Dream Trance
Trance · 1993 · 135 to 140 BPM · also known as Dream House, Dream Dance
Italy between 1995 and 1997 turned trance into a stadium lullaby: a melancholic piano carries the hook, a house trance rhythm section does the rest. Children by Robert Miles, written to calm deadly rave traffic on Italian highways, became its planetary manifesto. The genre burned out in two summers but left a lasting mark on all of melodic dance music, proving that a piano melody could carry a whole dance floor.
6 reference tracks
- Voyager: Baseball Furies (Gianni Parrini Progressive mix) (1993)
- Roland Brant: Nuclear Sun (Gianni Parrini mix) (1993)
- Voyager: City Of Light (1994)
- Robert Miles: Children (1995)
- Robert Miles: Children (Tinlicker Remix) (2021)
- Robert Miles: Fable (1996)
At a glance
- Tempo: 135 to 140 BPM
- First appeared: around 1993
- Machines: Roland TR-909, Korg M1, Akai S3000, Roland Juno-106
- The sound: Piano lead mélancolique, Nappes de cordes, Roland TR-909 adoucie, Basse ronde
- Labels: ZYX Records, Platipus, DBX, Discomagic Records, Yeti Records
- Key artists: Robert Miles, Zhi-Vago, Imperio, DJ Dado
Producing Dream Trance
Sit between 130 and 140 bpm, but the feel is that of a song: the tempo serves the piano. Keep the grid straight, counting in 8-bar phrases that match the melody, with breaks where the kick drops and the piano carries the tempo alone. Soften the 909: low-pass the kick near 6kHz, a soft clap on 2 and 4, an open hat on the offbeat at low volume, and only a short roll before drops. For bass, follow the piano's root notes on a Juno-106 or filtered square, doubled by a sub sine, with a light kick sidechain. The piano lead carries everything: an 8-bar minor melody with held notes and silences, backed by string pads and a filtered choir, with a short delay and a long hall reverb.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Dream Trance?
Italy between 1995 and 1997 turned trance into a stadium lullaby: a melancholic piano carries the hook, a house trance rhythm section does the rest. Children by Robert Miles, written to calm deadly rave traffic on Italian highways, became its planetary manifesto. The genre burned out in two…
What tempo is Dream Trance played at?
Between 135 and 140 BPM.
Who are the key Dream Trance artists?
Robert Miles, Zhi-Vago, Imperio, DJ Dado.
In the same family
- Trance
- Acid Trance
- Balearic Trance
- Ibiza Trance
- Progressive Trance
- Tech Trance
- Uplifting Trance
- Vocal Trance
- Euro Trance
- Anthem Trance
- Orchestral Trance
- German Trance
Listen to Dream Trance in the atlas · Cette page en français
