Hard trance

Hard trance is a subgenre of trance music that originated in Western Europe (Belgium, Germany, and Netherlands) in the early 1990s as the breakbeat hardcore production community began to diversify into new and different styles of electronic music, all influenced by hard house, happy hardcore and jungle. The popularity of hard trance peaked during the late 1990s, and has since then faded in scope of newer forms of trance. Hard trance is often characterized by strong, hard (or even downpitch) kicks, fully resonant basses and an increased amount of reverberation applied to the main beat. Melodies vary from 140 to 180 in tempo, and can feature plain instrumental sound in early compositions, with the latter ones tending to implement side-chaining techniques of progressive on digital synthesizers. Hard trance was the final form of progressive to hit the mainstream. It eventually morphed into hardstyle, jumpstyle and gabber. Although hard trance is still made and listened to by many people, its social appeal has undoubtedly waned considerably since the mid-2000s.