UK Garage Shuffle
Genre: UK Garage · Tempo: 136 BPM · Time signature: 4/4 · Length: 16 steps · Style: classic 2-step garage productions
Open this pattern in the interactive Patchpad (with playback)
The pattern
| Instrument | Steps (1 = start of the bar) | Velocity | Timing and chance |
|---|
| kick | 1, 7, 11 | 95-115 | step 7: early by about 4% of a step; step 11: early by about 8% of a step |
| hat-closed | 3, 7, 9, 11, 15 | 65-72 | step 7: late by about 12% of a step; step 11: late by about 12% of a step; step 15: late by about 12% of a step |
| perc1 | 4, 10 | 50-55 | step 4: late by about 8% of a step, plays 70% of the time; step 10: late by about 12% of a step, plays 60% of the time |
| snare | 5, 13 | 108-110 | on the grid, always plays |
| hat-open | 8, 16 | 78-80 | step 8: late by about 8% of a step, plays 60% of the time; step 16: late by about 8% of a step, plays 55% of the time |
| clap | 13 | 90 | step 13: late by about 4% of a step, plays 85% of the time |
Digitakt II
Tracks
- T1: kick
- T2: snare
- T3: clap
- T4: hat-closed
- T5: hat-open
- T6: perc1
Settings
- TRIG page µtime p-locked +2 to +3 on off-beat hat-closed hits (T4, steps 7, 11, 15) to build the shuffle feel — do not quantize these back to 0.
- Steps 7 and 11 (kick, T1): TRIG page VEL locked to 95 and 100 (vs 115 on the downbeat, step 1) and µtime locked to -1 and -2 — the syncopated kicks sit under the downbeat both in level and in slightly-early placement.
- AMP page DEC on hat-open (T5, steps 8, 16) locked long, around 90-100 (of 0-126,INF), against a short DEC around 20-30 on hat-closed (T4) — the open/closed contrast is what makes steps 8 and 16 read as accents.
- SRC page TUNE on hat-open (T5) locked a few steps brighter than hat-closed (T4) — roughly +8 to +12 — for the accenting lift on steps 8 and 16.
Digitone II
Tracks
- T1: kick (ALGO 8, FM click-into-boom, ducked per-step)
- T2: snare (high-FDBK FM noise)
- T3: hat-closed (high-FDBK FM noise, thinned)
- T4: clap (high-FDBK FM noise, MOD-page multi-hit)
- T5: hat-open (high-FDBK FM noise, long ring)
- T6: perc1 (ALGO 1, bright plain carrier fill)
Settings
- Hat-open (T5, steps 8, 16): SYN page 1 FDBK 90, FLTR page 1 TYPE toward HP (~85) — same FM-noise mechanism as hat-closed (T3) but AMP page DEC locked long, around 110 (of 0-127), with MODE ADSR and REL 90 so it rings well into the next 16th, the open/closed contrast that makes these steps read as accents. TRIG PARAMETERS page PROB locked to 60% (step 8) and 55% (step 16), matching the step data's own probability, with MICROTIME +2 on both.
- Perc1 (T6, steps 4, 10): SYN page 1 ALGO 1, RATIO C 4.00 for a plain bright carrier fill. AMP page ATK 0, DEC 18, SUS 0, REL 10, VOL 55. TRIG PARAMETERS page PROB locked to 70% (step 4) and 60% (step 10), with MICROTIME +2 and +3 matching the step data's own shuffle offsets.
- TRIG PARAMETERS page MICROTIME p-locked +3 on off-beat hat-closed hits (T3, steps 7, 11, 15) to build the shuffle feel — do not quantize these back to 0. SYN page 1 FDBK 88, FLTR page 1 TYPE toward HP (~95). AMP page DEC 20, VOL locked to match the step data's own descending VEL (72/68/66 on steps 9/11/15).
- Steps 7 and 11 (kick, T1): AMP page VOL locked to 95 and 100 (vs 115 on the downbeat, step 1) and TRIG PARAMETERS page MICROTIME locked to -1 and -2 — the syncopated kicks sit under the downbeat both in level and in slightly-early placement. SYN page 1 ALGO 8, RATIO C 0.45; SYN page 2 Operator A DEC locked shorter on these two hits than the downbeat hit — around 12 vs 20 — for the classic 'ducked' 2-step kick feel, the Digitone II equivalent of Syntakt's shorter SYN page DEC on the same two steps.
- Snare (T2, steps 5, 13): SYN page 1 FDBK 90; AMP page ATK 0, DEC 35, SUS 0, REL 18, VOL locked to 108/110 (matching the step data's own VEL).
- Step 13 (clap, T4): SYN page 1 FDBK 100, RATIO A set to a high non-integer value (~2.30) for a texture distinct from the snare firing on the same step. MOD page 1 in MODE ONE with a fast SPD and square WAVE routed to DEST = AMP level, retriggering 2-3 quick pulses within one AMP envelope, for clap's extra multi-hit 'splash' vs. the snare's single crack — reinforcing the backbeat without doubling exactly on top of the snare.
Syntakt
Tracks
- T1: clap (PC Carbon)
- T2: snare (SD Basic)
- T9: kick (BD Silky)
- T10: perc1 (UT Noise Gen)
- T12: hat-closed (CH Classic)
Settings
- Steps 7 and 11 (kick, T9, BD Silky): TRIG PARAMETERS page VEL locked to 95 and 100 (vs 115 on the downbeat step 1) with µtime -1/-2; SYN page DEC on the same track locked shorter on these two hits than the downbeat hit — around 40 vs 70 (of 0-127) — for the classic 'ducked' 2-step kick feel.
- TRIG PARAMETERS page µtime p-locked +2 to +3 on off-beat hat-closed hits (T12, steps 7, 11, 15) — same shuffle offsets as Digitakt.
- TRIG PARAMETERS page VEL on snare (T2, SD Basic, steps 5, 13) locked to 108/110 and clap (T1, PC Carbon, step 13) to 90, with clap's µtime left at the pattern's own +1 — reinforcing the backbeat without doubling exactly on top of the snare.
- Hat-closed and hat-open both need Syntakt's single Analog Cymbal track (T12) — this pattern's groove depends on the denser hat-closed pulse (steps 3, 7, 9, 11, 15, all 100% probability) far more than the two hat-open accents (steps 8, 16, ≤60% probability), so hat-closed (CH Classic) takes T12 and the hat-open accents genuinely cannot be voiced on the same physical Syntakt unit — drop them or record hat-open as a separate pass.
Notes
Classic 2-step skeleton: downbeat kick, backbeat snare/clap on 2 and 4, syncopated off-grid kicks on the '&' of beats 2 and 3, and shuffled hats carrying most of the swung feel via micro-timing (µtime) rather than a global swing setting. This is an original interpretation of the genre's feel, not a transcription of any specific released track.
Patchpad is a free reference of drum patterns and synth patches written for real hardware: Digitakt II, Digitone II, Syntakt, Novation Summit, Arturia MiniFreak, Dreadbox Typhon and ASM Hydrasynth Desktop.