Evolution of Deep House

History

Early deep house music began in the mid-1980s with a simplistic and quantized (robotic) feel. Producers like Larry Heard (Mr Fingers) and Marshall Jefferson, who are considered deep house pioneers, gave the genre its human touch by infusing jazz elements with deep bass lines. This richness became the sound of deep house and opened up a new world of musical possibilities for a genre that, at the time, still lacked sufficient musicality it needed to become popular.

Influences

Deep house is basically a combination of a warm Philly Soul instrumentation playing jazz chords on a slow-breathing rhythmic loop. From an arrangement perspective, deep house, like all early house music, has its roots in disco, which itself originated from Philly soul. The use of uncommon chords in deep house comes straight from jazz music, where 7ths, 9ths, 13ths, sus, and alt chords reign supreme.

Sound

Deep house offers a relaxed, groovy brand of house music. Most music relies on a payoff (either a chorus or a drop) to keep its audience interested; deep house skips the payoff in favour of a hypnotic, breathing cycle that subtly builds and releases energy. For that reason, you don’t really listen to deep house, you feel it. With muted basslines, jazzy chords, soft pads, soulful vocals and a slower rhythm (typically 110-125 bpm), deep house is the musical embodiment of cool intimacy.