The Music Theory Behind Trance?, anyone know anything about it Options

[justiceandstreng...]

Hi there Mr Greatavatar - I haven't even got one. Oh well, I think I can help you though.

Don't worry if people are disparaging about the style (or one) of the styles of music you want to make. There have been some truly great trance tracks (as said earlier around 93 when it was techno that sounded trancey and before it became the formulaic style bandwagon to jump on).

Try and buy Beatnik's Goa and Psychedelic Trance CDrom - should be available from time & space. It has very genuine sounding examples (construction kits) which are then broken down into their constituents. Midi files are also given.

It is quite easy to work out the arrangement - in terms of the flow of parts coming in or breaking down - in your favourite trance tracks. All stuff to be played with as I am sure you know.

Of course I too think that it is important to make music your own and to inject your own character. But this will help you to see the basis of the style - psychedelic and goa type of trance that is. As the others say gating chords and arpeggios are are mainstay of the more anthemic style.

I have made trance tracks in the past (and may do again). I did not pinch chords off the internet - although that sounds like an interesting idea anyway, with some strange noises.

I do agree that much dance music gets very stylistically narrow - house, techno, drum and bass have also been guilty of this. The dj's are often to blame for getting stuck in a rut.

Techno (trance, click.....whatever) music made with technology should and will always be innovating. Learn the rules and then break them ,,,, Go for it dude man.

This post has been edited by justiceandstrength: Wed 28 Jan 2004, 05:40

[surrealka]

Ok, I've got to chime in here. I'm a classically-trained pianist and composer. I write in a number of styles and genres, some electronic some acoustic. And I love trance music. More specifically, I love psychedelic/goa trance music. Over the past year, I've been working on learning to write good psy trance, and I think it is a very complex, and at times elusive form of music to compose.
Here's my tips on composing trance.

1. Listen to some good trance music. I highly reccomend groups like Infected Mushroom, Hallucinogen, Shpongle, GMS, Hux-Flux, Astral Projection. Listen to it with a critical ear, and try to analyze what they're doing. And listen to different styles; even within psy-trance, there is a wide variety of stlyes.

2. Arpegiators are your friend. Look, I hear what you're saying about it seeming like cheating, but really what it does is give you more tools that you can push even further. Yes, a standard up-down arpeg pattern can be boring, but there are many programs and hardware synths out there that enable you to do very elaborite arpeg patterns. My main synth for writing trance is an Access Virus, which has quite a few patterns that it comes with, all of which are highly variable. Many sequencers, such as Digital Performer, allow you to create your own arpeg patterns from midi tracks.

3. Tweak, record, analyze and cut up. Whatever instruments you're using, spend some time, just playing, fooling around, making interesting sounds. Record everything (MIDI and audio). Then go back and listen to it and find bits you like. You can chop them up for use as loops, or recreate what you did and develop it. The main drawback with trance music is that it can be kind of rigid and monotonous. By playing and recording live improvisation to find starting points for songs, you can create much more flowing mixes.

4. Analyze a trance song you like. Sit down with a piece you really like, and try to chart out what's happening on paper. Trance almost invariably develops in 16 measure phrases, with new elements often coming up every 4 measures. These elements can be subtle. Try to break down what changes in each subdivision. To take this concept even further, you can actually try to recreate a mix using your own equipment (though this is much more involved).

5. General principles: steady, repettitive 4/4 kick with fill every 16 measures. Bass line deep, complementing kick, often filling in betweeen beats as well. Hi hat on odd beats, best with short decay time (it's very easy to overdo the hi hat). Melodies that build in complexity, layering multiple rhythmic patterns. I've read research that says that it is the combination of four or more simulatneous rhythms that induces a trance state in the brain. Tweak filters and LFO's. Ultimately, it's all about good sounds, and there's no absolute standard for that. Also, make sure that your various parts occupy their own niches in the frequency spectrum. This is an important principle of music in general. You can use eq to do this, as well as multiband compression. Most trance music goes through some degree of multiband compression in the mastering.

I hope this helps.
Jim
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