House music production lessons in Ableton Live
Deep, organic and melodic house, taught one to one in Ableton Live.
House is built on groove, and groove is the hardest thing to learn from a video. Two tracks can have the same kick, the same chords and the same bassline, and one moves a room while the other just sits there. The difference is in swing, velocity, timing and sound choice, which is exactly the stuff you learn faster with someone listening alongside you.
I've taught Ableton Live one to one since 2012, and the underground side of house is my home turf alongside techno: deep, organic and melodic, the music that lives in small rooms, on vinyl and in long sets rather than in the charts. The lessons are built around the house music you want to make.
What we work on
- Groove. Swing and shuffle with the Groove Pool, velocity and timing on hats and percussion, and when to come off the grid.
- Drums with feel. Choosing and layering kicks, claps and hats so they sound like a record rather than a preset.
- Basslines. Writing basslines that lock with the kick, using ghost notes and octave jumps, and getting the low end right on headphones and on a system.
- Chords and harmony. Sevenths, ninths, inversions and voicings that sound like house rather than a pop song. Enough theory to stop guessing, not a lecture.
- Sampling. Chopping disco, soul and funk in Simpler and Sampler, pitching and warping vocals, and building something new out of the bits.
- Arrangement. Builds, breakdowns and drops that work for a DJ and for a listener, with automation doing most of the work.
- Mixing from the first session, so your tracks sit next to the records you love.
Deep house
Deep house goes back to Chicago and New Jersey in the mid-eighties, when Larry Heard, as Mr. Fingers, put jazz chords and warm pads over a drum machine and made "Can You Feel It". Forty years on, the core is the same: soulful harmony, round basslines, space and a groove that doesn't need to shout.
In lessons we focus on rich chord voicings and how they move, warm pads and keys, basslines that sit deep without getting muddy, and the restraint to leave space. Deep house is where a little music theory pays off most.
Organic and melodic house
Organic house trades big synths for hand percussion, plucked and acoustic sounds, field recordings and a slower, rolling groove. It's the sound of labels like All Day I Dream. Melodic house sits next to it with evolving arpeggios, long breakdowns and big emotional builds, the Anjunadeep end of things.
Both are about texture and movement over time. In lessons we work on layering percussion so it sounds played rather than programmed, sound design for plucks, pads and arps in Wavetable, Drift and Meld, processing acoustic samples so they sit in an electronic mix, and arrangements that take their time without losing the listener.
The problems I hear most in house tracks
“My groove feels stiff.”
Usually everything is quantised and the same velocity. A bit of swing, some ghost notes and a few hand-played parts change it completely.
“My chords sound cheesy.”
Often it's voicing, not the chords themselves. Spreading the notes, adding a seventh or a ninth and picking the right sound fixes most of it.
“The bass and the kick don't get on.”
Tuning, sidechain and arrangement: we make them take turns rather than fight.
“It sounds good for 16 bars and then I'm stuck.”
That's arrangement. We map a real track you like and build yours against it.
House students
Kevin Taylor had been DJing deep and progressive house for the best part of four decades but had never produced. He started the Masterclass in June 2022 with little to no Ableton knowledge, and had his first track played on BBC Introducing that December.
Flo Reen works across deep house, organic house, deep tech and tech house, with original tracks and collaborations with NIF (RO).
Listen: 'She Was There' (deep house) 'Together' (organic house). More of his tech house and deep tech on the tech house and deep tech page.
S-ampel and Max Casebolt released their 'Don't Be Smiling' EP on vinyl on HouseOnWax, after bringing it to the Decloak studio for its mixdown.
Plus many more. Catch up on the latest student releases in the news.
How lessons work
Every lesson is fully bespoke and one to one with me, live over Zoom, usually 90 minutes. No two people learn the same way, so I adapt to how you learn, what inspires you and where you want to go. I hear your Ableton session exactly as you do, and we work on your music, not a generic project.
- Five Sessions, £360: for a specific problem or a track you want to finish.
- Beginner Course, 12 sessions, £799: from opening Ableton for the first time to finished tracks.
- Ableton Live Masterclass, 32 sessions, £1,999: the full path, genre-focused, for going all the way.
Rather do it in person? With the Ableton Live Intensive I travel to you, from £550 a day.
Students on my structured courses can also get a discount on a new Ableton Live Suite licence. Ask me about it in your free session.
The first 30 minutes are free, with no obligation.
House production FAQs
What BPM is house music?
Most house sits around 120 to 128 BPM. Deep house often sits lower, around 118 to 122, and tech house and some piano house push a little higher.
Can I use samples in house music?
Sampling is how a lot of house was built, and I teach it properly. If you're planning to release, we'll also talk about clearing samples, or about how to flip a sample so far that it becomes your own.
Do I need to know music theory to make house?
You don't need to read music. But a little theory, mainly chords and how they move, makes you much faster and stops you relying on luck. I teach exactly as much as is useful.
What's the difference between deep house, tech house and the rest?
Mostly tempo, drums, bass and harmony. Deep house leans on lush chords and space, tech house on rolling percussion and a punchy bassline, piano house on big chords and vocals. In lessons we use reference tracks from the style you love and work out what makes them tick.
I DJ house. Will that help me produce it?
Yes. You already know what works on a floor. Lessons turn that instinct into decisions in Ableton.
Book a free 30 minute session
Bring a loop, a half-finished track or a record you wish you'd made, and we'll start from there.
All Ableton lessons and prices
Also teaching: TechnoMinimalTech house and deep tech