Acid in trance
The squelch of a Roland TB-303 runs through trance from the early 90s to today's tech and acid trance. Here's what makes a line squelch, and how to make it move.
The 303 sound
One oscillator, one resonant low-pass filter, one short envelope: the whole sound is in how they interact.
The envelope snaps the filter open at the start of each note and lets it close, and high resonance makes the filter ring at the cutoff frequency. That ringing sweep is the squelch.
Starting point
- Wave
- Saw (or square)
- Filter
- LP 24 dB, resonant
- Cutoff
- Low, ~300–600 Hz
- Env mod
- 50–70%
- Decay
- 200–300 ms
- Drive
- A little
Accents and slides
What makes acid talk is two flags on each step. An accent hits the note harder, throwing the filter further open and closing it faster, so it barks. A slide glides the pitch into the next note without retriggering the envelope, giving acid its rubbery, vocal quality. A good line mixes plain notes, a few accents and the occasional slide.
In MIDI, accents are usually high velocity, and slides are notes that overlap the next one. Set your 303 plugin to legato glide and velocity-sensitive accent.
Movement is everything
A static acid line gets dull fast. Real acid tracks are performances: the cutoff, resonance and env mod turn constantly. Automate a slow cutoff sweep over 8 or 16 bars, push the resonance up in builds, and let the line open fully into the drop.
Acid in a trance track
- Tech and acid trance: the acid line is the lead, over a driving kick and rolling bass.
- Uplifting: a filtered acid line underneath the chords adds grit and energy in the drop.
- Psy: acid lines in the Phrygian mode, busy and root-heavy, weave around the rolling bass.
Keep the acid line in key with the track, usually sitting on the root and jumping to the octave, fifth or minor third. Watch the low end: a resonant acid line can carry a lot of energy around 100 to 300 Hz, so high-pass it so it doesn't fight the bass.
More guides
How to write trance chord progressions
Numerals, why trance lives in minor keys, the raised V and voice leading.
How to write a trance melody
Call and answer, chord tones on the beat, rhythm, range and the peak note.
Trance basslines
Offbeat, octave, galloping and rolling: the four patterns and the sound.
Trance arps and plucks
Arp patterns and rates, the pluck sound, the dotted delay and layering.
How to make an uplifting trance lead
Unison, the octave layer, filtering, delay and the mix tricks that make a lead huge.
How to make a trance pad
Slow attack, long release, width, chorus, reverb and movement.
Trancegate settings explained
Patterns, smoothing and where the reverb goes, for gates that chop cleanly.
Acid in trance
The 303 sound, accents and slides, and the filter movement that makes it talk.
Programming trance drums
Four to the floor, the offbeat hat, velocity, swing, fills and sounds.
Trance track structure
Section lengths, timings at your tempo, and why DJs need the first and last 32 bars.
The trance breakdown
What to strip away, revealing the melody, and keeping it moving without a kick.
How to make a trance build-up
Snare rolls, risers, filter sweeps and the gap before the drop.
Mixing kick and bass in trance
Tuning, timing and frequency: a low end that hits hard without fighting.
Sidechain settings for trance
Depth, release and what to duck, for a pump that breathes with the kick.
Mastering trance for the club
Loudness targets, true peak, the mastering chain and streaming.
Getting your trance track signed
Picking labels, sending demos, premasters and what happens when a label says yes.