Good reference tunes (D&B, tech house, dynamic house, hip hop, trap, house, deep techno)

I'm often asked about good reference songs, and I wanted to do a list of songs I've actually used a lot and still do. These are also good for producing music, so if you make music, shoot for these.
(BTW I have already done posts on how to set up your master referencing project, and there's master mix referencing tips Hmix/master reference video here and a nice master tip HERE)

You should be able to find all of these tunes by Googling. I can't give these files away. So make sure to buy and support the artists (also if you reference against Youtube, you won't get the real loudness).
I have and use way more refs than these, but these mostly represent a good, natural, balanced sound for most genres I work with. As an engineer, I always listen to the client a lot, too.
If you make your tunes hit like these and can make them stand up to those, your song is in a good place. Listen for bass weight, vocal clarity, lack of harshness, chunky hihats, good kicks, good relationship between drums and bass…these tunes have those all.

I will add a few notes about songs and also styles in terms of what to take into account.

PS: What's that image about? While I don't master in Wavelab, in addition to refencing in my DAW, I create these genre-specific montages where I always put my masters, to compare against other strong songs. The image is of a montage like that.

REFERENCE SONGS I USE AND CAN RECOMMEND 👇🏻

Drum and bass

Most of the drum and bass I treat hits around that -6/7 range. I'll leave the mega loud stuff out. All these tunes have a this really good midrange, good chunky low-mids, good hihats, snares etc.
You can even use these for downtempo and all related styles: have the sonics roughly hit like these and then just adjust your master loudness.

• Calyx & Teebee – Perspectives. Really clean, great production. I usually want to go a hair "dirtier" than this, but still, this is a good one where everything has its place. Notice how tight/short the drums are: a good example of very modern, "non-sloppy" sound. Even if I have to go much louder, I'll always hone the song to match this, and then start pushing it. You could prob pick any modern Teebee tune.
• Nucleus & Paradox – Analogue Life. A great minimal tune with amazing drums that cut thru like bricks. Overall low-mids and midrange are 10/10 for me.
• Alix Perez – The Raven. Same reason as above + hefty sub like minimal tunes allow. Great clarity and ”reasonably” loud. Notice the lack of hihats! So can't use for highs alone.
• Fracture – Black Pearl. Loud in a good way, and ultra crispy high-mids and highs; maybe a touch too much, but sounds great. One of those "go a bit less crispy with highs" refs for me.
• Coco Bryce – Blue Tile Lounge (really crisp, very bassy, with light drums). Notice how the bass is borderline sub and isn't hitting my usual "rule" for sub placement, and is a bit higher and takes a lot of space, but notice how the drums really leave room for it.
• Module Eight – Ghost. Definitely way less loud than your average tune, but the bass is insane. dBridge won't smash it. So going super bassy at the "cost" of loudness.
• Om Unit – Deep Sea Pyramid. Technically not DNB at all, but in same sonic realm. A really good dynamic choice with real nice clarity. Not trying to slam it. Most Om Unit tunes are nice and dynamic, and production is always on point.

Modern loud tech house

The difference with older, more classic tech house is that in these, may be a touch less bass, which is often the tradeoff with loudness. These often are a touch brighter and have a hair more mids: that's how you get that loudness (a bit less bass, and push the midrange and highs and loudness).
• Max Styler – Lights Out. Pretty loud, clean, aggressive. Vocal could be a bit louder, imho!
• Westend and Max Styler – Rhythm Machine. Drums cut thru really well, just like in the previous Max Styler mention. Loud, clean. Really nice clarity.
• Delerium – Silence (John Summit remix). We went reasonably loud on this one. I tried maximising how "audible" everything is. A lot of mids power.
• CID & Taylr Renee – Fancy $hit. Not all of that loud loud tech house has that chunk…well, this one does! Love how full things are.
• John Summit – Eat The Bass. Not the loudest, but between your classic sound and the more loud one. Highs came out really nice on this one.
• Chris Lake, Sammy Virji - Summertime Blues (Kyle Watson Rechunk). I love loud, chunky drums, and even by my standards, they are almost too loud in this one, but do they feel good and slap real nice! Let this be your "if my drums are louder than this, they are too loud!" ref.

