Microhouse Songwriting Advice

Microhouse is tiny but ruthless. You have less musical furniture and no space for lazy ideas. If your hook does not fit in a coffee stirrer you are doing it wrong. Microhouse songs win by proving that small details can cause the whole dancefloor to nod in sync. This guide gives you everything you need to write microhouse tracks that feel planted, weirdly catchy, and club ready.

If that sounds intimidating, good. You will learn to be precise. You will also be entertained along the way. Expect blunt examples, practical drills, and chatty explanations for every acronym you meet. I will explain terms like DAW, LFO, ADSR, and MIDI in plain language and give real life scenarios you can actually use between takes or while staring at your phone pretending the inspiration will arrive by smoke signal.

What is microhouse and why write it

Microhouse is a minimal interpretation of house music that focuses on texture, tiny melodic fragments, and percussive detail. It borrows the four four pulse of house and strips it to its essentials. You will see repetitive motifs, lots of subtle swing, and samples chopped so small they feel like punctuation rather than whole sentences.

Why write microhouse

• It trains you to be ruthless with ideas. Small gestures must carry impact.
• It is cheap to produce but high on style. A few clever sounds can sound expensive.
• It works for club play and streaming playlists at the same time.

Real life scenario

You are at a tiny bar on a weeknight. The DJ drops your track. The crowd is not huge. Someone murmurs the tiny vocal loop and then five people clap in the same place in the bar. That moment is microhouse victory. You made people synchronous with a two bar idea and a great kick. You did not need an orchestra to do it.

Core songwriting pillars for microhouse

Microhouse is equal parts composition and sonic craft. Treat the following pillars like commandments written by a bartender who doubles as a sound nerd.

• Small motif A short repeating musical phrase that can be varied by texture or rhythm.
• Groove focus Rhythm and micro timing matter more than complex harmony.
• Sample personality Tiny samples do the emotional heavy lifting.
• Space control Silence is not empty. It is a tool to make tiny sounds pop.
• DJ friendly structure Think phrase lengths and mixable intros and outros.

Terminology explained like you are at a gig and need to impress

DAW

DAW stands for digital audio workstation. That is your software like Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, or Reaper where you arrange, record, and mix. Think of it as your studio control room on a laptop.

MIDI

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is not audio. It is a set of instructions that tell a synth what note to play, how loud, and when. If audio is a cake, MIDI is the recipe.

LFO

LFO stands for low frequency oscillator. It is used to modulate things slowly. Want a filter to wobble like a lazy breathing creature. Use an LFO. You can wobble volume, pitch, filter cutoff, whatever. It creates movement with low cost in CPU.

ADSR

ADSR stands for attack, decay, sustain, release. These are envelope controls that shape how a sound moves over time. Think of attack as how fast the sound arrives. Release is how it fades after you stop holding the key.

BPM

BPM stands for beats per minute. Microhouse usually sits between 115 and 125 BPM. Lower numbers feel wonkier. Higher numbers feel more club. Choose the tempo that matches the mood you want to lock into.

Start with the groove not with the concept

In microhouse the groove is the song. Start with a kick and a loop. Not metaphysically. Literally. Sketch a two bar loop and play it for yourself on repeat for ten minutes. If you do not want to move your head by the third listen you are not far yet. Microhouse hooks do not need melody early. They need an invitation to move.

1. Pick a kick. Not all kicks are acceptable. Choose one with snap in the beater and a clean low end that can sit with a sub.
2. Program a closed hi hat pattern that plays a steady tick. Slightly humanize the timing by nudging off the grid if your DAW allows micro timing. Too perfect sounds robotic. Too human sounds sloppy. Aim for deliciously imperfect.
3. Add a percussive clap or snare that strikes on two and four or in a slightly delayed micro position to create swing.

Real life scenario

You make a loop while waiting for a bus. The kick is a vinyl sample with a crack in it. You throw a tiny shuffled hat on top. When you upload to your private playlist you get a message from a DJ saying the loop has life. That is the start of a song.

Designing the tiny motif

The motif is a two bar or four bar idea that can be repeated with spice. It can be a micro melody, a vocal chop, a synth stab, or a percussive lick. Keep it short. It must be easy to alter with slight processing changes.

How to create a motif

1. Pick one sound with character. A pluck, a tiny vocal phrase, or a metallic hit works well. If your sound does too much it will monopolize attention.
2. Limit the notes to three to five within the motif. Complexity dies when the pattern loops for the third time.
3. Create a rhythmic identity. The rhythm should be as memorable as the pitch. Tiny rests can become the hook.
4. Test in mono. Microhouse often plays in clubs with uneven stereo. If the motif disappears in mono you need a new motif.

Example motif

Two bar pattern. Note hits on beat one, the last sixteenth of beat two, and the offbeat of beat three. That small syncopation is your memory anchor.

Arrangement tips for DJ friendly tracks

DJs like tracks they can mix. That means intros and outros with clear beats and no sudden changes. Arrange with mixing in mind and doors will open.

