How to make drill drums: an interactive guide

Drill drums are built on one idea: a syncopated hi-hat loop that repeats a 3-3-2 rhythm and hides the steady 4/4 pulse. Get that loop right and the kick and snare mostly just decorate it. This guide walks through eight playable drill beats, starting from a curated example and changing one piece at a time. Press Play on any beat. The 3-3-2 hats stay constant underneath all of them.

What is the core of a drill drum beat?

The core is a hi-hat playing a 3-3-2 count, looped. Place a hat, count three 16th notes, place another, count three more, then two, and repeat that cycle across the bar. It lands on the 1 and then keeps sliding off the beat, which is what gives drill its slippery, push-pull feel.

Here is a simple, complete drill beat built on it, the one from our drill style page: kick on the 1 with a late second kick, snare on the 3 and again late in the loop.

Example 1: the starting point.

Everything below keeps these 3-3-2 hats and changes one element at a time.

Can you vary the hi-hats?

Yes, and you should. The 3-3-2 loop is the anchor, but the hats can breathe. The simplest move is to leave gaps: drop a few hits and the groove opens up and hides the pulse even more.

Example 2: hats with gaps.

Here the hats fall silent for a stretch in the second bar, so the ear leans on the kick and snare to find the beat.

Or go the other way and add quick doubles for a rolling feel.

Example 3: hats with small rolls.

The extra hits right before a beat give a short roll into it. And the 3-3-2 does not have to be a hi-hat at all. A shaker, a rim, a clicky percussion sound, any short percussive hit can carry the same rhythm. The pattern is the ingredient, not the sound.

Where does the snare go in drill?

Drill snares land in unexpected spots instead of a steady backbeat. Push the second snare late and the whole beat tilts.

Example 4: a late, displaced snare.

The second snare hits near the very end of the loop, dragging the groove off its expected spot.

A quick double at the turnaround works as an end-of-loop fill.

Example 5: a snare fill on the turnaround.

Two fast snares right before the loop resets mark the turnaround and pull you back to the top.

How do you make the kick push and pull?

Move the kick off the downbeats and leave space. A syncopated kick adds drive without filling every gap.

Example 6: a syncopated kick.

A syncopated kick up front gives way to a driving four-on-the-floor across the last three beats, building energy toward the end of the loop.

Example 7: off-beat, push-pull kicks.

Those kicks sit on the 3-count of the 3-3-2, off the main beats, so the groove feels like it is leaning forward with lots of open space, the signature drill push-pull.

Put a fuller kick underneath for a heavier low end.

Example 8: a fuller kick.

Same off-beat feel, but the extra kick at the end thickens the groove going into the loop reset.

Is drill limited to these patterns?

No. These are a strong starting point, especially for UK-style drill, but the genre is not restricted to them. Plenty of drill tracks bend these rules or drop these exact patterns entirely. Learn the 3-3-2 feel first, since it carries most of the drill character, then break it on purpose.

What next?

Drill drums come down to one anchor and three decorations: the 3-3-2 hat loop, then a displaced snare, a push-pull kick, and gaps that hide the pulse. Nail the hats and the rest falls into place.

Songen generates a drill loop with the dark lead, chords, sliding 808 and syncopated drums as editable MIDI, so you can start from a full groove and reshape the drums with the moves here. For the hats themselves, better hi-hat rolls has a drill section, how to make your 808 hit hard covers the sliding bass that rides these kicks, and dark chord progressions sets the menacing harmony drill lives in. For the kick side in related styles, see trap kick patterns.