Beatbay guide
How to make a boom bap beat
A boom bap beat is a hard snare on beats 2 and 4, a kick that lands on the one and then drags a little late, and hi-hats in eighth notes with some swing, at about 85 to 95 BPM. The “boom” is the kick, the “bap” the snare.
The pattern
The kick lands on the one, again just before beat 3 and once more after it, so it feels lazy rather than marching. The snare is fixed on 2 and 4 and hit hard. The hats play every eighth note, with the last one sometimes left out so the loop breathes.
| Drum | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thick kick | X | · | · | · | · | · | · | x | · | · | X | · | · | x | · | · |
| Crack snare | · | · | · | · | X | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | X | · | · | · |
| Dusty hat | x | · | x | · | x | · | x | · | x | · | x | · | x | · | x | ? |
| Shaker | · | · | ? | · | · | · | ? | · | · | · | ? | · | · | · | ? | · |
Read across: each column is a sixteenth note, numbered on the beats. X is an accent, x a hit, r a quick roll, ? a hit that plays only some of the time round.
Tempo and feel
Most boom bap sits between 85 and 95 BPM with a light swing, about 55 to 60%, so the in-between notes fall a touch late. The sounds matter as much as the notes: a short, thick kick and a snare with a crack, a little crunchy, as if sampled from an old record.
The beat above is Beatbay’s “Boom bap” starter: 90 BPM, swing 61%. Tap any step to change it while it plays.
Make it your own
Try moving one kick a sixteenth earlier or later: that one change gives a beat its own bounce. Turn the hats to 75% chance on the last step, add a shaker on the off-beats, and lift the drive in the mix to dirty it up. Beatbay’s Boom bap kit is made for this; the Lo-fi kit makes it softer.
When you like it, “Open in Beatbay” takes your version into the app, where you can save it, add patterns and share it as a link, a video or a WAV.
Questions
What BPM is boom bap?
Usually 85 to 95 BPM. Slower than that it starts to feel like lo-fi; faster, it pushes towards funk.
Does boom bap use swing?
Usually a little. A swing of about 55 to 60% on the sixteenths gives the laid-back feel without sounding like a shuffle.