4 ways to create those trance arpeggios

 As you know  trance arps are the cornerstone of trance . You know when your in that underground club at like 3 in the morning and  all the music stops then slowly but,gradually you all of the sudden hear that arpeggios starting to slowly  come back in then it starts to pulsate ,then it goes on for a while taking you away while it gets melodic and a little somber before it gets happy again ,then the  filters start to come back theres some delay all the strobe lights are out its dark and your starting to feel that vibe going on in your head and you just want to get crazy  on the dance floor again well you can make that arpeggios yourself ill show you how.


Ill show you  4 ways the first way if with broken chords a melody on top and a bass note on the bottom

so basically you have your key your writing in then you shift the scale and the broken chords every 2 bars .

so for example bars 1-3 ,bars,3-5,and bars 5-7 and bars 7-9 are all a different note in the scale . you dont change the key  you still stay in that scale just modulate it up or down a few semitones something like this

then in the same key youd open a new track and create a new midi track etc and insert a new synth of your choice this time you will be creating the melody to go on top of this arp so you have this arp playing but , it would sound good until you make a counter melody on top of it basically the treble notes im talking about. Then go back in the same track as the arp you just made and put in some bass notes on the off beat this time only using one or 2 notes for example if your in bflat just use bflat for each off beat) then before i forget create another track and insert a string pad or supersaw pad and make a few chords and inversions in the key your in make some harmony with it then thats it you have your arpeggio  just make sure to loop and layer all  4 elements together for that true trance feel. The pad,the counter melody /the top  treble notes,the broken chords,and the bass note


the second way is  to only use 2 notes and just play those same 2 notes over and over in a melodic kind of way,youd have to do a lot of trial and error though

the third way is to only use the broken chords and have no bass note and no treble notes/no counter melody. This way is useful for like a breakdown or a build up or just a verse. but,if you want that  memorable arp youd have to use the first way as it will be more catchy with the interplay between the counter melodies with the three synths and the harmony with a string pad.


the fourth way you kind of break the rules and you can use the 5 note trick. Open up your sequencer and create a track with your trance lead or whatever lead then  just pick any 5 notes from your scale then for your whole melody no matter how long or short it is you will only use these 5 notes only while you can get some nice melodic riffs this way it will be kind of cold and somber if you want that classic trance arp as always go with my first option.

As always have fun trying out my tutorials and if theres anything else youd like to see message me and of course subscribe.

my next post  i will post what these  examples sound like so you will know what to expect when you do them.
Dont forget to add effects and automation. Trance would not be trance without automation and effects !

Drum Roll please

Okay if you follow what i outlined in the first example  your arp should sound something like this below the arp example is the same loop with some automation as thats where trance is created with automation so use your imagination and have fun.






you notice how the top notes in the arp are what really make trance so come up with your own counter melody or counterpoint on top of the arp to get it flowing the top notes are what you remember  in your head well after you leave the club or turn off your car radio so create a catchy melody and counter it with your arp and have fun!

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