If you are keen on listening to house and EDM music, you’ve probably encountered a Slap House track.
Recently, the genre has taken the music industry by storm, with many well-known artists and upcoming producers adapting their production to emulate the popular genre.
We’re excited about the new genre too!
Here is a group of free samples available from Slap House Elements completely on LANDR Samples.
It’s chock full of samples that are begging to be used in a slap house track.
Of course, it takes more than a handful of great samples to make a great slap house track.
There are many specific production methods that most slap house producers use.
That’s why we had the creator of the brand new sample pack, Cr2, put together the top five production ideas you should know to help you nail your next slap house production!
1. Chop and screw the vocals
The thing that makes vocals so great is that there are such a lot of things you can do with them.
Pitching, stretching, chopping, distorting, layering, and beyond.
Vocals are an essential aspect of any slap house track. In this music genre, they tend to have a distinct style.
Typically you’ll hear the vocals slightly (or sometimes heavily) pitched up or down and maybe they’ll have some type of transformation on the formant.
There are many ways to get this cool effect on your vocals.
A method is to simply use a vocal plugin that lets you easily change the pitch and formant of the vocal.
You usually don’t want to make the pitch or formant change too drastic, as this will cause the quality of the vocal to deteriorate.
Play it by ear, and you’ll be fine.
If you don’t want to use plugins, a cool method you can try is to record the vocal two or three semi-tones higher than the actual key of the song.
Then as soon as it’s recorded, pitch the vocal down to the original key.
It’s a subtle way of changing the formant and pitch without any plugins and it will be more natural.
2. Be intentional about your buildups
Many producers make the mistake of rushing their buildups and not giving them enough attention.
It’s not enough to just add snare rolls and a few risers.
In reality, buildups are literally one of the most essential parts of any production—they prepare the listener for the main section of the track.
A strong and effective build-up can really help the chorus or drop have more impact.
Gradually filtering out the low frequencies towards the end of the build-up is another method to make the drop sound bigger, especially in Slap House where the bass is the main driving force.
Keeping a few of the elements in mono during the buildup and then back to stereo in the drop will also help make the drop sound more impactful to the listener.
3. Keep the rhythm going
Rhythm is a vital part of any Slap House track. It’s the rhythmic elements like the drums and especially the thump of the bass that drives the track.
Getting the rhythm of your bass right is important to make your track work. Using syncopated notes is a good way to bring some groove into your bass lines.
Most DAW’s have a built-in swing function that helps you get that funky rhythm, however, you may also manually do it by nudging some of the notes slightly off-grid.
Also, make sure to keep some space between a few of the notes in your bassline to allow the track to breathe.
The drop section should feel like a car flying off a cliff— there’s should still be rhythm in the high end but don’t drown out the moment with too many fast-paced bass hits.
4. Use Reese bass
These days, Reese basses have become a very popular element to use in any genre, but especially in Slap house.
They sound thick, deep, and they fill up the track nicely while providing a stunning dark, slightly mysterious vibe.
The important thing to attaining a great Reese bass is layering.
One method to layer it in is to include a low cut at around 120Hz on the main Reese and then add a thick sub underneath.
This provides you more control over the sub and adds more power to your overall bass sound.
Now for the mids to high-mids, layer the Reese bass with a low-passed pad, to include some depth and width.
This will provide you with an amazingly rich sound and will give you a nice bed for the vocals and other elements.
5. Keep in mind to use percussive kicks
The one part which stands out most in Slap House is the distinct short percussive kick sound that is used during the drops.
To get this specific type of sound you have to choose a bass with a quick attack and a short decay. You’ll need to have an envelope on the filter which emulates the same shape as your main volume ADSR too.
You’ll be able to flick through presets until you find a nice sound or you could design your own kick using subtractive synthesis or FM synthesis.
Next, layer your main kick sound with sub-bass to include some low-end power.
Finally, to really get that punchy percussive sound on the bass, try to layer some kind of percussive hit that follows the notes of the bassline.
A hollow sound usually gives the perfect result, but in music, it never hurts to experiment and check out some new things.
Especially with Slap House becoming quite saturated, it’s always great to strive for unique sounds wherever you can in your productions.