Acid trance is a genre of

trance music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from the British new-age music scene and the early 1990s German techno and hardcore scenes. Trance music is characterized by a tempo generally lying between 135–150 beats per minut ...

that emerged in the early 1990s focusing on using the acid sound. The trademark sound of "acid" is produced with a Roland

TB-303 The Roland TB-303 Bass Line (also known as the 303) is a bass synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in 1981. Designed to simulate bass guitars, it was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were ...

by playing a sequenced melody while altering the instrument's filter cutoff frequency, resonance, envelope modulation, and accent controls. This real-time tone adjustment was not part of the instrument's original intended operation. Acid trance is the best known form of trance music in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. The form was first showcased at the popular

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Rave 24 in Belgium, and has created four national number one singles in the country since. Acid trance may be considered a descendant of

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthes ...

, since the genre of trance had not yet been invented during the advent of acid house (or acidhouse). The first volumes of Trancemaster compilations contains a few tracks in acid trance style, just as

classic trance Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from the British new-age music scene and the early 1990s German techno and hardcore scenes. Trance music is characterized by a tempo generally lying between 135–150 beats per minute ...

tracks. The difference is, while acid trance tracks focus more on the changing TB-303 lines, classic trance (e.g.

Dance 2 Trance Dance 2 Trance were a German techno duo composed of Rolf Ellmer and DJ Dag Lerner. They had a small number of hit singles in the mid-1990s and were associated with Jam & Spoon. History Musical career DJ Dag and Jam El Mar met in 1990, when th ...

Cosmic Baby Cosmic commonly refers to: * The cosmos, a concept of the universe Cosmic may also refer to: Media * Cosmic (album), ''Cosmic'' (album), an album by Bazzi * Afro/Cosmic music * "Cosmic", a song by Kylie Minogue from the album ''X (Kylie Minog ...

, Age of Love, and Jam & Spoon) tracks are more atmospheric, they use "softer" synth-lines, often strings and other

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It ...

elements. The line between these two styles is quite blurred; they also emerged about the same time. Acid Trance artists are often grouped with their classical and Goa counterparts. It is not uncommon to see many of the first Acid Trance artists featured on Goa Trance compilation albums. However, some of these artists never considered themselves part of the Goa or

Psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science o ...

scene and these compilation albums were often done by their record labels who published Acid Trance alongside Goa artists.

Notable labels

Attack Records Attack Records ran originally from 1969 to 1980 as an imprint of Trojan Records. Notable artists included The Pioneers, Gregory Isaacs, I-Roy, Big Youth and The Upsetters. In 2003 it was revived for British singer Morrissey and the label S ...

Harthouse Harthouse is a German record label specializing in techno music. The company was founded by Sven Väth in the early 1990s as a sublabel of Eye Q Records with the divisions Harthouse Frankfurt, Harthouse UK and Harthouse America. In the begin ...

* Le Petit Prince * Moonshine Music *

Platipus Records Platipus Records was a British trance music record label that was based in London, England. It was founded in 1993 by Simon Berry, and early releases included Union Jack and Art of Trance. Later, the label included artists like Dawnseekers a ...

Rising High Records Rising High Records was a leading British record label, established in 1991, specializing in rave, techno and ambient chillout music. Founded by Caspar Pound, who had chart success with A Homeboy, a Hippie and a Funki Dredd, the label went on to ...

References

https://bandcamp.com/tag/acid-trance 20th-century music genres Psychedelic music Trance genres {{music-genre-stub