Trance is a style of
electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s. Trance music is generally characterized by a tempo of between 130 and 155
BPM, short melodic
synthesizer phrases, and a
musical form that builds up and down throughout a track. Trance can be understood as a combination of many forms of
electronic music such as
industrial,
techno, and
house. The origin of the term is ambiguous, with some suggesting that the term is derived from the
Klaus Schulze album
Trancefer (1981) or the early trance act
Dance 2 Trance. In any case, the name is undoubtedly linked to the perceived ability of music to induce an
altered state of consciousness known as a
trance. The effect of some trance music has been likened to the trance-inducing music created by ancient
shamanists during long periods of drumming. As this music is frequently played in nightclubs, vacation spots and inner cities, trance can be understood as a type of
club music.
Early in the 1980s the German composer Klaus Schulze composed several albums of experimental "space music" which was highly atmospheric and sequencer-driven. Some of these songs share many similarities with early trance music and are sometimes categorized as trance. Two of his albums from the 1980s include the word "trance" in their titles, 1981's Trancefer and 1987's En=Trance.
In retrospect, some of the earliest identifiable trance recordings came from the acid house movement, which was pioneered by The KLF. The most notable of these were the original 1988 / 1989 versions of "What Time Is Love?" and "3 a.m. Eternal", along with the aptly titled, "Kylie Said Trance" (1989) and "Last Train to Trancentral" (1990). The KLF labeled these early recordings "Pure Trance" and they share many similarities with The White Room album (1991) but are significantly more minimalist, nightclub-oriented and 'underground' in sound. While the KLF's works are clear examples of proto-trance, two songs, both from 1990, are widely regarded as being the first "true" trance records. The first is Age of Love's self-titled debut single which was released in early 1990 and is seen a basis for the original trance sound to come out of Germany, Some consider "The Age of Love" to be the first true trance single. The second track was Dance 2 Trance's "We Came in Peace", the b-side of their own self-titled debut single. Another influential song was Future Sound Of London's "Papua New Guinea" (1991).
The trance sound beyond this acid-era genesis is said to have been an off-shoot of techno in German clubs during the very early 1990s. Germany is often cited as a birthplace of trance culture. Some of the earliest pioneers of the genre included Jam El Mar, Oliver Lieb, and Sven Väth who all produced numerous tracks under multiple aliases. Trance labels like Eye Q, Harthouse, Rising High Records, FAX +49-69/450464 and MFS Records were Frankfurt based. Arguably a fusion of techno and house music, early trance shared much with techno in terms of the tempo and rhythmic structures but also added more melodic overtones. Also, the songs did not "bounce around" in the same way that house did and often contained unpredictable shifts in beat structure. These early forms of trance are now referred to as classic trance and were longer and more abstract than the more danceable trance that was to follow.
