Drum Machine Online with Ready-Made Beats
Drum machine online with 20 ready-made beats to play along with, from rock and pop to reggaeton, cumbia and samba. Each beat opens at the typical BPM for the style and with the instruments it really uses: kick, snare and hi-hat in rock; kick and the dembow snare in reggaeton; surdo, pandeiro and tamborim in samba; zabumba, bacalhau and triangle in Brazilian forró.
How to use it
- Pick a Beat from the list. The number next to the name is the typical BPM for the style.
- Set the tempo with the big number, the slider or −5 −1 +1 +5.
- Press Play or the space bar. With Count-in before playing on, one bar of clicks tells you when to come in.
- To edit, tap the squares (row = instrument, column = sixteenth note) with the chosen level: Normal, Accent or Ghost. Tapping again with the same level clears the step.
- In Save and share, save the beat with a name, copy the link (whoever opens it hears the same beat) or download the WAV with 1 to 16 repeats.
Help and explanations
The grid works like a classic drum machine (a step sequencer): tap the steps to change the beat, adjust the swing and the volume of each instrument and download the loop as a WAV to practice or record over. The sound is generated on your device, with no sign-up.
Basic drum beats: rock, pop, ballad and shuffle
Rock (4/4, 110 BPM): hi-hat in eighth notes, a strong snare on 2 and 4, kick on 1, on 3 and on the “and” of 3. Pop / ballad (4/4, 80 BPM): hi-hat in eighth notes alternating strong and soft, snare on 2 and 4, kick on 1, on the “and” of 2 and on 3. These are the two easiest beats to start with, and they fit almost any radio song.
6/8 ballad (56 BPM, counting the dotted quarter): kick on 1, snare on the fourth eighth note and hi-hat on all six. Waltz (3/4): kick on 1, rim and hi-hat on 2 and 3. Shuffle / blues and Reggae (one drop) are in 12/8: the triplet feel already provides the swing.
Latin and Brazilian beats
Reggaeton (4/4, 94 BPM): kick on all four beats, snare on the dembow, the 3-3-2 figure that came from Jamaican dancehall, and a soft hi-hat in eighth notes. Cumbia (2/4, 96 BPM): kick on 1, rim on 2, conga in eighth notes with a slap on the off-beat of 2, and the ganzá shaker in the role of the guacharaca or güiro.
The list also has 11 Brazilian rhythms with their own percussion: samba, pagode and samba-enredo (surdo, pandeiro and tamborim), bossa nova (rim in clave and kick on the pulse), forró at three speeds (xote, baião and arrasta-pé, with zabumba, triangle and bacalhau, the stick that hits the zabumba's bottom head), vaneira, axé, funk carioca and Carnival marchinha.
What BPM to use for each beat
Rock: 90 to 140 · Pop / ballad: 65 to 110 · 6/8 ballad: 45 to 70
Waltz: 90 to 180 · Shuffle / blues: 70 to 120 · Reggae: 60 to 85
Reggaeton: 88 to 100 · Cumbia: 85 to 110 · Dangdut: 60 to 85
Samba: 80 to 115 · Pagode: 75 to 100 · Samba-enredo: 135 to 150 · Bossa nova: 60 to 80
Baião: 85 to 125 · Xote: 70 to 100 · Arrasta-pé: 125 to 165 · Vaneira: 115 to 150
Axé: 115 to 140 · Funk carioca: 125 to 150 · Marchinha: 105 to 135
How to practice with the drum machine
Start 10 to 20 BPM below the song's tempo and go up 4 at a time once it feels effortless. Use Solo to hear only the kick and snare (or only the surdo) and find the downbeat; then bring all the instruments back in.
Tips
- On a phone, use wired headphones or the speaker: over Bluetooth the sound arrives late and it's hard to play in time.
- For a softer cumbia, turn the conga down in Volume, mute and solo per instrument and bring the ganzá forward.
- Swing delays the off-beat sixteenth notes: 15 to 30% adds bounce to pop and funk. In reggae and shuffle, the 12/8 already does that.
- Just need a click? Use the online metronome. Don't know the song's BPM? Tap along in the BPM counter.
Frequently asked questions
Which drum beat should I use to accompany guitar and vocals?
For pop, folk, country ballads and singer-songwriter songs, Pop / ballad between 70 and 90 BPM works for almost everything. Songs that sway in three call for the 6/8 ballad or the Waltz. Reggaeton, cumbia and samba need their own beat: with a rock beat they lose their groove.
What are the basic drum beats for beginners?
The easiest are rock and pop in 4/4: hi-hat in eighth notes, snare on 2 and 4, kick on 1 and 3. Open them here, drop to 70 BPM and play along by tapping on your legs or on the online drums. Then move on to shuffle, reggae and the 6/8 ballad.
How do I make a reggaeton (dembow) beat?
Open Reggaeton: kick on all four beats and snare on the 3-3-2 dembow figure, at 94 BPM. Change any steps you like, go up to 100 BPM for a faster feel or down to 88, and download the WAV.
What is a drum machine?
It's an electronic instrument that plays drum patterns programmed on a grid of steps, like the classic Roland TR-808 or the Alesis SR-16. This online drum machine works the same way: each row is an instrument, each column a step, and the beat loops at the tempo you choose.
What BPM is a samba beat?
Samba de roda and pagode almost always sit between 80 and 100 BPM; livelier samba goes up to 115, and samba-enredo, the Carnival parade samba, runs from 135 to 150. To practice, 80, 90 and 100 BPM are the most common: choose Samba and type the number.
Can I download the beat as an MP3?
The download is a lossless WAV that plays on your phone and drops into any recording software. The file loops seamlessly when repeated; if you need an MP3, convert the WAV.
Does the online drum machine work on a phone?
Yes, in the browser on Android and iPhone, with nothing to install. On a narrow screen, each instrument's steps are split into two or more rows; drag your finger sideways to set several steps in a row. While it plays, the screen stays on.