How To Produce House Music In 4 Steps

Are you looking to create the next house song that will take you to the next level?

Are you struggling to figure out how to go about it? Well, today I’m going to help you with just that!

3 surprising ways to improve your mixing skills.

Table of Contents:

1 - It's All About The Groove

2 - Utilize Drum Loops

3 - Reference The House Hits!

4 - Don't Overthink It

1 - It's All About The Groove

In the beginning, when I started to make more house-sounding songs I was struggling to get a groove going. There were so many records that inspired me so I figured why not give it a shot. You want to have a groove that gets people going whether it’s in the club or in the gym. House music is all about a good groove that moves your body and makes you nod your head. This means getting the relationship to be great between the bass and the drums is so important. A simple check like seeing if you are moving to the beat is always a good sign. Creating a bass that has a lot of movement combined with drums that are not too chaotic or energetic is a good balance. Sidechain is your best friend when making house music, make sure the sub-bass is completely ducking to the kick.

2 - Utilize Drum Loops

Most of the time while I’m just starting on a house track I start with a basic drum loop from splice just to get a feeling for the groove. While I’m slowly progressing with the song I start to add more drums to build on top of the loops groove to make it more interesting. It’s a simple tip but also finding the right drums can be very time-consuming from what matters the most, the idea you're trying to create. Find 2-3 starting point loops and create a folder for them so once you have that idea in your head, you can lay it out quickly and not get stuck trying to find the perfect hat. Update them as you continue to make tracks and you will most likely improve the sounds as you go along, simple yet effective.

3 - Reference The House Hits!

Taking some time to study what makes some songs work well whether it’s in DJ sets or on streaming platforms can give you a hint on what elements they are using. After you listen to key elements you can try implementing ideas in your own productions. What kind of rhythm are they using in their bassline? Is it only a one-note bassline? Do they introduce the groove right away or does it slowly start building in the build-up? Much of the tricks I’m implementing personally in my own productions come from studying and listening to other artists' records. You can get the idea of how you want your groove to be from one song and how you want the bassline to sound from another one. That’s how you make a unique sounding track. You might just end up with the perfect combination of the elements if you give it a shot and hey, who doesn’t like listening to some bangers?

4 - Don't Overthink It

If you listen to some of the biggest house records of the last few years you might notice a pattern with some of the ones that have achieved large commercial success. They aren’t the most complex and simply have a good groove, high energy, and they are usually straight to the point arrangement wise. So don’t overthink it, a simple yet hooky vocal sample, a good groove, and a bassline that matches that same energy can take you just far enough than overproducing the song. To conclude upon that, always focus on serving the song. Sometimes people just want steak and potatoes and not a whole buffet.