trax.house archive

116 issues · 10 charts

every issue, technique and chart

◢ issues

november 2026

1 issue

2026-11-01The Mr Fingers chord fix starts with a mislabeled sample

october 2026

31 issues

2026-10-31Wreck the tops, keep the sub clean
2026-10-30The BCCO rumble is MIDI and delay, not reverb
2026-10-29ODNP turns one droplet sample into a whole track
2026-10-28The Lately Bass is a TX81Z patch — rebuild it subtractively
2026-10-27Kassian's container studio and the risk rule
2026-10-26Benza's trick for a drop's empty gap
2026-10-25A remix on two chords and a plucky Serum patch
2026-10-24Why your hoover patch fights the vocal—and the fix
2026-10-23Ableton's sidechain: beyond the compressor pump
2026-10-22Kettama's chord stabs start from the sample
2026-10-21Lock Your Kick Transient Across Every Note
2026-10-20The vocal chain that makes a one-shot swirl around your head
2026-10-19SideKick's update tightens transients before the compressor
2026-10-18Producing house with the plugins that shipped with Cubase in the '90s
2026-10-17Subtraction, not risers — a buildup that earns the drop
2026-10-16Why your minimal tech house loop sounds cluttered
2026-10-15The hidden setting that cuts Ableton's Wavetable CPU by 25%
2026-10-14Mau P's drum splitter: separate kick, snare, hats, then swap
2026-10-13A kick, a tom, a hi-hat, and one quarter note
2026-10-12When piano and vocal collide: Kooldrink's fix
2026-10-11Serum 2's one-click swing for UK garage chords
2026-10-10Why your bassline waits on the drums
2026-10-09Start your next melody with a clap, not a note
2026-10-08Stop copy-pasting your first drop
2026-10-07Kick not sitting? Swap it before you EQ
2026-10-06Your phrase marker doesn't have to be a crash
2026-10-05The 3-layer low end that reads as one sound
2026-10-04Poly chords from mismatched samples in one key
2026-10-03The QX1 trick that made house piano breathe
2026-10-02Pull the kick's beater out with Multiband Dynamics
2026-10-01LFOs in Live 12’s Mod mode: finally how you’d expect

september 2026

30 issues

2026-09-30Record the take, then subtract the arrangement
2026-09-29Your drum bounce is a fill waiting to happen
2026-09-28DIVA pads that move themselves through breakdowns
2026-09-27Per-note breath turns MPE into a physical pipe organ
2026-09-26How Ninajirachi built that tearing lead
2026-09-25Build your own Serum 2 wavetable from scratch
2026-09-24The reverb routing trick that turns chords into a dub wash
2026-09-23Ninajirachi’s bass trick: less OTT, more Redux and FM warps
2026-09-22An LCD Soundsystem drone out of one sawtooth and some EQ
2026-09-21Vhyce label release: iPhone vocal, toy keys, zero sends
2026-09-20The sidechain filter trick that opens up your drum bus
2026-09-19Why KVNDRA reaches for a clipper, not a limiter
2026-09-18A single note → infinite melodies (Logic trick)
2026-09-17Serum 2's filter tab, a saw wave, and the routing step you skip
2026-09-16Traveler into Liminal Space 2: cinematic pads tonight
2026-09-15The bass move hiding in your convolution reverb
2026-09-14The Tape Delay Hiding in Your Ableton Reverb
2026-09-13Breaking out of the loop with one repeatable template
2026-09-12Turn a held chord into a groove with one automation lane
2026-09-11Morph between any sounds with this M4L fader and LFO trick
2026-09-10Two sounds sound like one blob? Stop cutting—use harmonics
2026-09-09Steal a JV-1080 layering trick for Serum 2
2026-09-08The Supernova II sound engine, now in a plugin
2026-09-07Thin vocal? This free channel strip's gate expander trick
2026-09-06KETTAMA's chords are tuned 40 cents flat
2026-09-05Auto Shift's hidden LFO mode for granular drift
2026-09-04Bass definition lives in the mud — 5 mixers show where
2026-09-03The bassline trick that starts with your chords
2026-09-02SOSA’s 30-minute track-building workflow for funky house
2026-09-01Why your drops hit flat — and the Serum 2 fix

