I have to admit, this was tough. Music is such a part of my life, I'm listening to some at almost all times; as background noise, in the shower, in the car, even when I sleep. My iPod is filled with over 4,000 songs ranging from German to Japanese, instrumentals to stuff in phonetic or otherwise made up languages.
Contenders for the top included E.M.A. Part 1 by Hiroyuki Sawano from the Attack on Titan soundtrack, Iridium by The Sidh, In the End by Black Veil Brides, the whole soundtrack of The Flame in the Flood, most songs by the band Faun or the artist Yuki Kajiura, and even a rendition of Drowsie Maggie by The Snake Charmer that combined elements of the traditional song with her own Indian heritage and some dubstep.
source
But in the end, none of them win. They have their own charms, in their own way, but one song rises above them. A piece of instrumental music, the traditional themes that remind me of something out of Celtic Woman and yet with an element of trance music to it that just seems to mesh perfectly together and create an utter masterpiece to my ears.
The song, quite appropriately, is called Trance Celtica by the band Green Clouds. Drums, violin, piano, and some kind of wind instrument that I think is an oboe maybe? Regardless, all the instruments with the more modern sort of techno back beat to just make pure bliss I could listen to for hours on end imagining everything even without the amazing video that officially accompanies this piece of music.
source
This is one song that, like many, came to me through YouTube. While I am doing other projects at my computer I like to listen to a song I already know I enjoy and then see where the recommendations take me from there. I can't remember exactly what song it was that led me to this, likely something else of a similar Celtic origin, but when I heard the opening notes I was hooked. So soft, so subtle, so magical, like going back in time almost. The piano kicks in and adds to this, but there's a subtle something coming up in the background that speaks to something deeper.
Then drums, harsh against this magic with even more harsh strikes of violin strings before the violin starts being properly played in a much more up beat fashion. Other instruments join in slowly and a sort of trance beat kicks off in the background with the synthetic noises both contradicting and yet complimenting the natural instruments being played.
Overall, this song rises to the top of my list because it's different. Very few songs I've heard manage to combine two different styles in such a fluid way. Many have tried, the aforementioned Drowsie Maggie song did a pretty good job of it too, but nothing I've heard quite rises to this level in those terms.
So without further ado, here's the song!