• Use 8 bar and 16 bar phrases. Club DJs expect phrase lengths that align with classic mixing counts.
• Keep the intro mostly rhythmic and textural for the first 32 bars. Save melodic or vocal hooks for the first breakdown or chorus area.
• Provide a DJ friendly outro with a 32 bar groove that allows easy mixing. This does not mean boring. Remove one element per eight bars to create points for mixing movement.
• Label stems and loops when you send promos. DJs love segmented loops they can loop by hand.

Using vocals sparingly and memorably

Microhouse vocals are tiny and repeatable. Long verses do not belong. Think single word hooks, micro phrases, or chopped textures. If you use lyrics the words should be immediate and emotionally ambiguous enough to fit many moods.

Vocal types that work

• Single syllable chants like yeah, oh, or come.
• One line hooks recorded dry and used as a texture.
• Chopped and pitched fragments that become percussive elements.

Vocal processing cheat sheet

• EQ to remove mud below 200 Hz unless the voice is meant to add low body.
• Use gentle compression to glue the phrase.
• Use a bus with subtle reverb for distance. Small rooms work better than huge plates here.
• Try granular processing to turn a vocal into a texture that reads more like a synth than a person.

Real life scenario

You have a friend leave a voice memo that says a silly line. You chop the memo into a rhythmic stutter and pitch one part down. Suddenly the bathroom voice memo is the hook on your track and your friend will claim royalties forever even though you paid them two beers and a pizza.

Harmony and melody without being cheesy

Microhouse rarely uses rich chord progressions. Instead, it uses small intervals and modal color. A simple two chord movement or a pedal tone can provide enough harmonic interest when combined with strong motif variation.

Practical harmony ideas

• Use a drone or pedal note under changing top lines.
• Move a single chord quality between major and minor mode by altering a single note in the motif.
• Borrow a chord from the parallel key for color. For example if you are in A minor try slipping in an A major color for one two bar phrase to add lift. This creates surprise without classical cheese.

Melody tips

• Keep melody small and repetitive. One motif that changes by a single note on the fourth repeat is enough to catch attention.
• Use space. Longer rests in microhouse function a lot like punctuation in comedy. A little silence amplifies what comes next.
• Harmonize sparingly. A second voice a fifth above on one repeat gives that festival goosebump without drowning the minimalism.

Sound design matters more than songwriting words

In microhouse the timbre of a sound carries narrative weight. The way a clap is recorded can imply place. The texture of a synth can imply weather. You are writing with sound color as much as with melody.

Sample selection rules

• Pick samples with imperfections. Vinyl crackle, tape wobble, or a tiny room resonance make things human.
• Avoid long samples that demand attention. Short chops are weaponized ear candy.
• Layer soft clicks or wood hits under a snare to add transient detail. The ear loves attack.

Processing ideas

• Use transient shaping to tighten percussion without adding compression artifacts.
• Use subtle saturation for harmonic weight. A little analog modeled warmth on the motif makes it sit in the mix like it pays rent.
• Automate filter cutoff with an LFO for slow breathing movement. Keep motion slow and human.

Bass and low end strategy

Low frequencies are precious. Microhouse often has a skinny but focused low end that gives kick and sub space to breathe. Bad low end makes a track clumsy. Here is how to avoid that.

• Sidechain the bass to the kick. Sidechain is a dynamic effect where one sound momentarily ducks another. Use it so the kick punches through the sub.
• Use a single note bass pattern with tiny rhythmic variation. The groove is what matters more than complex bass lines.
• EQ to clear space. Low shelf the motif if it competes with the bass.

Micro timing and groove

Microhouse thrives on slight timing nudges. Quantize too hard and the music feels robotic. Humanize too much and the pocket collapses. The secret is tiny nudges on key rhythmic elements.

Groove techniques

• Use groove templates in your DAW or export groove from a real drum take. Applying that tiny groove to percussion creates a natural feel.
• Shift hi hats forward by 6 to 12 milliseconds to create a push. Move claps back by a similar amount to create laid back feel.
• Use swing settings on the subdivision you care about. Try moderate swing values and automate the amount across sections for subtle tension.

Arrangement maps you can steal

Microclub map

• 0 32 bars intro with percussion and motif filtered low
• 32 64 bars bring motif in unfiltered and add sub bass
• 64 96 bars break with half time motif and vocal micro phrase
• 96 160 bars main groove with variations in texture and occasional drops of elements
• 160 192 bars outro with elements removed for Dj mixing

Radio friendly micro map

• 0 8 bars hook intro
• 8 24 bars motif and small vocal phrase
• 24 40 bars breakdown with melodic tweak
• 40 72 bars main groove for streaming friendly length
• 72 80 bars crisp ending

Lyric and vocal writing for minimalists

Microhouse lyrics are single images or repeated phrases. If you treat lyrics like sentences you will overstay your welcome. Think of lyrics as stamps that you can repeat and process.

