The reggaeton drum pattern
Reggaeton's drum pattern is the dembow: a kick on every beat of the bar, and a snare on steps 4, 7, 12 and 15 of sixteen. Count the hits and they fall three, three, two.
| Kick | 1, 5, 9, 13 Every beat of the bar. |
|---|---|
| Snare | 4, 7, 12, 15 The last sixteenth of beats one and three, the third sixteenth of beats two and four. |
| Tempo | 90 BPM |
Three, three, two
Take the first half of the bar: steps 1 to 8. The kick lands on step 1 and the snare on steps 4 and 7. From 1 to 4 is three steps, from 4 to 7 is three, and from 7 to the next kick on step 9 is two. That rhythm is the tresillo.
The dembow plays the tresillo twice in a bar, with a kick on step 5 and step 13 holding the beat under it.
Where it comes from
The pattern takes its name from Shabba Ranks's "Dem Bow" of 1990, produced by Bobby Digital on a riddim by Steely & Clevie that is known as Poco Man Jam or Fish Market. The same year Dennis the Menace reworked it as "Pounder", the version producers in Puerto Rico sampled.
Tempo
Native Instruments sets its reggaeton example at 90 BPM, and this figure follows it.
Hats
No hi-hat is fixed. Some reggaeton has one and some has none, so the figure leaves the hats to you.
On Beep Boop
- Turn the voice dial to KICK. Press step keys 1, 5, 9 and 13.
- Turn the dial to SNARE. Press step keys 4, 7, 12 and 15.
- Press PLAY, and turn TEMPO until the window reads 90.
Or take the beat as it stands. On an iPhone or iPad with Beep Boop, touch the link under the receipt. From a computer, point the phone's camera at the code.
Sources
- The kick and snare, and the tempo: Tim Cant, how to make reggaeton, Native Instruments.
- The tresillo under a four-beat kick, and the hats: Reggaeton, Wikipedia. The tresillo itself: Tresillo (rhythm), Wikipedia.
- The history: Dembow and Dem Bow, Wikipedia; Bryan Parys, What is dembow?, Berklee. Wikipedia's reggaeton page dates the record to 1991.