Is Klaus Schulze's "Trancefer" the origin of Trance Music?

[Ocean Ye]

In China, some listeners believe that the origin of Trance is Klaus Schulze's 1981 album "Trancefer", claiming that Klaus Schulze stated in an interview that he created the musical concept of Trance, and that "Trancefer" is its name and sound — it was just that the youth of the 1990s turned it into dance music. Another group of listeners refutes this opinion. They argue that so-called "Trancefer" is just a "word play", pointing out that Eberhard Schoener already released "Trance-Formation" in 1977. They also argue that Klaus Schulze knew very little about the popular trends of trance, techno, and ambient, and merely said in interviews that if the younger generation called him the "father" of their music, he would feel very honored; and that the true origin of Trance lies in the Frankfurt Scene.

What do you think?

 

[TRANCEBLASTER]

mr 'Schulze' was a electronic music pioneer in the purest sense.. he was likely as important to 'Trance' as 'Vangelis' or 'Jean-Michel Jarre', but I would not say he had a more direct influence than either of them..

claiming that Klaus Schulze stated in an interview that he created the musical concept of Trance, and that "Trancefer" is its name and sound

where can I find this interview?.)

They also argue that Klaus Schulze knew very little about the popular trends of trance, techno, and ambient

that with 'Ambient' is nonsense.. because he made some works in that genre. also he was intersted in 'Techno' and 'Trance' in the very early 90's..

in 1996 he released his 'Are You Sequenced?' album with an remix EP called 'Voices In The Dark' on 'Snap!'s label 'Eye Of The Storm', and these releases are the closest he came to 'Trance' as a music genre:

Klaus Schulze - Voices In The Dark [1996]

'Klaus Schulze' (1947-2022) was a German electronic music pioneer and genius of Berlin-School/Ambient, his debut album 'Irrlicht' was already released in 1972! in the 90's he found the magic of 'Techno' and 'Trance' and started to experimenting with new sounds.. in 1996 he released his 'Are You...

www.trancefix.nl

 

[Ocean Ye]

where can I find this interview?.)

I do not know actually. That's the thing makes me confused, too. They said it was in 2005, and they found it by Google, but I can't.

that with 'Ambient' is nonsense.. because he made some works in that genre. also he was intersted in 'Techno' and 'Trance' in the very early 90's..

Well, I did not express it clearly. That's my fault. You can check it in an interview in 1996: Klaus Schulze - Interview (January 1996)

Q: The Berlin School and the sequencer music are the forerunners of the techno-ambient-trance style. Do you feel as a pioneer of trance music?

KS: When I was invited to Paris in January 1994 to give plenty of interviews, the first questions of the French journalists were: "Klaus, you are the Father of Ambient and Trance. What do you think about this?". At first, I didn't know what they spoke about, but after the third journalist with the same question about "Ambient and Trance..." I had my answer prepared. Before, I really didn't know much about the Techno, Trance and Ambient fashion. Of course it is nice for me as an older artist, if the younger generation calls me the father of their music, and that they honour what I did in the past.

 

[Jetflag]

you could make a strong case for it...but the truth is its difficult to pinpoint the exact origin & track of what is now the trance genre.

like most zeitgeist phenomena, its usually a collection of things within close temporal & spatial proximity that, when combined, forms the locus point of a culture or genre.

hence, I would argue

Klaus Schulze's "Trancefer" is (probably) an origin of Trance Music​

instead.

my 2 cents.

 

[Ocean Ye]

That makes sense. Maybe "Trancefer" is an enlightening work of trance aesthetics, whether Klaus Schulze intended it or not, but there's no vertical linkage IMO.

like most zeitgeist phenomena, its usually a collection of things within close temporal & spatial proximity that, when combined, forms the locus point of a culture or genre.

 

[Narel]

I think 'Are you sequenced?' and his work as Richard Wahnfried such as 'Trance Appeal' are bigger influences on 90's trance, techno and ambient. But as others have said, those producers were pulling on a wide range of influences, of which Schulze is one.

 

[Archon]

Great music by the way, thanks for sharing it.

But where do we hear the "trance" in here, exactly? It's ambient-ish electronic, with some string instruments. I'd have thought it would've inspired Banco de Gaia and similar acts more directly. Otherwise, we can say any electronic music from the 80s is trance's origin.

If we're going by the title, trance is also just a word. Just like house is.