How to program a beat online in 4 steps
- 01
Pick a kit and a pattern
Choose one of four synthesized kits — 808, Acoustic, Lo-fi, or Techno — and set the sequencer to 16 or 32 steps. Start from a pattern preset such as Trap or Boom bap, or begin from an empty grid.
- 02
Program the steps
Click a step on any of the 8 instrument rows to add a hit, click again for an accent, and once more to clear it. Set tempo from 40 to 220 BPM and add swing up to 75% for a looser groove.
- 03
Play it live
Switch to pad mode and trigger sounds by clicking the pads or pressing A, S, D, F, G, H, J, K on your keyboard while the pattern loops, so you can feel the beat before you commit to it.
- 04
Render and export
Render 1 to 8 bars to audio, then click Download audio to save WAV or MP3, or export a MIDI file using the General MIDI drum map to keep editing the beat in a DAW.
What you can do with this drum machine
- Eight fully synthesized instruments — kick, snare, clap, closed hat, open hat, low tom, high tom, and percussion — built in the browser, so there are no drum samples to license or clear.
- Four synthesized kits (808, Acoustic, Lo-fi, Techno) that reshape the tone of every instrument at once, from clean acoustic hits to crushed, saturated lo-fi.
- A 16 or 32-step sequencer with per-step velocity: click once for a normal hit, again for an accent, and again to clear the step entirely.
- Swing from 0 to 75% that delays off-beat steps for a looser, more human feel, plus tempo control from 40 to 220 BPM.
- Six genre pattern presets — Four on the floor, Boom bap, Trap, Breakbeat, Reggaeton, Rock — as a starting point you can edit freely.
- Live pad mode that lets you trigger any instrument with the mouse or the A S D F G H J K keys for hands-on playing.
- Real-time looped playback with a moving playhead while you edit, so every change to a step is audible immediately.
- Render 1 to 8 bars to audio and export as WAV or MP3, or export a MIDI file using the General MIDI drum map for use in a DAW.
What is this online drum machine?
This online drum machine puts a full step sequencer in your browser: eight synthesized instruments, four kits, and a grid you tap to build a beat, with nothing to install and no samples to download. Every sound is generated by the browser's audio engine rather than played back from a sample library, so there is no licensing to worry about and no waiting for files to load.
It behaves like a classic drum machine rather than a full production suite: you program a loop, shape it with swing and per-step accents, play it live with the on-screen pads or your keyboard, and render the result to audio or MIDI once you are happy with it. That MIDI file is the bridge — open it in a digital audio workstation with real sample libraries if you want to take the pattern further, or keep the beat exactly as it sounds here.
How the step sequencer, swing, and accents work
Each of the eight instrument rows is a timeline of 16 or 32 steps. Clicking an empty step adds a normal hit; clicking it again turns it into an accent, which plays louder and cuts through the mix — useful for a backbeat or a lead hi-hat pattern; a third click clears the step. Building a pattern is mostly a matter of deciding which rows get hits on which steps, and using accents to mark the ones that should stand out.
Swing, from 0 to 75%, delays every other step slightly so the rhythm feels played rather than quantized. A little swing on the hi-hats or claps goes a long way toward a natural groove; heavy swing pushes a pattern toward a shuffled, triplet-like feel. Tempo runs from 40 to 220 BPM, low enough for a half-time ballad and high enough for drum and bass or hardcore.
Choosing a kit and a starting pattern
The four kits change the character of every instrument at once, so you can rewrite the whole feel of a pattern with one click. 808 leans toward deep, modern low end suited to trap and hip-hop; Acoustic aims for a cleaner, more natural drum tone; Lo-fi adds grit and saturation; Techno favors tight, punchy hits built for a four-on-the-floor groove. Switch kits at any point without losing your programmed pattern, so you can audition the same beat across all four.
These presets are a starting point, not a limit. Load one, then add or remove hits, swap in a different kit, or push the tempo outside its typical range — a Boom bap pattern slowed to 70 BPM or a Trap pattern pushed to 160 BPM can sound completely different from the preset it started as, while keeping its underlying rhythm.
| Pattern preset | Typical tempo | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| Four on the floor | 120–128 BPM | Steady kick on every beat, driving a four-on-the-floor house and dance groove |
| Boom bap | 85–95 BPM | Laid-back kick and snare on 2 and 4, classic head-nod hip-hop swing |
| Trap | 130–150 BPM (or 65–75 half-time) | Sparse kick pattern, rapid hi-hat rolls, heavy low end |
| Breakbeat | 160–175 BPM | Syncopated, off-grid kick and snare hits, jungle and drum-and-bass energy |
| Reggaeton | 90–96 BPM | Dembow rhythm — a kick, kick-snare, kick pattern repeated across the bar |
| Rock | 110–140 BPM | Straight kick on 1 and 3, snare backbeat on 2 and 4, driving eighth-note hats |
A beginner's guide to programming your first beat
If you have never programmed a beat before, start with the kick and snare. Put kick hits on steps 1 and 9 (beats 1 and 3 of a 16-step pattern) and snare hits on steps 5 and 13 (beats 2 and 4). That single pattern is the backbone of most rock, pop, and hip-hop grooves, and it already sounds like a beat on its own.
