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.
- 01footwork · chicago 160160 bpmchicago footwork / juke · RP Boo / DJ Rashad · 2010
909 only at 160bpm. kick stutter (1, 1.25, 2, 3.75) IS the song. claps half-time on the and-of-3/4. no bass — footwork needs the floor empty so the dancers can move. drive on for the punch.
- 02trap · 808 sub + half-time140 bpmatlanta 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.
- 03jamaican 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.
- 04phuture · acid territory125 bpmchicago acid house · Phuture · 1987
chicago 4×4 909 floor under a moog acid-bass riff in A minor. tape on for warmth, delay off — keep the 303 dry like the original.
- 05berlin school / cosmic · Klaus Schulze / Tangerine Dream · 1975
100bpm 8th-note hypnotic sequence through the modular pulse-pad program in C minor. Klaus Schulze / Tangerine Dream / late-70s Berlin school DNA. delay + plate on by default — the FX are half the genre.
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