Funk drum machine: program syncopated breakbeat grooves in your browser
Funk drumming lives in the space between the backbeats. The kick answers itself in syncopated 16ths instead of sitting on 1 and 3, the snare cracks hard on 2 and 4 with a cloud of near-silent ghost notes around it, and a stream of tight closed hats holds the whole thing together. Tempos usually land between 100 and 110 BPM - slow enough that every 16th is audible, fast enough to make people move. Listen for what the drummer leaves out: the holes in the kick pattern are where the bass and guitar breathe.
How to program funk drums
- Program the backbeat first (snare on steps 4 and 12 of each bar), then sprinkle ghost snares at velocity 0.25-0.35 on the 'e' and 'a' 16ths around it. If a ghost is loud enough to sound like a note, it is too loud - it should read as texture, not rhythm.
- Split your hats across two pads: an accented tight hat on the 8th notes (steps 0, 2, 4, 6...) at velocity 0.8 and a much quieter hat on the in-between 16ths at 0.3. That loud-soft alternation is what makes a 16th-note hat line sound played rather than typed.
- Keep the kick off the obvious beats. Try 1, the 'a' of 1, the '&' of 2, and the '&' of 3 - then double it with the sub bass on the same steps so kick and bass lock as one instrument. Add one extra kick on the last 16th of bar 2 as a pickup into the loop.
- Set swing to around 12-16, not 0 and not 25. Funk 16ths are pushed just slightly late, a fraction of the shuffle you'd use for boom bap, and the cowbell and conga accents are what make that tilt audible.
Wondering about tempo? What BPM is funk? - 95-115 BPM, and why.
Other styles
- Boom Bap drum machine88-94 BPM
- Trap drum machine130-150 BPM (half-time feel)
- Lo-Fi Hip Hop drum machine70-85 BPM
- House drum machine120-126 BPM
- Techno drum machine130-140 BPM
- Drum and Bass drum machine172-176 BPM
- Afro House drum machine120-124 BPM
- UK Garage drum machine130-135 BPM
- 808 drum machine100-130 BPM
Rhythm breakdowns
- Boom bap drum patterns: eight dialects, with MIDI and PDF80-94 BPM · cheat sheet
- Hi-hat patterns: trap, drill, house, garage and more8 genres · cheat sheet
- Hip hop drum patterns: all eight, with MIDI and PDF78-140 BPM · cheat sheet
- The Jungle Break: Syncopated Snares at 172172 BPM
- Boom Bap at 90 BPM: the dusty backbeat90 BPM
- Dilla-style drunk swing87 BPM
- Drill Hi-Hats: Triplet Stutters, 32nd Flicks and Gaps140 BPM
- Four on the Floor124 BPM
- The Full House Groove: Four on the Floor, Offbeat Hats and a Rolling Shaker124 BPM
- The Dembow Riddim96 BPM
- Trap Hi-Hats: 8ths, 32nd Bursts and a Triplet Turnaround140 BPM
- UK Garage 2-Step Drum Pattern: the Kick That Skips Beat 3133 BPM
BAP Studio is inspired by classic 16-pad sampler and drum-machine workflows. It is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Akai Professional, Roland, or any other manufacturer.
Made by Max Berggren.