From there, add closed hats on every step, or every other step, for momentum, and open the hi-hat occasionally to mark a transition. Bring in claps layered with the snare for extra weight, and use a low or high tom as a fill on the last step or two of a bar before the pattern repeats. Accent the first beat of the bar so the loop has a clear downbeat.
- Kick on 1 and 3 (steps 1 and 9 of 16) — the foundation of most grooves
- Snare or clap on 2 and 4 (steps 5 and 13) — the backbeat
- Closed hats on every step for a driving feel, or every other step for a laid-back one
- Open hat or percussion hit right before beat 1 to signal a new bar
- Accent the downbeat so the loop has an obvious "one"
Exporting your beat for a DAW
Once a pattern sounds right, render 1 to 8 bars to audio and click Download audio to save it as a WAV or MP3 loop — enough for a demo, a background loop for a video, or a reference track for a session. If you want to keep editing with real instruments and sample libraries afterward, export MIDI instead of, or alongside, the audio file.
The MIDI export uses the General MIDI drum map, the standard note-to-instrument layout that most DAWs and virtual drum instruments already understand, so kick, snare, and hat hits land on the correct notes automatically when you drop the file into a track. From there you can swap in your own sample library, layer the loop with recorded instruments, or follow the general approach in exporting stems to a DAW for bringing other Audio Lab audio into the same session.
Tips for better results
- Program the kick and snare first, then layer hats and percussion on top — it is easier to hear the groove before you add ear candy.
- Use accents sparingly. A pattern where every step is accented loses the contrast that makes an accent stand out.
- Add a small amount of swing (10–20%) to hats before pushing it further; heavy swing changes the feel dramatically.
- Render in 8-bar sections and join multiple renders with the audio joiner to build a longer arrangement than a single render allows.
- Save a pattern you like with Save preset before experimenting, so you can always get back to it.
- Match your beat's tempo to an existing track by checking its BPM first with the BPM detector.
- If you plan to finish the track in a DAW, export MIDI as well as audio — you can always resynthesize the drums differently later.
Frequently asked questions
Is this online drum machine really free?
Yes. Every kit, pattern preset, and export option is free, with no sign-up and no watermark. All eight instruments are synthesized directly in your browser, so there is nothing to buy and no sample pack to license.
Does my pattern or audio get uploaded anywhere?
No. The sequencer, the synthesized instruments, and the render process all run entirely on your device. Nothing about your pattern is sent to a server, and no account is required to use or export it.
What audio and MIDI formats can I export?
You can download your rendered loop as WAV or MP3, and export a MIDI file that uses the General MIDI drum map, so it maps correctly onto drum instruments and sample libraries in a DAW.
How long can a beat be?
You render 1 to 8 bars at a time. For a longer arrangement, render a few different 8-bar sections — a verse pattern and a fill, for example — and combine them afterward with the audio joiner.
Can I use my own drum samples?
Not currently. All eight instruments across the four kits are synthesized in the browser rather than sampled, which keeps the tool fast to load and free of licensing questions, but it does mean you cannot import your own one-shots as kit sounds.
Does this work on my phone?
Yes, the sequencer and pads work in a mobile browser, though a touchscreen makes fast pad playing less precise than a keyboard, and a small screen shows fewer steps at once on a 32-step pattern.
What are the keyboard shortcuts for the pads?
In pad mode, the keys A, S, D, F, G, H, J, and K trigger the eight instruments directly, which is faster than clicking for live playing and easier for recording a groove by feel.
Is this the same as a full DAW?
No. It is a focused drum machine: eight instruments, a step sequencer, and pattern presets, not a multitrack recorder or mixing environment. Export MIDI or audio and continue arranging in a digital audio workstation if you need multitrack production.
What is swing and when should I use it?
Swing delays every other step by a percentage of a beat, from 0 for a perfectly quantized grid to 75% for a heavily shuffled feel. Light swing, around 10–25%, on hi-hats is a common way to make a programmed beat sound less mechanical.
Can I make beats for genres other than the six presets?
Yes. The six pattern presets (Four on the floor, Boom bap, Trap, Breakbeat, Reggaeton, Rock) are starting points, not limits — every step, the tempo, the kit, and the swing amount are fully editable, so you can build any pattern the grid allows.
How is this different from the soundboard?
The soundboard plays one-shot or looping clips you upload or record, triggered manually from pads. This drum machine generates its own synthesized instrument sounds and sequences them automatically on a tempo-locked grid, which suits programming a repeatable beat better than cueing sound effects.
I don't hear any sound when I press play. What's wrong?
Browsers block audio until you interact with the page, so click anywhere in the drum machine first, then press play. Also check your device volume and confirm the pattern actually has steps programmed — an empty grid plays silently.
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