A drill beat is a few dark sounds with a lot of space between them: a minor-key loop, a hard half-time snare, rolling hi-hats and a sliding 808 that does the work a bassline and a kick would do in other styles. Almost everything in the genre follows from leaving room for that bass and for the voice on top.
This guide covers what a drill beat is made of, how the regional styles differ, how to arrange one, and where to find loops for it. The tempo figures match the BPM by genre cheat sheet, so the two never disagree.
Tempo and feel
Drill is usually made between 138 and 150 BPM, with UK drill sitting around 140 to 144. That is the same grid trap uses, and like trap it is programmed half-time: the hats run at 140 while the snare lands once a bar, on beat three. The body hears about 70 BPM, and the track feels slow and heavy while the hats stay busy.
Two practical points follow from that:
- Tag and search by the grid number. A loop that feels like 70 is 140 in the session, and 140 is what a drill producer filters for.
- Bars count at the grid tempo. An eight-bar loop at 142 BPM is about 13.5 seconds, which is a comfortable size for a loop someone else will build on.
Sliding 808s
The slide is the sound of the genre. Instead of retriggering the bass on each note, the 808 glides from one pitch to the next, so a single long note can fall or rise across a bar.
How to build it:
- Pick an 808 with a long tail and set the mixer to mono or legato, so one note ends as the next begins and the glide has something to travel across.
- Tune the 808 to the key of the loop. A sample that is a semitone out makes the whole low end sour. Check it against the root note of the melody before anything else.
- Write long notes with a few slides. Two or three glides per bar is plenty. A slide that goes up a fifth or down an octave reads as drama; a slide of a semitone or two reads as menace.
- Leave space. If the 808 holds a note for a whole bar, do not put a kick on top of it. In drill the 808 often replaces the kick, or the kick is a short click that sits only on the first beat.
- Control the top end. A little saturation lets the slide be heard on small speakers. A high-pass on everything else keeps the sub clear.
If the slide sounds like a siren, shorten the glide time. If it sounds like two separate notes, lengthen it or overlap the notes by a few milliseconds.
Hi-hats, snare and percussion
The drums are sparse apart from the hats.
- Snare or clap on beat three only. Some producers add a quieter ghost hit before it, but the main backbeat is once per bar. That is the half-time feel.
- Hats on an eighth-note grid with triplet runs. A steady pattern of straight eighths, then a roll of triplets or a burst of sixteenths at the end of the bar. The triplet roll is the part most people associate with drill.
- Vary velocity and pitch. A row of identical hats sounds like a machine. Pull the velocity down on the off notes and nudge a few of them up or down in pitch.
- Skip a few hits. Gaps are part of the pattern. The silence before a roll is what makes it hit.
- Extra percussion. A rim click, a short open hat or a low tom hit on an off-beat fills in without crowding the snare.
A good test is to mute everything except the snare, the hats and the 808. If the groove already works with only those three, the melody can be simple.
Melodic loops that work for drill
Drill melodies are short, dark and repetitive. The loop leaves the middle of the mix open for a vocal and the low end open for the 808.
- Minor keys. Natural minor and Phrygian colours dominate, with a flat second giving that uneasy lean. Keys such as F minor, G minor or A minor are common starting points because they sit well for 808s, but any minor key works if the 808 is tuned to it.
- Sounds. Strings, piano, choir pads, plucked bells and harp, often pitched low, with plenty of reverb. A few notes repeated can be more effective than a busy line.
- Two to four bars, looped. A short motif that does not resolve keeps the tension. A loop of four or eight bars is plenty.
- Space under the vocal. Cut the low mids from the loop so the voice and the 808 are not fighting it.
If you are layering a second sound on a loop, choose a key that works with it. The compatible keys guide shows which minor keys sit together, and relative majors work well for a brighter counter-line.
Regional styles
Drill is a family of related sounds from different cities. These are general, widely documented outlines, not rules.
Chicago drill is where the genre began, in the early 2010s. It tends to be slower and more menacing, with a stark, deliberate rhythm, a heavy 808 and a melody built on eerie, sparse sounds. If you want the original sound, think space and weight rather than speed.
UK drill emerged in London a few years later, taking the Chicago template and rebuilding the rhythm. The bounce is the difference: sliding 808s and sharp, syncopated hi-hats with a stuttering, sliding feel. The grid sits around 140 to 144 BPM. The drums are tighter and more rhythmically complicated than Chicago's.
Brooklyn or New York drill came later and took a lot from UK production, then added a harder, more aggressive edge and a bounce that suits the local rap styles. Producers in New York often use UK-style 808 slides and hat patterns over heavier samples and bolder melodies.
When you tag a loop, say which one you mean. "UK Drill" in the filename tells the person downloading it what drum patterns to expect, and it is one of the styles ColabLoop reads out of a filename.
Arrangement tips
Drill arrangements are short and built on repetition. A common shape:
- Intro, 4 to 8 bars: the melody alone, or with a filtered 808. Add a tag or a spoken line if you have one.
- Verse, 16 bars: the full pattern, with the melody pulled back a little so the voice has room.
- Hook, 8 bars: open the melody up, add a counter-line or a choir layer, and lift the hats.
- Second verse, 16 bars: the same pattern, with small changes. Drop the hats for two bars, or mute the melody for a phrase.
- Outro, 4 to 8 bars: strip it back to the 808 and one other sound.
Use drops and breaks as punctuation. A one-bar silence before the hook, with only the 808 tail ringing, is worth more than a new layer. And automate the 808 slide on the last bar of each section so the next one lands harder.
Finding loops and collaborators for drill
A lot of drill beats start from a loop: eight bars of strings or piano that someone else made. Producers who are good at melody often have more loops than they can finish, and producers who are good at drums and 808s are looking for them.
On ColabLoop, the drill genre page lists loops other producers have uploaded in the style. Listening is free and needs no account, and you can filter by tempo and key on the loops page. If a loop fits, you can ask its producer to build on it with you, which is free. Nothing is sold between producers: if they accept, you get a private room to work in, and the loop's owner goes on the paperwork for the track. The send loops guide covers how to package a loop so it is easy to use.
If your drill has more of a trap pulse, the trap page is the next place to look, and for a more melodic, vocal-led take, hip-hop loops are worth a listen too.
Questions producers ask
What BPM is a drill beat?
Most drill sits between 138 and 150 BPM, and UK drill usually lands around 140 to 144. It is programmed half-time, so with the snare on beat three it feels like roughly 70.
How is UK drill different from NY drill?
UK drill is built on a tight, syncopated hat pattern and sliding 808s at about 140 to 144 BPM. New York drill borrowed much of that sound and tends to add a harder, heavier edge and bolder melodies. The two overlap, and many producers move between them.
How do I make an 808 slide?
Use a long-tailed 808 in mono or legato mode, tuned to the key of your loop. Overlap two notes and set a short glide time, so the pitch moves from one note to the next instead of retriggering.
What is the difference between drill and trap?
They share a tempo and a half-time feel. Drill is darker and sparser, with sliding 808s, a triplet-heavy hat pattern and eerie melodies. Trap often has a wider range of moods, with more varied bass and kick patterns.
Do I need to make the melody myself?
No. Many drill producers start from a loop made by someone else and write the drums and 808 around it. If you do, agree credit with the loop's owner before the track goes anywhere.