A trance gate rhythmically chops a sustained chord to add motion

A trance gate applies rhythmic gating (rapid on/off amplitude chopping) to a sustained chord, typically a supersaw, turning a held pad into a pulsing, rhythmic texture. By muting and un-muting the sound on a repeating pattern synced to tempo, the gate injects motion and tension into what would otherwise be a static chord; the gate pattern can be varied to produce different rhythms, and some patterns are deliberately off-beat. It is a hallmark production move for animating trance’s pad and chord layers.

Examples

A held supersaw chord at 141 BPM run through a software trance gate whose pattern gradually changes to demonstrate different gated rhythms.

Assessment

Explain how a trance gate differs from a simply held chord, and what parameter (amplitude, on/off in a tempo-synced pattern) it modulates.