The pattern
160 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 | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| Snare | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | hit |
| Open hi-hat | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest |
| Cowbell | hit | rest | hit | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit |
| High conga | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest |
How to play it and where it comes from
Trinidadian soca (from calypso, 1970s, Lord Shorty): power soca at around 160, groovy soca at around 115. Hammering kick on the quarter notes, snare on 2 and 4 with an extra hit on the last sixteenth that pushes forward, open hat on the offbeat. The percussive identity is the "iron" (cowbell lane: car brake drums played with metal sticks) of the engine room, in an eighth + two sixteenths figure, plus syncopated congas. Variants: groovy soca with syncopated kick and more space, snare rolls at the end of the phrase for the "wine" and "jump."