The pattern
120 BPM · 4/4 · 16 step
| Instrument | Beat 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Beat 2 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Beat 3 | Step 10 | Step 11 | Step 12 | Beat 4 | Step 14 | Step 15 | Step 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
| Snare | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| Clap | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| Closed hi-hat | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit |
| Tambourine | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
How to play it and where it comes from
Synth-pop (Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Tears for Fears, a-ha) at 100–130: drum machine (LinnDrum, DMX, TR-808) with kick on 1 and 3, snare + clap on 2 and 4 with gated reverb, closed hats in sixteenths, tambourine on the backbeat. Variants: kick on the quarter notes in the dance versions, electronic toms (Simmons) in the fills, eighth-note hats in the ballads.