Tech House is a subgenre of house music that combines techno and house. It emerged in the 90s and is one of the most popular genres today.
Techno House was influenced by Detroit Techno, Chicago House Music, Minimal Techno and Electro House. Tech house DJs like Bushwack! C and DJ Wiggle began mixing house and techno tracks.
Over time, the genre has grown and become more diverse, and today artists such as Dom Dolla, MK, James Hype, John Summit, Salardo, Chris Lake, ESSEL, Peggy Gow and Westend dominate the house charts.
But you're here to develop your own technology, right? First of all, several UGPs of this genre should be mentioned. House has a slower BPM than techno, tends to revolve around a catchy chorus, and has a nice bassline. The key elements of any tech house song are drums, bass, hats, claps, drums, synthesizers, effects and vocals.
The beat used in this genre is usually short and sharp, leaving room for the bass. It's best to first listen to the link to learn about the types of drums and drum samples used in modern tech house, then find the samples that fit the style of your room.
Kick and bass
Barrels and basses are key to a tech house beat. Start with a short-tailed stroke to allow room for the bass. Hit every quarter note. Once you know the pitch of your beat, increase the first lead frequency and decrease the second to give room for the bass. Work with keys and examples to find what works best.
For bass, you can use Ableton Live Operator or a software synthesizer. Use a sawtooth wave with a delay of about 150ms to create your own bass sound in the Operator. Use a low pass filter and cut off frequencies above 300 Hz. Create a MIDI clip with a 1/16 note grid consisting of one to four bars.
Program a bass part that matches the key of your song. Tech House is usually written in lowercase letters. A simple one or two note bass part can work well, so you should focus on using just a few notes. Next we will add sound changes to the notes. Double-click the MIDI region and open the clip folder.
Select a MIDI control from this pitch band and write a multi-note pitch automation. This will give your bass line more movement. For bass processing, you can add more fullness using a plug-in like Fabfilter Saturn 2 or Ableton's Drum Bass. Apply lightly at first (try the gentle saturation if using Saturn 2).
Use a low-shelf EQ to attenuate frequencies below 30 Hz. If you want to go even further, add the second fundamental frequency of the barrel and add the bass to the first fundamental frequency. We used a compressor (Kickstart 2) to prepare the bass for the kick.
Use a filter to cut out all frequencies above 1000 Hz (we used Simplon Fabfilter). You want to attenuate frequencies above 300 Hz, so adjust the filter to your liking. Play bass and bass together and listen to the groove. Both should have their place. If you can hear both the barrel and the bass clearly, you are on the right track. .
Create drums
To get an interesting hi-hat sound, try layering different hi-hats on top of each other. The classic closed hi-hat 909 can be used as the main hat: Use a sampler or battery type with the 909. Create a MIDI clip and program the hats in irregular sections using a 1/16 note grid. According to 1.1.3. 1.3.3, 1.4.3.
Find a shake and set it to the same rhythm as the main hat. Use audio samples in your DAW or load them into a sampler as a sampler. Extend Shaker with an extension plugin like StereoSavage or Polyverse Wider. Try adding a matching hat after the third or fourth hat.
Create more interest by adding an additional hi-hat sound underneath the main hi-hat, such as an open hi-hat. Create a hi-hat group and send it to the monitor track with a reverb. Adjust the reverse parameters according to the tech house style you want to achieve. A medium-sized section is suitable for club tracks, for example.
Add claps on the second and fourth beats by using the clap sample as an audio file or sampler. Create a more interesting sound by adding a cotton pad with additional sound. You can also use the same pattern for the second cotton and give it a different treatment by creating an adjustment plugin (like zplane Elastique Pitch) and adding padding.
Select multiple drum loops from the SampleRadar sample collection. Instead of playing the entire round, try swapping rounds and using specific pieces. Stack one or two percussive turns so that they support each other. The rings must match your bass part so that the two strings are equal.
Look for the crackle pattern on the vinyl and add it as a texture layer to play into the mix at low volume. You can also sample textures, edit them, and play them on any beat at the same time. Finally, you can add some drum fill loops every eight or 16 bars to make the groove more interesting.
Expert advice
Your drums should be energetic and have a slightly flexible shape. Adjust attack and sustain using your DAW's built-in compressor or something like iZotope Neutron 4 or Transient Master from Native Instruments. You can record hi-hat like sounds for passersby to highlight the attack.
Adjust any drum sound by comparing it (our pick is the FabFilter Pro Q-3, pictured above), which has a dynamic EQ feature so the entire track becomes more dynamic as you boost or cut it . Compression can be used on drums, but consider this really necessary as many drum samples are pre-made. Instead, you can layer drum sounds.
Compression allows for more power, keeping your pace the same while reducing durability. Slow attacks skip the first moments and produce a clear sound. Faster versions produce a louder sound, while slower versions produce a quieter sound. Finally, collect the drums in a group, send the group to the drum bus, and then mix the drums with sweet compression and filling.
Recommended for listening
1. ESSEL – Lab (Advanced Mixture)
A techno-house banger with powerful drums and a catchy main riff from one of dance music's brightest new talents.
2. Gorillaz – New Gold (Dom Dolla Remix)
Unforgettable dance floor led by Dom Dolla, one of the best tech house producers.
