Four on the Floor
Every quarter note gets a kick — beats 1, 2, 3 and 4 of both bars — with the hardest accents on the "1" of each bar (velocity 1.0) and the other three sitting just underneath at 0.9, so the loop still breathes instead of flatlining. The clap lands on beats 2 and 4 with a whisper-quiet snare layered beneath it for body; that backbeat is the only thing telling your ear where the bar starts, because the kick alone gives no clue. The open hat sizzles on every offbeat — the "and" of 1, 2, 3 and 4 — and because it is choked by the next closed hat it opens and shuts like a real foot pedal, creating the up-down pumping motion that defines house. Underneath, a ghosted closed hat on every "e" (0.3) and a shaker on every "a" (0.4) fill the 16th grid at low volume, so the groove pushes forward without adding anything you consciously hear. Swing is 0: this feel lives or dies on the machine-straight grid, and the offbeat hat is what supplies the lift instead.
Play it yourself
- Start with pad 1 (kick) alone on all four beats — tap it in time with the count 1-2-3-4 and let that become the floor everything else sits on.
- Add pad 4 (clap) on beats 2 and 4, then pad 7 (open hat) exactly halfway between every kick — that offbeat hat is the whole trick, so nail its placement before adding anything else.
- To make it yours, mute the closed-hat and shaker ghosts for a stripped 2 AM version, or drag the sub on pad 15 onto different offbeats to write a bassline over the same drum bed.
The pattern above is already loaded and fully editable. Press Space to hear it, open EDIT to see every hit on the step grid, then drag steps to change velocity or nudge them off the grid. When you have made it yours, press SHARE to copy a link that rebuilds your version exactly.
More rhythms
- The Jungle Break: Syncopated Snares at 172172 BPM
- Boom Bap at 90 BPM: the dusty backbeat90 BPM
- Dilla-style drunk swing87 BPM
- The hip hop skeleton: kick on 1, snare on 2 and 4, ghosts in the gaps90 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
Try another kit
- 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
- Funk drum machine100-110 BPM
- 808 drum machine100-130 BPM
DRUMMY 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.