You don’t need a studio to start. Open the Kulture beat maker, put on headphones and give yourself a few minutes.
Start with the pulse.
The grid has 16 steps. At the default setting, one trip across it is one bar in 4/4 time. Each step is a sixteenth note. Put a kick on steps 1, 5, 9 and 13. Press play. That steady pulse is your starting point.
Give it a backbeat.
Add a snare on steps 5 and 13. Now place a closed hi hat on steps 3, 7, 11 and 15. You’ve built a simple house pattern. Listen to how the hi hat fills the spaces between the kicks.
Move one thing.
Remove the kick on step 9. Add one on step 11. Try an extra hi hat just before the snare. Small changes can alter the feel of the whole pattern. There isn’t one correct answer.
Change the pace.
Turn the tempo down, then up. The same pattern feels different at 95 BPM and 135 BPM. Swing delays alternating steps slightly, giving the rhythm an uneven push and pull. Start with a small amount.
Take it with you.
Export your pattern as a MIDI file to keep working on it in a music app. MIDI stores note and timing information; the sounds will depend on the instrument you use to play it back.
Open the beat maker