The Berlin School of electronic music (Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze) directly seeded trance's atmospheric DNA

Before trance existed as a genre, West Berlin’s experimental electronic musicians in the 1970s established its core sonic vocabulary: long-form compositions, arpeggiated sequencers, atmospheric pads, and repetitive rhythmic motifs designed to induce meditative states. Tangerine Dream (founded 1967 by Edgar Froese) created what became known as the Berlin School sound — deeply technological, psychedelic, and anti-song-structure. Klaus Schulze, an early member, named albums ‘Trancefer’ (1981) and ‘En=Trance’ (1987), explicitly claiming the mindstate that later genre would codify. Jean-Michel Jarre in France paralleled this with melodic atmosphere. These precursors define why trance music sounds the way it does: its roots are in art-music experimentation, not club culture.

Examples

Tangerine Dream’s Phaedra (1973) features long synth sequences and atmospheric pads that anticipate 1990s trance production. Klaus Schulze’s kosmische albums use repetitive arpeggios that directly inspire trance arrangements.

Assessment

Explain why music historians trace trance’s atmospheric characteristics to the Berlin School rather than to acid house, and name two Berlin School artists whose work contains direct sonic predecessors to trance.