Lyric recipes

1. Pick one image or verb. Example: breathe, wait, leave, close.
2. Make a one line phrase using the verb. Example: breathe slow when the city blinks.
3. Reduce to a repeatable fragment. Example: breathe slow.
4. Use the fragment as texture. Process, slice, and resample.

Before and after vocal edit

Before: I feel like the night is moving through me and I cannot sleep.

After: night moves through me. breathe.

Mixing and finishing for clarity and club translation

Your mix must survive club speakers and tiny laptop boxes. Microhouse demands clarity so tiny details do not vanish.

• Reference professionally mixed tracks in the same style for tonal balance. Compare loudness and low end behavior.
• Use parallel compression on percussion to add energy while keeping dynamics intact.
• Keep the motif clear in the center with slight stereo widening on supporting textures only.
• Check mix in mono often. If motifs collapse in mono they will disappear in cheap club systems.

Mastering tips specific to microhouse

Mastering is the final polish. Avoid heavy limiting that crushes transients. Preserve dynamic micro peaks that give life to the groove.

• Use a gentle multi band compression only when necessary to tame resonances.
• Boost perceived loudness with excited high end using harmonic enhancers instead of over limiting.
• Leave headroom. Clubs will apply their own house compression and you want your track to breathe there.

Creative exercises to write microhouse in one session

Ten minute sample flip

1. Grab a random field recording or voice memo.
2. Chop it into tiny pieces and drop three pieces into a sampler.
3. Make a two bar pattern and loop it for ten minutes while tweaking filter cutoff.
4. Lock the rhythm and add a kick and hat. Save the loop as a draft.

Groove inversion drill

1. Program a simple four bar rhythm pattern.
2. Duplicate it and invert the rhythm on the second bar by moving hits ahead by 12 ms.
3. Listen for the change in pocket. Choose which you prefer and write a motif that sits on top of it.

Mood by color pass

1. Pick three adjectives: cold, sticky, lucid.
2. Choose instruments and processing that evoke each adjective.
3. Write a tiny motif for each and pick the combination that feels most unique.

How to collaborate without losing your voice

Microhouse thrives on collaborators who bring textures and not ego. Keep roles tight and decisions fast.

• Assign one person to kick and rhythm, one person to motif and texture, one person to arrangement.
• Use stems for communication. Share a two bar loop with notes not with opinions.
• Limit revisions. Two rounds of changes and then finalize. If you keep tinkering you will dilute the tiny identity you built.

Real life scenario

You are working with a producer who insists on adding a big chord. Politely tell them you love chords but this track needs a razor. Record the chord as a tiny pad and bury it under texture. Everyone thinks they contributed. The crowd only hears the motif. Win win.

Common microhouse mistakes and how to fix them

• Too many ideas Fix by picking one motif to rule the song. Remove competing hooks.
• Dry and lifeless groove Fix by adding micro timing changes and slight saturation on percussive hits.
• Vocal overload Fix by reducing the vocal to a chopped texture and treating it as percussive content.
• Muddy low end Fix with tight EQ, sidechain, and a simple sub bass pattern.
• Overproduced arrangement Fix by stripping an element every eight bars to create points of interest.

Marketing microhouse without sounding like a cult recruiter

Microhouse fans are picky. Build a story that is honest and weird. Share stems, reels of the motif, and short clips that show the detail. DJs and playlist curators love demo pack simplicity. Make your first 32 bars a highlight reel they can drop into sets right away.

Actionable writing plan you can finish in a day

1. Make a two bar drum loop with kick, hat, and one clap.
2. Create a motif from a single sample or synth patch. Limit to four notes.
3. Arrange a 64 bar map with intro, body, breakdown, and outro using the maps above.
4. Add a tiny vocal phrase and process it into a texture.
5. Mix quickly with reference tracks and check in mono. Bounce a demo and play it in a real room like a car or bar if possible.
6. Get feedback from one DJ and one producer. Fix the single biggest issue they both mention. Ship.

Frequently asked questions

What tempo should I use for microhouse

Microhouse usually lives between 115 and 125 BPM. If you want a slinky late night vibe aim closer to 115. If you want more club energy push it up to 122 or 124. The exact number matters less than how the groove breathes within that range.

Do I need expensive plugins to make great microhouse

No. Great microhouse is about ideas and sound choice. Many classic microhouse tracks were made with cheap synths and creative sample processing. Use EQ, compression, and a decent sampler. The rest is creativity and taste.

How long should a microhouse track be

For club use aim for five to eight minutes. For streaming and playlists three to five minutes can work if the track has an immediate hook. Always keep a DJ friendly version with extended intro and outro for mixing.

Can I write microhouse with vocals

Yes and you should. Keep vocals minimal. Use single words or tiny phrases that you can process into motifs. The human voice gives a familiar element that can make the minimal feel intimate.

How do I make my track DJ friendly

Provide a long intro and outro with clear groove. Keep phrase counts predictable. Avoid sudden musical changes without a buildup. Label stems and loops and consider sending a version with a continuous DJ friendly intro of 32 bars.

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