Fretnook / Free tools / Drum Machine
Free sign-up · runs in your browser

Free online drum machine for guitarists

Click steps into a grid, press play, and jam along. Fretnook's drum machine has six voices, patterns up to 16 bars long, and a bass note that can follow the key you are playing in. When the beat is right, bounce it onto a recording track.

Free with a quick email sign-up. Sounds are synthesized live in your browser; nothing to download.
Quick start

Make a beat in four steps

  1. Set the tempo

    The drum machine follows the metronome, so set your BPM on the Recorder tab first, or tap it in.

  2. Click steps in the grid

    The grid has 16 steps and six voices: Kick, Snare, Closed Hat, Open Hat, Clap and a Bass note. Click a cell to add a hit and click again to remove it.

  3. Press Play to preview

    The pattern loops while you audition it. Use Bars to stretch it beyond one bar, up to 16, so a fill can land at the end of a phrase.

  4. Bounce to Track

    Render the pattern onto any empty or armed track. From there it is an ordinary track that you can mix, trim and layer guitar over.

What you get

A practice beat that stays out of your way

Six voices

Kick, snare, closed hat, open hat, clap, and a pitched bass note for a simple bass line.

Patterns up to 16 bars

Start with one bar of 16 steps and lengthen the pattern for verses, fills and turnarounds.

Bass follows your key

The Bass Note menu defaults to the key the Ear Trainer last detected, and you can change it any time.

Tempo-locked to the metronome

One BPM controls the click, the beat and the recorder, so everything stays in time.

Bounce to Track

Turn the pattern into real audio on a recorder track, exactly like a recorded take.

Remembered automatically

Your pattern is saved in the browser and survives a page reload. Save Song stores it with a setlist entry too.

Practise against a beat without a backing-track site

A drum pattern is the quickest way to practise timing. Build a simple kick and snare groove, hit play, and work on riffs or scales in time. Because the tempo is tied to the metronome, slowing the whole thing down to learn a passage is one change instead of two.

Wear headphones when you play along and record. Otherwise the microphone picks up the drums coming out of your speakers along with your guitar.

From loop to song

Once you have one pattern you like, bounce it to a track and use Repeat to Fill in the recorder to extend it to the length of the song. Record your rhythm guitar on the next track, then add a bass line or lead. The Arranger can also lay drum sections against the rest of your arrangement.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is the drum machine free?
Yes. It unlocks, along with the rest of the DAW, Songs and MIDI & Gear, with a free email sign-up. There is no payment.
How many drum sounds are there?
Six voices: kick, snare, closed hi-hat, open hi-hat, clap and a bass note.
Can I save my drum pattern?
It is saved automatically in your browser, and it is stored inside a project file when you use Save Project, so it comes back when you load that project.
How do I change the tempo?
Set the BPM on the Recorder tab, or tap it in. The drum machine always follows the metronome tempo.
Are these recorded drum samples?
The kit is synthesized live in your browser. If you want a different sound, import an audio file onto a recorder track and record along with it.
More free tools

Keep going in the same rack

Build a beat and play over it.

Fretnook is free and runs in your browser. Your microphone audio and recordings stay on your device.

● Open the drum machine