The pattern
| 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 | Beat 5 | Step 18 | Step 19 | Step 20 | Beat 6 | Step 22 | Step 23 | Step 24 | Beat 7 | Step 26 | Step 27 | Step 28 | Beat 8 | Step 30 | Step 31 | Step 32 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
| Snare | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | 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 | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| Rim shot | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
| Closed hi-hat | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | hit |
How to play it and where it comes from
Instrumental grime (East London, 2002–2004; Wiley, Youngstar, Ruff Sqwad) almost always at 140 BPM, FruityLoops' default tempo at the time. This is the garage-derived "double-time" version: snare + clap on 2 and 4 of every bar, a broken, asymmetrical kick (sixteenths 1, 8, 11 in the first bar; 3, 8, 11 in the second) that leaves gaps for the MC. Sparse offbeat hats, sometimes absent: in grime the drums are skeletal and what matters is the contrast with the bass (square wave, sub). A very common half-time variant (snare only on 3, felt at 70) is closer to dubstep; the eski variant has very few hits and icy synths; 8-bar instrumentals where the beat changes every 8 bars to give the MC switch-up points. Fills: a total stop for half a bar ("reload"), kick hits in triplets, gunshots and sirens.