The term Deep House could almost be considered tautology: when it first appeared in the 80s, all House music was deep. Classic early House tracks, such as Mr. Fingers' "Can You Feel It" and Nightwriters' "Let The Music (Use You)" combines strong rhythmic grooves with understated production and a soulful, musical sensibility.
As House's mainstream popularity boomed and a steady stream of sub-genres began to appearing, though, the "deep" prefix came to define its more minimal or soulful side, and while the term is arguably ill-defined, it´s certainly a convenient catch-all for grouping together everything from chilled beats to thoughtful minimal stylings.
The main challenge in making authentic Deep House is to create a strong groove and an emotional hook without being too over-the-top.
Deep House is also an interesting proposition for the computer musician, because while it's perfectly possible to do everything "in the box", the style lends itself well to the use of acoustic and electric instruments, too, not to mention vocalists.
Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers playing live "Can You Feel It".
Labels: Deep House, Information