the canon
hand-authored lessons. each one: a reference record · downloadable building blocks rendered by the lab · nick's tip · the common mistake to avoid. these are the seed examples the synthesis machine learns to generate from.
- chicago acid houseintermediate
Phuture · Acid Tracks · 1987
125 bpm · A minor — blues inflectionspatient 4×4 with a 16% swing in the hat pocket. 303 wanders. don't crowd it.
↓ 2 downloads·4 techniques - chicago housebeginner
Frankie Knuckles · Your Love · 1986
122 bpm · C minor — wide pads4-on-the-floor at 122. open hat on the offbeat is the engine. clap on 2 and 4 is the body. don't add anything else til this sits.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques - p-funkintermediate
Parliament · Flash Light · 1977
110 bpm · Bb minorevery note swept by the envelope. percussive. the bass IS the lead.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques - golden era hip-hop / boom-bap originintermediate
Run-DMC · Sucker MCs · 1983
96 bpm · drums only — works under any minor key, originally A minorLOCKED. no swing. no velocity dynamics. every kick the same volume, every snare the same volume, every hat the same volume. the genre is in the absolute consistency of the machine.
↓ 2 downloads·3 techniques - atlanta trapintermediate
Lex Luger / Metro Boomin · Trap Template · 2011
140 bpm · A minor / sub-bass territoryhalf-time. 140bpm that FEELS like 70bpm because the snare lives on 3 alone. the 808 sub is the song — the bassline + the kick + the harmonic foundation are all one synth voice with a portamento slide between root and 5th.
↓ 2 downloads·3 techniques - 808 quiet stormbeginner
Marvin Gaye · Sexual Healing · 1982
95 bpm · Eb major — slow R&B ballad territoryslow, breathing. 95bpm. kick on 1+3 sub. clap on 2+4 in place of a snare. cymbal swell on every 1. offbeat hat fills the space.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques - electro / early hip-hopintermediate
Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force · Planet Rock · 1982
116 bpm · Bb minor — kraftwerk liftsyncopated. kick on 1+3 with offbeat ghost kicks adding motion. cowbell on every 16th offbeat (the iconic 808 cowbell). clap on 2/4. drum pattern is the song.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques - UK acid houseintermediate
A Guy Called Gerald · Voodoo Ray · 1988
122 bpm · A minor — 303 bass territorybright. 122bpm 4×4 with a TR-707 (not 909) so the kick is poppier + the snare is pop-thin + the cymbals are crisp. clap on 2/4. cowbell on every offbeat (the genre signature). open hat on the 'and of 2' as the ear-candy variation.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques - minneapolis funk / linn eraintermediate
Prince · When Doves Cry · 1984
109 bpm · F# minorLinn LM-1 drums LOCKED. kick on 1/3, snare on 2/4, hi-hat 8ths. that's it. no bass. the dry tight Linn drums + the vocal + the piano + the synth chord stab. negative space.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques - industrial / post-punk electronicadvanced
Cabaret Voltaire · The Crackdown era · 1983
130 bpm · drums only — works under any dark droneMECHANICAL. four-on-the-floor kick (NOT 1+3 — every beat). snare on 2+4. metallic 8th-note hat. cymbal wash on each 1 of every 2 bars. NO swing, NO velocity variation, NO humanization. the machine wins.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques - detroit technointermediate
Model 500 / Juan Atkins · Detroit Techno · 1985
130 bpm · C minor — modal walking i-VI-III-VIIdriving 4-on-the-floor at 130. NOT chicago (sweaty, body). detroit is FUTURISTIC + MELANCHOLY. minor key, modal walking chord stabs, sparse percussion, clean production. the city as cyborg.
↓ 2 downloads·3 techniques - jamaican dubadvanced
Lee Scratch Perry · Black Ark Dub · 1976
76 bpm · rhythm-driven — works under any reggae bass linesparse. slow. wide. the drum + bass is the foundation; every other element drops in and out of the mix like ghosts. delay carries the song — a single snare hit can ring out for 8 bars before disappearing.
↓ 2 downloads·3 techniques - 80s pop production / DX7 ascensionintermediate
Quincy Jones · The Dude / Off The Wall era · 1981-1985
80 bpm · C minor — film-score harmony80bpm slow groove. classic arpeggio walking minor + relative-major chords. bell stab on the 1 of every bar punctuates. NOT dance music — adult contemporary listening music.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques - golden era hip-hop / SP-1200intermediate
Pete Rock / DJ Premier · SP-1200 Boom-Bap · 1993
92 bpm · drums only — typically works under sampled jazz loopsswung. 92bpm. kicks LAID BACK (slightly behind the grid). snares cracking on 2 and 4 with SP-1200's bit-crush grit. 16th-note swing around 56-58% — enough to feel human but not full triplet.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques - chicago footwork / jukeadvanced
RP Boo / DJ Rashad · Chicago Footwork · 2010
160 bpm · drums only — works under any vocal chop or jazz sampleFAST. 160bpm. but the claps land on 2 and 4 like a 80bpm record — that's the HALF-TIME illusion. kicks STUTTER in 16th + 32nd note patterns (1, 1.25, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 2.75 — irregular bursts). the polyrhythm between fast kicks + slow claps is what makes footwork dancers move the way they do.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques - chiptune / 8-bitadvanced
Rob Hubbard · C64 SID Chiptune · 1985
140 bpm · minor pentatonic — fast melodic linesfast. 140bpm. tight + bright. lots of arpeggio gymnastics because the SID had only 3 voices — composers used arpeggio to FAKE chords (rapidly alternating root + 3rd + 5th to imply harmony). that's the chip sound: implied polyphony via fast arpeggio.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques - berlin school / kosmischeadvanced
Klaus Schulze · Berlin School Kosmische · 1975
100 bpm · C minor — modal pad territorypatient. 100bpm sequencer. NEVER speeds up, NEVER changes the pattern. just runs. on top: slow chord pad, slow filter modulation, sparse melodic interjections. the FORM is the trance — long-form repetition that builds without changing.
↓ 1 download·3 techniques
you pick a lesson · the lab renders the parts · open hook tells you the move · you drop the WAVs into your DAW and make the record. that's the synthesis machine.