Tech-Trance is a
sub-genre within Electronic Dance Music that draws upon the
Techno and Trance genres as the name suggests. Tech-Trance focuses more on the
Techno elements, 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 of around 135-150 Beats per minute. Tech-Trance tends to utilize a more driving
sound while commonly using distortion as an effect on the melodies. Commonly, the melody containing strings and pads
will begin once the beat has completely stopped, playing by itself much like a Trance breakdown. This melody
will suddenly stop, leaving the drums and a completely different synth to begin, whereas Trance songs would generally continue with the same melody. The synths are short, repetitive and contain less note changes than Trance, often having the same note played in an interesting sequence. For an example, see
Sam Sharp'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. Tech-Trance is currently quite an underground genre, but is growing in popularity due to its hard-edged nature and growing list of producers.