P33

Objectives

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:

  • Set the PO-33 to Hip Hop mode (80 BPM, swing 2).
  • Write a boom-bap drum pattern.
  • Layer a J Dilla-style syncopated bassline.
  • Recognise boom-bap in popular music.

What is hip-hop?

Hip-hop is a genre of popular music that originated in the Bronx in the 1970s. It is built on samples — short recordings of other songs, usually funk or soul, chopped and rearranged into a new beat. Hip-hop is the most sample-heavy genre in popular music; the Amen break alone has been sampled over 7,000 times.

Hewitt (Music Theory for Computer Musicians) characterises hip-hop rhythm as syncopated — the kick lands on the "and"s of beats, not on the beats themselves. The snare plays the backbeat (steps 5 and 13), but the kick plays between the snare hits, not on the beats.

The classic hip-hop tempo is 80–95 BPM. The PO-33’s Hip Hop preset is 80 BPM, which is perfect for boom-bap.

The boom-bap drum pattern

The boom-bap drum pattern is the most influential hip-hop drum pattern. It is built from:

  • Kick on steps 1 and 11 (boom).
  • Snare on steps 5 and 13 (bap).
  • Hi-hat on every odd step (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15).

The kick is late — it lands on step 11 instead of step 9. This is the syncopation that defines boom-bap.

To write boom-bap:

  1. Set BPM to Hip Hop (80).
  2. Set swing to 2.
  3. Press WRITE, PLAY.
  4. Step 1: pad 9 (kick).
  5. Step 3: pad 11 (hi-hat).
  6. Step 5: pad 10 (snare).
  7. Step 7: pad 11 (hi-hat).
  8. Step 9: pad 11 (hi-hat).
  9. Step 11: pad 9 (kick) and pad 11.
  10. Step 13: pad 10 (snare) and pad 11.
  11. Step 15: pad 11.
  12. Press WRITE to exit.

This is the boom-bap. You should hear the kick “BOOM” on step 1, then “bap” on step 5, then “boom” on step 11 (one beat after the snare on step 9 — the hi-hat continues), then “bap” on step 13.

The J Dilla bassline

J Dilla’s basslines are mostly the root of the chord, played once per measure. In C major, the bassline plays C on step 1 and C on step 9 — that’s it.

Some of Dilla’s beats have more elaborate basslines (with the fifth or octave), but the simplest and most iconic is one note, twice per loop.

To write a Dilla bassline:

  1. Record a bass sound into slot 2.
  2. Press WRITE, PLAY.
  3. Step 1: pad 1 (C, root).
  4. Step 9: pad 1 (C, root).
  5. Press WRITE to exit.

The bassline plays C twice. Underneath the boom-bap beat, this is enough. Don’t add more. Dilla didn’t.

The sample-based melody

Hip-hop melodies are usually samples of other songs, played back in a loop. To make a hip-hop melody on the PO-33:

  1. Record a melodic sample (a vocal phrase, a guitar riff, a synth chord) into slot 1.
  2. Press WRITE, PLAY.
  3. On step 1: pad 1 (plays the sample at C4).
  4. On step 9: pad 1 again (plays the sample again).
  5. Press WRITE to exit.

The sample plays twice per loop, at the same pitch. This is “loop-based” music. Most hip-hop melodies are exactly this: a sample, looped.

Sidebar — clearing samples. For copyright reasons, you should not sample commercial music without permission. Use samples you recorded yourself, or use a service like Tracklib that licenses samples for commercial use. See Appendix E.

Putting it together: a complete boom-bap beat

You have:

  • Kick on 1+11 (slot 9).
  • Snare on 5+13 (slot 10).
  • Hi-hat on every odd step (slot 11).
  • Bass on 1+9 (slot 2, pad 1).
  • Sample on 1+9 (slot 1, pad 1).

That’s 5 voices playing simultaneously, but the PO-33 has only 4 voices of polyphony. You have to choose 4.

The classic hip-hop voice allocation:

  • Kick (1 voice).
  • Snare (1 voice).
  • Hi-hat (1 voice).
  • Bass (1 voice).

