If the “Dance/Techno” card was meant for the peak-hour warehouse rave, the Trance Tracks ROM was designed for the 6:00 AM comedown. In the mid-90s, “Trance” didn’t just mean aggressive, pulsating synths; it meant deeply spiritual, ambient, pseudo-mystical journeys. It was an era where slapping a Gregorian chant or a dolphin noise over a slow breakbeat was considered the height of musical innovation.

Looking at this preset list, it’s entirely obvious that E-MU’s sound designers had just watched an infomercial for the Pure Moods compilation CD and decided to cram that entire aesthetic into a single PCMCIA card.

Let’s embark on this deeply confusing, spiritual journey through the Z-plane:

The first 17 presets are not synthesizer patches; they are a guided nature walk. You begin with 000. Distant Rain, move past 005. The Ocean, and eventually encounter a 013. Monkey. Because if there’s one thing a $2,000 digital rack synthesizer absolutely must be able to do, it’s emulate the sound of a primate in a thunderstorm.

The E-MU spellchecker was clearly out sick. Our nature hike is suddenly interrupted by 011. Crikets and the deeply alarming 017. Wierd Bugs.

After programming an entire jungle’s worth of animals, the sound designers clearly hit a wall of exhaustion. How else do you explain a run of patches like 021. Ha Ha Ha and 022. Blah Blah? It’s the sound of a programmer actively mocking the producer playing the keyboard.

If you thought things couldn’t get weirder than “Wierd Bugs,” prepare yourself for 051. PluckMePal, a command that feels entirely too forward for a synthesizer. And then there is 104. Grama’s Org, which is frankly none of our business and should probably have been left off the card entirely.

To actually make Trance music, you need emotion. You need drama. E-MU provided this in spades with 046. Analog Tears (what you cry when your floppy disk corrupts), 088. TinMyPiano, and 122. Chaos Choir.

This card is a magnificent time capsule of 90s ambient electronica, capable of taking you from a peaceful waterfall to a terrifying alien abduction in exactly 30 keystrokes.