Beatbay guide
A drum machine you can play online
Tap the steps below and press play: this is a step-sequencer drum machine, eight drums across sixteen steps, with every sound made in your browser as it plays. Pick a style to start from, change anything, then open it in Beatbay to keep it.
How a step sequencer works
A bar of music is split into sixteen steps, each a sixteenth note. Each row is one drum. Light a step and that drum plays there every time round. The kick and snare make the shape of the beat; hats and percussion fill it in.
Read the grid in groups of four: the first step of each group is a beat. Kick on the first, snare on the fifth and thirteenth, hats on every other step, and you have the most common beat there is.
What Beatbay adds
In the app each step can be an accent (louder), a roll of two to four hits, or play only some of the time (chance), and can be nudged early or late. Swing makes every second note late for a laid-back feel. There are eight patterns to switch between as it plays, a Fill button, pads to play live and record, a sweep filter for build-ups, and eight kits, all made in code.
Beats travel as links: send one and whoever opens it hears it straight away and can remix it. You can also save a WAV or a video of the grid lighting up.
Free and private
Beatbay is free in your browser with no account. Your beats stay on your device. Pro ($2.99, once) adds every kit, longer patterns, eight patterns and song mode, the bass and chords tracks, unlimited beats and video without the mark.
Questions
Is this drum machine free?
Yes. The page and the Beatbay app are free, with no account or download. Pro is an optional one-off purchase.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, on iPhone, iPad and Android in the browser. On iPhone the sound plays even with the silent switch on.
Are the sounds samples?
No. Every drum is made in code as it plays: kicks from a falling sine, snares from tuned bodies and noise, hi-hats from six square waves at metallic ratios.