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The Difference between Techno, Trance and House (...music that is)

Beats per minute helps distinguish these forms of dance music. Trance employs a 4/4 time signature, a tempo of 130 to 165 BPM, and 32 beat phrases, somewhat faster than house music but usually not as fast as Psychedelic. A kick drum is placed on every downbeat and a regular open hi-hat is often placed on the off-beat. Some simple extra percussive elements are usually added, and major transitions, builds or climaxes are often foreshadowed by lengthy 'snare rolls' - a quick succession of equally spaced snare drum hits that builds in volume towards the end of a measure or phrase.

Trance - Synthesizers form the central elements of most trance tracks, with simple sawtooth-based sounds used both for short pizzicato elements and for long, sweeping string sounds.

Techno - The main drum part is almost universally in common time (4/4); meaning 4 quarter note pulses per bar. In its simplest form, time is marked with kicks (bass drum beats) on each quarter note pulse, a snare or clap on the second and fourth pulse of the bar, with an open hi-hat sound every second eight note. The tempo tends to vary between approximately 120 bpm (quarter note equals 120 pulses per bar) and 150 bpm depending on the style of techno.

House - The common element of house music is a prominent kick drum on every beat (also known as a four-to-the-floor beat), usually generated by a drum machine or sampler. The kick drum sound is augmented by various kick fills and extended dropouts. The drum track is filled out with hihat cymbal patterns on the eighth-note offbeats, and a snare drum or clap sound on beats two and four of every bar. This pattern is derived from so-called "four-on-the-floor" dance drumbeats of the 1960s and especially the 1970s disco drummers. House music is uptempo music for dancing and has a tempo range of between 118 and 135 bpm.