House drum pattern

Almost every house track starts from the same four parts: kick, clap, open hat and closed hat. Here they are at 124 BPM with a light swing, each part in its own place. It is the beat our drum machine opens with.

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HOUSE124 BPM · SWING 15%
Kick 10
Clap 02
Open HH 03
Closed HH 02

You hear the kick and clap from the grid with a loop from RAW POWER, Top Loop, which carries the hats. The faded rows are there to program yourself.

Edit it in the drum machine →

These are real sounds from RAW POWER, 179 royalty-free house and tech house drums and loops. Hear them all ·

Most of the sounds in this pattern are in our free tech house drum kit.

The basic house beat

Strip the pattern down to kick, clap and closed hat and you have the basic house beat: the part that makes it house before anything else is added. Start there, get the kick and bass sitting together, then bring in the rest. Press Basic beat above to hear it and download it as MIDI.

How the pattern is built

Kick 10
Four on the floor: the kick on every quarter note.
Clap 02
Clap on 2 and 4. Layer a snare under it if you want more body.
Open HH 03
The open hat on the offbeat gives house its pulse. Keep it short so it does not wash over the kick.
Closed HH 02
Closed hats on the sixteenths in between. With swing on, these are the notes that move, which is where the shuffle comes from.

Make it your own

  • Add a shaker on all sixteenths, quietly, for a more live feel.
  • Take the closed hats out in the breakdown and bring them back with the drop.
  • Swap the clap for a snap for a lighter, deeper sound.

Tempos for every genre: BPM by genre. Or let the beat generator write variations. All 20 patterns as MIDI in one zip: free drum MIDI patterns.

More drum patterns

Every sound in this pattern is from RAW POWER →179 royalty-free house and tech house drums: 25 kicks, 21 snares, 20 claps, 43 hi-hats, percussion and 16 loops. $29, instant download.

Or start with the free pack: 24 sounds from all three packs, and a 25% code for the full packs a few days later.

Questions

What BPM is house music?

Most house sits between 120 and 126 BPM. Classic and deep house are often 120 to 124, tech house a bit faster at 124 to 128.

Why does house use four on the floor?

A kick on every beat makes the tempo obvious and keeps a dance floor moving. Everything else in the beat, clap, hats and percussion, is arranged around that steady pulse.

How much swing should house drums have?

Between 10 and 25% on the sixteenths is common. The kick and clap fall on the beat and are not affected; the closed hats in between move, and that gives the groove.

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