Master Chris Lake's Tech House Sound: Complete Production Breakdown

This tutorial delivers a complete breakdown of a Chris Lake-style tech house project, covering every layer from the bass and kick to drums, processing chains, and arrangement techniques. Niek from The Producer School walks through an Ableton session inspired by the sound of one of tech house's most consistent artists - a two-time Grammy nominated producer with four consecutive US Dance Chart top 10 placements and founder of Blackbook Records, now the second biggest tech house label on Beatport. Most sounds in the session come from the After Hours tech house pack.

What Is Chris Lake's Tech House Sound Built On?

Chris Lake's modern tech house sound is defined by its minimalism and sonic weight. Rather than filling a track with many layers, the approach relies on a small number of carefully chosen and heavily processed sounds. The core is always the bass and kick working together - the kick is fat and punchy while the bass is deep, plucky, and driven by a bouncy rhythm. The rest of the arrangement orbits around this foundation. What makes this approach work is the processing: every element is maximised to sound as full and present as possible, because with so few sounds in the mix, there is nowhere to hide a weak element. This philosophy of doing more with less is central to understanding how to replicate his sound.

How Do You Build the Bass Sound for This Style?

The bass is constructed in Serum 2 and is the cornerstone of this entire sound. Here is the step-by-step process:

1. Load the "I Can Has Gig" wavetable from the digital section, pitched down two octaves.
2. Set Envelope 1 with decay around 1.2 seconds and sustain at minus 10 dB for the amplitude shape.
3. Set Envelope 2 slightly shorter and link it to the filter - an MG Low 24 filter. The shorter envelope keeps the filter automation from being too long, which would create an overly sustained sound.
4. Link velocity to the cutoff, with a steep curve so only hard-played notes open the filter noticeably. This creates dynamic variation in the MIDI without manual automation.
5. In the FX section, add asymmetrical distortion. On a bus, add a high-pass filter and a dimension effect for width, then mix that bus back in at the Serum mixer.

In the MIDI, notes that land on the kick are played at higher velocity, so the high frequencies cut through rather than disappearing into the kick. This ensures the groove of the bass line stays clearly audible in the mix.

How to Process the Bass for Maximum Weight and Clarity

Because the track has so few elements, the bass processing chain must do heavy lifting. Here is the full chain used:

• Compressor: Levels out peaks created by the velocity-to-cutoff automation, making the signal more consistent.
• Soft-clip saturator: Standard settings with a slight low-mid boost on the colour curve for warmth.
• PultecEQ (CQ from Sound Toys): Passive EQ style with a low-mid boost and added drive for further warmth.
• OTT multiband compressor: Set to 15% depth to add crispness, with the highs brought back slightly.
• Side-chain compressor: Set to 100% to prevent clashing with the kick.
• EQ8: Rolls off overly sharp high frequencies.
• Erosion (bit-crush style): Adds upper harmonic content that makes the bass audible on mobile devices and small speakers.
• Automated filter: Used throughout the track for movement and transitions.

On the kick, a targeted resonance boost adds prominence, and a decapitator at around 5% mix adds a subtle layer of dirt without overwhelming the punch.

What Makes the Drum Programming in This Style Effective?

The drum programming in this style is intentionally minimal. The philosophy is that the right element placed correctly beats many generic elements placed loosely. The structure works as follows:

• Snare layer: A tight, hard loop from the After Hours pack. Layered with a tonal percussion element at low volume that adds body - audible clearly when toggled on and off.
• Snare processing: Trash distortion plugin on the drum machine enhancer preset, Spiff transient shaper from Oeksound on the "punch to drum bus" preset, targeted EQ (low end removed, low-mids and highs boosted), and a short Valhalla Room reverb set to 15% wet with a 0.4 second decay.
• Hats: A driving hat hitting on the kick, layered with an acoustic hat loop. Open hats are placed sparingly and selectively rather than as a full looping pattern - this selective placement makes the track feel more interesting and unpredictable.
• Tom: Slightly offbeat, adding a small amount of extra groove without dominating.
• Acoustic drum emulator plugin from Excl Audio recommended for crafting custom, velocity-sensitive loops.

How to Use Cutoff Automation to Drive Arrangement Tension

Because the track is so minimal, cutoff filter automation becomes one of the main tools for creating movement, variation, and tension over the course of an arrangement. Small adjustments to the filter cutoff on the bass have a disproportionately large impact on how the track feels - a slight close-down makes things feel more restrained and hypnotic, while opening it up brings energy and brightness. In the arrangement, this technique is used in several key ways:

1. Intro: The kick is shortened to a soft, quiet sound with a high-pass filter on the master. The bass is introduced before the full kick arrives.
2. First section: A high-cut filter on the hats opens up when the full bass and kick drop in.
3. Buildup: The cutoff on the bass opens fully, a low-cut filter is applied, and an Endless Smile plugin adds a brief intensity boost. Risers and uplifters support the transition.
4. Drop: Minimal transitions with small cutoff moves to keep momentum without cluttering the arrangement.

How Do You Add Creative Layering Without Over-Complicating the Mix?

One of the lessons from this style is that creative touches should enhance the core groove rather than compete with it. In this project, a string hook was generated using an AI music tool, prompted in a style inspired by dramatic Bollywood string arrangements with layered female vocals. The resulting hook was brought in, had a low-cut and a vintage reverb applied, and was then layered with a vocal shot from the pack for texture. Vocal shots from the pack were also placed on offbeats in the drop to add rhythmic interest. The principle is clear: add elements that are unexpected and characterful, but keep them processed to feel like they belong in the track. A simple low-cut and reverb can transform an element from a foreign addition into part of the sonic world of the track. Ambience effects throughout the background add grit without asking for attention.

Most of the sounds used in this tutorial come from the After Hours tech house sample pack, including the bass preset, snare loops, hat loops, and vocal shots. The full project file shown in this video is also available as a free download via the link mentioned in the video description.

Tutorial by Niek, co-founder of The Producer School. For more production tutorials, subscribe to The Producer School on YouTube (280K+ subscribers).