1980s drum beats you can play

What makes a beat sound like the 1980s

Drum machines replaced the drummer on many records, so beats became exact and steady, often straight with no swing. The snare grew huge: recorded in a bright room and gated, so it booms and stops. Synth toms with a falling pitch, hand claps layered on the snare, and a tambourine on the off-beats are all of the decade.

Underneath, the bass was a slap bass or an FM synth bass, bright and rubbery, and the chords were major sevenths and ninths on electric pianos and wide poly synths. Samplers added choirs singing “aah” and orchestra hits.

The styles in Beatbay

Synthwave (a night drive: gated snare, octave bass, arpeggios), City pop (Tokyo pop: crisp drums, slap bass, lush chords), Boogie (the dance floor after disco), Yacht rock (smooth California), Italo disco (Europe’s synth disco), New jack swing (swung R&B with orchestra hits), Freestyle (Latin-tinged dance), the Power ballad and Vaporwave (the decade remembered, slowed down). Synthwave, City pop and Boogie are free; the rest are in Pro.

Voices and tape, made in code

Beatbay’s vocal track sings “ooh”, “aah” and “woah” on notes in the beat’s key, or shouts “Hey!”, “Yeah!” and “Uh!”, as a high voice, a low voice or a choir. They are made the way 1980s samplers’ choirs sounded: a buzzing tone shaped into vowels. The mix’s Tape knob adds a cassette’s wobble, a softer top and a little hiss.