Skip to content

Dubstep drum pattern

Half-time at 140: heavy and spacious, the snare on beat 3. Here are its drums on a step grid, at the tempo it starts at, to hear and to change.

140 BPM · 909 kit · 2 bars · 57% swing

The pattern, step by step

Each step is a sixteenth note, four to a beat: step 1 is beat 1, 5 is beat 2, 9 is beat 3 and 13 is beat 4. A lit square is a hit; a fainter one is played softer.

  • Hit
  • Softer hit
The dubstep drum pattern: the steps each drum plays, bars 1 and 2
DrumBar 1Bar 2
Open hat14 (soft)14 (soft)
Closed hat4, 8, 12, 164, 8, 12, 16
Clap99
Snare99
Rim11 (soft)11 (soft)
Kick1, 71, 7, 12
Open these drums in the editor

They open as one drum lane on a step grid, at 140 BPM. No account needed to start.

How dubstep drums go

The snare on beat 3 of each bar, a kick on 1 and the and of 2, syncopated hats on the last sixteenth of each beat swung 55-60% (not trap's straight eighths), a click on the and of 3; drops add fills and extra kicks.

The bass, chords and sounds are on the Dubstep page.

Questions about dubstep drums

What BPM is dubstep?

Usually 138 to 150 BPM. This pattern plays at 140 BPM.

How do you make a dubstep drum pattern?

Start with the kick on steps 1 and 7, the snare and clap on step 9, the rim on step 11, the closed hi-hat on steps 4, 8, 12 and 16 and the open hi-hat on step 14, then follow the grid for bar 2. Each step is a sixteenth note, four to a beat: step 1 is beat 1, 5 is beat 2, 9 is beat 3 and 13 is beat 4. Open it in the free editor to change any step.

Do dubstep drums swing?

Yes, about 57% swing: every second step comes a little late, so the groove bounces. The editor plays it that way, and its Steps view can change it.

More EDM drum patterns

Make a dubstep beat

The free editor opens with a whole dubstep beat: drums, bass and chords, each part yours to change, add to or take away.