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What is a seventh chord?

To benefit from the information in this article, you have to understand what a chord is and how to form one. We’ll run through this quickly now, but be sure to check out this article on harmony if you want to get a more in-depth look into this concept.

A chord is what happens when you play multiple notes at the same time. We have a standard way of making chords by taking alternating notes from a scale and stacking them on top of each other.

At its core, a seventh chord is a four-note chord built by stacking these intervals above a “root note” (that just means the note you’re starting with). While a basic triad consists of three notes (root, third, and fifth), a seventh chord adds a fourth note: a seventh interval above the root. This additional note adds colorful harmonic texture and opens up new possibilities for writing chord progressions and voice leading.

Let’s use the example of a C major scale to outline this idea. This scale has the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B in it. To get a C major triad, we’ll take the first note of the scale (C), skip the next note, use the one after that (E), and repeat with the next notes. Therefore the C major triad consists of the notes C, E, and G. That sounds like this:

4. Clean bass, lush mid-range

If you want a track to hit hard in a club, nailing the balance across the frequency spectrum is key. The low-end needs to be ultra-clean to drive the groove, while the high-end should be bright and warm to cut through. But the real magic of organic house lies in the mid-range – it’s where that lush, dreamy atmosphere takes shape, wrapping the track in the kind of texture that defines the genre.

But it’s when you balance all three, that the mix hits with both power and depth.

It’s easy to rely on reverb presets to handle space and texture in a mix, but doing so without fine-tuning can create issues in your track’s low and high ends. Most presets don’t automatically account for the punchy, clean sub-bass required in club-friendly mixes, where the kick and bass dominate. Similarly, they often let the high frequencies – especially above 12,000 Hz – linger in a way that might sound lush in the studio but becomes overwhelming on large sound systems in big spaces.

Use onboard EQ or tonal shaping tools to cut the low end and avoid muddying the subbass. The same goes for the high end, too; roll off some of the ultra-high frequencies of your reverb drums so that the bright sizzle is denser in the studio to accommodate the natural reverb of the larger clubs you ideally want and anticipate the music to be played in.

This ensures that your hats, snares, and shakers cut through both small studio monitors and larger club systems, delivering clarity and impact no matter where your track is played.

Pro tip: When shaping your reverb, listen to the natural ‘pitch’ of the reverb you’ve shaped and try to align it so it fits musically with the rest of your track!

The original form of lo-fi electronica, Italo disco helped shape the future sound of dance music with its driving beats, energetic bass lines and catchy melodies. So, what is Italo disco music, and how does it differ from its progenitor disco?

In this guide to making an Italo disco track in your DAW, we’ll explore different examples of Italo disco music before learning how to create your own. We’ll use Native Instruments Discoteca Drums, Discoteca Keys, and the Italo Disco Leap Expansion, all of which are compatible with Kontakt 8 and the free Kontakt 8 Player. We’ll also use iZotope Ozone 11 for mastering.

Here’s how the final track sounds:

What is electronica music?

While electronica is technically a genre, it has a broad spectrum of subgenres within it. That makes its hard-to-define sound more of a creative philosophy than a genre. Electronica emerged around the 1990s. Its move from the dancefloor gave producers space to break away from traditional structures of electronic music and experiment with sound design, textures, and rhythm.

Its influences are wide-ranging, pulling from ambient, downtempo, glitch, and even classical music. This experimental nature makes electronica an evolving genre that continues to transform through producers’ innovations.

To get a better sense of electronica’s breadth, let’s explore three standout tracks:

“Cirrus” by Bonobo is a classic that displays the ability of a producer to combine organic and electronic elements. Bonobo’s use of layered percussion and melodic hooks shows electronica in full form:

For the past decade, NKS (Native Kontrol Standard) has revolutionized modern music production by integrating hardware and software, enabling intuitive workflows, and creating a unified browsing experience.

Now, we’re making it easier than ever for you to explore new sounds on your favorite controllers with the NKS Hardware Partner Program. Whether you’re using hardware from Akai Professional, Novation, Nektar, Korg, or M-Audio, you can easily use the NKS ecosystem in your favorite keyboard controller – with over 2,000 NKS-compatible instruments from more than 250 brands at your fingertips.

NKS compatibility on your favorite keyboard controller

NKS compatibility will be offered on these keyboard controllers:

Akai Professional: NKS integration will support the MPK Mini Series (MPK Mini, MPK Mini Play, and MPK Mini Plus).

As I’ve mentioned before, it’s crucial to carefully consider whether the reverb is truly necessary and, if so, what the appropriate parameter settings should be. Instead of applying reverb after grouping, I apply it to each part individually and fine-tune them accordingly.

When I use Raum, I often only adjust the Mix, Decay, and Low Cut parameters. Since I use reverb frequently, Raum has become indispensable due to its user-friendly interface and the ability to achieve the desired sound with its simple parameters.

Additionally, applying EQ before and after the reverb is important. Before applying reverb to sounds like pads or synths, I cut the low end below 400 Hz using EQ. After applying reverb, I make adjustments using Raum’s Low Cut and High Cut, as well as an additional EQ. It allows for a clearer sound with minimal reverb.

What can we in a, still male-dominated, music industry do to work towards redressing the balance? 

