Trance Production

I found a pretty interesting website online about trance -- It looks at what it is, its history, developments and structure in music.

First and foremost, the genre of music known as “trance” has very few rules or patterns that must to be followed in order for it to be considered as trance. “Trance is arguably the area of electronic dance music that has more branches and sub-genres than any other. However, in the eyes of a producer, this is a great thing. Instead of being limited by a strict pattern of conduct, the possibilities in this type of music are almost endless”. There are three areas that separate trance from other types of EDM : the atmosphere, its use of repetition, the particular use of synthesisers, and the associated “scene” surrounding trance. The atmosphere in trance music is supposed to be hypnotic. It is all about the music, the lights and the emotions of people coming together. The scene is another crucial part, without the scene, “we would most likely not have trance in the form that it is today”.

These ritualised trance celebrations provide a new outlet for collective creative expression and spiritual development. Furthermore, it can provide grounding to disoriented youth and support a positive shift in society and individuals, tailored to the main issues of today. Outdoor festivals are a good example of these celebrations. One very recent festival I was able to attend last April 2009 was Trance energy in Riverside (also check website for more details: http://www.trance-energy.nl/te2009/). What these festivals incorporate are many elements of traditional rituals, as well as new elements. So there are many similarities in outdoor locations, natural cylces, glow sticks and neon colours, and the use of illegal drugs such as ecstasy that propel the participants into other realms of conciousness. What we see here is a global and universal culture expressed through dance and celebration of love and freedom. What I observed from these types of festivals was that the culture was all about unity, but also expressing yourself. People came in crazy outfits and sunnies – but most of all, it was expected that people came to dance. There is a huge amount of unseen decoration and amplifying drugs. Ecstasy is percieved to be a youth style or subculture to trance culture because its effects promote the ideals of the culture. It is known to be the key to music because it changes your whole '”life”. Remember, trance is not just music but a state of mind. People do not want to just listen to the music, they want to move, be moved and DANCE.

Trance itself is very wide-scoped as it occupies wide territory with a lot of space and brings its influence outside and well beyond its own bounds. Again, there are no rules or patterns with trance music. There are all kinds of styles of trance. As noted in the website, there is modern or goa/ psychedelic trance, progressive, dark trance, breaks and the uplifting trance. Trance has such a diverse range of music. It can essentially be seen as a complex transposable element: it jumps from one culture to another, providing this culture can receive it. What it provides is a phenomenon, an experience where there is a unified consciousness during trance these events, it is not only a group mental occurrence, but it involves our collective biological body as well. In other words trance is an embodied enactment happening within and because of dense cultural networks of knowing and feeling.



www.transproduction.com

Interview with DJ Paolo

DJ Paolo is a present dj at Club Eve in Melbourne. He has also played at various clubs in the Philippines and Singapore. He specialises in trance and house music. About a year ago, he started listening and experimenting with the electro/retro genre and decided to try this out. Here is an interview I did over the phone about his personal opinions and views on trance music and its culture in Melbourne.

What do you like about trance music?

I've always like how the music in trance is very progressive and builds up and down throughout the track. After being a fan of trance i started appreciating other styles of electronic dance music. Now I've become a really big fan of electro/house/minimal and tech.

How did you find out about trance and its music scene?

I first heard trance during the late 90s. One of the first songs Ive ever heard of was For an Angel by Paul van Dyk. and I slowly discovered the scene from the Internet and going to clubs. I really wanted to know what was going on in electronic landmarks such as Europe as they were very forward thinking with their music.

What were your first impressions?

It was all about setting the mood. I believe its about connecting with the audience and being able to evoke the same feeling the producer made the track and seeing it appreciated in the dancefloor.

Rave music and trance music is somehow intertwined, but what do you think is the difference?

Well they're both very similar as both are less glamorous to an extent to their music genre brothers such as Vocal house/ electro. The rave scene started with teams illegally setting up parties at unused warehouses and through outdoor parks (the key element is the illegality of the event, which made it appealing for people). Trance has european roots and developed in the early 90s and subsequently has a tempo of 130-140 bpm with a lot of sythesizer use and build ups. Rave, on the other hand, was born earlier and has roots from the Acid house movement in IBIZA. Rave music incorporates all sorts of hard-edge music : Trance, Hard Techno, Breakbeat, etc.....

thus, Trance is considered a subset of rave music.

Apart from trance, what other types of genres do you participate in?

Indie rock, 90s hip hop, 80s Nu-wave, Nu-Rave, Minimal techno, Berlin Techno, 70s motown as well.


Is the industry and scene in Melbourne growing for both artists and audience?

Melbourne I belive is the fastest growing state in terms of electronic music in terms of popularity, support, sheer number of nights all over hte city.

How are te clubs in Melbourne? what roles do they play?

Clubs in essence are there to make money in the entertainment industry. Music and clubs are co-dependent and music is said to set the framework for the night but clubs often reach worldwide fame and become the epitome of industry making music "follow" the club. ( ie Studio 54, NYC)


Who are your influences?

