Tonal and Melodic Devices

The pitch organisational basis of Goa trance, as with many other dance music genres, is the centering on a single tone. This idea is related, perhaps coincidentally, to the modal centering of Indian classical music. There are however several tracks among those surveyed that involve shifts to another centre, usually in the middle of the piece. There a number of tracks that shift down to the centre defined by the flat seventh of the main centre [eg "Sirius 2" - Satori Razor, Trancentral four - A Trip To Goa, 1996]; and a few others that move up to the centre defined by the flat third of the main centre.

Middle Eastern or Asian influenced melodies or melodic figurations are common. Typically melodic material is based on scales which have a flat second, flat third and flat seventh. [eg.A, Bb,C, D,E, G in "Megallenic Cloud" - Green Nuns of the Revolution, on Trancentral four - A Trip To Goa, 1996] . The notes of the Phrygian mode are often evident. Sometimes the sharp fourth is heard indicating that the concept of scale construction may in fact be related to Indian scale (gat) theory. A number of tracks use both the minor and the major third, creating a suggestion of the diminished blues [octatonic] scale. More often than not, though, only a few pitched notes are used melodically in any one section of a track. The most common tones found in melodic patterns are the tonic, flat second, flat seventh, flat third and perfect fifth.

Melodic design generally takes the form of short repeated fragments which often morph timbrally over time, using the envelope on the filter to mute or open the high frequency component of the sound, in a similar sort of way to a wah wah pedal [eg. "Protozoa" - Blissed, on Rites of Passage, 1993]. Pitch bend is commonly used to add character to melodic lines. Glissandi are often used as hits, emphasising accents in the music.