House Music Tempo

[Charlie Deep]

What do you think is the proper tempo for House music?

Personally, I prefer to listen to it in the 122 to 128 bpm range.

I hear some House DJs play at over 130 and it sounds too fast to me - especially when they play deeper tracks at that tempo. Listening to a Naked Music track at 132 with the pitch adjust at over +6 makes Lisa Shaw sound like a squealing chipmunk.

Your thoughts?

If you're a Trance fan, meth addict, or an angry Junglist, please refrain from posting on this thread. :cool:

[ProblematicBeat]

I love my ultra deep beats at about 105-110 just sounds nicer that way. For stright up house I think about 120 is fair enough. Peace

Jason

[dj jakub]

depends on what type of house i think..

normally i always played deep funky / funky house between 128-132. You are right though, if you go for the sexy nyc deep house, there is no reason why you should be playing it higher than 126.

Normally it just depends on where your sets are going too. When i mix more tekky sets i'm usually around the 136-138 mark, granted most house tracks do not go up that far.

anyway, that's my 2c

[jasonbuss]

i try to keep the deep house flowing at around 126-127 the entire set...

yeah anything over 130 starts to make those wonderful ladies and grooves sound not so normal...

charlie, you got a demo i can check out? actually anyone here that spins deep house?

jasonbuss

[ProblematicBeat]

Originally posted by jasonbuss
i try to keep the deep house flowing at around 126-127 the entire set...

yeah anything over 130 starts to make those wonderful ladies and grooves sound not so normal...

charlie, you got a demo i can check out? actually anyone here that spins deep house?

Jasonbuss

My latest is located in my signature. Thanks

[petey pablo]

Really slow always sounds best to me. But then again I like to mix in disco, so that explains that. Slower is better for people not into electronic music too. It's easier to groove to at a bar when it is pitched down a tad.

Matt

[theft]

126-132
anything above that is a lil too fast for my tastes:o

[vinyltap]

but here is a way to decide.if the party is kinda relaxed and people are just chillin', then the average heart beat rythm is around 120,and thus 120 bpm feels right.if the party is a little more upbeat and the people are hyper go with a faster bpm.i dunno, i could be full of shit ,but when i'm chill i like about 120 bpm.

barely .02 werth.

[Jizosh]

All depends on where I'm going with it...

If I'm making a deep house mix cd, then I will probably cue a record at 126 and just chill in that groove. If I'm playing a club though, I like to kick things off at about 128 so I have room to build into the funkier toons that I will play later. If the environment really demands a faster tempo (rave crowd usually) then I can play in that 130-132 area, but I don't like doing it for long, and I have a tendency to mix in some breaks at that tempo, because most of my house sounds rushed at that speed.

[swank]

128 is good for standard house, but it becomes too shuffly for me. bang it away at 132 is the best...tho ive had some sets at 134/135 that i still get people saying "remember that set when..." so i guess it just comes down to what ya feel when you're doing what you're doing.

120 is too slow. i'll leave the mid-tempo snooze house to the hippies.

[petey pablo]

^^^Thanks! We'll take it! We hippies love it slow.

p.s.- "remember that set when..." what is the last part?

[Advent]

hmmmmm, vewy inwesting....

Not that I spin house all the time but the normal is 129-132. Same with breaks. I do play stuff with that bass kick down in the 120's and even some 110's, but that's a much different genre type. House in my opinion has to be around 130. I think most psytrance dj's do ti in the 138-143 area. Too fast maybe, but it's all about the gawooove.

[theperfectcyn]

Originally posted by swank


i'll leave the mid-tempo snooze house to the hippies.

:D :D

[theperfectcyn]

i seem to do two HOUSE tempos:
122 for the 80's bass twisted acidy electro house
128 for the sunshine, terrace-at-space-ibiza, UK label stuff

but sometimes i wanna mix in ghettotech. and then that doesn't work.
or sappho is playing after me and kinda nervous if i leave her under 139/140.
harhar!

[Jizosh]

ghettotech??

dood, we gota kick it sometime!

[186k\sec]

i dont really pay much attention to bpm, but...

personally - i definatley prefer a house tempo to be in the medium rare to medium range...
u know..? somewhat scorched with black grill marks on the outside - but still pinkish red & juicey on the inside.

pitching a house track above 130+ is like throwing the steak right on the coals.

its a no-no - even for the 'well done' crowd.

[James Capricorn]

Originally posted by Charlie Deep
Listening to a Naked Music track at 132 with the pitch adjust at over +6 makes Lisa Shaw sound like a squealing chipmunk.


I can think of a few other ways to make Lisa Shaw squeal like a chipmunk.

[Jizosh]

Originally posted by James Capricorn


I can think of a few other ways to make Lisa Shaw squeal like a chipmunk.

Man you took the words out of my mouth.

Let me get three minutes...maybe even four.

[unknownp0et]

For me, it depends on where I'm going with my set. There have been times, mixing tag sets with my housemate who spins psytrance and goa, that I have pitched the deeper tech house tracks to around +5... I have to be very selective about what I mix (mostly UK House, electroclash, or the really deep, techy stuff) and HE has to usually pitch down his tracks about -4, but we can kick out some bangin' f*cking sets. It's a great challenge for both of us.

Also, I've been working on being able to throw some 2-step into my house sets. Usually, I either have to push my house records or pull my two step.

I agree that I'd never spin Miguel Migs, Mateo & Matos, any Naked Music or Verve house track past 125 bpm. It's just too wacky. The basic rule for me is: If a house track is heavy with instrumental arrangement and vocals (i.e. disco house, ect) keep it slow... try not to pitch above +2 when mixing...

