by ph00tbag » 23 Apr 2014 09:10
A big part of trance music, for me, at least, is the bassline, so I would say try to set one of those up. Trance basses are usually staccato plucked saw waves. You can even just do a simple one by having it hit every off-beat.
As far as extending the tune, I'd say more can be done in your intro. Start with even less, and bring less in every 8-16 bars. For example, you can start without the piano in the intro, go for 16 bars with effects peppered in every four bars, then bring in the bass line with a bit more percussion. The you can bring in the piano, maybe let the arpeggio come in slowly by opening the filter up over the next sixteen bars. Employ a variety of sound effects to keep every transition fresh.
Another thing you can do to make the tune go even longer is to put in a B section after the first chorus, and have that build into a second chorus.