Drums › Grooves › Lo-Fi Hip-Hop
The Lo-Fi Hip-Hop drum groove
The pattern, step by step
One cell per sixteenth note, sixteen cells to the bar — exactly what the hub's drum machine plays. Downbeats are shown in bold.
Lo-Fi Hip-Hop
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Snare | · | · | · | · | ● | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · |
| Clap | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · |
| Hi-hat | ● | · | ● | · | ● | · | ● | · | ● | · | ● | · | ● | · | ● | · |
- Kick · 2 hits · steps 1, 9 · beats 1, 3
- Snare · 3 hits · steps 5, 7, 13 · beats 2, 4
- Clap · 2 hits · steps 7, 15
- Hi-hat · 8 hits · steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 · beats 1, 2, 3, 4 · eighth notes
Where to start
Take a boom bap at 90, drop to 78, and cut everything above 8 kHz. You have just made lo-fi. The difficulty is not technical, it is knowing when to stop.
What the hands and feet actually do
The genre assumes imperfection is the content: tape wow, slight detuning, drums never quite in place. What you would fix elsewhere becomes the signature here.
The trap
Thinking "blurred" means "sloppy". The best tracks in the genre are written carefully, then degraded on purpose. The order of operations is not negotiable.
Listen to this
To hear the Lo-Fi Hip-Hop groove in its element:
Aruarian Dance (Nujabes) · Feather (Nujabes)
Neighbouring grooves
Play it right now
The Drum Hub's drum machine loads this pattern, plays it at any tempo and lets you edit it cell by cell.
Open the Drum Hub →Frequently asked questions
How do you play a Lo-Fi Hip-Hop groove on drums?
Take a boom bap at 90, drop to 78, and cut everything above 8 kHz. You have just made lo-fi. The difficulty is not technical, it is knowing when to stop.
What tempo is Lo-Fi Hip-Hop played at?
The usual range runs from 70 to 90 BPM. The hub's 1 pattern(s) are set to 80 BPM, and the tempo stays free inside the drum machine.
Is Lo-Fi Hip-Hop straight or shuffled?
Shuffled: the offbeats are delayed (0.55 of swing in the hub's pattern), which gives the shuffle feel.
Which drummer should you listen to for Lo-Fi Hip-Hop?
Nujabes, and the culture of study-radio streams. Worth hearing: Aruarian Dance (Nujabes) · Feather (Nujabes)