Liquid Drum and Bass drum pattern
A two-bar liquid drum and bass two-step at 174 BPM: the kick on 1 and the and of 3, a snare on 2 and 4, lifted offbeat hats and a quiet 16th shaker. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 174 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Liquid Drum and Bass
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 straight 16th-note two-step).
The Liquid Drum and Bass 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- ---- |
| Snare | ---- X--- ---- X--- | ---- X--- ---- X--- |
| Closed hat | o-x- o-x- o-x- o-x- | o-x- o-x- o-x- o--- |
| Open hat | ---- ---- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- --x- |
| Shaker | oooo oooo oooo oooo | oooo oooo oooo oooo |
Tempo and feel
Smooth and rolling. Two kicks and two snares are the whole skeleton; the hats and the shaker keep it gliding at speed. The default tempo is 174 BPM. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Liquid Drum and Bass
Play the kick on 1 and the and of 3 against the snare on 2 and 4 at half tempo. Add the eighth hats with the offbeats slightly louder. Add the shaker quietly, open the last hat of bar two, then raise the tempo.
Variations to try next
Move the hats to the ride for a smoother top. Leave the shaker out for a drier two-step. Add a quiet ghost snare on the a of 4 in bar two as a pickup.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include LTJ Bukem - Horizons and London Elektricity - Just One Second. A practice study of liquid drum and bass, the smooth strand DJ Fabio named liquid funk and labels such as Hospital Records championed: at 174 BPM, the two-step kick on 1 and the and of 3, a snare on 2 and 4, eighth hats with the offbeats lifted and a quiet 16th shaker, programmed straight and at fixed levels rather than chopped from a break. The shaker and the bar-two open hat are informed choices. It is authored for practice, not transcribed.