build a set
curate a playlist of patterns. share the URL with a producer, save it locally, or render each one through nick's gear.
- 01p-funk · Parliament · 1977
moog-only bass pattern walking root-5-b7-root in Bb minor — bernie worrell's expressive monosynth phrasing. add drive to taste.
- 02jamaican dub / roots reggae · Lee Scratch Perry · 1976
76bpm. sparse 909 (kick 1, snare 3) + sustained moog sub on 1 of each bar. delay carries the song — that's the whole lesson. delay + plate on by default. drive optional for that ratty bbd character.
- 03707 · voodoo ray acid house122 bpmuk 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.
- 04808 · planet rock electro116 bpmelectro / 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.
starter sets
- chicago → detroit · the midwest spine →3 patterns
house was born in chicago, mutated into techno in detroit. 3-pattern walkthrough.
- the hip-hop drum machine timeline →4 patterns
DMX (1983) → 808 (1985) → SP-1200 (1987) → 808 redux (2011). 4-pattern history.
- the slow + the wide →3 patterns
70-95bpm, three records that built the slow lane in three different decades.
- the 80s drum machine workshop →5 patterns
5 different drum machines, 5 different scenes, 5 different eras. one decade.
full catalog · click to add
clicking a pattern below appends it to the current set in the URL. share that URL after, or save locally.
- phuture · acid territory125 bpm · chicago acid house
- parliament · flash light bass110 bpm · p-funk
- frankie knuckles · warehouse floor122 bpm · chicago house
- boom-bap · sp-1200 kit92 bpm · golden era hip-hop
- detroit · model 500 territory130 bpm · detroit techno
- footwork · chicago 160160 bpm · chicago footwork / juke
- dub · lee scratch territory76 bpm · jamaican dub / roots reggae
- trap · 808 sub + half-time140 bpm · atlanta trap
- DX7 · quincy '85 territory80 bpm · 80s pop r&b
- C64 SID · rob hubbard territory140 bpm · 8-bit / chiptune
- TR-606 · Sheffield industrial130 bpm · industrial / post-punk electronic
- DMX · sucker MCs96 bpm · golden era hip-hop / boom-bap origin
- Linn LM-1 · when doves cry109 bpm · minneapolis funk / pop
- 707 · voodoo ray acid house122 bpm · uk acid house
- 808 · planet rock electro116 bpm · electro / electro-funk
- 808 · sexual healing ballad95 bpm · quiet storm / 808 r&b
- modular · berlin school territory100 bpm · berlin school / cosmic
- grandmother · dub jam78 bpm · kingston dub
- grandmother · 16th arp112 bpm · italo / proto-house