Dust & Grain: program a swung boom-bap pocket
Build an 86 BPM boom-bap groove with the Dust & Grain SkunkDrummer kit, then keep the beat editable as you send it into SEQ.
This session is about space and a little swing, not filling every step. The sound choices are from the free Dust & Grain pack; the screenshot shows the app’s waveform-editing and pad workflow, and the audio is a fixed four-bar demo made from those named voices.
Set the voices and tempo
Open LAB → SkunkDrummer and set 86 BPM. Use these four pack sounds as the starting palette:
- Kick — Crate Weight: rounded and compact; keep it the anchor.
- Snare — Paper Snap: dry, warm and forward.
- Closed hat — Soft Grain: darker and softer than the snare.
- Percussion — Wood Edge: a short woody reply, used sparingly.
The ZIP includes the full control recipes. If you want the same sound in a sampler instead, the WAVs are standard 48 kHz, 24-bit mono files.
Program the one-bar pocket
Enter the first bar on the 16-step grid. Step numbers below are the visible grid numbers, starting at 1:
| Voice | Steps | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Crate Weight kick | 1, 8, 11 | Low anchor, then two replies |
| Paper Snap snare | 5, 13 | Keep the backbeat clear |
| Soft Grain hat | 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 | Quiet eighth-note pulse |
| Wood Edge percussion | 4, 12 | Add a small offbeat answer |
Run the bar before changing anything. Add only a small amount of swing; the offbeat hats should lean back, while the kick and snare stay settled.
Make four bars without losing the pocket
Send the idea to SEQ as an editable step track. Keep the snare fixed on 5 and 13. Change only the kick accents across the later bars, then use one open-hat accent near the end of bar four. That gives the loop movement without turning it into a fill every bar.
The included demo follows that arrangement: a steady backbeat, small kick changes, and one brighter last-bar lift. Download Dust & Grain or continue to the arrangement walkthrough.