august 2026

31 issues

2026-08-31Ninajirachi's glitch trick: one upbeat eighth note
2026-08-30Analog drum crush: Smack plug-in walkthrough
2026-08-29Bounce a group track into drop stutter chops
2026-08-28Build 10 Essential House Synth Patches in Serum
2026-08-27Diva plucks that land like an Anjunadeep intro
2026-08-26Brunello's drum isolation trick in Live
2026-08-25PSP 2445 reverb at its lowest price yet
2026-08-24The low-end automation trick that tightens a drop
2026-08-23PULSEMELT ducks its own tail and degrades it—free VST3
2026-08-22Bouncit's free delay ducks repeats so it doesn't fight the mix
2026-08-21Linear phase EQ and where your parallel bus falls apart
2026-08-20Feuer paints frequency sustain onto drum loops
2026-08-19Turning an irregular pattern into the grid
2026-08-18Turn any sample into a dying tape machine
2026-08-17Diva pluck walkthrough, a free clipper, and Ableton speed moves
2026-08-16Bassmaker’s hidden pages + a free 24‑band EQ
2026-08-15Roar as comb delay, Serum 2 arp, blind bass
2026-08-14Cut hi-hat highs, then boost the shelf
2026-08-13Serum 2 sci-fi horns and an Ableton rave template
2026-08-12Operator can do your kicks—here's the patch
2026-08-11Reverb before compression (and why it matters)
2026-08-10Low shelves, not high-passes
2026-08-09Your phase meter isn’t broken, it’s just 90°
2026-08-08Mixing aggressively: it's not about energy
2026-08-07Cleaner low end, dirtier tops, and a free saturator
2026-08-06half a dB: the mix move nobody talks about
2026-08-05Your fader is a better EQ than your EQ
2026-08-04Your vocal bus should be mixed first – here's how
2026-08-03one more night with Glitch2, now free
2026-08-02Two free synths & SOS's 30-year vault
2026-08-01A free reverb that ducks itself

july 2026

23 issues

2026-07-31Free dusty 522 drum samples & an FM bass tuning trick
2026-07-30ported slides and aggressive wubs in ANA 2
2026-07-29Ear candy from foley (and a free generative arp)
2026-07-28A Diva lead that breathes — plus a free Spotify checker
2026-07-27iZotope VEA freebie + a K3 emulation teaser
2026-07-26Glitch perc from stock Live (and the random button)
2026-07-25Sidechain Your Kick to Shift Pitch
2026-07-24The kick trick that actually works
2026-07-23Chris Lorenzo's production tricks, decoded
2026-07-22A bad pitch shifter on your master bus? Yes, Loukeman says.
2026-07-21Reverse-engineering a Chris Lake bass in Diva
2026-07-20Ableton Link Audio: 3ms latency over USB-C
2026-07-19that shaperbox call/response trick is wild
2026-07-18Resonant reverb that becomes a note
2026-07-17Print your reverb 100% wet and treat it like audio
2026-07-16Audiojack’s template is here (and it’s all stock Ableton)
2026-07-15Build the Keinemusik lead in Serum
2026-07-14Logic’s sync granular, a free 909 kick, and ‘Your Love’ in the Library
2026-07-13Strip silence in Ableton without rendering? Finally.
2026-07-12Tribal drums, swing secrets, and a free beat mangler
2026-07-11Free modular delay/filter + Live 12.4 tricks
2026-07-10FM stabs in Operator, plus Thump One’s wild beta
2026-07-09Fix flat loops: volume moves + one‑sample Absynth

