About the Drum Machine
This online drum machine is a simple beat maker. It has a grid of 16 steps — one bar of sixteenth notes — and 8 drums: kick, snare, clap, closed hi-hat, open hi-hat, tom, rim and cymbal. Tap the steps where a drum should play, press Play, and the beat loops.
Pick one of four drum kits, set the tempo from 60 to 200 BPM and add swing for a groove that bounces. Make up to four patterns (A, B, C, D) and chain them into a short song. When you like it, download it as a WAV file to use in a video, a song or a DAW.
Every drum sound is made live in your browser with Web Audio. There are no sample files to load and nothing is uploaded.
Features
- 16-step grid, 8 drums — tap a step for on, again for an accent, again for off
- 4 drum kits — 808-style, Acoustic, Electronic and Lo-fi, all made by the browser
- Tempo and swing — 60 to 200 BPM and swing from 50 % (straight) to 75 %
- Mute, solo and volume — for every drum
- 10 ready beats — rock, hip-hop, house, bossa nova, funk, reggaeton, trap, disco, drum and bass and lo-fi
- 4 patterns and a chain — play A A A B, add a fill, build a small song
- WAV download — 1 to 16 bars, made in the background, ready to loop
- Saved on your device — your beat comes back next time; save as many named beats as you like (up to 30)
The four drum kits
- 808-style — the deep, long electronic kick, snappy snare and metal-sounding hi-hats of classic hip-hop and trap
- Acoustic — a short punchy kick, a snare with more rattle, and noise-based hi-hats; good for rock, funk and pop
- Electronic — a tight, driven kick and bright hats for house, techno and drum and bass
- Lo-fi — a warm, dusty sound: high notes cut, a little distortion and lower resolution, like an old sampler
Changing the kit changes only the sound, not your pattern, so you can try one beat with every kit.
Ready beats
Each ready beat fills pattern A (the groove) and B (a fill), sets the tempo, swing and kit, and turns on the chain. Some also make C: the groove with a cymbal on the first beat.
| Beat | Tempo | Swing | Kit | Chain | 4 bars last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock | 100 BPM | 50 % | Acoustic | C A A B | 9.6 s |
| Hip-hop (boom bap) | 90 BPM | 58 % | 808-style | A A A B | 10.7 s |
| House | 124 BPM | 50 % | Electronic | C A A B | 7.7 s |
| Bossa nova | 120 BPM | 50 % | Acoustic | A A A B | 8.0 s |
| Funk | 100 BPM | 54 % | Acoustic | A A A B | 9.6 s |
| Reggaeton | 95 BPM | 50 % | 808-style | A A A B | 10.1 s |
| Trap | 140 BPM | 50 % | 808-style | A A A B | 6.9 s |
| Disco | 120 BPM | 50 % | Acoustic | C A A B | 8.0 s |
| Drum and bass | 172 BPM | 50 % | Electronic | A A A B | 5.6 s |
| Lo-fi hip-hop | 80 BPM | 62 % | Lo-fi | A A A B | 12.0 s |
Change anything you like after loading — it is your beat now. Undo brings back the beat you had before.
What swing does
Without swing, the 16 steps are all the same length. With swing, the first step of each pair gets longer and the second gets shorter, so the off-beat notes come a little late. That is the "bounce" of hip-hop, funk and shuffle.
At 100 BPM a pair of steps lasts 0.3 seconds:
| Swing | First step | Second step | Feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 % | 150 ms | 150 ms | straight |
| 58 % | 174 ms | 126 ms | light bounce |
| 62 % | 186 ms | 114 ms | lazy, lo-fi |
| 66 % | 198 ms | 102 ms | triplet shuffle |
| 75 % | 225 ms | 75 ms | very strong |
A bar always stays 4 beats long, so the tempo does not change.
How long is the WAV?
The file is exactly bars × 4 beats × 60 ÷ BPM seconds long:
- 4 bars at 120 BPM = 4 × 4 × 60 ÷ 120 = 8.0 seconds
- 8 bars at 100 BPM = 19.2 seconds
- 16 bars at 60 BPM = 64 seconds, the longest you can make
The sound of the last hits (a long 808 kick, a cymbal) is mixed back into the start, so the file loops without a gap or a click — put it on repeat in any player or editor.
Tips for better beats
- Start with the kick and snare. Kick on 1, snare on 5 and 13 is the backbone of most pop, rock and hip-hop.
- Use accents on the hi-hats (on every other step) to make them groove instead of tick.
- Leave space. A beat with fewer notes often sounds bigger.
- Make a fill in pattern B with toms or a snare roll on steps 13–16, then chain A A A B.
- Solo a drum (S) to hear exactly what it plays.
- To practise an instrument with the beat, set the tempo of the song; find it with the BPM Finder.
Frequently asked questions
Is this drum machine free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no limit on beats, and the WAV files are yours to use.
Can I use the beats in my music or videos?
Yes. The sounds are made by your browser, not copied from sample packs, so a beat you make here is your own.
Does the timing stay steady?
Yes. The notes are placed on the browser's audio clock a little ahead of time, not with a page timer, so the beat stays tight even when your computer is busy. You can change the tempo while it plays and it never skips.
Why do I hear nothing?
Tap Play once — browsers only start sound after a click. Check that your device is not muted and that no track is muted (M) or that you have not soloed (S) a silent track.
How do I make a whole song?
Fill patterns A to D (for example verse, fill, chorus, break), add them to the chain in the order you want, and tick Play the chain. Set the WAV length to the number of bars in your chain.
Where are my beats saved?
In this browser on this device. Clearing the browser's data removes them, so download a WAV of beats you want to keep.
Can I download MP3 or MIDI?
The drum machine makes WAV, which works in every editor. To make an MP3, open the WAV in our Audio Converter.
Related tools
- Metronome — a plain click at any tempo
- BPM Finder — the tempo of a song you want to play along with
- Song Key Finder — the key and tempo of a song
- Tone Generator — a test tone at any frequency
- Pitch Changer — move a song up or down in key
- Audio Converter — turn your WAV into an MP3
How to use it
- Press Play to hear the beat that is loaded, or choose one under Ready beats
- Tap the steps in the grid to add or remove hits; tap twice for an accent
- Pick a drum kit and set the tempo and swing
- Use M (mute), S (solo) and the slider of each drum to balance the mix
- Make more patterns with A–D, add them to the chain and tick Play the chain
- Choose the WAV length and press Download WAV
- Type a name under My saved beats and press Save to keep the beat