Classic tech house

Even if you want to go louder, I can guarantee that if you first make your song like these, you can then start pushing it and should get the louder vibe fairly easily. Sure enough I have absolute truckloads more, but if you can make the song hit like these, you're set and go any way from there.
• John Summit – Deep End. A good techy house ref. A big hit on Defected, mixed and mastered by myself (I've worked with John for over 8 years now)…a good example of ”louder isn’t always better”…this one has got a some dozen millions of streams on Spotify now.
We weren't trying to win the loudness war back then. The vocal isn't trying to be mega aggressive, but works well and I feel there's a decent weight there. Very dynamic, and has a great punch. I'm still proud of this.
• Westend & CID – Jumpin'. An absolutely chunky hitter. I love everything about this. Listen to how chunky the hihats are, and the clap. Bass is just great. One of those "I wish I had treated this one" tunes! Still use this to this very day. Even if you want to go louder, have your song hit like this, and then push it louder (and carve it if need be).
• John Summit – Thin Line. The piano came out really loud and wide yet fitting. I still use this as a piano ref, for example. The vocal has a lot of energy. Like in all early John Summit tunes expecially, hear how thick all the drums and percs are: absolutely no highpassing anything! I've never highpassed anything, and hey hear how nice and full sounds are.
• John Summit and Parachute Youth – Better Than This. Classic older John Summit sound: real good punch, real lively and healthy percussion, and vocal quality is real nice and sure enough everything has its own place.
• John Summit – Make Me Feel. Extra thicc bass. A bit of a "real bassy and chunky at the expense of loudness" ref.

Dynamic bassy house, more old skool

Whenever someone sends me house that's clearly not trying to be modern and techy, I get them to this ballpark, and 90% of the time it will be fitting and I get few notes from the client. Good weighty bass and crispy, detailed mids and highs is key.
• Jack Dixon – E. A great overall deep house ref: crispy, weighty, the drums cut nicely.
• Leon Vynehall – Dont Know Why. Amazing how well the kick cuts thru, and the overall production and sound is very nice, crisp, and energetic.
• Om Unit – Friend Of Day. Technically not house at all, but in same sonic realm. A really good dynamic choice with real nice clarity. Not trying to slam.
• Om Unit – What It Is. From the same release as above. Real crispy in a good way.
• Denham Audio: Back 2 Life and Burnin' Up. Both from the same release. I had the pleasure of mastering these. Nicely bassy and crisp, with good definition on the breaks.
• Luke Vibert: Acidhouse Ecstasy and pHoam. Both from the same release. I had the pleasure of mastering these too! While the breakworks isn't mega heavy, it's kind of lighter and crisp, leaving nice room for the sub. I recall shaving some resonance off the acid line, so it's nice and perfect. Things just sit so well!

HIP HOP (boom bap)

Drums have to smack and vocals have to cut thru well: almost the number one thing in hop hop. I can't say bass isn't important, but depending on the style, it may have a slightly lesser importance than, say, old tech house or DNB.
• Brother Ali – Own Light. When mixing or mastering hip hop, this is one of my go-to refs: very clear, great definition with everything, vocal sits nicely in its own space, modern-ish sound but not too much)
• Marco Polo – Terrified (punchy, hits really hard, weighty drums, vocal cuts thru fairly nicely)
• Big L – The Enemy (old Premier beat, so a bit more oldskool, and has great weight, and the Big L vocal while maybe slightly too resonant for today’s standards, cuts nicely thru the mix)
• Pete Rock – I Wish [instrumental] (great punch and weighty production overall)
• AZ – Rather Unique. An older track with big beats. Displaying how the vocal doesn’t always have to be mega loud, but it’s still heard well here.
• K-Def – K Comes Thru. A lot of K-Def's production leans to older stuff stylistically, but can be pretty clean, which is mostly a good thing. This is really clean and crispy. If you're a true "old head", go a touch less bright...but this is real good "modern DAW boom bap".

TRAP

Aim for weight, good midrange – and some slam! Vocals have to cut thru.
• Big Sean ft. Kanye & Drake – Blessings (mega heavy kick, bass slightly low, but amazing and very modern vocal clarity cutting thru, with instruments nicely in the background)
• Kevin Gates – Two Phones (while not mega weighty with bass, the production is clear, the vocal is good, and while the bass isnt the heaviest, it has nice harmonics)
• Schoolboy Q – That Part (I like how the kick and bass hit, and sure enough the vocal is mixed nicely)
• Vince Staples – 745 (everything nice and punchy and crispy, but the vocal, while good, is a bit too quiet, so this is my trap ref for "have the vocal a bit louder than this": those are good to have)

DEEP TECHNO

In this style, it's important that you're not going loud (IMHO). Nice bass, silky highs…dynamics!
• Sandwell District – Immolare. Very crispy highs and great sheen, and nicely bassy and gentle at the same time.
• Shifted – Drifting Over. Also great highs and definition for everything. Crispy, and the kick hits just right: not too banging, but has some nice kick authority nevertheless.
• Function – Descending. Hecking nice and just the nice amount of brightness and bass. (Most of my techno refs are like these. If the client wants to go really hard, I may ref with DNB and bass music a bit and just go a bit less loud; there’s definitely a type of techno that hits much harder than these, and things are more in front, and there, your good old bass music / DNB may work well – just go for a bit less loudness and you’re probably good.)