Trance

The earliest trance music tracks emerged in the late 1980s and gained more popularity by the early 1990s. After the initial years of dominance in the clubbing culture in Germany, trance music dominated the rest of Europe where it was the leading sound for the party scene for almost an entire decade.

Most of the classic trance sounds can be found throughout the 1990s. It was a time when trance music started gaining a stronghold. Many of the tracks released during this period defined and shaped the trance genre as it is today.

Trance music is characterised by its heavy focus on melodies, rich atmosphere and majestic harmonies. This distinguishes it from other kinds of electronic music. The tempo generally ranges from 128 to 140 beats per minute, although some of its subgenres have ranges much greater than this. The genre is well known for its brilliant build-ups and enduring breakdowns that tend to leave people in a “trance”. The genre is often found to be related to the genre of classical music as it adopts similar harmonies, melodies and patterns.

If we explore the technical aspects of trance music, we observe that the reverb and delay effects are frequently used heavily to add strength to the soul of the music. Sometimes traditional musical instruments are used in conjunction with electronically composed sound — usually guitars, pianos and strings. For example, the Trance pioneer Armin Van Buuren used many non-traditional music instruments in his tracks from the sixth studio album, Embrace, which also featured a jazz trumpeter Eric Vloeimans. 

Although there are not as many parties in Ibiza as there used to be, there are still some great events throughout the summer. Experience the best quality trance music in Ibiza at the best clubs on the island. Find the top trance music DJs and parties below.