Trance composed in major is usually said to tacky 'happy trance' and most decent trance would be in minor, right? tried it. minor tends to sound rather too tragic and sentimental and doesnt sound as expressive as i hoped...using the common generic chords and progressions sounds..well...too generic! any guidelines on which scales are commonly used? would the common trance melodies be played in chord piano style or chorale? know of any common progressions used in trance and if most trance tends to stick to one scale/key all together or do they modulate between keys?.any help would be much appreciated.

I think most trance tends to stick to one minor scale in each song and usually does not modulate. That said, PVD seems to modulate in some of his tracks and I think it has a very powerful effect. (specifically I am thinking of PVD - Another Way)

Not real sure on specific tips to give though.

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Minor is usually the way to go...

Remember that in trance, you're using natural minor, not harmonic or melodic minor. Meaning the 7th note of the scale isn't sharpened or anything like that (just wondering cos you said it sounded too tragic and sentimental, and that effect's often created by the sharp 7th of the harmonic minor.)

As for melodies and progressions... experiment. There's only so much you can do that'll sound good in terms of progressions, really.

And nearly all trance stays in the same key, generally modulation doesn't sound good in this type of music. But yeah, it works well in Another Way.


Just use this as a guideline, though. The key is to experiment and do whatever you think sounds good, armed with a bit of basic knowledge...

You don't have to stick to one key at all. What I once did was to start off a track in minor. And half way, during an interlude I switched to major. This made for an excellent buildup in the track to really get the crowd going!

Good luck,

Nick

quote:

Originally posted by nhibberd You don't have to stick to one key at all. What I once did was to start off a track in minor. And half way, during an interlude I switched to major. This made for an excellent buildup in the track to really get the crowd going! Good luck, Nick

Could You explain it better to people, who dont have musical education?

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Can someone explain to us lamers what is the difference between C-major and A-minor? Since they both consist of exactly the same notes. Do we tell them apart simply on assumtion / fact that C-major sounds happier than latter one, or is it the same thing, simply called differently (by one's preference)?

quote:

Originally posted by Stormy_T Can someone explain to us lamers what is the difference between C-major and A-minor? Since they both consist of exactly the same notes. Do we tell them apart simply on assumtion / fact that C-major sounds happier than latter one, or is it the same thing, simply called differently (by one's preference)?

A minor starts on A, C major starts on C. On a piano the notes are the same.

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quote:

Originally posted by auujay A minor starts on A, C major starts on C. On a piano the notes are the same.

OK, I know that. Maybe I should refrase: How would we know which melody is written in which of those 2 scales if we knew the melody uses (i.e.) only white keys on a piano (C,D,E,F,G,A,B)?

One way to describe it is that if it's in A minor the 'pull' sensed by your ears will be more towards A, since A is the tonic note, not C.

And because of this (to do with how the scales are built and so on), it's gonna sound sound more emotional/less 'bright' and happy than it would if it was in C major.

I guess the second explanation is really the best, since unless you have pretty good pitch you can't just listen to a tune and sense that the strong note is A.

Sorry I'm kinda sleepy so if it's not clear enough, ask in more detail or something...

quote:

Originally posted by Stormy_T OK, I know that. Maybe I should refrase: How would we know which melody is written in which of those 2 scales if we knew the melody uses (i.e.) only white keys on a piano (C,D,E,F,G,A,B)?

You should be able to tell which notes are more common. The root, 4th and 5th are very common and are different for A minor and C major. A minor's 4th and 5th being D and E, while C major's is F and G.

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special k -atb pvd?
has a massive key change

and its obvious

but i know what youre talking about
and im happy

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Switching between minor and major chords can make any one of those chords sound either dark or light.
Also, what sounds dark to one person might not sound so dark to another, and so on. Epic trance relies primarily on the Aeolian mode, or natural minor mode, for its emotional impact. This is the same mode that is used in a lot of film music, and additionally, medieval chant, as well as celtic folk music.
If it's sounding too depressing, change one of your minor chords to major ones. If that sounds too dissonant, change it back and change something else. It's a matter of playing it by ear.
Also, I've found that even a very depressing melody played at 142 BPM does not sound all that depressing at all, and if one were to play it independent of a beat, it would sound more like a requiem than a dance anthem. Dynamics and tempo are important as well.