Euro Trance
Trance · 1998 · 138 to 145 BPM · also known as Eurotrance, Hands Up Trance
Euro trance is the commercial dancefloor version of trance from the turn of the 2000s: simple choruses, pitched-up vocals, pumping kicks, three minutes calibrated for radio and compilation CDs. Scorned by purists but adored on provincial dancefloors across Europe, it became the matrix for German hands up and a reservoir of nostalgia for two generations. It is trance built for the mainstream rather than the initiated, unashamed of it.
6 reference tracks
- ATB: 9PM Till I Come (1998)
- Darude: Sandstorm (1999)
- DJ Sammy & Yanou ft. Do: Heaven (2001)
- Lasgo: Something (2001)
- 4 Strings: Take Me Away (Into the Night) (2002)
- Basshunter: Home (2019)
At a glance
- Tempo: 138 to 145 BPM
- First appeared: around 1998
- Machines: Roland JP-8000, Korg Triton, Access Virus, Steinberg Cubase
- The sound: Supersaw simplifiée, Voix féminines compressées, Kick-bass pompé, Structures radio de 3 minutes
- Labels: EMI Electrola, Kontor Records, Zeitgeist
- Key artists: ATB, Alice Deejay, Darude, Fragma, DJ Sammy
Producing Euro Trance
Euro trance sits at 138 to 142 BPM, usually 140, on a straight, fully quantized grid, its pumping pulse coming from hard sidechaining on the bass and pads that replaces groove entirely; everything must arrive fast on the radio, a chorus by 45 seconds, counted in 8-bar blocks. A heavily compressed 909 kick carries an accented click, a loud open hat marks the offbeat like hard trance but brighter, and a 4-bar snare roll with a reversed cymbal leads into every chorus. The bass is a pumped kick-bass, an offbeat sawtooth sidechained hard at 10:1, sitting mostly on the root with a move to the fourth or sixth on the chorus. On top, a simplified supersaw lead plays a whistleable 4 or 8 bar hook in a minor key, and hard-compressed, pitched-up female vocals carry the chorus.
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 Euro Trance?
Euro trance is the commercial dancefloor version of trance from the turn of the 2000s: simple choruses, pitched-up vocals, pumping kicks, three minutes calibrated for radio and compilation CDs. Scorned by purists but adored on provincial dancefloors across Europe, it became the matrix for German…
What tempo is Euro Trance played at?
Between 138 and 145 BPM.
Who are the key Euro Trance artists?
ATB, Alice Deejay, Darude, Fragma, DJ Sammy.