Too many too mention. But i'll mention a few: Richie Hawtin, Laidback Luke, the ed banger crew, etc. ...

Does trance in Melbourne differ from trance around Europe? how do you adapt to these influences especially the ones that are global?

Well like all music, Australia follows trends in music from europe and trickles down to mainstream audience much later. DJs adapt to these global influences by researching and being contanly on the net. Secondly, they slowly include new songs into their set. Having an open mind helps as well to stay ahead over other djs.

Trance Culture: Israel Research

Bryan Meaden wrote an article about his research on trance music culture, the moral panics and the transnational identity in Israel. As Trance music culture has been growing in popularity in Israel over the past fifteen years, this research looks at observations in trance parties, as well as personal interviews with Israeli trance party participants.

Firstly, when we think about evolution, we understand that it is a hereditary change in information transmitted over time. There has always been a 'religious nature' which has been practiced through the millennia, across the world with similar rituals, beliefs, and ways of living, and dressing. This cult is re-enacted within the contexts of our postmodern cultures. In the case of the Israeli’s, as a developing subculture, “through the use of heightening the symbolic value of trance characteristics, primarily the music and the venues and their meanings of styles, trancists have given the music that drives them a spiritual quality. This spiritual meaning, in turn, allows them to develop ritual and raise the meaning of these rituals to almost sacred levels”. This demonstrates how subcultural groups are formed by youth who share this social position, and how these groups construct alternative value systems that allow youth members to measure themselves against the counter class standards. The article notes how the police were a major example that caused trance participants to feel alienated towards both the state and national ideals.

There is no actual meaning that can be found in the trans culture. Pure escape, excitement, and the celebration of life, freedom and love was what was expressed by these participants. The trance party people were the party. The youth reactively and proactively expressed their dissatisfaction by articulating themselves through forms of style and creativity. The global trance community provided this sense of belonging and acceptance. The Israeli’s are part of this community and not just as visitors passing through, instead, “they become a respected member of a particular tribe within the global trance community. As a member of this tribe, he belongs to the greater community, but has distinct cultural, social and local characteristics, which distinguish him from other national groups of the greater community”. Through preferences in various trance music, interpretation of this music and uses of it, demonstrates how youths are simultaneously interpreters and producers of culture reflecting their understanding of global culture, while contributing to this same culture. So for example, the history of club cultures shows how travelers contributed to the transmission of dance music culture. They emerged from travelling to locations around the world within the explicit purpose of experiencing the club culture area. Meaden notes how, “the main place where the trancist experiences his new community is through recollection. The trancist uses the recall of the experience of traveling around the world and attending trance parties prior to identifying with the community as an experience that only later becomes significant”. The experiences with trance music, drug use and international trancists, become the new anchor for identity construction for the trancist. Some of these trancists continue to travel outside of the country for parties, but most rely on either personal experiences of others to provide strength to their romance with the global trance community.

What we therefore have is this subculture that youths look for as an alternative to fit to his newly developing self-image. This self-image is associated with belonging to a transnational community that will accept the trancist as he is, while accepting his choice of social entertainment, his symbols of meaning and social interactions as legitimate and even positive. In the case of the Israelli, Meaden points out how “trance has become their main form of expression, and the Israeli public will not tolerate it. They see the general Israeli public as viewing the trance scene as a foreign, illegal and a threatening subculture to Israeli society. Via moral panics, sending the police to break up parties condoned by the public, the trancist feels that police brutality is simply an expression of society’s will. Therefore, he can no longer view himself as part of a society that cannot accept him, and will place himself in the hands of a more accepting community – the trance community”.



http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_14/256000/256541/3/preview/Abstract_-_Trance_.doc.

A Brief Preface

Hello everyone! welcome to my blog! First of all, good luck to all your assesments, hope it all goes smoothly. Well this is basically my second blog, the first blog I created wasn't exactly what I wanted and it was kinda broad, so I decided to create another one and focus on trance culture so hopefully this will guide me for my final essay. Anyways, the reason why I chose trance culture was because one of the things that I have experienced here in Australia was being able to take advantage of the music festivals (of course not all the festivals i went to played trance but there was a few). We dont really have music festivals back home in the Philippines, so this was a treat for me. So what better way to use my experience for this assesment. Besides that, I do listen to a lot of house- electro-trancey music a and find that most of the clubs here play a lot of that as well.

But just to name some of the festivals I was able to catch:

Splendour in the grass 2007
Island vibe 2008 (ok this was a reggae festival but it was awesome so it deserves to be on the list anyways)
Global gathering 2008
Summer field daze 2008
Future music 2009
Trance energy 2009 *

So there they are! I plan on focusing on trance's culture and what it incorporates, such as the festivals, traditional rituals, as well as some of its new elements by specifically looking at a research article in Israel. I will also be discussing the evolution of trance parties, in particular a festival that I went to called Trance energy. Finally, an interview that I conducted with DJ Paolo, who is currently working at club Eve in Melbourne.