◢ techniques

all 40 on one page →

2026-11-01Your track gains a sustained, splashy phrase marker without a crash sample, made by drowning a 909 hi-hat in long reverb and heavy multiband compression.Phrase Marker from 909 Hi-hat, Reverb & OTT
2026-10-29Your bright pattern gains a dark, underwater twin that fills the low end without new source material.Dark, underwater layer from any bright sample pattern
2026-10-28Your bass gets the Lately-style top click and a solid sub underneath, using just a saw, a low-pass filter, and a sine oscillator.Saw + 4-pole low-pass + sine sub = Lately-style pluck (no FM)
2026-10-27Your acoustic samples turn into a breathy, detuned granular bed that swells and contracts with each hit.Envelope-driven Grain Delay for Sad Granular Ambience
2026-10-26Your vocal group gains stereo width and a sense of front-to-back depth without touching individual tracks.Dual‑axis vocals: mid‑side width and reverb depth on the bus
2026-10-23Your loops play seamlessly, zero clicks or pops, using only your sampler’s crossfade control.Kill loop clicks with crossfade (any sampler)
2026-10-22Your Neon bass stays dark and consistent on plucks — either by dragging attack past note length or dropping sustain to the floor.Neon’s Hardwired Filter Envelope Workaround for Short Bass Lines
2026-10-21Your chords sound like a rave stab progression, not a piano roll — instant Kettama energy without complex MIDI.Spread voicing root-fifth-third-fifth and lock top notes for a Kettama stab progression
2026-10-20Your drums gain a tom fill that drops into an isolated break at the end of an 8-bar phrase.House Tom-Riff Drop Using Ableton’s Stock 707 and 727 Kits
2026-10-19Your lead reads as two stacked synths — a plucky filtered layer underneath a brighter unison layer — instead of one static patch.Two-Synth Lead from One Patch with an 18 dB Bypass Filter
2026-10-18Your dull kick cuts through the mix with its own click, no hi-hat layers.Kick beater expansion with Ableton Multiband Dynamics
2026-10-16Your drum group gets more bounce and bite because the compressor reacts to the mids and highs while the kick’s sub stays out of the way.Kick‑ignoring parallel smash for drum bounce
2026-10-14Your drum bus gains a textured break layer that locks tight with the grid and stays out of the kick’s way.Grid-locked break layer with Beats warp and a high-pass
2026-10-13Your silent gaps disappear instantly without cutting manually — no new audio files created.Strip silence from vocal clips at -60 dB with Strip Silence PT
2026-10-12Your synth pads swell in sync with the groove, turning a flat sustain into a living, breathing texture.Breathe life into static pads with VolumeShaper’s ramp-up and half-note rate
2026-10-11Your rolling bass sub regains rhythmic definition without losing low‑end weight.Shorten Sub Notes to Give a Rolling Bassline Definition
2026-10-09Your pan flute and its synthetic layer sit locked together without the attack jumping forward.Glue a Sampled Flute and Its Synthetic Layer with One Compressor
2026-10-05Your pitch wheel sweeps land exactly one octave up or down, making each bend feel like a deliberate pitch‑shift rather than an atonal wobble.Octave‑locked pitch bends from Serum 2’s Bend control
2026-10-04Your track gets dense, evolving stab stacks by transposing samples labelled with different keys into one shared key, slicing them to quarter-note MIDI chops, and triggering the best slices over your beat.Ketma-Style Poly Chords from Any Key-Tagged Samples
2026-10-01Your static bassline gets gently evolving, semi-random filter sweeps that break repetition without automation.Stray-LFO Filter Movement for Static Basslines
2026-09-30Your breakdown gets a lush, undulating pad that sits under the mix, with duo unison detune, dotted LFO wobble, and pillowy sustain.Duo-Unison Wobble Pad for Breakdowns
2026-09-29You get a 5:30 DJ arrangement of drums only, with contour and one break, ready to jam performance takes over.Build a 5:30 DJ arrangement from your drum loop with subtractive copy-pasting
2026-09-27Your 16th-note arp gets a warm Moog-like tone that opens and shifts as you press harder.Shark-tooth Drift arp that opens with pad pressure
2026-09-26Your chord stabs gain a rhythmic digital edge that locks to the groove.Downsample Grit That Pumps with Your Chords
2026-09-23Your chord progression gains a deeper, moodier voicing that stays harmonically correct.The Low-Octave 7th Voicing for Instant LoFi House Chords
2026-09-21Your main bass gains a wide, crunchy low-mid layer where Redux provides bite, letting you keep OTT subtle on that layer.Two-Layer Wide Bass with Redux Instead of More OTT
2026-09-17Your kick cleans up below 40 Hz, gets roughly 6 dB of compression control, and pokes through a deep bass with a 120 Hz knock instead of boom.SSL-style kick chain: clean low end, 6 dB squeeze, 120 Hz knock
2026-09-16Your bass gains a layer of noise that sits exactly in the frequency pocket you choose.Add focused grit to a bass with Erosion’s filter
2026-09-03Your bass line gets a classic UKG rhythmic pulse shaped solely by volume modulation, not by sweeping the filter.Volume-only UKG bass pump (no filter ducking)
2026-09-02Your drop hits with authority because the break stripped back elements, high end, width, and low‑end rumble.Sparse, Dark, Narrow Break for a Full Drop
2026-09-01Your perc loop gets tight, skipping stutters that sound like a broken CD player but stay musical.Glitchy percussion stutters with Beat Repeat
2026-08-31Your track gains a separate reverb audio layer you can edit like a sample — chop, stretch, pitch shift, reverse, or move it before the dry signal for rhythmic and textural surprises.Print your whole wet reverb as audio and treat it like a sample
2026-08-30Your hi-hats lock into a tight, focused pocket — no stray ghost notes or velocity spikes.Conform hi-hat velocities to 80–105 in one MIDI Transform pass
2026-08-19Your kick hits only on the pattern’s strongest notes, creating an accented pulse that grooves inside your irregular rhythm.Accent‑driven kick from an irregular pattern’s own grid
2026-08-15Your vocal chops follow a single melodic line without sounding stiff because the sampler retunes them dynamically as the source pitch bends.Play Vocal Loops in Tune Using the Dynamic Pitch Map, Bitwig-Only
2026-07-29Your pluck and bass layers stay distinct because each filter's cutoff sits in its own band — slope only decides how abrupt the handover is.12+24 dB/oct Pluck-Bass Layering for Clean Low-End Separation
2026-07-19Your track finds four different energies at one unchanged tempo, from the kick pattern alone.Four BPM Pockets Using Only the Kick Pattern You Already Have
2026-07-17A dense, slow-shifting grain cloud that adds atmospheric depth behind your house chords or vocal chop.Granular texture pad from any sample using Serum 2’s Granular mode
2026-07-14Your selected vocal clips lose their silent gaps instantly, in-place, with no new audio files created.Strip silence from vocal clips with Strip Silence PT (Live 12.4.5+)
2026-07-09Your rolling bass keeps weight but reads as rhythmic hits instead of a constant sub drone.Rolling-sub fix: note gaps + up-to-30 ms release

◢ charts

tech house house deep house afro house jackin house nu disco / indie dance indie tech melodic house & techno minimal / deep tech soulful house

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