patterns
- 808 · sexual healing ballad✎95 bpm · quiet storm / 808 r&b · Marvin Gaye · 1982
Marvin Gaye 1982 template — soft 808 kicks on 1 and 3, claps on 2/4, cymbal swell on the 1 of every bar, sparse offbeat hat. The 808 R&B ballad blueprint — every quiet storm record from 1983 onward learned from this beat. Plate on for the room.
- trap · 808 sub + half-time✎140 bpm · atlanta trap · Lex Luger / Metro Boomin era · 2011
half-time pocket at 140 (feels like 70). kick on 1+3, snare on 3 only, hi-hat 16ths with a triplet roll. moog 808-sub slides root → 5. tape on for cohesion. this is the atlanta template.
- 808 · planet rock electro✎116 bpm · electro / electro-funk · Afrika Bambaataa + Soulsonic Force · 1982
Afrika Bambaataa's 1982 template — syncopated 808 kick (1, 1.75, 2.5, 3.5), clap on 2/4, cowbell on every 16th-note offbeat, closed hat on 8ths. The track that invented electro by stacking Kraftwerk over a TR-808. Drive on for punch.
- 707 · voodoo ray acid house✎122 bpm · uk acid house · A Guy Called Gerald · 1988
A Guy Called Gerald 1988 UK acid house template — TR-707 4-on-the-floor at 122bpm + Moog acid bass in A minor. Brighter pop-machine kick + cowbell ping on every offbeat + claps on 2/4. Tape on for warmth, plate on for the rave room.
canonical lessons
- canonical lesson · 808 quiet stormMarvin Gaye · Sexual Healing · 198295 bpm · beginner
slow, breathing. 95bpm. kick on 1+3 sub. clap on 2+4 in place of a snare. cymbal swell on every 1. offbeat hat fills the space.
- canonical lesson · atlanta trapLex Luger / Metro Boomin · Trap Template · 2011140 bpm · intermediate
half-time. 140bpm that FEELS like 70bpm because the snare lives on 3 alone. the 808 sub is the song — the bassline + the kick + the harmonic foundation are all one synth voice with a portamento slide between root and 5th.
- canonical lesson · electro / early hip-hopAfrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force · Planet Rock · 1982116 bpm · intermediate
syncopated. kick on 1+3 with offbeat ghost kicks adding motion. cowbell on every 16th offbeat (the iconic 808 cowbell). clap on 2/4. drum pattern is the song.
- canonical lesson · industrial / post-punk electronicCabaret Voltaire · The Crackdown era · 1983130 bpm · advanced
MECHANICAL. four-on-the-floor kick (NOT 1+3 — every beat). snare on 2+4. metallic 8th-note hat. cymbal wash on each 1 of every 2 bars. NO swing, NO velocity variation, NO humanization. the machine wins.