How to Make House Music Beats
Four-on-the-floor. Offbeat open hat. 124 BPM. The skeleton dance floors have moved to since 1985.
BPM
50%
The Chicago Skeleton
Every house sub-genre is a remix of the same three-part skeleton you hear in the hero pattern: a quarter-note kick, a backbeat clap on 2 and 4, and an open hi-hat on the off-8ths (steps 3, 7, 11, 15). That open hat between every kick is what gives house its push-pull bounce — the kick lands on the floor, the hat lifts you back up. Classic Chicago tracks (Jamie Principle, Marshall Jefferson, Larry Heard) sit around 120-126 BPM. Use a 909 kick or a sampled punchy kick, a clap layered over a thin snare or rimshot, and an open 909 hat. Keep swing off — the bounce comes from the open-hat placement, not from microtiming. The three players below show how deep house, tech house, and UK garage twist this skeleton: more swing and 16th hats, busier percussion, or a 2-step kick that breaks the four-on-the-floor entirely.
Deep House — Swung 16th Hats and a Softer Pocket
BPM
64%
Deep house slows the tempo to 118-122 BPM and trades the open-hat lift for a constant 16th-note closed-hat shuffle. The kick still hits every quarter and the clap still lands on 2 and 4, but the hat is now playing on every 16th — and crucially, those 16ths are swung. The off-16ths drag late, which is exactly what gives deep house its lazy, half-asleep pocket. Producers in this lane: Larry Heard (Mr. Fingers), Theo Parrish, Moodymann, KDA. Use a softer kick (less click, more body), a shorter snappier clap, and a tight closed hi-hat. Drop swing somewhere around 55-60% — enough that the off-hats notice the drag, not so much it tips over into hip-hop swing.
Tech House — Busier Hats and a Pickup Kick
BPM
50%
Tech house keeps the four-on-the-floor but adds a pickup kick on step 15 — that ghost hit right before the bar resets is what gives tech house its forward propulsion. The clap stays on 2 and 4, but the percussion gets busier: 8th-note closed hats running through the bar, often with an open hat layered on the offbeats (steps 3, 7, 11, 15) for shimmer. Tempo sits at 124-128 BPM. Producers: Hot Since 82, Jamie Jones, Patrick Topping, Solardo. Use a punchier kick than deep house, a sharper clap, and load extra percussion (shaker, conga, rimshot) on additional pads to thicken the groove. No swing — tech house drives straight, the groove comes from layered percussion not from microtiming.
UK Garage — 2-Step Kick and Heavy Swing
BPM
66%
UK garage broke house in 1996 by pulling the kick off the four-on-the-floor. Instead of a kick on every beat, the 2-step pattern hits beat 1, then a syncopated double on the second half of the bar (here steps 9 and 11). The snare stays on 2 and 4, the hats run on swung 8ths — and the swing is heavy, often 65-70%, much more than deep house. Producers in this lane: MJ Cole, Todd Edwards, El-B, Wookie, the whole UK garage scene. Tempo runs faster than house — 130-140 BPM. Use a tight punchy kick, a clean crisp snare (often a sampled break snare), and a closed hi-hat. The pulled-back snare on 2 and 4 over the off-kilter kick is the entire UKG aesthetic — same family as house, but the kick refuses to march.
Layering Percussion
Once the kick/clap/hat skeleton sits right, house lives or dies on percussion layers. Drop these on extra pads: • Shaker on every 16th step at low volume for hi-frequency texture • Ride cymbal on the offbeats alongside the hat for shimmer • Conga or bongo on syncopated steps (try 3, 6, 11, 14) • Rimshot accents on unexpected steps for flavor The art of house drumming is stacking these so the groove feels complex without any single layer being busy. Each pad does one simple thing; the combination is the hypnosis.
Build the layers in PadwolfFrequently Asked Questions
House uses organic, funky drum sounds (sampled claps, congas, ride cymbals) with optional subtle swing. Techno uses synthetic, sharp drum sounds (TR-909 kicks, metallic hats) with no swing. House grooves; techno drives.
Deep house: softer sounds, swung 16th hats, more space, 118-122 BPM. Tech house: punchier sounds, busier 8th-note hats with offbeat opens, often a pickup kick on step 15, 124-128 BPM, no swing. Both keep the four-on-the-floor kick.
Depends on the sub-genre. Classic Chicago house and tech house: no swing. Deep house: 55-60% subtle swing on the 16th hats. UK garage: heavy 65-70% swing on 8ths. Match the swing setting in Padwolf to the sub-style you're after.