Progressive dance music: Encyclopedia II - Progressive dance music - Progressive trance

Progressive dance music - Progressive trance

Progressive trance is popular sub-genre in trance music and contains elements of house, techno and ambient music. The basic formula of trance became even more focused on the anthemic qualities and melodies, moving away from predictable arpeggiated analog synth patterns (aka acid synth lines). Acoustic elements and spacey pads became popular, compositions leaned towards incremental changes (aka progressive structures), sometimes composed in thirds (like Brian Transeau frequently does). The sound became more and more ethereal and heavenly. Progressive trance contains very intuitive elements, such as unusual basslines or original synths, which generally make it more "catchy".

The structure of progressive trance is different from a typical techno track. The introduction generally starts with slower ambient beats. Following this section is a "breakdown" and then the main melody. Electronic effects and vocals are usually in both the intro and the coda.

Phrases can be any multiple of 4 bars (4-8-12-16 etc.) in most typical progressive trance tracks. Phrases usually begin with the introduction of a new or different melody, or the introduction of hi-hats to the track. In progressive trance there may be four more simultaneous layers.

Known artists in this electronic music genre include Brian Transeau, James Holden, Luke Chable, DJs Sasha and John Digweed. Newer artists include Terje Bakke, The Last Atlant, Hydroid, Gerry Cueto.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Progressive trance", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki