How to Write Acid House Songs

You want a track that makes people move and makes club ceilings sweat. You want that squelchy bassline that sounds like it has a personality and a grudge. You want a beat that hits like a heartbeat and a spacey breakdown that sends the crowd into orbit. Acid house is minimal and hypnotic, raw and tactile. This guide gives you the entire acid toolkit with concrete steps, gear friendly workflows, production hacks, lyrical ideas, and mixing moves you can use tonight.

This article is written for busy artists who want results. Keep an open browser, your DAW loaded, and your weird sound ideas close. Expect practical examples, short exercises, and realistic scenarios where these techniques win. We will cover history, signature sounds, programming sequences, bassline design, drums, effects, arrangement, mixing for clubs, performance tips, and licensing advice. Every term is explained like you are hearing it for the first time. If you have a TB 303 clone, a cheap drum machine, or only plugins, you will find a clear route to making acid that bangs.

What Is Acid House

Acid house is a subgenre of house music that emerged in the mid 1980s. The sound is defined by hypnotic four on the floor drums and the signature squelchy bassline created by the TB 303, which is a bass synthesizer made by Roland. The TB 303 has a resonant filter and slide control that produce a vocal like, bubbling sound when pushed hard. Early acid house tracks were raw, repetitive, and designed to induce a trance like state on the dance floor.

Key idea. Acid house is about repetition and modulation. A short motif repeated with evolving filter movements becomes the story. That story plays out over percussion, atmosphere, and occasional vocal fragments.

Essential Acid House Ingredients

• TB 303 style bassline A squelchy, resonant synth pattern with slides and accents. TB 303 means the Roland TB 303 Bass Line. If you do not own one, use a plugin emulation or a modern hardware clone.
• Four on the floor kick A steady kick drum on every downbeat. Four on the floor means kick hits on every quarter note in 4 4 time.
• Classic drum machines Sounds from TR 909 and TR 808 are common. TR 909 means the Roland TR 909 drum machine and TR 808 means the Roland TR 808. They are famous for kicks, claps, hats, and percussion.
• Simple arrangement Short motifs repeated and modulated. Tracks evolve by gradual automation instead of chord changes.
• Effects Delay, reverb, distortion, and filtering used as instruments. The effect settings are part of the performance.
• Minimal vocals Short vocal chops, one liners, or spoken phrases. Lyrics are often sparse and rhythmic rather than narrative.

Tempo and Groove

Typical acid house tempo sits between 120 and 130 BPM. Choose a tempo that fits your vibe. Faster tempos drive energy. Slower tempos create more space for squelch. A track at 125 BPM is a classic compromise. Set your drum grid and feel at that tempo and lock the bassline to the clock so slides and accents fall exactly where you want them.

TB 303 Basics Explained

The TB 303 is a bass synthesizer and sequencer with a filter section that includes cutoff and resonance knobs, an envelope amount control, and a decay control. The sequencer plays a series of notes and allows you to set slides and accents between steps. Slides create portamento. Portamento means the pitch glides between notes instead of jumping. Accents make individual steps louder or brighter. Together these tools create the fluid, vocal sounding patterns you hear in classic acid tracks.

If you are using a plugin emulation, look for controls labeled cutoff, resonance, envelope, decay, slide, and accent. If the emulation offers a sequencer, learn how to input slides and accents into the sequence. If you use a generic synth, you can still make acid like tones by routing a lowpass filter with high resonance and some envelope modulation on the cutoff. Add glide between notes and automate accents with velocity if you do not have a built in accent feature.

Designing the Squelchy Bassline

The acid bassline is the heart of the track. It grabs attention and moves the dance floor even when other elements are minimal. Here is a step by step method to design one.

Step one Pick a scale and short motif

Acid basslines are more about rhythm and contour than complex harmony. Choose a minor pentatonic or natural minor scale for a darker vibe. Craft a four or eight step motif. Keep it simple. Repetition builds trance. Example motif. 0 3 5 7 with rhythmic accents on the second and fourth steps. That means you play those steps louder or with an accent control.

Step two Program slides and accents

Slides and accents are how a boring sequence becomes alive. On the TB 303 sequencer you will mark steps with slide to create pitch transitions between neighboring notes. Use slide sparingly. If everything slides, it becomes mush. Use accents to highlight a rhythmic hit. In most acid lines you will accent the first or second step of a four step cell to create push and pull.

Step three Shape the filter

Start with a lowpass filter. Turn the resonance up to the point where the waveform rings but does not self oscillate. Increase envelope modulation on cutoff to make the filter open on accented steps. Shorten decay so the filter closes quickly. Then automate the cutoff for bigger sweeps across bars. The squelch appears when resonance and envelope amount interact with programmed accents.

Step four Add saturation and distortion

Acid sounds often have warm tube like distortion or harsh overdrive. Use analog saturation plugins or gentle distortion to fatten the tone. Parallel distortion works well. Send the 303 to a bus with distortion, blend to taste, and keep a clean channel for sub bass clarity. Too much distortion can eat the transients. Keep the low fundamental present so the kick can sit with it.

Step five Automate like you perform

Think of the 303 as a live instrument. Automate cutoff, resonance, envelope amount, and decay over time. Small moves can sound huge. Try opening the cutoff for four bars and then closing it for two. Modulate resonance during a breakdown to introduce tension. Use LFOs carefully. A slow LFO on cutoff can create a pulsing resonance that complements the beat.

Programming Drums That Lock the Groove

Acid house drums are simple and effective. The job of the drums is to provide a steady pulse and percussive color without stealing focus from the acid line. Use samples or drum machine emulations of TR 909 and TR 808. Keep the mix clean and punchy.

Kick

Place a punchy kick on every quarter note. Use a sample with a solid mid low transient and a clear sub. Sidechain the 303 and any bass elements to the kick so the low end breathes. Sidechain means ducking the volume of one track with the amplitude of another. This creates space for the kick to punch without losing the body of the bassline.

Hi hats and shakers

Open hats or rides typically play sixteenth note patterns or syncopated patterns. The closed hat can play a steady pattern that adds forward motion. Balance the hi hat level so it supports groove without becoming sharp. Add subtle swing by delaying every second sixteenth in a pattern or by using your DAW swing control. Swing gives a human feel that pairs well with squelchy basslines.

Snare or clap

Place a clap or snare on the two and four beats or layer short claps to taste. In early acid house the clap was often tight and snappy. Layering a clap with a short reverb tail can put it in a club friendly space. Keep reverb short on percussive hits so the beat remains defined.

Percussion and fills

Add congas, toms, or metallic hits to create groove variety. Use them to signal transitions. Keep fills sparse. Acid thrives on minimal arrangement where tiny changes feel monumental. A one bar tom roll before a breakdown can feel like fireworks in a minimal context.

Arrangement Tips for Acid House

Acid house arrangements are about tension and release created with modulation rather than chord changes. Think in blocks. Each block can be 8 or 16 bars. Your job is to move elements in and out and to automate parameters on the 303 so the ear always has a new micro event to latch onto.

Basic structure

• Intro 32 bars with drums and subtle atmosphere
• Main groove 32 to 64 bars introducing the 303 motif
• Breakdown 8 to 16 bars where the kick drops and filter opens or closes dramatically
• Return 16 to 32 bars with a new modulation or percussion layer
• Outro 16 to 32 bars for DJ mixing

Keep DJ friendly elements. DJs want a stable intro and outro to mix. Leave eight bars of just kick and hi hats at the end for smooth blending. Also provide a version with an extended intro if you plan to sell to DJs.

Vocals and Lyrics for Acid House Songs

Vocals in acid house are usually minimal. The genre favors short phrases, chants, or loops. Think of vocals as another percussive element. A single line repeated with delay can become hypnotic.

One line hook

Use short phrases that fit the groove. Examples. Feel the sound. Move your body. Keep it simple. Repeat and process. Use pitch shifting or formant shifting for alien textures. A single line recorded clean and then chopped into stutters can become more powerful than a long verse chorus structure.

Spoken word and samples

Sampling spoken phrases from old records, documentaries, or movies is common. Always clear samples for commercial release or re record your own versions. Spoken lines work as narrative dots without breaking the trance. Try whispering a phrase and then automating reverb and delay growth during a breakdown.

Effects That Act Like Instruments

In acid house effects are not decoration. They are part of the instrument. Delay, reverb, distortion, chorus, phaser, and filtering all contribute to the identity.

Delay

Use a ping pong delay to create space and stereo movement. Sync delays to the tempo. A dotted eighth delay on a vocal phrase will create rhythmic interplay with the drums. Automate delay feedback amount to build tension during a breakdown.

Reverb

Keep reverb short and focused for percussive elements. Use longer reverb tails on atmospheric pads or on a vocal during a breakdown. Use pre delay to keep the initial hit present then wash it out. In clubs long reverb tails can become muddy. Use sends for reverb so multiple tracks can share the same space.

Distortion and saturation

Drive the 303 with distortion. Use amp style saturation for grit. Post distortion filtering can rescue the mix. Parallel saturation allows you to blend clean and dirty textures. Distortion on drums can add character. Beware of harshness on high frequency percussion.

Filter and modulation

Automate lowpass and highpass filters to create movement. Use an LFO to modulate cutoff for a subtle wobble. For dramatic moments automate cutoff quickly to open the sound. Envelope follower tools let you map amplitude to filter movement so the sound reacts to performance dynamics.

Mixing Acid House for Club Systems

Clubs have big subs and loud midrange. Your mix must translate to large sound systems. Check your mix on headphones, monitors, and if possible on club style speakers. Use reference tracks to compare energy distribution.

Low end management

Keep the kick and bassline separate in frequency and space. Use sidechain compression to duck the bass when the kick hits. Use a low cut on the 303 for its sub content if the kick needs the sub. Or set the 303 to play mid bass while a sine sub carries the low fundamental. A dedicated sub oscillator can help the mix sound huge without muddying the mid range.

Stereo placement

Keep kick and bass centered. Spread hats and percussion across the stereo image. Use subtle stereo widening on delays and reverbs. Too much widening on low frequency elements leads to a weak mono sum. Check your track in mono to confirm low end remains solid.

Glue and bus processing

Use a drum bus with gentle compression to glue rhythm elements. Use saturation on group buses for warmth. Master bus processing should be conservative. Acid thrives on dynamics and clarity. Avoid over compressing the master. Limit for loudness last and keep dynamics intact.

Hardware Versus Plugins

Hardware offers tactile control and timing feel. TB 303 hardware has quirks. Modern clones and plugin emulations replicate the sound and add recallability. If you have budget constraints, plugins like ABL3, Repro or native emulations can deliver excellent acid tones. Hardware sequencing can introduce slight timing variations that sound organic. If you are in a small bedroom and neighbors complain, plugins are the quiet, cheaper, and more flexible path.

Performance and Live Sets

Acid house is perfect for live performance. The music is repetitive so small real time tweaks deliver cinematic results. Play the 303 like a lead instrument. Automate cutoff and resonance with knobs. Tap accents or retrigger steps to change the pattern. Use effects sends for live build ups. Record your automation gestures so you can reuse favorite moves in future sets.

Modern Twists You Can Use

Take classic acid tools and bend them into modern sounds. Try granular delay on a 303 pattern for glitchy textures. Layer vocal chops with pitch envelopes to make melodic interest. Use LFO modulation mapped to delay time for slushy movement. Add a sidechain rhythm that interacts with the 303 accents for complex groove interplay.

Sound Design Exercises

Exercise one The Classic Squelch

1. Load a TB 303 emulation or a synth with a resonant lowpass filter.
2. Create a four step sequence with notes on step one and three.
3. Turn resonance up until a pronounced peak appears in the filter.
4. Add envelope modulation on cutoff and set decay short.
5. Introduce slide on step three and an accent on step one.
6. Automate cutoff to sweep up on the last eight bars of the loop.

Exercise two Rhythmic Vocal Loop

1. Record a short phrase spoken in a single breath.
2. Slice it into small chunks and place them across a beat grid.
3. Add a delay set to dotted eight note, and route the vocal to the delay bus.
4. Automate delay feedback and wet amount during the breakdown.
5. Apply a pitch shift on every fourth repeat to create movement.

Sample Clearance and Legal Stuff

Using samples from old records without clearance can lead to legal trouble. If you sample a vocal or a break, either clear it with the copyright holder or re record the line yourself. For small loops, consider recreating the sound with your instruments. Many producers use royalty free sample packs that come with clear licenses. Read the license before you release. If you plan to sell to labels or services, clear your samples first.

Distribution and DJ Promotion Tips

When you release acid house tracks aim for both streaming platforms and DJ promo. Create a DJ friendly version with extended intro and outro for mixing. Send promotional copies to DJs who play in the style you want to target. Include stems for potential remixes. Tag your metadata correctly and use platforms that are known to be used by DJs. A well mixed WAV file is the preferred format for club play.

Common Acid House Mistakes and How to Fix Them

• Too much resonance If the filter rings but has no tonal sense reduce resonance and introduce subtle distortion to bring harmonic content back.
• Muddy low end If kick and bass collide use sidechain or split the frequency ranges so the kick owns the sub and the 303 plays mid bass.
• Static arrangement If nothing changes automate at least two parameters over time. Moving cutoff and resonance gives the sense of evolution.
• Over crowded high end If hats and delays cause ear fatigue lower high shelf content and reduce feedback on delays in the high band.
• Patchy live feel If your patterns feel robotic add small timing variation or use swing to create groove.

Real Life Scenarios and Relatable Examples

Scenario one You are making a track in a studio apartment at midnight and your neighbor complains about bass. Fix. Load a plugin 303. Use headphones to dial the squelch. Use a small sine sub for club energy and mute it for progressing demo versions you share with friends. When you finalize the master send a low passed version to your engineer who can check club translation. Practical tip. Keep an alternate mix with reduced sub and send that version to influencers who will watch on laptop speakers.

Scenario two You are preparing a live set at a small venue. Fix. Print stems of your 303 pattern and a dry drum loop. Bring a controller for cutoff and a small effects unit. Practice pulling the cutoff from closed to open in one smooth movement. Plan two build moments where you drop the kick out and let resonance scream. Make a short plan for how many bars each section will last. Promise yourself to be daring once during the second set.

Scenario three You want to pitch your track to DJs and labels. Fix. Make a 12 minute DJ friendly mix that starts with kick and hats for eight bars, then bring in the 303. Keep the sections long so DJs can mix. Add an instrumental breakdown at the mid point for radio friendly remixes. Provide a short radio edit for streaming services. Send personalized emails to DJs with a short subject line and a private SoundCloud link. Never attach huge files in an email.

Action Plan You Can Use Tonight

1. Open your DAW and set tempo to between 124 and 128 BPM. Use 125 BPM if you are unsure.
2. Load a 303 emulation or a synth with a resonant filter. Program a four bar motif with accents and one slide.
3. Create a drum loop with a punchy kick on every beat and hi hats on sixteenth notes. Add a clap on two and four.
4. Automate cutoff so it opens slightly every eight bars and closes for two bars before a return.
5. Add a short vocal phrase, slice it into a rhythmic loop and route it to a dotted eighth delay.
6. Play the track loud on monitors and check for sub collisions. Use sidechain compression on the bass to the kick until the kick punches through cleanly.
7. Export a DJ friendly mix with an eight bar DJ intro and an eight bar outro. Label the file clearly.

Acid House FAQ

What tempo should acid house be

Most acid house tracks land between 120 and 130 BPM. A comfortable classic tempo is 125 BPM. Faster tempos increase energy. Slower tempos offer more room for dramatic resonant modulation.

Do I need a real TB 303 to make acid

No. TB 303 hardware is iconic, but modern plugin emulations and clones capture the essential circuitry and behavior. Plugins let you recall settings and automate freely. Hardware gives hands on control and subtle timing variations. Pick the tool that fits your budget and workflow.

How do I get the squelchy 303 sound

Use a resonant lowpass filter with high resonance and envelope modulation on cutoff. Add a little distortion and adjust decay so the filter closes between steps. Program slides to create pitch glides. The interplay of accents, resonance, and slide produces the squelch.

Should I clear vocal samples

Yes. Clear any sampled vocals you did not record yourself before releasing commercially. Re recording or licensing samples prevents legal trouble. Use royalty free packs if you need quick vocal textures.

How long should an acid house track be

For club play aim between six and ten minutes. For streaming aim for three to five minutes. DJs prefer extended intros and outros for mixing. Provide multiple versions if you want maximum reach.

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