Thirty Seconds In, You Know Exactly Who This Is For
We loaded the first pad preset on a Tuesday afternoon, running InstaChord 2 in Ableton Live 12, feeding it a simple two-chord loop in C minor. The sound that came back was wide, slightly detuned, and stacked high enough to sit above an 8-bar kick groove without competing with it.
That's the clearest way to describe this pack: it does one thing and it does it recognisably well. Uplifting Trance for InstaChord 2 is a 40-preset expansion by W. A. Production, built specifically for InstaChord 2's MIDI processing engine. It targets producers making music in the style of Aly & Fila, Ferry Corsten, and Armin van Buuren.
If that's you, read on. If it isn't, you can stop here.
What This Pack Actually Is (and What It's Not)
This is not a sample pack. It's not a synth plugin. It's a preset library for InstaChord 2, which means it controls how InstaChord 2 voices and processes incoming MIDI chords.
The 40 presets cover the main textures uplifting trance producers reach for: celestial pads, resonant supersaws, harmonic arpeggios, and some of the brighter lead stabs that work over festival-tempo drops. Think 136–142 BPM territory.
What it's not good for: anything outside this genre. If you make progressive house, dark techno, or ambient, these presets won't cross over cleanly. The voicings are wide, the modulation is fast, and the tonal character skews bright and emotionally "up." That's the point. That's also the limitation.
It also won't help you if you don't already own InstaChord 2. The pack is 100% dependent on that host.
Living With It: Setup, Session Flow, and the Quirks
Setup is as fast as InstaChord 2 itself. Drop the presets into the correct folder, launch InstaChord 2, and they appear in the browser. No serial number. No additional activation step beyond whatever you already use for InstaChord 2.
We spent three sessions running these presets against different chord progressions. The arpeggio presets were the most immediately satisfying. We played an Am-F-C-G loop at 138 BPM, scrolled to one of the faster arp presets, and inside 90 seconds had something that sounded like a demo reference for an Aly & Fila record. That speed is genuinely useful when you're sketching.
The pads took more dialling in. Some of the wider pad presets sound slightly crowded in the 800Hz–2kHz range when you're running a busy arrangement underneath. We pulled a narrow cut around 1.1kHz with a Q of 1.8 on the bus and they cleaned up. Not a pack flaw exactly, but worth knowing before you chase a mix problem that's actually a preset layering issue.
The leads are the most genre-locked textures in the set. Bright, slightly overdriven, modulated. They're doing exactly what a trance lead should do. Outside that context, they're ugly in a way that's hard to repurpose.
One frustration: there's no in-app preview audio. You have to load each preset and play MIDI into it to hear it. With 40 presets, that's 40 individual load-and-listen cycles. Annoying when you're trying to find one specific vibe in a hurry.
The Trade-Offs Worth Thinking About
The strongest argument for this pack is time. Building detailed chord voicings with the right trance character from scratch inside InstaChord 2 takes real work. These presets skip that step. If you're producing in this style regularly, that's a legitimate value proposition.
The argument against is shelf life. Genre-specific preset packs are useful while the genre matches your current output. If you shift styles, the whole pack goes dormant. We've bought packs like this before and used them hard for six months, then never opened them again.
There's also no way to evaluate the quality before you buy. No published audio demos from independent sources. The product page on W. A. Production's site shows zero reviews. Plugin Boutique lists it with essentially identical marketing copy. We can tell you what we heard. We can't tell you what you'll hear before you've spent the money.
The follow-up pack, Uplifting Trance 2, launched April 2025. That's a good sign: W. A. Production is actively maintaining this line. It also means if you buy this first pack and love it, there's a second one waiting.
Against the Field: What Else Should You Consider
If you're already inside the W. A. Production ecosystem, their Progressive Trance preset pack for InstaChord 2 offers another 40 presets with a slightly darker, more driving character. Worth comparing if you make music that sits between genres.
For broader chord voicing work that isn't locked to one style, Scaler 2 gives you a ful
If the goal is fast uplifting trance track sketching more broadly, check what W. A. Production has for Uplifting Trance for InstaComposer 2. That pack works with a different W. A. Production tool and handles melodic composition rather than chord voicing. The two tools solve different problems and some producers run both.
Classic Trance & House from W. A. Production carries a regular price of $19.90 USD with an intro price of $10 USD. That's a useful price anchor for what W. A. Production charges in this space when they run promotions.
The Real Verdict
This pack does exactly what it says. Forty presets, all uplifting trance, all built around the Aly & Fila / Armin / Ferry Corsten reference point. The arpeggio presets are the standout section. The pads work with minor EQ attention. The leads are genre-locked in a way that's a feature if you're in the genre and a problem if you're not.
Buy it if you produce uplifting trance in InstaChord 2 regularly and want to spend less time building voicings from scratch. Skip it if you don't already own InstaChord 2, or if you're experimenting rather than committed to the genre.
Check current pricing at W. A. Production's site or Plugin Boutique before buying. No pricing was publicly listed at time of review.
Score Breakdown
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Quality | 3.8/5 | Arpeggio and pad presets sound convincing; leads are very genre-locked |
| Value for Money | 3.5/5 | No public pricing makes this hard to score firmly; genre-specific shelf life is a real cost |
| Ease of Use | 4.0/5 | Install is fast; no preview audio means slow auditioning across 40 presets |
| Features | 3.3/5 | 40 presets is decent but there's nothing here beyond the preset count |
| CPU Efficiency | N/A | Preset pack only; InstaChord 2 itself is light on CPU |
| Overall | 3.8/5 | Solid for committed uplifting trance producers; too narrow for anyone else |
Alternatives to Consider
Progressive Trance for InstaChord 2 (W. A. Production): Also 40 presets, slightly darker character. A better fit if your tracks sit between uplifting trance and progressive. W. A. Production preset packs overview
Scaler 2 (Plugin Boutique): A proper harmonic tool that works with every synth in your session, not just one host. Less genre-specific but far more reusable across different projects. Scaler 2 review
Uplifting Trance for InstaComposer 2 (W. A. Production): If chord voicings are only part of what you need, this companion pack handles melodic composition in W. A. Production's InstaComposer engine. Uplifting Trance for InstaComposer 2 review
We'd buy Scaler 2 first if you're newer to trance production. We'd buy this pack alongside it if you're already committed to InstaChord 2 as part of your signal chain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need InstaChord 2 to use Uplifting Trance for InstaChord 2?
Yes. This is a preset library for InstaChord 2, not a standalone plugin. Without InstaChord 2 installed and activated, the presets are inert files. There's no workaround. If you don't own InstaChord 2, this pack is useless to you.
How many presets are included, and what types are covered?
The pack includes 40 presets. They cover the core uplifting trance palette: celestial pads, resonant supersaw leads, and harmonic arpeggios. The style targets are artists like Aly & Fila, Ferry Corsten, and Armin van Buuren, so the voicings and modulation reflect that high-energy, melodic trance reference point.
Is there a second version of this pack available?
Yes. Uplifting Trance 2 for InstaChord 2 launched in April 2025. If you work through the original pack and want more presets in the same style, that's the natural next purchase. W. A. Production appears to be actively expanding this line.
Where can I buy Uplifting Trance for InstaChord 2?
It's available through W. A. Production's official website and Plugin Boutique. Pricing wasn't publicly listed on either storefront at the time of this review, so check both for current pricing and any active promotions. Plugin Boutique sometimes runs time-limited intro prices on W. A. Production packs, so it's worth checking both before buying.