Deep House Production Guide: tempo, groove, chords and how to brief an AI composer

Anatomy of a deep house groove

Deep house sits between 118 and 128 BPM and gets its feel from restraint: a steady kick, a bass that moves with the chords, harmony that stays warm, and only one or two elements talking at a time. These are the parts the composer builds from.

Tempo: Each lane has a tempo pocket: afterhours 119 to 123, poolside 118 to 122, editorial 120 to 124, rooftop 121 to 125, warehouse 124 to 128 BPM. Name a tempo in the brief ("122 bpm") and the composer uses it exactly.
Kick and hats: Four-on-the-floor kick with an open hat on the offbeat. Swing on the 16ths is what separates a groove from a metronome; "loose", "shuffled" or "tight" in the brief sets how much.
Sub bass: A rounded, mostly sine-like bass that follows the chord roots and ducks under the kick (sidechain). "Rolling" asks for 8th-note movement; "sparse" holds notes longer.
Chords: Minor 7ths and 9ths, often as short stabs or a slow pad, played on electric piano, organ or filtered synths. Say the key ("F minor") to fix it; otherwise the lane decides, with a minor-key bias for afterhours and warehouse.
Percussion and texture: Shakers, rims, congas and a little vinyl grain. These carry the "dusty", "brushed", "polished" or "raw" words in your brief.
Arrangement: Phrases of 8 and 16 bars: intro, build, a breakdown that strips to chords, the main groove, outro. Short drafts compress this; 90 seconds and up give the build room to breathe.

Writing a brief that renders well

A good brief reads like a producer's note to a collaborator, not a tag list. One sentence each on the parts below is enough; the composer fills the rest.

Mood and setting. Where is this playing and at what hour? Words like "late-night", "sunset", "driving" or "cinematic" also steer the lane.
Groove. Kick character, swing, and whether the hats are crisp or soft.
Bass. Rolling or sparse, warm or edgy, how much it moves.
Harmony. Chord feel (dusty stabs, wide pads, organ), and the key if you have one.
Texture. Vinyl grain, room reverb, brushed percussion, filtered vocal-like tones.
One moment. A lift, a breakdown, or a drop into the final groove. One is memorable; three is noise.

References that work: abstract textures and eras ("dusty MPC swing", "vintage house chords", "no big EDM drops"). Requests to imitate a named artist or a specific song are declined; everything the renderer produces is original by construction.

Five lanes, five briefs you can paste

Pick the lane in the form, paste the brief, adjust the drive, render.

Afterhours drive 2 to 3, 60 s

“Warm late-night deep house at 121 bpm in F minor. Confident four-on-the-floor kick, rolling sub bass, dusty Rhodes stabs with a slow filter, brushed percussion and vinyl grain. One cinematic lift at the two-thirds mark, then settle back into the groove.”

Rooftop drive 3, 60 to 90 s

“Golden-hour rooftop deep house, polished and unhurried. Clean kick, crisp offbeat hats, a melodic bass that walks between chords, warm major-leaning 9th chords on electric piano, light congas. Build gently into a wide, open final section.”

Poolside drive 2, 30 to 60 s

“Breezy daytime deep house around 120 bpm. Soft kick, shakers up front, bouncy bass with space between notes, bright organ chords, a short vocal-like tone that answers the chords. Loopable ending for a social clip.”

Warehouse drive 4 to 5, 90 to 180 s

“Driving peak-time deep house at 126 bpm. Heavy kick, tight hats, raw rolling bass with edge, dark minor stabs and a long breakdown that drops the drums before the full groove returns. Keep it hypnotic; no big-room drops.”

Editorial drive 3, 60 to 120 s

“Sleek, cinematic deep house for a fashion film. Refined kick, restrained percussion, deep sustained bass, wide filtered pads with a slow lift, a single melodic motif that repeats like a logo. Elegant intro, one swell, clean outro.”

Match the output goal to length, plan and mastering

The output goal in the form shapes intros, builds and endings. This is the setup that fits each one.

Output goal	Draft length	Plan and license	Mastering	Tip
Quick sketch	15 to 30 s	Trial or Starter	Streaming loudness	Render three variations of one brief, keep the best lane.
Short social loop	15 to 60 s	Starter for personal posts; Pro when the account earns money	Streaming loudness	Ask for a "loopable ending" so the cut repeats cleanly.
Brand cue	30 to 120 s	Pro (creator commercial license for online content)	Release-grade chain and loudness QC	Name the key and one motif; brands need recognisable repetition.
Set opener	90 to 180 s	Studio (full commercial license, stems)	Release-grade chain and loudness QC	Warehouse or afterhours lane, drive 4, long breakdown.
Client work	Any	Studio (covers delivery to clients, stems and provenance manifest)	Release-grade chain and loudness QC	Use the provenance manifest in your deliverable notes.

Pricing: Starter $9, Pro $29, Studio $79 per month. The trial includes 3 renders, no card required. Compare plans or read the license.

What you receive

Stereo MP3 at 320 kbps, 44.1 kHz, normalised to streaming loudness, with title, rights and provenance metadata in the file.
Pro and Studio: the release master chain (multiband processing and true-peak limiting at -1 dBTP) with loudness QC on every render.
Studio: stems and a provenance manifest alongside the master, for client deliverables and edits in your own session.
Every plan: a feedback loop. Rate a draft and the next render adapts (brighter, darker, more bass, calmer, and so on).

Glossary

Four-on-the-floor: A kick drum on every beat of the bar. The spine of house music.
Swing: Delaying the off-16ths so the hats and percussion lean forward. More swing feels looser; none feels machine-straight.
Sub bass: The lowest bass layer, felt more than heard, usually sine-like and tuned to the chord root.
Sidechain: Ducking the bass or pads every time the kick hits, which produces the pumping feel.
Stab: A short, rhythmic chord hit, often on electric piano or organ.
Breakdown and build: A section that removes the drums (breakdown) and the rising passage that brings them back (build).
Lane: The composer's style preset: afterhours, rooftop, poolside, warehouse or editorial. Each has its own tempo pocket, chord bank, kit and mix curve.
Drive: The 1 to 5 energy control: how hard the kit hits and how busy the arrangement gets.
LUFS: The loudness unit streaming services normalise to. Mastering to a LUFS target keeps your track level with everything else in a playlist.
True peak: The highest sample-interpolated level in the file. A ceiling of -1 dBTP leaves headroom so encoders do not clip.
Stems: Separate audio files per instrument group (drums, bass, chords, texture) for remixing or re-balancing.
Provenance manifest: A record of how a render was produced (lane, seed, settings) that travels with the file. Useful for rights questions and client hand-off.

Deep house production guide