- published: 25 Nov 2013
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Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 beats per minute,:252 repeating melodic phrases, and a musical form that builds up and down throughout a track. It is a combination of many forms of sound such as techno,:15,17house:15, pop:16, chill-out,:17classical music,:16:35 and film music:35.
Trance employs aural dynamics to a great degree: A characteristic of virtually all trance songs is the soft mid-song breakdown:19, beginning with and occurring after the orchestration is broken down and the rhythm tracks fade out rapidly, leaving the melody and/or atmospherics to stand alone for anywhere from thirteen seconds to three minutes. When vocals are present in trance, they are generally sung by a female with a soaring, operatic voice ranging from mezzo-soprano to soprano, best described as "ethereal female leads floating amongst the synths".
Germany is the birthplace of trance music,:251 with the original melodic sound first appearing around 1993 in Frankfurt.:15
Armin van Buuren (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑr.mɪn vɑn ˈby.rə(n)]), OON (born 25 December 1976 in Leiden, Netherlands) is a Dutch trance producer and DJ. Between 2007 and 2010, he was voted number one in DJ Magazine's annual top 100 list of the most popular DJs. In the 2011 list, he ranked in second place. Since 2001, Van Buuren has hosted a weekly radio show called A State of Trance, which claims to have around 15 million weekly listeners in 26 countries, which would make it one of the most listened-to radio shows in the world. His 2008 studio album, Imagine, entered the Dutch album chart at #1, a first for a dance music artist in Dutch music history.
Armin van Buuren was born in Leiden, Netherlands on 25 December 1976, but grew up in Koudekerk aan den Rijn. Van Buuren started making music when he was 14.[citation needed] He was inspired by French electronic music composer, Jean Michel Jarre, and wished to become a great electronic music composer like Jarre.[citation needed]
He finished high school at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden in 1995, and left for college to study law at Leiden University. While studying law, Van Buuren's interest for making music blossomed, and he began working as a DJ in a local club called Nexus. As his musical career began to take off, he put his law degree on hold, although he did return to finish law school in 2003.