Trance Music

Ferry Corsten (born December 4 , 1973 in Rotterdam , Netherlands ) is a popular Dutch trance producer, DJ and remixer , and he was one of the pioneers in the genre.

He started to work as a musician in 1991 . In the beginning he produced underground hardcore Gabba tracks, but after that he started to work on clubhouse and trance music. In 1999 he produced the "Out of the blue", a melodic and catchy tune that became a hit on dance floors all over the world. His growing popularity in the late '90s led to cooperation with many famous trance DJs and musicians like DJ Tiesto ("Gouryella", "Vimana"), Vincent de Moor ("Veracocha"), Robert Smit ("Starparty"). In 1999 Ferry was elected as "Producer of the Year" at the Ericsson Muzik Award in London. In 2000 he was awarded "Best Remix" for " Barber's Adagio For Strings " ( William Orbit ) at the Dancestar 2000 awards.

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Trance is a form of music best characterized by quarter note drum patterns, and 16th/32nd note rhythm synthesizer patterns. It has a meter of 4/4, with a quarter note bassdrum acting as metronome, and quarter note high-hat hits on upbeats. This unwavering drum mechanism may be constantly tweaked with for effect, with the Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release ( ADSR ) all given liberal treatment. The tempo is generally around 130-158 beats per minute (bpm).

The arrangement consists mostly of a repeating 32nd note sequencing arpeggio , and a bass section of whole notes usually drifting through the aeolian or natural minor scale. Harmonic structure is typically minimalist, with often no more than 2-4 chords. Iterations of the i-iv-v progression (A minor, D minor, and E minor, for example) lend a dark feel by eschewing major chords entirely. Additional rhythm sections are added and subtracted every 16 measures (sometimes 8, and sometimes 32) to add weight and anticipation to the composition. The bass chord will usually change every 4 measures.

There is a lead synth, and it will be a simple minor scale melody of 8th notes, looping every 4 measures (some have 2, some have 8. Some even have 16). Trance is produced with keyboards , computerized synthesizers , drum machines , and music sequencer software connected via MIDI . The average trance song has a polyphony of 8. The most busy will have 16.

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