Make Better Techno Drum Patterns with John Selway
Four-to-the-floor is easy; making it feel alive for eight or sixteen bars is the real craft. In this clip from 343 Labs, techno producer and instructor John Selway walks through how he turns a plain one-bar loop into something that rolls and surprises. He starts with a simple kick and open hi-hat, then layers quiet 16th-note ghost hats and velocity accents so the groove sways instead of marching. From there he duplicates into two- and four-bar phrases, carving space by dropping kicks, shifting clap fills onto the seventh bar, and building A/B variations so the pattern never sits still. Why it is worth your time: these are the small, musical moves that separate a static loop from a hypnotic techno drum bed, and you can apply them in Ableton Live in under nine minutes. Rebuild his one-bar starter, add your own ghost notes, then try a seven-bar clap so the fill lands slightly early every time it comes around.
Video: “Make Better Techno Drum Patterns In Ableton Live With John Selway” by 343 Labs on YouTube (8:54). All credit to the creator; please like and subscribe to support them.
Get the plugin: Ableton Live (the DAW used here; Drum Rack plus the Groove Pool for velocity and timing).
Kit for this
- Ableton Live 12: match the video step for step with Live’s Drum Rack and groove tools.
- Akai MPD218 pad controller: finger in those ghost hats and velocity accents instead of drawing every hit.
- Native Instruments Maschine Mikro: a compact pad workflow for sketching techno drum variations fast.
- Audio-Technica ATH-M50x: closed-backs so you can hear quiet ghost notes and kick dropouts clearly.
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