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Lo-fi drum pattern

Laid back, swung sixteenths, a little behind the beat. Here are its drums on a step grid, at the tempo it starts at, to hear and to change.

80 BPM · Breakbeat kit · 2 bars · 58% 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 lo-fi drum pattern: the steps each drum plays, bars 1 and 2
DrumBar 1Bar 2
Closed hat1, 3 (soft), 5, 7 (soft), 8 (soft), 9, 11 (soft), 13, 15 (soft)1, 3 (soft), 5, 6 (soft), 7 (soft), 9, 11 (soft), 13, 15 (soft)
Snare5, 135, 13, 16 (soft)
Kick1, 111, 8 (soft), 11
Open these drums in the editor

They open as one drum lane on a step grid, at 80 BPM. No account needed to start.

How lo-fi drums go

Soft boom bap: a thuddy kick on 1 and the and of 3, a brushed or rim snare on 2 and 4 well under full velocity, gentle eighth hats swung about 58%; no rolls, no fill every bar; dusty and rolled off.

The bass, chords and sounds are on the Lo-Fi Hip-Hop page.

Questions about lo-fi drums

What BPM is lo-fi?

Usually 70 to 90 BPM. This pattern plays at 80 BPM.

How do you make a lo-fi drum pattern?

Start with the kick on steps 1 and 11, the snare on steps 5 and 13 and the closed hi-hat on steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13 and 15, 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 lo-fi drums swing?

Yes, about 58% 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 hip hop drum patterns

Boom bapWest coastHip hopTrip hopMemphis rap

Make a lo-fi beat

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

Make a lo-fi beatAll drum patterns

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