[Advent]

Originally posted by 186k\sec

pitching a house track above 130+ is like throwing the steak right on the coals.

its a no-no - even for the 'well done' crowd.

I don't agree with this opinion. If you have vocals and instrumentals and you don't have the "master tempo" on CDJ's, then yes, you don't want to be putting them to fast. Realistically though, from 128 to 134 your only getting an extra beat every ten seconds. It does'nt make a big difference and it's hardly noticeable anyway. Still, I prefer 130-132 and i'm suprised to hear that most of you think that's too fast. Then again I bet most of you spin vocal house and that's totally understandable. There's nothing worse then chipmunk vocals.

[skilife]

148 :D

[Axx0]

Originally posted by skilife
148 :D Wasn't there a Moby track called 2000 bpm? Yeah, I've always dreamed about playing that at a party. :p

[bluesubmarine]

Between 125 - 130 bpm, I think. But I would say it depends on what type of House you spin. :)

[DJflutterby]

125 = BUMP SUPREME

[Psyke]

There is a time and place for all tempos :)

It is important for the person playing to recognize this and play into the crowd.

~A

[Sophistik]

I play at 134 - 137, but most of my records go there at +/- 0 pitch. I play banging-funky tho so maybe thats why... *shrug*

[hy5]

any tempo that feels right go with your ears and your heart and dont take anyone elses opinon seriously but your own

[James Capricorn]

Sometimes, I like to play at 133.76 BPM. Other times, I like to play at 129.98 BPM. It depends on what turntable I'm playing on. Also, you MUST take into account the delay in signal responce from the turntable to the mixer output. In some cases, I like to play anywhere between 126.78 and 132.83 BPM's. Rarely, however, do I give a shit if anyone is dancing. As long as I enjoy the BPM of the song I'm playing, then it's all good.......

Mostly, all I care about is when I'm gonna see Charlie Deep's mom again. No matter what BPM you play, you can never bang it hard enough for her.

[blu::chris]

I disagree Dr. Capricorn. I once discovered Charlie's mom's BPM threshold at a minimal trance party. A hair over 140 and she starts going all fem bot on ya.

Personally I like the heartbeat idea for house music.

[Sophistik]

lol, All this shit about Charlies mom. Dayum. It's been like 6 months and counting. :D

[Harry Caulk]

Originally posted by Sophistik
I play at 134 - 137, but most of my records go there at +/- 0 pitch. I play banging-funky tho so maybe thats why... *shrug*
When Charlie started this discussion, I think he was referring to House music - not the crappy raver garble played by DJs such as Donald Glaude, DJ Dan, Bad Boy Bill, DJ Irene, etc.

[James Capricorn]

Originally posted by Harry Caulk

When Charlie started this discussion, I think he was referring to House music - .

Obviously, you've never heard Charlie actually play records. If you had, you would know that the kid has no fucking clue at all what House music is.....

[Tasty]

I set my BPM to whatever setting Charlie's mom likes to set her vibrator at....... :eek:

[Harry Caulk]

Originally posted by James Capricorn


Obviously, you've never heard Charlie actually play records. If you had, you would know that the kid has no fucking clue at all what House music is.....
And you think Tech House is good music? :confused:

[corbettfields]

Originally posted by James Capricorn
As long as I enjoy the BPM of the song I'm playing, then it's all good.......



exactly! who gives a fuck about pitch, tone,etc.. just dial it in at 125.. and any really great house tracks at 130? pitch it it down! if it sounds crap pitched down? don't buy it, or just play it...

I wish frickin record stores would stop storing records by genre and label and producer - couldnt they just do it by BPM? that would help..

[iammay]

i like 1 bpm
I call it PC house music
'cause everyone can dance to it
even parapalegics and white people with no rhythm
kinda sucks that i only get one track per set though

for real though, don't even kno, i'd imagine some where between 125 and 132 but i don't know i just play at whatever tempo the first record i put on sounds good at

[desync]

Originally posted by corbettfields

I wish frickin record stores would stop storing records by genre and label and producer - couldnt they just do it by BPM? that would help..

You are joking, right?

[corbettfields]

Originally posted by desync


You are joking, right?

of course not! who cares about beautiful pieces of music liek Funk D'Void's Diablo - it MUST SUCK because it's 138 BPM/.. so i dont even want to be subjected to it.. or a track like Brick House or Car Wash.. 115 BPM that's 10 BPM below prefection/Farina - HORRIBLE!

[petey pablo]

^^^^

"perfection/Farina" That's too much. Thanks for the laugh.

Matt

p.s.- I really am laughing. Hell of funny. So many people in this sick state of mind...

[ahndrey]

I play my records (most of them at zero are around 124-6) at anywhere between -2 and +2 depending on how I am feeling it. But I like my deep house played a little slow a lot of the time.

[djthebandit]

140 and above. (sometimes up to 200bpm)

Hardstyle and Hardcore, the best!

[corbettfields]

i counted my BPM from Saturday (doing 6's from 9.15-2am)

Started ~ 70bpm

Ended ~ 150ish

yummers

:)

[dj metro]

i personally like to crank my house to around 135 max... it works great with some tracks, and not with others. know your crate, experiment, and see what will work out for you. i think the extra bpm adds a little more drive and energy to it. suitable sometimes, but overkill other times. it all depends.

[DJ KURO]

Originally posted by Harry Caulk

crappy raver garble played by DJs such as Donald Glaude, DJ Dan, Bad Boy Bill, DJ Irene, etc.
WOW!!! Donald Glaude , DJ Dan, Bad Boy Bill, and DJ Irene crap ? Man its one thing to not like an artist music but another to disrespect. Way to go buddy!