Italo Disco
Disco · 1982 · 115 to 130 BPM · also known as Italo, Italo Pop
In the 1980s, Italy built a fully synthetic, melodic and sentimental strain of disco, often sung in a dreamed up English. Bright synthesizer arpeggios and dry drum machines replaced everything American disco still had that was organic and played by hand. Despised at the time as cheap and derivative, Italo disco has since become one of the most plundered sources in dance music, feeding everything from Chicago house to the synthwave revival. Few genres balance a cold, quantized machine pulse against such warm, romantic melody, and that contrast remains the style's defining trick.
30 reference tracks
- Easy Going: Fear (1979)
- Candido: Jingo (1979)
- The Immortals: The Ultimate Warlord (1979)
- Mr. Flagio: Take a Chance (1983)
- Charlie: Spacer Woman (1983)
- My Mine: Hypnotic Tango (1983)
- Righeira: Vamos A La Playa (1983)
- Ryan Paris: Dolce Vita (1983)
- Gazebo: I Like Chopin (1983)
- P. Lion: Happy Children (1983)
- Ken Laszlo: Hey Hey Guy (1984)
- Raf: Self Control (1984)
- Baltimora: Tarzan Boy (1985)
- Krystal Klear: Euphoric Dreams (2019)
- Sally Shapiro: Forget About You (2021)
- Savage: Eternity (2026)
- Ken Laszlo: Put Your Hands Up (2026)
- Jenny Dee, Nathalie Aarts: Living On A High (2026)
- Savage: Don't Cry Tonight (1983)
- Den Harrow: Future Brain (1985)
- Valerie Dore: The Night (1984)
- Kano: Another Life (1983)
- Gazebo: Masterpiece (1983)
- The Flirts: Passion (1982)
- Valerie Dore: Get Closer
- Sally Shapiro: Hold Me So Tight
- Sandy Marton: People from Ibiza
- Kano: I'm Ready
- Sandy Marton: Camel By Camel
- Sally Shapiro: Find My Soul
At a glance
- Tempo: 115 to 130 BPM
- First appeared: 1982
- Machines: Roland Juno-106, Korg Poly-61, LinnDrum, Roland TR-808, Vocodeur
- The sound: Vocoder
- Labels: ZYX Records, Discomagic Records, American Disco, Dark Entries, Bordello A Parigi, Il Discotto
- Key artists: Alexander Robotnick, Gazebo, Ryan Paris, Ken Laszlo, Sandy Marton, P. Lion
Producing Italo Disco
Set the tempo around 118 to 120 BPM and let a strict drum machine grid carry the track: straight sixteenth and eighth notes, no swing. Motion comes from sixteenth note synth arpeggios and a sequenced bass, while a four chord minor progression, often i, VI, III, VII, loops through the whole song. Program a LinnDrum or TR-808: a dry kick on every beat, a clap on two and four doubled by a snare through a gated reverb, closed hats in sixteenths with an open hat on the upbeat of beat four, and a quiet cowbell on the chorus. The bass is a sawtooth Juno-106, sequenced with octave jumps following the chord, a short release and a low pass filter near 400 Hz. Add a Korg Poly-61 for the arpeggios and a vocoder for the robot voice.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Italo Disco?
In the 1980s, Italy built a fully synthetic, melodic and sentimental strain of disco, often sung in a dreamed up English. Bright synthesizer arpeggios and dry drum machines replaced everything American disco still had that was organic and played by hand. Despised at the time as cheap and…
What tempo is Italo Disco played at?
Between 115 and 130 BPM.
Who are the key Italo Disco artists?
Alexander Robotnick, Gazebo, Ryan Paris, Ken Laszlo, Sandy Marton, P. Lion.
