Garage House
House · 1977 · 118 to 128 BPM
Garage house is the New York, soulful side of house music, named after Larry Levan's Paradise Garage. Gospel vocals stay at the center, piano and organ chords carry the track, and the production aims for warmth rather than machine precision. Zanzibar in Newark and Tony Humphries on the radio built it as much as a DJ school as a style, and it is the direct root of UK garage, which keeps its name to this day.
10 reference tracks
- Loose Joints: Is It All Over My Face (1980)
- Crystal Waters: Gypsy Woman (1991)
- Masters At Work: I Can't Get No Sleep (1993)
- Ten City: That's The Way Love Is (1989)
- Dames Brown: What Would You Do? (2021)
- Kerri Chandler: You Get Lost in It (2022)
- Fred again..: Delilah (Pull Me Out Of This)
- Fred again..: Billie (Loving Arms)
- Fred again..: Tate (How I Feel)
- Fred again..: Clara (The Night Is Dark)
At a glance
- Tempo: 118 to 128 BPM
- First appeared: 1977
- Machines: Korg M1, Orgue, Roland TR-909
- The sound: Orgue M1 et piano, Voix gospel, Basse ronde jouée, Roland TR-909 adoucie
- Labels: Strictly Rhythm, Nervous Records, Easy Street, Movin', Quantize, King Street
- Key artists: Larry Levan, Tony Humphries, Blaze, Ten City, Adeva, Crystal Waters
Producing Garage House
Sit between 118 and 124 BPM, slower than Chicago house, with a swing of 55 to 58 percent on hats and percussion while the kick stays straight. Build the drums from a softened 909: a short kick doubled by a sampled acoustic kick, snare rather than clap on two and four, swung sixteenth-note hats, and a percussion layer of looped congas, shaker and tambourine that never sounds stiff. The bass should sound played: a round electric or Moog-style patch filtered toward 250Hz, following a real chord progression with chromatic passing notes, its first note often anticipating the beat by a sixteenth like a disco bassist. On top, plant a Korg M1 organ in chords, a percussive M1 piano, and a lead gospel vocal doubled and lightly reverbed, with a brass or string stab punctuating the changes.
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 Garage House?
Garage house is the New York, soulful side of house music, named after Larry Levan's Paradise Garage. Gospel vocals stay at the center, piano and organ chords carry the track, and the production aims for warmth rather than machine precision. Zanzibar in Newark and Tony Humphries on the radio built…
What tempo is Garage House played at?
Between 118 and 128 BPM.
Who are the key Garage House artists?
Larry Levan, Tony Humphries, Blaze, Ten City, Adeva, Crystal Waters.
In the same family
- Chicago House
- Acid House
- Deep House
- Soulful House
- Lo-Fi House
- Hip House
- UK House
- Italo House
- Hard House
- Progressive House
- Disco House
- French House
Listen to Garage House in the atlas · Cette page en français
