To create your own trance tracks, you will first need to choose a DAW. This stands for Digital Audio Workstation and this will be the software in which you will make your tracks. I recommend Logic Pro (only available for Mac) as it’s easy to get started but very professional and there are plenty of tutorials available online.
If you don’t have a Mac or don’t want to use Logic, some of the other options available are Ableton Live, FL Studio, Pro Tools, or Reason.
Next, let’s take a look at some of the other equipment you’ll need to produce high-quality trance before moving on to how to actually produce trance.
A good sound card is an important element of any home studio.
Your computer’s sound card transfers sound from microphones or keyboards, so it can have a big effect on the sound quality of your recordings. Standard sound cards installed in home computers are fine for normal use, but are often not designed to handle complex recording jobs, as they can often cause latency issues.
To avoid this, it is best to choose sound cards specially designed for recording, such as midi or audio interfaces). These have a number of advantages:
They work quickly and smoothly, and are available with a variety of inputs that will allow you to connect guitars, microphones, keyboards, etc. directly and can often record multiple instruments at the same time.
Sound cards can be installed internally, or you can connect external cards to your computer via USB or Firewire. Before you buy, think carefully about what you want to record and what inputs you’ll need. A good sound card doesn’t necessarily need a lot of inputs unless you want to record a lot of instruments at the same time, but a good variety of different types of inputs is always helpful. Producing Trance won’t require as much input even in other types of music, since you don’t need to record instruments simultaneously as you would if you were recording a live band.
These are some examples of sound cards. I’d recommend the Apogee One because of its premium sound quality (priced around £170) or if you’re willing to spend more money, the duo or the set. Other good sound cards include M-Audio’s Fast Track Pro and RME Fireface.
If you’re serious about music, then you really need a hardware controller. There are different types of controllers, such as pads to create drum patterns and midi keyboards. These controllers can make it easier and faster to record and mix music in Logic and any other sequencer. Additionally, most of these controllers contain presets that allow them to link with your DAW right out of the box. They also come with a wide range of features, some just plain keys and others containing transport controls, faders and rotary encoders. Midi keyboards can generally be purchased in 25, 49 or 61 key versions. I would recommend the basic M-audio Keystudio or, if you’re willing to spend more money, the M-Audio Axiom or Novation SL MK2.
*NOTE* A MIDI keyboard or hardware controller is different from a synthesizer. This means that it will only work if it is connected to a computer and does not contain any built-in sound.
Headphones and Monitors:
If you’re producing any kind of music, you need proper monitors to hear the sound. Cheap computer speakers just aren’t good enough when it comes to listening to a mix. This is because studio monitors are designed to flatten sound and therefore give a more accurate representation of what music actually sounds like. However, computer speakers don’t do this, and so what you’re actually hearing could be distorted and fake. So you have two options: buy a pair of studio headphones or invest in a more expensive but more accurate pair of studio monitors.
Headphones are usually cheaper and can get the job done effectively; however, they are not as accurate as a good pair of monitors. A pair of headphones should be lightweight and comfortable to wear for long periods of time, as well as providing excellent sound quality. Closed-back headphones help reduce the amount of noise that is transmitted to the outside world, which makes them useful for recording as it reduces the chance of the sound from the headphones being picked up by a microphone.
A good set of studio monitors can greatly improve the quality of your mixes: if you can hear an accurate representation of what you’ve recorded, you can choose the right effects and set the levels correctly. Studio monitors come in two different varieties: active and passive. Passive monitors need to be connected to an amplifier, while active monitors already have a built-in amplifier. The advantage of active is that you don’t have to spend extra money on an amp, but if you have passive monitors, you can buy a new amp and automatically upgrade your monitors whenever you want without buying a whole new pair. If a mix sounds good on studio monitors, due to its flat response, it is more likely to transfer well to other systems.
Headphones tend to be much cheaper than monitors, only costing around £100, while monitors, of much higher quality, tend to be priced higher too (up to £1000 for a very good pair).
The headphones I would recommend would be any AKG or Sennheiser and the monitors I would recommend would be the KRK RP6 G2 or the more “fancy” Mackie HR824.
That’s the basic gear, of course, you could get a lot of other stuff like hardware synths, VSTs, compressors, effects and microphones etc.
To get started producing there are numerous tutorials available on the web and there is a tailor made guide to producing trance music in logic found here in the resource box.
In the guide you’ll find step-by-step tutorials to get you started producing trance in Logic Pro. Other places to look include YouTube tutorials, search forums, and reading the Logic manual.
