Dark disco drum pattern
118 BPM · 53% swing · 16 steps · MM-RYTM
Dark disco slows the four on the floor down and darkens it, somewhere between Italo, new wave and EBM. It is the sound Maudite Machine plays the most in his DJ sets.
The pattern
Dark disco drum pattern at 118 BPM, 16 steps. Each number is the velocity of the step, 9 the loudest and 3 a ghost note; an empty cell is a rest.
| Voice | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick (BD) | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | ||||||||||||
| Snare (SD) | 9 | 9 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Closed hat (CH) | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 8 | ||||
| Open hat (OH) | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||||||
| Clap (CP) | 6 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| Low tom (TOM) | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| High tom (HT) | 3 |
The sounds in MM-RYTM: kick Stein, snare 707, hats 808, clap 808.
Why it works
A straight kick on every beat, the snare and a softer clap stacked on 2 and 4, and a ghost snare on step 16 that leans into the next bar. The closed hats play human sixteenths (6, 4, 0, 7), the open hat breathes on the off-beats, and two toms, a low one on step 11 and a high one on step 8, give it the swing of a conga. 53% swing, a little drive and reverb on the snare.
Two variations
- Add a clap on step 15 every fourth bar to announce the next phrase.
- Mute the closed hats for eight bars and keep only the open hat: the track opens up before the drop.
Program it on any drum machine
- Set the tempo to 118 BPM and the swing to 53% (50% is straight).
- Program one voice at a time from the grid, starting with the kick, then the snare and clap, then the hats.
- Use the numbers as velocities: on a machine with only accents, accent the 8s and 9s and leave the 3s and 4s as soft notes.
- Or skip all that: open the beat below in MM-RYTM, every step, sound and effect is already set.
Play it, download it
General MIDI drum notes: kick 36, snare 38, clap 39, closed hat 42, open hat 46, low tom 45, high tom 50, cymbal 49. One bar, swing included.
Change it, then press SHARE in the header of MM-STUDIO: you get a link to your own version.
From Maudite Machine
- Hear the style in a track: Voodoo
- All the tracks and releases
- MM-RYTM, the free online drum machine
- MM-STUDIO: drum machine, synth and DJ decks