Lo-Fi Hip-Hop drum pattern
A soft two-bar study-beat groove: a round kick, a mellow late snare, quiet swung hats and a few ghost notes that make the loop feel handmade. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 76 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Lo-Fi Hip-Hop
Count it as: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a · two bars. The pattern is a 2-bar phrase in 4/4 (two-bar lazy swung 16th-note pocket).
The Lo-Fi Hip-Hop pattern, hit by hit
Each character is one step of the grid and each group is one beat. X is an accented hit, x a normal hit, o a quiet or ghost note and - a rest.
| Voice | Bar 1 | Bar 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Kick | x--- ---x --x- ---- | x--x ---- --x- ---- |
| Snare | ---- x--- ---- x--- | ---- x--- ---- X--- |
| Ghost snare | ---- ---- -o-- ---- | ---- --o- ---- ---o |
| Closed hat | o-oo o-o- o-oo o-o- | o-o- o-oo o-o- o-oo |
Tempo and feel
Soft and sleepy but not sloppy. Nothing is loud; the charm is in the late snare and the swung hats sitting just under the melody. The default tempo is 76 BPM. It plays with 59% swing by default; move the Swing control toward 50% to hear it straight. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Lo-Fi Hip-Hop
Play everything at half your normal volume. Let the snare fall a touch late on 2 and 4. Keep the swung hats light enough that the ghost notes can still be heard.
Variations to try next
Replace the snare with cross-stick. Drop the bar-two kick on the a of 1. Straighten the swing and hear the loop turn stiff.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Nujabes - Feather and Nujabes - Aruarian Dance. This is a style study written for practice, not a transcription of any one recording.