CAMZ:  It’s going to take time to balance the scales, but some promoters are starting to adopt inclusivity clauses for their events. It’s crazy to think that even today, many festival lineups feature 90% male DJs. If promoters commit to promoting inclusivity, the audience will eventually embrace this new approach – and once that happens, there’s no turning back.

Joyce Muniz: Any kind of change should be made with intention. Labels and institutions need to approach their releases with an open-minded selection of artists, including women, non-binary individuals, queer people, and people of color. There’s a wealth of talent out there, and today, it’s absolutely possible to have a diverse roster of artists.

What music events or releases are you looking forward to most in 2025?  

CAMZ: I’m looking forward to taking Lady Of The House to big conferences like Miami Music Week and IMS Ibiza.

Joyce Muniz: I’m really excited to be back with a new EP on Exploited Recordings, set to drop in April 2025. My remix for one of my favorite artists, Dina Summer, should be out soon as well. There are also a few exciting collaborations coming this year. But for now, I’m thrilled to be spending some time in Brazil.

Breaking barriers with music in Brazil

The Lady of the House demo competition marks an exciting milestone in championing diversity within Brazil’s vibrant electronic music scene. Spearheaded by Brazilian ambassador CAMZ, this initiative is more than just a competition – it’s a powerful platform for amplifying the voices of women and non-binary talent in music production.

The competition is open now and closes 29 January 2025. Winners will be selected shortly after. Enter your demo here.

Enter competition

6. Grance, Soulmac – “Happy Incident”

In organic house, much of the track’s energy comes from the high percussion, but unlike commercial EDM, which can rely on bright, almost sizzling highs, organic house leans toward a warmer, softer approach. Achieving this typically involves additive analog EQ. While digital EQs can offer precise, surgical boosts for a bright, cutting, high-end, analog EQs tend to shape frequencies with a softer, warmer character.

One go-to technique to achieve this warm sheen is by applying an analog emulation EQ to the high end of your drum bus or instrument groups. Whether it’s lead synths, supporting arpeggiators, or the whole drum mix, gently boosting the high shelf with an analog EQ adds a smooth brightness that enhances the mix without becoming harsh.

Digital EQ boosts in the five to eight-decibel range can make a track sound overly sharp and brittle, whereas an analog EQ, like Enhanced EQ, based on tube-series analog hardware, delivers a soft, natural brightness. This is especially effective for organic house, where a subtle lift in the high-end keeps the mix warm and inviting without crossing into sterility.

Let’s listen to an example. Here we have a great shaker loop but the high frequencies still need more life.

It’s honestly a bit of both. I’d lean toward calling it a specialty plugin since I tend to use it for specific tasks, like injecting life and analog warmth into certain elements – usually synth-based leads or chord progressions. It’s great for turning something overly clean or sterile into something with character and depth that fits better in the mix.

That said, I also use it on a group level from time to time, adding subtle saturation or compression to help a stack of sounds blend together. For example, it works really well on layered pads or vocal stacks, giving them a bit of glue and warmth without losing the individuality of each layer.

For me, it’s about flexibility.

Guitar Rig isn’t necessarily something I throw on every track, but when I do use it, it’s because it can solve a problem or add something unique that other tools can’t quite replicate. It’s more about finding the right moments for it rather than relying on it as an all-purpose solution

Hyperbits pro tip: When using Guitar Rig on group tracks, experiment with your favorite dynamic EQ plugin after the chain to tame resonances that might build up from the saturation or compression applied to multiple layers.

Start using Hyperbits tips in Guitar Rig

We wanted to give a massive shoutout to producer, educator, mentor, and wizard on the deck, Serik Slobodskoy AKA Hyperbits, for taking the time out of his busy schedule to chat with us about how he uses Guitar Rig every single day in the studio to achieve massive results.

Time and time again, we are reminded that it’s rarely ever about one massive, drastic move in a track that defines it. Instead, it’s a buildup of hundreds, maybe even thousands, of small and minor changes and adjustments that make music come alive and give it that nuanced and detailed quality we most often associate with warmth.

The best part?

Guitar Rig gives you all of these touch points and modulation stages directly in one single plugin environment so that you can stay focused and get the warm results in your mixes fast and efficiently; making more music that gets top-quality results like a nod from Kasakde just like Hyperbits did (and it’s, in large part, because of tools like Guitar Rig).

Learn more about Guitar Rig 7

With a Phrase tool, you can chop up a melodic loop or sample and assign each MIDI note to trigger a different chop by duplicating the loop across the keys and selecting different start points.

From there, you can program jumps and skips across the sample in precise, customizable patterns, almost like a granular sampler. This method gives you control over the randomness and allows you to fine-tune the glitch effects.

Pro tip: Always re-sample and record the output as you experiment. Even a small parameter tweak can uncover a sound you don’t want to lose.

4. Dynamic ear candy in seconds

This is the flip side of what we talked about earlier – harmonic textures and slower, moving elements like pads. Here, it’s about ear candy: those small details, like melodic riffs at the end of a phrase, guitar runs, or plucks, that fill the mix’s pockets.

These elements are key to achieving a polished, professional sound, but can be tricky to create on your own if for any other reason that, by the time you know you need them, it can be hard to find the creative juice to pick the perfect sound after you just wrote the chords, leads, bass, and maybe even vocal lines.