Progressive Trance
Trance · 1994 · 128 to 138 BPM · also known as Prog Trance, Progtrance
Trance learning the patience of progressive house: fewer shouted choruses, more long trajectories, rolling basslines and layers that assemble themselves over ten minutes. It began in the 1990s on Platipus, reached its golden age around 2000, then found a melodic rebirth through Anjunabeats. This is the side of trance that club purists have always preferred to its stadium sized anthems and hands in the air hooks.
16 reference tracks
- F2: Dominica (1994)
- The Aloof: Agent O (Life's A Gas mix) (1994)
- Paul van Dyk: Emergency (1994)
- Sasha & John Digweed: Northern Exposure (1996)
- Gabriel And Dresden: Tracking Treasure Down (2006)
- Tinlicker & Helsloot: Because You Move Me (2021)
- Grum: Afterglow (2019)
- Ilan Bluestone Feat. Giuseppe De Luca: What Do You Want From Me? (2021)
- Paul van Dyk & Weekend Heroes Ft. Christian Schottstaedt*: Venture X (2023)
- Armin van Buuren & Omnia: Love (2025)
- Above & Beyond: Tri-State
- Armin van Buuren: Orbion
- Ferry Corsten: Beautiful
- Above & Beyond: Hope
- Gouryella: Tenshi
- Armin van Buuren: Mirage
At a glance
- Tempo: 128 to 138 BPM
- First appeared: around 1994
- Machines: Access Virus, Roland JP-8000, Akai S3000, Steinberg Cubase
- The sound: Basse roulante en croches, Arpèges superposés, Nappes évolutives, Percussions discrètes
- Labels: Anjunabeats, Hooj Choons, Platipus, Colorize, Bonzai, Zerothree
- Key artists: Way Out West, Quivver, Above & Beyond, Jaytech, Genix
Producing Progressive Trance
Work between 128 and 134 BPM, barely faster than the progressive house it borrows its patience from. The grid stays straight, but the groove comes from a rolling bassline in eighths and sixteenths rather than from the drums. Think in ten minute tracks built from 32 bar blocks, each changing one element, with transitions by filter fades rather than hard cuts. The kick is less dominant than in uplifting trance, a short 909 or a drier sampled kick, and the snare is often a thin clap kept low. Closed hats run in sixteenths with alternating velocities to create a rolling feel, joined by discreet shakers and a filtered conga. The rolling bass is the signature: a sawtooth around 350 Hz, eighths on the root with added sixteenths, sidechained from the kick, doubled by a sine sub below 60 Hz.
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 Progressive Trance?
Trance learning the patience of progressive house: fewer shouted choruses, more long trajectories, rolling basslines and layers that assemble themselves over ten minutes. It began in the 1990s on Platipus, reached its golden age around 2000, then found a melodic rebirth through Anjunabeats. This…
What tempo is Progressive Trance played at?
Between 128 and 138 BPM.
Who are the key Progressive Trance artists?
Way Out West, Quivver, Above & Beyond, Jaytech, Genix.
In the same family
- Trance
- Acid Trance
- Balearic Trance
- Dream Trance
- Ibiza Trance
- Tech Trance
- Uplifting Trance
- Vocal Trance
- Euro Trance
- Anthem Trance
- Orchestral Trance
- German Trance
Listen to Progressive Trance in the atlas · Cette page en français
