Electro drum pattern

128 BPM · 52% swing · 16 steps · MM-RYTM

Detroit electro (Drexciya, Aux 88, after Kraftwerk) does not play four on the floor: the kick syncopates and the 808 does the talking.

The pattern

Electro drum pattern at 128 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
Snare (SD)					8								8
Closed hat (CH)	8	5	8	5	8	5	8	5	8	5	8	5	8	5
Clap (CP)					5								5
Low tom (TOM)															6
High tom (HT)																5

The sounds in MM-RYTM: kick Engelhardt, snare 707, hats 808, clap 808.

Why it works

The kick plays step 1, then steps 7 and 11, the "and" of the second and third beats. Snare and a softer clap land on 2 and 4, the 808 closed hats run in sixteenths (8, 5) and stop for the last two steps, where a low tom (step 15) and a high tom (step 16) finish the bar. 52% swing.

Two variations

Move the third kick from step 11 to step 12 for a broken, funkier bar.
Add the cymbal on step 1 every four bars to mark the phrase, as on an 808 record.

Program it on any drum machine

Set the tempo to 128 BPM and the swing to 52% (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

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