I love trance and techno music - particularly trance. Many people don't understand it and so here is an abbreviated explanation of why I enjoy this particular style.

1. Crisp and clean. Like the contours on a brand new Porsche, or the lines and curves of famous bridges. The precision of the music is artistic - and yet it doesn't come across as sterile or emotionless.

2. Layers. (I don't know music terminology at all so please forgive me) A lot of music has themes, a chorus, and stuff like that - not bad. The great trance and techno tunes I enjoy tend to have dozens of layers of sound that are faded in, sped up, slowed down, amplified, etc. I can listen for particular parts of a song and pick up on new things almost every time - or I can let all of the layers of music blend into a single piece that takes me on a journey...

3. Volume. The electronic nature of the sounds means that they still sound amazingly crisp at high volume. Most music sounds better played loud, but trance in particular seems to work best cranked up... Besides - I love bass!

4. Remixes. I have heard dozens of remixes of single songs I know. Some of them are great, some of them are mediocre, but the cool part is that each one brings a new flavour to an old familiar favourite.

5. Mixes. The true art of techno and trance music comes in the mixing of various tunes into a cohesive "mix". It takes a sharp mind and good taste to calculate what tunes will go together best, which order is most effective, the optimum timing and speed of the transitions... And the best part is that it is often done live and improvised!

6. Vocals. Some trance has vocals and some doesn't - it makes for great variety!

7. Energy. The strong beat of trance (and especially techno) makes for high energy music - the bass beat provides a steady strong backbone to the music. It's great for waking up, for running, exercising, and yes even studying.

8. Calmness. Trance music makes for some of the best relaxation music I've ever encountered. The songs are long (5-7 minutes instead of pop music's 3-4), the vocals are usually simple, and it tends to flow. This is fantastic for taking a nap, studying, or just relaxing.

9. Parties. I admit I've never been to a club. BUT, I've seen many pictures and videos and you would be very hard pressed to find a genre of music with more impressive live performances. The lighting, energy, fog, lasers, etc are truly astounding.

Most people still probably won't "get it", but this music is powerful for me. If I was going for poetic and profound stuff, I'd say something like "it touches my SOUL"!

For those interested, I've got a number of techno/trance links on this blog - for internet radio, forums, downloads, etc.