Drum Machine

A 16-step beat maker with synthesized kick, snare, hat, and clap. Program a groove, add swing, and share the whole pattern as a link. No samples, no signup - the sounds are made live, 808-style.

Kick
Snare
Hi-Hat
Clap
100 BPM
0%

Reading the classic patterns

Every preset teaches a foundation: four on the floor puts the kick on every quarter note (all dance music since disco), backbeat rock answers kicks on 1 and 3 with snares on 2 and 4 (most rock and pop), and the hip-hop preset shows syncopation - kicks landing off the grid's strong beats, which is where groove lives. Turn the swing up on any of them and hear the same pattern loosen.

Find the tempo of any song to recreate its groove with the BPM counter, practice playing against your pattern with the metronome, and convert your tempo into delay times with the BPM-to-ms calculator.

Drum Machine FAQ

How does this drum machine work?

It is a 16-step sequencer: each row is a drum sound, each column a sixteenth note. Click cells to toggle hits, press play, and the pattern loops. All four sounds are synthesized live with the Web Audio API - no samples download, and the timing uses a lookahead scheduler so it stays tight even when the browser tab is busy.

How do I share a beat I made?

Press "Copy pattern link" - the whole grid is encoded into the URL, so anyone opening your link sees and hears exactly your pattern. Great for teaching a groove or settling an argument about where the snare goes.

What is swing?

Swing delays every second sixteenth note, turning a rigid grid into a groove - at 0% the steps are perfectly even, around 55-65% you get the classic MPC shuffle feel. Try the hip-hop preset with and without swing to hear what it does.

How are the drum sounds made?

Classic analog-style synthesis: the kick is a sine wave pitched from 150 Hz down to 50 Hz with a fast decay, the snare mixes a 180 Hz tone with a burst of filtered noise, the hi-hat is high-passed noise with a very short envelope, and the clap is band-passed noise with a triple-burst attack. The same recipes as an 808/909, simplified.

Can I use these beats in my music?

Yes - synthesized drum hits and patterns you program yourself are yours. For production you will want to recreate the pattern in a DAW with proper samples; this tool is for sketching grooves, practicing rhythm, and learning how classic patterns are built.