of nightclubs to a sold out Madison Square Garden. I even experienced both of these within a 24 hour period one weekend last year. I wrote this post to finally put into written form what I've tried to say to so many before, similar to how I wrote about my love for winter in a previous post. If you haven't heard trance before, I hope this post inspires you to click play on the video above and check out the other links I often share on Facebook. If you want to know or hear more, please let me know as part of my love for this music comes from getting to watch it grow as I share its incredible power with others. Thank you for taking the time to read this post, listen to the music, look at my pictures, and hopefully understand what I've shared here. Euphoria is a breath taking emotion and it can be achieved any time day or night through the wonder that is trance.
I'm often asked when I try to describe what trance is, "oh you mean techno?" or "isn't that what a lot of pop artists are doing now, that edm stuff?" In responding to this, I try to clarify the differences. EDM is the over arching genre, the broadest label, similar to calling a song Rock music. While that does categorize it, that's a huge category and isn't very clearly descriptive. With Rock, do you mean it's alternative rock, classic rock, heavy metal, indie rock, punk rock, etc.? All of those are very different genres, but they all fall under the label of rock. Now, looking at EDM, you have techno, house, progressive, dubstep, and others including my main favorite, trance. Within each of those genres, you have sub-genres such as uplifting trance, progressive house, progressive trance, and so on. Imagine it like a tree, where EDM is the trunk and everything branches out from there. There are differences between each, hence their existence, but the lines between each often become blurred.
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| The many sub-genres of EDM |
One of the most fascinating parts of trance music is how it has lead to the creation of "trance families" worldwide. I've seen the music bring people together, with fans flying in from around the globe to attend landmark events hosted by the world's top artists. I've also heard shout outs and voice messages, including my own several times, from listeners around the world on those artists weekly radio shows. It's fascinating to hear the voice of someone from Kenya or South Korea, knowing that you're on opposite sides of the globe but are still listening to the same show. There are communities, such as Trance Family DC, that pop up in response to the music and come together to attend shows, share music, and spread the love of trance. A phrase that's often used to describe this outpouring of community is PLUR which stands for Peace Love Unity Respect. While this phrase has gotten beaten down in recent years as EDM has gone more mainstream, the music still creates a feeling of joy that you want to share with others while allowing them to share it with you. The music is powerful because it brings out the good part of our humanity that we don't often display in our daily lives.
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| Above & Beyond at ABGT100 at Madison Square Garden (I'm in the upper left of this picture) |
