House Music Soundtracks

The term "House Music" is said to have originated from a Chicago club called The Warehouse,
which existed from 1977 to 1983. Clubgoers at The Warehouse came to dance to music played by the club's resident DJ, Frankie Knuckles, who was dubbed in time as the "Godfather of House".

In an effort to differentiate themselves and their clubs, Frankie and other Chicago DJs such as Chip E. and Steve Hurley pioneered this new sound by splicing together old Disco classics with new Eurobeat Pop and other synthesized music that gave it a more mechanical beat and deeper basslines.

House music reached a mainstream peak in 1987 when MARRS "Pump up the Volume" hit #1 on the charts.

By the turn of the 21st Century, House Music was one of many forms of Electronic Music such as Industrial, Techno, Trance and EDM.

Today we continue to hear House Music a lot at clubs but also in places like shopping malls, especially in clothing stores targeted at younger consumers. Gyms will often play House music in the background because the high energy beat is conducive to exercise and working out.

The same goes for the world of soundtrack in video and film where we hear House music in virtually any club scene, but perhaps one of the most famous is the opening scene from the movie 'Blade' (1998) starring Wesley Snipes. The credits aren't even finished rolling by the time the crowd is literally soaked in blood (except for our hero Wesley who is clean as a whistle, of course).

Fast-paced action videos are another fertile ground for House soundtrack music from local Gym ads to Extreme Sports commercials, such as this one for the Winter X-Games.

The movie template for a House soundtrack is likely Trainspotting (1996) with the title track by Primal Scream but a star-studded soundtrack list including Iggy Pop, David Bowie, New Order, Elastica and more.

In the video clip with our own custom soundtrack at the top of this post, we created a House track with the staple instruments of House including a synthesized bass kit that matches the drum beat exactly and delivers that deep hypnotic rhythm for which House is known. We added some electric piano, more synthesizer pads, some bells to lighten the mood a bit, and some vocal effects.

Synthesized vocals using the modern technology we have at SoundSuite is really a lot of fun. Eli is always looking out for new vocal samples and found the ones we used here that are perfect for House. You can hear the robotic "one, two, three, four" that we produce literally by just hitting a key on the keyboard. In that way we can 'play' a voice just like an instrument.

The vocals play a key role in setting the key of the track, so we actually set the vocal track first so we know what key the rest of the music will be in. Every vocal sample is in a different key but this particular one is in A-minor and so the rest of the piece follows in that same key. Finally, Eli uses sound engineering techniques of delay, reverb and even phasers to polish up the track to it's finished form.

We hope you like our sample clip and perspectives on House music soundtracks. At SoundSuite, we pride ourselves on quality tracks, simple licensing and most importantly, personalized service. Just give us a shout and we would be happy to talk to you directly about creating a custom track just for you, or give you some recommendations on cost-effective stock tracks that could work for your video project.

Keep Creating,

Jamie & Eli

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