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Huffington Post author and classical music snob Marten Weber says that Armin van Buuren and Johann Sebastian Bach’s production styles are almost completely identical. No wonder we call him “Trance Jesus”.

While Weber admittedly just discovered trance music by accident, the violin during van Buuren’s “Intense” stuck him as the same structure found in a baroque concerto.

Bach’s music and van Buuren’s trance compositions are essentially the same thing. They feature a basso continuo (“the beat”), a simple theme with ingenious variations that span a usually narrow harmonic range and a right hand on the keyboard that carries the subtly evolving melody. The repetitions and modulations make up a musical landscape that creates patterns in the mind of the listener.

Weber goes on to elaborate further;

A Bach cadence — meant to extend musical tension to the breaking point — is exactly the same tool van Buuren uses to get the crowds screaming. In almost every aspect, including the religious overtones and the mind-altering qualities down to the substitution of harmonic elements and the “far-off point” structure of the melodies, van Buuren and Bach are essentially of the same stock.

Armin van Buuren has long been regarded as one of the top DJs in the world (5x DJ Mag Top100 Winner), but the technical comparison to Johann Sebastian Bach accurately attests to his exceptional talent as a producer.

This is definitely something to show your friends who won’t stop labeling trance music as “techno”.

“@ArminvanBuuren’s style is identical to classical composer Bach’s” – Click to tweet

Listen to “Intense” below with an entirely different perspective…

(Via The HuffingtonPost)

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