Music / 07
Online Drums
Play a drum kit in your browser: kick, snare, hi-hats, toms, clap, crash, and ride on pads you tap or play from the keyboard or a MIDI drum pad, and record your groove as WAV or MIDI.
Online Drums: The drums are synthesized in your browser in the style of classic analogue drum machines: the kick and toms are sine waves sweeping down in pitch, the snare and cymbals are filtered noise, and the hi-hats are six detuned square waves. The closed hi-hat cuts off the open one, as on a real kit. Recordings use the General MIDI drum map on channel 10, so they open as drums in any music software. Runs 100% locally in your browser with zero server file uploads.
- Category
- Everyday tools
- Runs
- In your browser
- Cost
- Free · no sign-up
- Availability
- Ready to use
Runs entirely in your browser
Tap the pads or use the keys shown on them; Space is the kick drum. A MIDI drum pad or keyboard plays the General MIDI drum map (note 36 kick, 38 snare, 42 closed hi-hat, 46 open hi-hat, and so on). The closed hi-hat cuts off the open one, as on a real kit. To play in time, run the metronome in another tab.
The parts of a kit
The kick drum and snare carry the beat: the kick usually on the strong beats and the snare on the backbeat, 2 and 4. Hi-hats and the ride keep the subdivision, eighth or sixteenth notes, while toms fill the gaps between phrases and the crash marks the start of a new section.
Practise slowly with the metronome and speed up only when every hit lands with the click. Recording yourself and listening back shows timing problems that are hard to hear while playing.
How drum machines make their sounds
Before samples were cheap, drum machines built each sound from simple circuits, and those sounds became genres of their own. A kick is a low sine wave whose pitch drops quickly, a snare a short tone with a burst of noise, and a hi-hat a cluster of square waves through a high filter, the way this kit makes them.
How to use it
- Tap the pads, or press the keys shown on them; Space is the kick drum.
- Connect a MIDI drum pad or keyboard if you have one.
- Record a groove, play it back, and download it as WAV or a MIDI drum track.
Privacy & limitations
Everything plays in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I play a basic rock beat?
Count 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. Play the closed hi-hat on every count and every and, the kick on 1 and 3, and the snare on 2 and 4. Start slowly and keep the hi-hat even.
Can I use a MIDI drum kit?
Yes, in browsers with Web MIDI such as Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. Press Connect a MIDI keyboard; pads that send the standard General MIDI notes play the matching drum, at the velocity you hit them.
Why do I hear a delay when I tap?
Phones and Bluetooth headphones add audio latency, often tens of milliseconds, which is noticeable on drums. Wired headphones or the speaker, and a computer rather than a phone, keep it smallest.
How do I keep time?
Run the metronome in another tab at the tempo you want, or record and listen back: playing along with a click is the quickest way to tighten timing.
Free tool · runs in your browser · no account required