Tech Trance is a sub-genre within electronic dance music

Electronic dance music

Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...

 that draws upon the techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

 and trance

Trance music

Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...

 genres as the name suggests.

History

Tech trance was pioneered by among others Oliver Lieb

Oliver Lieb

Oliver Lieb is a German electronic music producer and DJ. Lieb is known to have more than a dozen aliases with over 200 productions and remixes in various electronic genres such as, trance, house, and techno. He has also produced tracks for other artists...

 in the mid 1990's. Other early examples of tech trance producers are Humate, Chris Cowie and Marmion. Tech trance evolved in a new direction during the early 2000's. By 2006, the most widespread variant of trance was the still growing and evolving genre of tech trance, pioneered by the likes of producers such as Tiesto

Tiësto

Tijs Michiel Verwest, , known as Tiësto , is a Dutch musician, DJ and record producer of electronic dance music. Although he has used many aliases in the past, he is best known for his work as DJ Tiësto...

, Marcel Woods

Marcel Woods

Marcel Woods, real name Marcel Scheffers, is a Dutch DJ and producer from Eindhoven.-Biography:Woods started to DJ in 1990. Over the past years, he has, among other things, played at Dance Valley, Defqon.1, Innercity, Sensation and Trance Energy...

, Marco V

Marco V

Marco V is a Dutch electronic music DJ.-Artist albums:-Singles/EPs:* 2009: Unprepared* 2008: Sessions* 2008: Dudak* 2006: 200V - UK EP* 2006: False Light* 2005: Second Bite...

. The new style appealed to Trance DJs such as Ferry Corsten

Ferry Corsten

Ferry Corsten, also known under the alias System F, is a Dutch producer of trance music, in addition to being a DJ and remixer. He also hosts his own weekly radio show, Corsten's Countdown. He routinely plays at events all over the world with crowds in excess of tens of thousands. In 2009 Ferry...

 and Armin van Buuren, who then started incorporating tech trance into their sets. Since then tech trance has continued to evolve as a subgenre of trance, with many established trance producers and newcomers incorporating the style in their sets or focussing solely on it.

Style

Tech trance incorporates traditional elements of techno, with its repetitive nature and strong 4/4 beat, while deriving the melodic elements from Trance. Tech trance compositions tend to have a tempo

Tempo

In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

 of around 135-150 beats per minute, which is still significantly slower than hard house or hard trance

Hard trance

Hard trance is a subgenre of trance music that originated in Western Europe in the mid-1990s as the breakbeat hardcore production community began to diversify into new and different styles of electronic music, all influenced by UK hard house, happy hardcore and jungle/drum & bass...

.

Defining features of tech trance are complex, electronic rhythms, heavily quantised and usually driven by a loud kick drum, with filtered, dirty or slightly distorted hi-hat sounds and claps; harder synth sounds, usually with a large amount of resonance or delay; minimal pads, often with sidechaining to increase the volume off the beat. While earlier variants of trance often featured piano, strings or acoustic guitar, tech trance almost exclusively features synthesized sound, though electric guitar sounds occasionally feature.
The synths are short, repetitive and contain fewer note changes than Trance, often having the same note played in an interesting sequence. One example of this is Sam Sharp

Sander van Doorn

Sander van Doorn Sander van Doorn Sander van Doorn (born Sander Ketelaars [] on February 28, 1979 in Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands is a Dutch tech trance DJ and producer...

's "Deep".

While breakdowns and builds within a song are important elements of many electronic genres, they are less prevalent in tech trance. As a result, more abrupt stops and starts are used to increase the effect of sudden changes within the music. Vocals are also quite rare within the tech trance genre, with only short phrases or single words normally incorporated.

Evolution

Tech trance started as an underground genre, but in recent years has grow in popularity due to its hard-edged nature and growing list of producers.

Since the development of tech trance, hard house producers have evolved their style and incorporated it into the tech trance sub-genre. This style usually incorporates the use of hard house percussion/drums, techno keyboards/samples and trance breakdowns. See such producers as Vinylgroover, The Red Hed, Anne Savage

Anne Savage (DJ)

Anne Savage is a UK hard dance DJ.-Early life:Savage was born in Burnley, Lancashire and raised in the Ribble Valley. She attended, the private Westholme School. She took classical guitar lessons at an early age. In the late 1980s she played guitar in a punk band called 53rd State.-Career:Savage...

, Chad Hardcastle, and M Project.

Tech Trance compilations

• Leon Bolier - Streamlined
• Oliver Lieb - Phuture Tech Trance Volume 1
• Marco V - Live At Innercity 2000
• M Project - HardWired Flight # 0002 & 0003
• M Project & MUI - Tru Visions
• Sander Van Doorn - Dance Valley Festival 2006
• Yoji - Tech Dance Euphoria

Tracks

Most tracks can be found and listened to on popular video websites.

• Spirallianz - Sidewinder
• Midi Miliz - The Cell
• Chris Cockerill & James Barron - In Velvet
• Haldolium - Pandora Prinzip
• X-Dream - Psychomachine
• Leon Bolier - Ocean Drive Boulevard
• Vandall - Viva La Revolution
• Marco V - Godd
• Signum - First Strike (Signum Signal 2004 Remake)
• Taylor Swift - Breathe (Chris C Tech Trance Remake)
• Dj James Best - Contact
• Fabio Stein - Tran4
• Tocs - 2
• Heatbeat - PushOver
• Incolumis - Tsunami
• DJ Zyx - Human Race With God
• Ivan - Red Star (Pads Mix)
• John Remedy - Ventricle (Lamoen & Lishious Mix)
• Krzysztof Chochlow - Release / Reserve Midnight
• L.S.G. - Blueprint (Version 1)
• Marmion - Schoeneberg
• M Project - TranceWired
• Mark Sherry & BK - Amino (Original)
• Mindspace - Mindcontrol (Tech Mix)
• Natious - Amber (Oliver Lieb Remix)
• Sander van Doorn - Pumpkin (Original Mix)
• Spicelab - Two
• Vegas Soul - Retrograde
• Emjay - Real High (AK47 Remix)
• Vandall - Hard Tek Action
• Oliver Ho - In The Dark
• Hydragen - Creature Of Habit
• Kinetic - Reverence
• Randy Katana - Play It Loud / Play It Louder
• Sander van doorn - Grasshopper
• Marcel Woods - Advanced
• Marcel Woods - Cherry Blossom
• Simon Patterson - Bulldozer
• Pascal Feliz - Inside the Speaker (Part I)
• Pascal Feliz & Nenes - Platinum (Tech Mix)
• Kryztow De Fier - Don't Mess With Me
• Genix - Phused
• Louk - Shadow of the Beast (Kamui Remix)
• W&W - Arena (Original Mix)
• W&W - Dome (Original Mix)
• Nenes - platinum (original mix)
• Marcel Woods - CPU