New Orleans Bounce drum pattern
A two-bar bounce groove with a syncopated kick that answers itself, bright offbeat hat accents and a snare pickup at the end of the phrase. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 100 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the New Orleans Bounce
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 16th-note bounce pocket).
The New Orleans Bounce 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 --x- X--x --x- |
| Snare | ---- X--- ---- X--- | ---- X--- ---- X--x |
| Closed hat | ooxo ooxo ooxo ooxo | ooxo ooxo ooxo ooxo |
Tempo and feel
Up and forward. The accents on the and of each beat give the bounce; keep the kicks punchy and short so the pattern stays danceable. The default tempo is 100 BPM. It plays with 52% 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 New Orleans Bounce
Play the hats alone, accenting every and. Add the kick pattern one bar at a time. Land the bar-two snare pickup and go straight back to beat 1.
Variations to try next
Drop the snare pickup for a four-bar phrase. Double the bar-one kick on the a of 3. Play the hat accents on cowbell.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Showboys - Drag Rap and Juvenile - Back That Azz Up. A drum-set study of the call-and-response grammar New Orleans bounce inherited from the Triggerman and Brown beats: busy syncopated kicks, a steady 16th hat and a snare pickup that throws the loop forward. It is not a transcription of any one record.