Phonk drum patterns.

7 phonk patterns at 135 BPM. Play one, change any step, take it to your DAW as MIDI.

Phonk is Memphis rap drums from the nineties run through a car stereo at 140. The kick and snare are a trap pattern, the 808 is distorted, and the cowbell, the sound that made drift phonk, rides in eighths over the top. The older Memphis style sits at 90 with a little swing; the Brazilian version puts the kick on every beat. On the grid, the rim row plays the cowbell part.

Drift phonk. Kick on one and the a of two, snare on two and four, the rim as the cowbell in eighths, 808 under the kick.

Hat
Rim
Snare
808
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Memphis. Slower, with sixteenth hats swung a little: kick on one, the and of two and the and of three, snare on two and four.

Open hat
Hat
Snare
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Half-time. Snare on three only under the cowbell rim: the slow drop.

Rim
Snare
808
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Brazilian phonk. Four on the floor at 128 with the tamborzão snare and the cowbell rim.

Hat
Rim
Snare
808
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Hat rolls. The drift pattern with sixteenth hats into the snares.

Hat
Rim
Snare
808
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Sparse. Cowbell rim and kick only: the intro.

Rim
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

Two bars, 808 slide. Bar two's 808 adds hits on the and of three and the a of four, which slide in the DAW.

Rim
Snare
808
Kick

Drop a sound on any row to play it there.

Open in the drum sequencer →

How a phonk beat is built

The kick and the 808

The snare and the rim on two and four

Hats in eighths

Then a variation: Memphis

Drift phonk at 135: kick on step 1, the a of two (step 8) and the and of three (step 11), with the 808 on the same steps; snare on 5 and 13; the rim playing the cowbell on every eighth; hats on the eighths. Memphis slows to 92 with sixteenth hats and swing at 56, which the hats carry, kick on one and the and of two and the and of three, and an open hat on step 15. Half-time keeps the cowbell and moves the snare to step 9 only. Brazilian phonk is four on the floor at 128 with the snare on the dembow positions, steps 4, 7, 12 and 15, and the cowbell still on the eighths. The hat rolls version bursts the hats into sixteenths before each snare. The sparse pattern is kick and cowbell alone, the usual intro. The two-bar pattern adds 808 hits on the and of three and the a of four in bar two, which slide in the DAW.

More drum patterns

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Questions.

What tempo is phonk?

Drift phonk runs at 130 to 145 BPM, with the grid at 135; the older Memphis style at 85 to 100; Brazilian phonk at 125 to 135 on four on the floor.

What makes the cowbell pattern?

Eighths, every one, at the same level, over a trap kick and snare. The grid uses the rim row because the kit has no cowbell; drop your own cowbell sample on that row and it's the sound.

How do I get the 808 to slide?

Export the MIDI, put the 808 notes on a monophonic bass with glide or portamento on, and let each note overlap the next slightly. The two-bar pattern on this page has the extra 808 hits that slide works on.

More free tools

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Drum sequencer

Program a beat on a 16-step grid.

Drum pad

16 pads on your keyboard, your own sounds too.

Metronome

A steady click, and a click track to download.