Chicago House
House · 1984 · 118 to 128 BPM · also known as Classic House, House, Jackin House
In Chicago's early 1980s, DJs at the Warehouse and the Music Box stretched disco out with drum machines, and their regulars eventually moved into the studio themselves. The TR-909 and synthetic basslines replaced the orchestra, turning the track into a mixing tool as much as a song. Jack, the trance of the body, became the watchword. Everything the word house means today traces back to these records pressed on Trax and DJ International, the raw blueprint the entire genre grew from.
19 reference tracks
- Vince Lawrence: Thorns (1984)
- Z-Factor feat Jesse Saunders: Fantasy (Vocal) (1984)
- Jesse Saunders: On and On (1984)
- Jesse Velez: We Don't Need No Music (1985)
- Marshall Jefferson: Move Your Body (1986)
- Steve Silk Hurley: Jack Your Body (1986)
- Farley Jackmaster Funk: Love Can't Turn Around (1986)
- Frankie Knuckles: Your Love (1987)
- Gene Farris: Space Girl (2020)
- Honey Dijon: Downtown (2021)
- Frankie Knuckles: Baby Wants To Ride (1987)
- Mr. Fingers: Mystery Of Love (1985)
- Paul Johnson: Hear The Music (1999)
- Phuture: Your Only Friend
- Mr. Fingers: Washing Machine
- Jamie Principle: Waiting On My Angel
- Mr. Fingers: Waterfalls
- Jesse Velez: Girls Out on the Floor
- Lil' Louis: Video Clash
At a glance
- Tempo: 118 to 128 BPM
- First appeared: around 1984
- Machines: Roland TR-909, Roland TR-707, Korg Poly-61, Roland Juno-106
- The sound: Piano house plaqué
- Labels: Trax Records, D.J. International Records, Dance Mania, Underground, Chiwax, Mitchbal Records
- Key artists: Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Marshall Jefferson, Larry Heard, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Jamie Principle
Producing Chicago House
Aim for 120 to 124 BPM on a TR-909 or TR-707, straight with no swing, or only a light 52 to 54 percent. The groove comes from contrast rather than humanization: a steady kick against hats and claps that land off the grid, and a bass that pushes on the off-beat. Layer a boomy 909 kick near 50 to 60 Hz, a clap on 2 and 4 nudged a sixteenth late for the jacking feel, closed hi-hats in eighths, and a syncopated cowbell. Keep it to four or five elements, with simple tom fills every eight bars. The bass is a short, monophonic Juno-106 or Poly-61 sawtooth, lowpass filtered around 300 to 600 Hz, bouncing an octave between root and off-beat, between 80 and 250 Hz.
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 Chicago House?
In Chicago's early 1980s, DJs at the Warehouse and the Music Box stretched disco out with drum machines, and their regulars eventually moved into the studio themselves. The TR-909 and synthetic basslines replaced the orchestra, turning the track into a mixing tool as much as a song. Jack, the…
What tempo is Chicago House played at?
Between 118 and 128 BPM.
Who are the key Chicago House artists?
Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Marshall Jefferson, Larry Heard, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Jamie Principle.
In the same family
- Acid House
- Garage House
- Deep House
- Soulful House
- Lo-Fi House
- Hip House
- UK House
- Italo House
- Hard House
- Progressive House
- Disco House
- French House
Listen to Chicago House in the atlas · Cette page en français
