Genre

Synthwave: BPM, drum pattern and how to make it

Synthwave is electronic music that recreates the sound of 1980s film soundtracks and synth-pop, at about 80–118 BPM: a drum-machine backbeat, a synth bass pulsing on every eighth note, arpeggios and wide, warm pads. It took shape online in the late 2000s and grew into a scene of its own in the 2010s.

A 1980s backbeat, pulsing synth bass and arpeggios. Tempo 104 BPM in the loop below, no swing.

The loop

104bpm

Tempo Swing 50% 4 bars

Kick

Snare

Hatseighths

Basssynth bass

Arpeggio

Chordswide pad

Bar 1Am7
Bar 2Fmaj7
Bar 3Cmaj7
Bar 4G7

Four bars over Am7, Fmaj7, Cmaj7, G7. Mute a track or solo it to hear what each part does; tap any box to change it.

Make synthwave yourself

The course starts with the beat under every genre and builds up from there. Unit 1 is free with a Google sign-in, in your browser.

Pick up where you left off

Carry on with Unit 1; the parts of synthwave come one chapter at a time.

Start Lesson 1 free Continue learning

How to make synthwave

Start from an empty grid at 104 BPM and add the patterns in this order. Each step names the pattern, says where it falls in the sixteen steps of a bar, and lights its lanes on the loop above when you point at it or tap Show. The same loop is in the beat maker, if you would rather start from the finished beat and take things away.

Step 1 Backbeat
Kick on 1 and 3, a big snare on 2 and 4. On the grid: kick on steps 1 and 9 of 16; snare on steps 5 and 13 of 16.
Step 2 Root-note eighths
A synth bass on each chord’s root, every eighth note. On the grid: bass on steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 of 16.
Step 3 Arpeggio
The chord’s four notes climbing in sixteenths. On the grid: arpeggio on steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 of 16.
Step 4 Supersaw chords
Wide seventh chords held through each bar. On the grid: chords on step 1 of 16, each held for 16 steps.
Step 5 Tempo and feel
Set the tempo to 104 BPM, no swing. The usual range for synthwave is 80–118 BPM.
Metronome

Also in the loop: eighth-note hats.

Synthwave drum pattern

The drums on their own: one bar of kick, snare and hats at 104 BPM. This is the part people mean by “the synthwave beat”.

104bpm

Tempo 1 bar on repeat

Kick

Snare

Hatseighths

Part	Steps, 1 to 16	Plays on
Kick	x·······x·······	steps 1 and 9 of 16
Snare	····x·······x···	steps 5 and 13 of 16
Hats	x·x·x·x·x·x·x·x·	steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 of 16

x a hit, o a quiet hit, 3 a roll of three inside one step, · nothing. The named patterns: Backbeat.

How it fits together

Synthwave borrows its parts from the 1980s: a drum machine backbeat with a big, reverb-heavy snare, the bass playing each chord’s root on every eighth note, and an arpeggio running through the chord’s notes in sixteenths.

Every part is a synthesizer, so the style is about sound as much as notes: detuned saws for the pads, a plucky synth for the arpeggio, and plenty of reverb and echo, so it feels like a night drive.

The loop in words

Kick: steps 1 and 9 of 16.
Snare and clap: steps 5 and 13 of 16.
Hats: steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 of 16.
Bass: steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 of 16.
Chords: step 1 of 16, each held for 16 steps.
Lead: steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 of 16.
Chords: Am7, Fmaj7, Cmaj7, G7, one bar each, in A minor.
Tempo: 104 BPM, no swing.

Ask an AI for it

Text-to-music tools such as Suno, Udio and Stable Audio respond to the words producers use, so naming the patterns gets you closer than the genre name alone. The loop above is what this description means; press play, mute a track, and drop its words from the description to hear what each one changes.

“synthwave, 104 BPM, big 80s snare, drum machine, pulsing eighth-note synth bass, arpeggiated synths, warm analog pads, supersaw, retro, nostalgic, night drive”

Say	It means
big 80s snare, drum machine	a drum-machine backbeat with a large, reverb-heavy snare
pulsing eighth-note synth bass	the root of each chord, twice per beat
arpeggiated synths	chord notes played one at a time, in sixteenths
warm analog pads, supersaw	wide, detuned chords held underneath
retro, nostalgic, night drive	the mood: 1980s films and neon
80–118 BPM	the tempo