Drum pads

Tap a pad to play. Sixteen MPC-style pads for fingers or keyboard; press Record to turn what you play into a loop.

Tap the pads, or use the keyboard: 1–4, Q–R, A–F, Z–V. Hold Shift for a harder hit. Press Record to loop and capture what you play.

Finger drumming basics

Finger drumming on pads became a style of its own with the Akai MPC in the late 1980s. The layout here follows the same idea: the most-used sounds (kick, snare, clap, hat) sit on the top row where your strongest fingers land.

  • Split the hands. Kick and snare with one hand, hats with the other, so you can keep a steady 8th-note hat going while the kick moves.
  • Use the loop as a click. Record with the click on until your timing is steady; the recorder quantises to 16ths, so small slips are corrected.
  • Layer in passes. Record the kick and snare first, keep recording, and add hats on the next pass. Each pass adds to the same bar.

Prefer clicking steps to playing live? The beat maker grid shows every instrument at once, and the drum machine works one instrument at a time like a TR-808.

Questions

Can I play the drum pads with my keyboard?

Yes. The 16 pads map to four rows of keys: 1 2 3 4, Q W E R, A S D F and Z X C V. Hold Shift for a harder (louder) hit. Space starts and stops the loop.

Do the pads respond to how hard I hit?

Touch and mouse hits are louder near the centre of a pad and softer near the edge, a simple stand-in for the velocity sensitivity of hardware pads like the Akai MPC.

Is there a delay when I tap?

Sounds are synthesised directly with the Web Audio API, which keeps latency low. Wired headphones feel tighter than Bluetooth, which adds its own delay of 100–200 ms on many devices.

What is the point of a drum pad?

Hardware drum pads (like the MPC or Roland SPD) let you trigger drum sounds with your fingers or sticks, so you can play beats in real time instead of clicking them in. Online drum pads give you the same idea with no gear: tap the screen or your keyboard.

What can I use instead of a drum pad controller?

Your computer keyboard or a phone touchscreen. This page maps all 16 pads to keys and touch, so you can practise finger drumming before buying a MIDI pad controller.

What is the best drum pad for making beats?

It depends on budget and setup. A 16-pad USB MIDI controller (for example the Akai MPD218) triggers sounds in music software on a computer; a standalone sampler or groovebox makes sound on its own. Before buying either, practising on free online pads like these shows whether finger drumming suits you.

Is a beat pad the same as a drum pad?

Yes, people use both names for a grid of pressure-sensitive pads that trigger drum sounds. This page is a free online beat pad: 16 pads, four kits and a recorder.

How do I turn what I played into a beat?

Press Record, play along with the click and your hits are snapped to the nearest 16th note of a one-bar loop. Then choose "Edit this take on the grid" to open it in the beat maker, where you can fix notes and export WAV or MP3.