Genre Analysis - Deep/Bass House

Hey guys! As I mentioned towards the end of my previous blog, I was going to be writing a genre analysis on Deep/Bass House music. Well, today that is exactly what I'll be doing. I'll be going through where house music originated from, the sounds that are required to make these Deep/Bass house and what structures them.

First off, what is house music?

House music, similarly to trap and future bass, is a sub genre within the electronic music area. Since its founding in 1977 (unknown, 2017), house music has become incredibly popular and this style of rhythm and beat has been incorporated in to and used in many songs and tracks over the last 45 years. This style of music uses a very simple 4/4 time signature to hold a consistent groove and captivate the crowd and/or the 'house' (thus the name). Considering this genre's massive popularity, many Dj's and music producers especially flocked towards it and quickly fell in love with it. This eventually lead to a large number of music producers experimenting with different sounds and eventually forming a massive variety of secondary sub genres. Some of these consist of Electro house, Melbourne Bounce, Future house and the todays topic of discussion - Deep and Bass House.

The structure of house music

This is potentially the biggest reason as to why DJ's love this genre so much as almost all house tracks have the exact same arrangement/structure. The beginning of a house track consists of 64 bars worth of drums, mainly kick, snare, hi-hats and/or other percussion. Bass lines and light melodies can also occasionally be added in around the 32 bar mark. The track then goes into a breakdown for around 32 bars where the basic rhythm and hook is established before the build-up begins (also being 32 bars). After the build-up we have the all famous drop, this section also consists of 64 bars (most of the time), which is what makes it so easy to mix in new tracks. As I mentioned earlier, house music is strictly based around the 4/4 time signature, this makes the beats incredibly easy to match up. Furthermore, with the tempo generally staying within the 120 -130BPM area, the tracks never move fast enough to stress the DJ as they are rather steady, unlike genres such as trap that range between 70 - 160BPM.

What is Bass House Music?

When listening to different genres of house music, there is one obvious factor that most of them share, and that is different chord layers and melodies. What separates bass house from the others is that there is actually neither of those within this genre. As you may have guessed from the name, bass house music revolves entirely around the bass line/s of the track. Even though the structure remains the same, the sound design and crafting of different synths is in an entirely different league of its own. For anyone who is interested in what a bass house track may sound like, I have listed the youtube channel of the record label Bass House Music below that strictly focuses on this genre.

DustyCloud - Devotion (Posted by Bass House Music on 26th April 2016)

As this genre doesn't have chords to keep the mix overly stable, it requires the creation and proper positioning of a variety different sounding bass synths. This then requires very precise processing as there is obviously a massive amount of low end and if certain bass layers aren't processed properly, the low ends from each layer begin to clash and the track just winds up sounding muddy as fuck.

Sound design and synthesis in Bass house

The sound design and synthesis within the genre of Bass House relies mainly and heavily on the manipulation of various Sine, Square, Saw and hybrid wave types between these. Most bass synths and other sounds within these genres are created by utilising various synthesis techniques such as crafting a synth within a wavetable synthesiser and/or by using a frequency modulation (FM) synth. FM synthesis is a huge part of bass house and it is generally what is used right the beginning of important parts of the track such as the intro, drop and outro. Below I have listed a video by Sound Academy recreating one of Drezo's FM Synths at the beginning of a drop in one of his recent remixes using Xfer Records Serum.

How To Make G-House Basses Like Drezo, Matroda and Malaa [FREE PRESET]

What is deep house and how is it different to bass house?

Now Deep House is a very unique genre in itself as even though it shares the exact same properties and structure as bass house, it is able to stand alone and step out of the Dark/Gangsta feel that bass house normally gives off. Alternatively, deep house gives off a rather groovy and chilled vibe as the sound design in this genre is focussed on creating smooth square wave bass synths and sine wave based plucks to be layered over the top. Furthermore, because this genre is as bass heavy as bass house and is rather chill, chords can also occasionally be added over the top to emphasise the vibe and/or feel of the track. Most chill-style deep house tracks also contain vocals which give even more meaning to the song and can also create a hook or catch to keep the listener entertained. Some would say that is steps into borderline Future House territory and in a way, it sort of does. For example, the track I have listed below is one by DLMT & RAWD known as 'Forbidden Dreams' and this was posted by the YouTube channel Future House Music.

DLMT & RAWD - Forbidden Dreams (Posted by Future House Music on October 24th 2016)

Bass Genre Hybrids

In case anyone was wondering whether fusions between these two very similar genres exists, of course they bloody do! In fact this is a genre that I'm incredibly fond of myself. When Deep and Bass house meet, it creates an extremely groove filled atmosphere that most party goers can enjoy without having to experience the true heaviness that bass house gives out. Granted it still shows through, but because the synths for these tracks are heavily sin/square wave based, it thickens the mix just enough for it not to be overpowering. In addition, Because most Deep and Bass house tracks are mainly based within the tempo of 124 - 126BPM (in some cases, slightly faster), the fusion between these two genres allows for a slight increase in speed to around 128 - 130BPM if necessary. A prime example of one of these tracks is 'How We Do This' by High Stakes.

High Stakes - How We Do This (Posted by Bass House Music on May 18th 2017)

to finish up

This blog has been something I've wanted to make for ages as these genres are by far my favourites to create, mix and even dance to. Deep and Bass house are two of the most creatively rich house music genres in terms of sound design and synthesis and I've always been obsessed with that. To not have to worry the limitations of chords and melodies and having the creative freedom to run wild and make wacky random sounds is truly where I feel at home with audio and music and I love that I get to share that with you guys. As usual, make sure to tune in next time as I make my first project update blog on the progression of my first bass house track! Until next time!

Levels

Works Cited

- Unknown, 2017, 'The Beginnings of House Music', Last Date Viewed: 2/6/18 https://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/webprojects/LiveMiss/Chicago-House/house-text.htm