Trance music

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Trance music" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (June 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Trance is a genre of electronic dance music^[11] that emerged from EBM in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and quickly spread throughout Europe.^[12]

Trance music is typically characterized by a variable tempo between normal rates like in generic songs and by a simple or high-fast tempo or even both into one, simultaneously. Low-tempo sounds are usually loud and are compensated with a seemingly 'after-' effect that is in a fast tempo so the tempo is random in Trance.^[13]

It is still described as repeating melodic phrases^[7] and a musical form that distinctly builds tension and elements throughout a track often culminating in 1 to 2 "peaks" or "drops".^[7] Although trance is a genre of its own, it liberally incorporates influences from other musical styles such as techno,^[4][2] house,^[1][2] chill-out,^[4] classical music,^[4][5] tech house, ambient and film scores.^[5]

A trance is a state of hypnotism and heightened consciousness.^[14] This is portrayed in trance music by the mixing of layers with distinctly foreshadowed build-up and release. A common characteristic of modern trance music is a mid-song climax followed by a soft breakdown disposing of beats and percussion entirely,^[4][7] leaving the melody or atmospherics to stand alone for an extended period before gradually building up again. Trance tracks are often lengthy to allow for such progression and commonly have sufficiently sparse opening and closing sections to facilitate mixing by DJs.^[4][7]

Trance is mostly instrumental, although vocals can be mixed in: typically they are performed by mezzo-soprano to soprano female soloists, mostly without a traditional verse/chorus structure. Structured vocal form in trance music forms the basis of the vocal trance subgenre, which has been described as "grand, soaring, and operatic" and "ethereal female leads floating amongst the synths". However, male singers, such as Jonathan Mendelsohn, are also featured.^[15][16]