Create Hiphop drumbeats in GarageBand

Step-By-Step Guide

In this lesson, we will build a hiphop drum beat that you can start using today to make your own music, in the classroom or at home.

First, let’s listen to this drum beat being used in a recording. Here is the song “Supa Star” by the duo Group Home.

Now, let’s build the drum beat.

Step One

Open GarageBand and navigate to the Drum app. Open the Beat Sequencer. In the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, you can select your drum kit. Let’s pick the kit “Hacienda.” You may notice it has auto-created a beat; let’s clear this by clicking on the Patterns icon and then clicking on “New Pattern.”

Step Two

1. Place the hi-hats (Teal) on the downbeats 1, 2, 3, and 4.
2. Place the kick drum (Pink) on the downbeat of 1.
3. Place the snare (Yellow) on the downbeats of 2 and 4.

Step Three

Now, let’s complete the basic beat by adding the off beats:

1. Click on the “&” notes on the hi-hat line (Teal).
2. Add the “&” of the 2nd and 3rd beats for the kick drum (Pink).
3. Place a kick drum (Pink) on the last 16th note of the first beat.

Step Four

In this step, we can experiment with the last bar of the hi-hat to create variation and hear how it affects the sound and vibe of the beat.

Variation 1 Add an open hi-hat on the last 16th beat of the pattern.

Variation 2 Flip the last two hi-hats around, so the open hi-hat is first and the closed hi-hat is on the last 16th note.

Variation 3 Remove that last closed hi-hat.

Variation 4 Move the open hi-hat onto the last 16th note.

Going Forward

Moving forward, you can play with the EQ and Overdrive settings to enhance the hiphop drum sound. From there, you can build some bass lines over this basic but versatile beat.

Feel free to experiment and make the beat your own!

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