Learn jungle finger drumming, one part at a time
A jungle break is five parts, and nobody learns all five at once. This page teaches the classic two-step break the way a drum teacher would: you hear one part, you play it back over the loop until two passes in a row are clean, and then the next part goes on top of what you can already play. Start slow - the tempo is yours.
How this page teaches
The whole groove is already in the machine - open EDIT and it is there on the grid, 2 bars of it. The LEARN panel takes it a part at a time, in 8 steps. Press LISTEN and the part you are learning plays, with the pads lighting as it goes and everything you have already learned running underneath it. Press YOUR TURN and that part goes silent: the loop keeps going, you play the part yourself, and every pass of the loop is scored - hits landed, hits missed, extra hits, and how far off the grid you were. Two clean passes in a row and the step is yours; NEXT adds the next part on top of what you can already play.
The tempo buttons (120, 140, 156, 172) are the most important control here. Learn each part slow, bring it up one notch at a time, and only play the last step at full speed once the one before it is clean at full speed. Your place is remembered, so come back tomorrow and the step you were on is waiting.
Hands
The pads are the same shape as the keyboard: Z X C V along the bottom, A S D F above, Q W E R above that, 1 2 3 4 on top. Each step names its pads and keys, and the pads it wants are ringed on the grid. Play quietly by default - every pad reads velocity, and the quiet parts are supposed to be quiet. If a hit lights the pad bright white, that was a loud one.
The steps
1. The kick
Beat 1, then the "&" of 3. Same in both bars. Left index finger on Z.
Every jungle groove is a two-step: the kick on the one and again just before the four. Play it against the click until the click disappears under your finger - that is the whole skill, and everything below is an elaboration of it.
2. The snare
Beats 2 and 4 in bar one. In bar two the last one comes late - on the "&" of 4. Right index on C.
The late snare is the lurch that makes a jungle break pull forward instead of sitting still. Listen twice before you play: the kick is under you now, so aim the snare between the kicks rather than counting.
3. Kick and snare together
Both hands. Z for the kick, C for the snare, only the click underneath.
This is the pattern that has to become automatic - eight hits over two bars, alternating hands. Slow it down with the tempo buttons until it is clean, then bring it back up one notch at a time.
4. The hats
Straight 8ths, every other one softer. Right hand on A - or the left, if the kick needs a rest.
Sixteen hits at one volume is the clearest sign of a beat that was programmed rather than played. The accents on the beats are loud, the "&"s are quiet: watch the pad light, its brightness is the velocity you actually sent.
5. The ghosts
Quiet snares on the "a" before each backbeat, and one louder on the "a" of 3 in bar two. V, played softly.
Ghost notes are the genre. They sit at a quarter of the backbeat volume - felt more than heard - and if your break sounds stiff you need more of these, not more loud hits. Take them away and the same positions sound like a machine.
6. The sub
Two long notes: with the first kick, and on the "&" of 2 in bar two. Q.
The sub is an octave under the kick and mostly stays out of its way: one note with the downbeat, one that moves while the drums are busy. Two notes across two bars is plenty.
7. The kit
Kick, snare and ghosts together - the drummer's part - while the hats and sub run underneath.
This is what a jungle drummer actually plays with two hands: the loud two-step and the quiet snares between it, and the difference in how hard you hit them is the groove.
8. Everything
The whole break, nothing underneath but you.
Five pads, two hands. Nobody plays this clean at 172 on the first day; the tempo buttons are there for a reason, and two clean passes at 140 are worth more than a lucky one at full speed.
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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.