Hand Percussion

Double-click empty space on the timeline to open the instrument picker, then choose 🪘 Hand Percussion.

Hand Percussion is played rather than programmed, and it rewards playing it imperfectly on purpose — the variation is where it stops sounding like a drum machine.

Where you hit matters

Strike a head where you want it: the middle for the deep note, the edge for the slap.

That is the whole technique, and it is what separates this from a sample pad. A conga part played entirely in the middle sounds dead; the interplay between open middle tones and sharp edge slaps is the part.

For a two-headed kit like bongos the heads are named — Hembra for the larger, Macho for the smaller.

Playing with the keyboard

QWE / ASD / ZXC play the same zones with both hands.

Three rows of three, so you can play patterns at speed without moving a pointer around. This is the practical way to record anything faster than a slow groove.

Eleven kits

Bongos, Congas, Darbuka, Frame drum, Cajon, Cowbell, Woodblock, Claves, Shaker, Cabasa, and Tambourine.

Each carries a one-line description — bongos are “a small Cuban pair, bright, dry and quick” — which is more useful than the name when you are choosing by sound rather than by instrument.

Shaken kits work differently

Shaken kits respond to movement — hold and move, and every change of direction is a stroke.

So Shaker, Cabasa, and Tambourine are not struck, they are shaken: hold the pointer down and move it back and forth. Each reversal produces a stroke, which means the rhythm comes from how you move rather than from clicking in time.

It takes a minute to get used to and then makes far more natural shaker parts than tapping ever would.

Recording a loop

Loop offers Off, 1 bar, 2 bars, or 4 bars, and records exactly what you play. Start Recording, or the R key, begins capture, and a counter shows how many hits have been captured.

Start with one bar. A single bar played with real variation loops better than four bars played carelessly, and you can always extend it.

Making it sound played

Vary the strike position constantly. Perfect consistency is what makes programmed percussion recognisable as programmed.

Record more than you need and cut. It is faster than trying to play a perfect bar.

Related

Guiro is the other hand-played percussion instrument. Drum Kit is the full kit played from the keyboard.