How to Pick a Hi Hat Rhythm for a Drum Machine

The rhythm of the hi-hat is a key to the feeling and momentum of a song. To understand how to program the hi-hat of your drum machine we will look at some basic music theory to help you understand how beats are divided up in a measure.

Things You'll Need

• Drum machine
• Some music to listen to as a reference

Instructions

1. Pick a hi-hat sound that you like from your specific drum machine.

2. Decide what type of sound you want, whether it be aggressive, a slow build-up of momentum or a generic hi-hat rhythm.

3. Open your step sequencer. Almost all drum machines use what is known as a step sequencer to program rhythms. A step sequencer is usually divided into 16 steps, and each step represents one sixteenth note.

4. Enter the appropriate number of steps into your sequencer. This will determine how your rhythm will sound. Let's look at three basic rhythms. For the most basic rhythm you will program the first step on each beat of your measure. A measure has four beats, and each beat can have up to four steps. Four beats per measure times four steps per beat equals sixteen possible steps for each measure of music. So, for our first rhythm you would program only steps 1, 5, 9 and 13. Another common hi-hat pattern is called an eighth-note pattern, in which each beat gets two steps. So, for an eighth note pattern, choose steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15. Lastly, for a more aggressive sound choose a sixteenth note pattern, in which each beat gets four steps. You would program every step for this pattern: 1 through 16.

5. Experiment with different rhythms. The three rhythms you learned in step four are a great start. Once you have them down try adding or removing steps and see what kind of difference it makes. Be creative and you will be able to come up with a lot of cool grooves.

6. Listen to songs you like. Study what the hi-hat is doing in these songs. Don't be surprised if the three basic hi-hat rhythms you learned in step four appear repeatedly, especially in popular music.

Tips & Warnings

• Start off simple. Make sure that the hi-hat rhythm you pick fits your song. Don't make it too wacky just for the sake of complexity or you may be throwing off the other elements of your track. Try starting out with one of our three basic rhythms first. Then add or subtract steps as needed.