I put them in a JSON file called breakbeats.json and wrote a script that generates them all! Download the JSON file and feel free to use the following script if you like.

I imported these MIDI files in Ableton Live and rendered them with a few drum hits samples I found online:Įthan’s spreadsheet had a bunch of classic breakbeats like this one. This script will produce the following 4 MIDI files (I ve linked them to their MIDI versions just in case you want to download them and check them out): 'funkyDrummer_' + p + '.mid' // Give a name to your MIDI file Pattern: funkyDrummer.repeat(4), // Repeat the pattern to get 4 bars This is how it would look if we transposed them to Scribbletune’s minimalistic pattern language: Here we can clearly see the down beats we need for a kick, snare, closed hats and an open hats part. I never intend to reproduce exactly what an existing track does (and honestly no script in the world can possibly come anywhere close to James Brown’s work) but if I can get a close enough beat that I can use in my personal productions, then I m happy with it. Here’s an example from the spreadsheet for “The Funky Drummer”. Breakbeats - 6 Tactics For Recreating Classic Breaks And Loops. Other than being a doctoral fellow, published author and founder, he also has the top answer on Quora for why good composers steal! I am always on the lookout for patterns that I can use in Scribbletune and I came across this really nice spreadsheet made public by the illustrious Ethan Hein. What follows 40 seconds later is one of the most popular drum beats in hip-hop history. That’s how James Brown instructs Clyde Stubblefield on Funky Drummer. Don’t turn it loose, ‘cause it’s a mother. Scribbletune can be used to generate classic breakbeats with slight variations each time they are generated.īefore we go on, here’s a sample of what we are gonna end up creating using Scribbletune. You don’t have to do no soloin’ brother, just keep with what you’ve got.

Classic breakbeats