The sample is not playing while the bass and drums are. To hear the sample, you can either:

  1. Drop the hi-hat and replace it with the sample.
  2. Use a separate pattern for the sample. Pattern 1 = drums + bass. Pattern 2 = sample alone (no drums). Chain them together (Chapter 15).
  3. Use the PO-33’s voice stealing — the newest sound “steals” the voice from the oldest sound. This can work if the sample is short.

For now, let’s go with option 1: drop the hi-hat. Replace it with the sample.

The voice allocation for our boom-bap beat:

  • Kick (slot 9) on steps 1, 11.
  • Snare (slot 10) on steps 5, 13.
  • Bass (slot 2, pad 1) on steps 1, 9.
  • Sample (slot 1, pad 1) on steps 1, 9.

The hi-hat is gone, but the kick-snare-bass-sample combo fills the same frequency range as a typical boom-bap record. The lack of hi-hat actually makes the beat feel heavier and more spacious.

To write this:

  1. Set BPM to Hip Hop (80). Set swing to 2.
  2. Erase the existing pattern (hold REC + PATTERN for ~600 ms).
  3. Press WRITE, PLAY.
  4. Step 1: pad 9 (kick), pad 1 (bass), pad 1 (sample — same pad, same step; this is two voices triggered by one tap).
  5. Step 5: pad 10 (snare).
  6. Step 9: pad 1 (bass), pad 1 (sample).
  7. Step 11: pad 9 (kick).
  8. Step 13: pad 10 (snare).
  9. Press WRITE to exit.

You have just written a complete boom-bap beat. It has kick, snare, bass, and sample — the four voices of classic hip-hop.

Guided exercise: your first complete hip-hop beat

Success criteria: a beat with kicks on 1+11, snares on 5+13, bass on 1+9, sample on 1+9. Plays at 80 BPM. Loops cleanly.

  1. Record a kick into slot 9.
  2. Record a snare into slot 10.
  3. Record a bass into slot 2 (or use a sample from a sample pack).
  4. Record a melodic sample into slot 1.
  5. Set BPM to Hip Hop (80). Set swing to 2.
  6. Write the pattern above.
  7. Press PLAY. Listen for 1 minute.

The beat should sound “heavy” and “spacious” — that’s the boom-bap feel.

Creative challenge: the Dilla beat

Modify the boom-bap beat to be more Dilla-style:

  • Move the kick from step 11 to step 12.
  • Add a hi-hat on step 7 and step 12 (use slot 11).
  • Increase swing to 3.
  • Drop the sample from step 9 (keep it only on step 1).

You have just made the beat feel “half-time” — the kick is even later, and the sample plays only once per loop. This is the Dilla feel.

Listening assignment

Listen to:

  • J Dilla, “Workinonit” from Donuts (2006). The beat is exactly the boom-bap we just wrote, with extra swing and a Dilla-style hi-hat. Listen for the “thump” of the kick on step 11.
  • A Tribe Called Quest, “Can I Kick It?” (1991). Classic boom-bap. The bassline is a sampled Lou Reed loop. The drums are a sampled break. Listen for the snare on steps 5 and 13.
  • Madlib, “Accordion” from Madvillainy (2004). Almost no drums at all — just a kick on step 1, a snare on step 13, and the accordion sample playing in a loop. The “less is more” approach.
  • Travis Scott, “SICKO MODE” (2018). Modern trap, descended from boom-bap. The kick is on 1+11 (same as boom-bap), but the snare is on 5+17 (off the grid — we don’t have that on the PO-33, so use 5+13). Heavy swing.

Summary and checkpoint

Key takeaways:

  • Hip-hop is built on samples, syncopated drums, and a heavy kick.
  • Boom-bap = kick on 1+11, snare on 5+13, hat every odd step.
  • J Dilla basslines are simple — root, twice per loop.
  • The PO-33 has 4 voices. Drop the hi-hat to fit bass + sample + drums.

Self-check:

  • [ ] Can you write a boom-bap pattern at 80 BPM?
  • [ ] Can you layer a sample on top of the drums and bass?
  • [ ] Do you understand why Dilla’s basslines are simple?
  • [ ] Can you modify the boom-bap to be more Dilla-style?

If you answered “yes” to all four, move on to Chapter 12.