Drum Patterns

In a recent post we talked about four classic drum patterns that you will find all throughout hip hop.  Here we break them down and show how you would sequence patterns in a drum editor such as IDrum, Ultrabeat (Logic’s drum machine) or your drum machine/software of choice

The images below are snapshots of drum patterns sequenced in IDrum.  Copy the same patterns in your program to get the same beats:

The One Two Drum Pattern

This is the basic, kick-hat-snare-kick-hat-snare.  Of course in this example there are hats that play at the same time as the kicks and snares.  You can simplify it and only have the hats in between the kick and the snare.  Mix it up and try different variations.

The Double Kick

This is the same as the One Two only a second kick is added.  The Double Kick typically gives a more aggressive feel to the beat.

The Double Kick Offset

Similar to the Double Kick, except the third kick is offset just prior to where it would be in the Double Kick.  Still gives the aggressive feel of the Double Kick, but mixes it up a bit to add some flavor.

The 2-3 Kick

This is similar to the Double Kick but adds another kick right before the third kick.  Again, adds more to the beat and can be used in a variety of tracks.  A key point here is you usually want that extra kick to play a little softer than the other kicks.  This gets to the the human feel of drums which we’ll cover in another post.