Posts tagged “drums”
Jul 2, 2026
How to make afrobeats drums: an interactive guide
Afrobeats drums are a conversation: a syncopated kick, an off-beat clap, and a rolling dotted hi-hat. An interactive guide with five playable grooves, breaking down exactly what each rhythm does to create the bounce.
Jun 30, 2026
How to make better hi-hat rolls and patterns
Match the hi-hat pattern to the subgenre, then keep the groove from going lifeless with layering, variation and processing. Trap, drill, boom bap, lo-fi and electronic.
Jun 22, 2026
How to make drift phonk: cowbell riffs, crushed 808s and drive
How to make drift phonk: write an ominous Phrygian cowbell riff, drive it with a crushed 808 and a relentless beat, then distort the whole mix.
Jun 4, 2026
How to make trap hi-hat rolls: a simple fills guide
Build trap hi-hat rolls from a steady 8th-note baseline: where to place fills, which subdivisions buzz, and how to dress them up with pitch, pan and effects.
Feb 17, 2026
How to make rhythms that don't get boring
Build a rhythm from a short groove atom and a structure like AABA, varying each repeat by shifting, removing or adding a note. Works for drums and melodic parts alike.
Nov 13, 2025
Trap kick patterns: the definitive guide for every trap sub-genre
A playable, educational guide to trap kick patterns: the foundation and a handful of archetypes, from spacious to syncopated to heart-beat, that you mix and match across every trap sub-genre.
Oct 22, 2025
How to make drill drums: an interactive guide
Drill drums are built on one idea: a syncopated 3-3-2 hi-hat loop. An interactive guide with 8 playable beats covering hat gaps, displaced snares and push-pull kicks.
Oct 11, 2025
Four on the floor: the beat behind every dance genre
Four on the floor is a kick on every beat, the pulse under disco, house, techno and EDM. An interactive guide to the pattern and how to build a dance groove on it.
Oct 1, 2025
How to mix a trap beat: a step-by-step mixing guide
Mix a trap beat from a flat balance to a finished record: gain staging for headroom, leveling, treating the melody first, seating the kick and 808 together, and glue reverb.
Jul 27, 2025
How to mix kick and bass together for a tight, clear low end
Kick and bass fit when only one owns the sub. Split them by frequency, line up their phase, and duck the bass under the kick for a low end that stays tight on any system.
Jul 16, 2025
How to make trap drums hit hard: the complete guide
Get trap drums to hit hard: pick the right samples, write the kick and 808 to smack, level by ear, and use one soft clipper on the master for loudness instead of a plugin stack.
Jun 5, 2025
How to add groove to any beat: swing, syncopation and ghost notes
Groove comes from three moves: accent the weak 16ths, swing the timing, and soften hits into ghost notes. Interactive players let you hear each one.