Indie dance drum pattern
122 BPM · 51% swing · 16 steps · MM-RYTM
Indie dance puts the energy of rock and new wave on a club grid: punchy drums, hats that drive, and percussion that answers the bass line.
The pattern
Indie dance drum pattern at 122 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) | 7 | 7 | ||||||||||||||
| Closed hat (CH) | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 9 | ||||
| Open hat (OH) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | ||||||||||||
| Clap (CP) | 5 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| Low tom (TOM) | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| High tom (HT) | 4 | 4 |
The sounds in MM-RYTM: kick AFFKT, snare Psy 02, hats 909, clap 909.
Why it works
The kick hits every beat with a sharp attack, snare and clap land together on 2 and 4. The closed hats push hard (8, 5, 0, 8) with an extra accent on the last step, the open hat keeps the off-beats, and two toms play off the grid: high on steps 4 and 12, low on step 8. Almost no swing (51%): it stays tight like a band.
Two variations
- Double the snare on step 16 at the end of each phrase, like a drummer's fill.
- Swap the open hats for the cymbal on the off-beats for a brighter chorus.
Program it on any drum machine
- Set the tempo to 122 BPM and the swing to 51% (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