Quiet Storm Groove drum pattern
A soft two-bar quiet storm groove: a cross-stick on 2 and 4, a feathered kick, whisper-quiet eighth-note hats with a few 16th pickups and a floor-tom swell at the end of the phrase. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 66 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Quiet Storm Groove
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 cross-stick ballad pocket).
The Quiet Storm Groove 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- ---- |
| Cross-stick | ---- x--- ---- x--- | ---- x--- ---- x--- |
| Closed hat | o-o- o-o- o-oo o-o- | o-o- o-oo o-o- o--- |
| Low tom | ---- ---- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- --ox |
Tempo and feel
Hushed and velvet. Nothing is louder than a speaking voice; the groove is a cushion for the singer. The default tempo is 66 BPM. It plays with 53% 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 Quiet Storm Groove
Play the hats and cross-stick at the quietest level you can keep even. Add the kick as a felt note, not a heard one. Add the bar-two floor-tom swell without speeding up.
Variations to try next
Swap the cross-stick for a soft snare in the last chorus. Play the hats with a brush on the snare instead. Leave the floor tom out for a sparser loop.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Smokey Robinson - Quiet Storm, Anita Baker - Sweet Love and Luther Vandross - So Amazing. A drum-set study of late-70s and 80s quiet storm R and B. Many of these records used drum machines, very light kit playing or brushes; this kit version keeps the soft cross-stick, feathered kick and quiet hats rather than any one record's programming. It is authored for practice, not transcribed.