Probably the most popular type of electronic music today is house music. Of course, just like any other music genre, it has many different genres but they all have some things in common. The following article will guide you through the beginnings of writing your own house music.

Getting started with house music production can be pretty confusing at first, but the tips we have selected in this article will make this a bit easier.

Get the right equipment

The first thing you need to know is that you don’t need to invest all your money in hardware mixers and synths. Instead, it is highly recommended to take a look at their software alternatives. Not only they will cost more but lately more and more professional music producers use them.

The software we are talking about is known as DAW, the short for Digital Audio Workstation. Most of the work will be done on it and this is the reason why you need to find a pretty good one. One of the most popular DAWs today are Cubase, Ableton Live and FL Studio.
An additional element you would definitely want to have is a synthesizer. It can be a hardware or a software one and the most popular today are Sylenth1 and Massive.

In general, it is pretty difficult to synthesize drums. To solve this problem, you can use sample packs. You can find some free sample packs on the internet and you can also opt in for paid versions if you want.

Although we have mentioned the software equipment first please don’t ignore the hardware like the laptop or computer. You are also going to use an AV receiver for music, microphones, good quality headphones and so on. The main idea is not to spend all your money on expensive equipment, but plan your budget and set up your home recording studio as quickly as possible. You will have the chance to upgrade the equipment later.

Learn to use your DAW

Thanks to the internet and YouTube, it is easy to find tutorials that will teach you how to use your DAW and VSTs. You will be amazed with the amount of free information you can get online.

Also, although you are determined to make house music, it is good to follow tutorials for other music genres. Not only you will learn to use the software better, but you may get some ideas to implement in your production process.

Start your track with the drums

Although some producers start with drums it doesn’t mean you have to do the same. As for the tempo it is recommended to keep it between 120 and 130. It generally depends on the subgenre you are working on but it is somewhere in between these two values.

To form a nice and simple beat you need to place the kick drum in every quarter note of a one bar lop. Then place the saner on the offbeat. Place an open hat between the quarters and closed hats at sixteenths.

Of course, there are some elements that have to be added here. You can find many different percussion effects or another instrument if you wish. Just experiment and see what you are going to get.

Choose the right loop length

The most frequent loop length is 8 bars. However, sometimes 16 or 32 bars are being used. Of course, it is possible to use even shorter bars but they won’t sound good. Everything will sound too repetitive.

Add elements over your beat

Most frequently used elements that are added to the loops are vocals, synth basses and chords, but as a general rule you can add anything if it sounds good.

In case the song starts too intensely don’t worry about it. Everything will sound just fine later when the loops blend nicely.

Take care of the track structure

When creating your track, it is recommended to work in 8-bar units. For example, you can begin with a synth pad and after the first 8 add the kick and the snare and so on.

Of course, adding or removing elements is always recommended in order to achieve what you want.

Insert transitional elements

There is a huge number of transitional elements that can be used to filter your leads or use a down-lifter. We recommend you to listen to some of your favorite tracks and see how the transitional elements are applied there.

You can also make good transitions if you use winds and they are not difficult to be synthetized.

Master your music

Mastering your music can be pretty difficult and complicated but you will be amazed with the results. If you are not good at mastering you can either try and learn it, or at the beginning hire someone to do that for you.

Publish your music online

Probably the best platforms to publish your tracks are SoundCloud and YouTube. However, be careful if you have used some copyrighted materials. It is important to give credit for those materials just to be safe.

If you don’t want to sell your music you can always upload it to some file storage site and share the download link. On the other hand, if you want to sell your music a label will be necessary. Having that in mind you can check TuneCore or Bandcamp.

Have fun and good luck