Remaking the drum pattern from the 1997 song "Flim" by Aphex Twin can be great way to understand how the music you love is made. Here’s how you can build the "Flim" drum pattern yourself, exploring it directly here in the browser via our embedded DAW below. Listen to the original, then follow the recipe step by step.
Original Audio
Under the music-box melody of Aphex Twin’s “Flim” sits one of electronic music’s most loved drum parts. The tune stays gentle and almost still; the kit underneath does all the moving, and the pull between the two is the whole charm. Richard D. James programmed it for his 2001 album Drukqs. It’s a two-bar loop that sounds far busier than the handful of pieces it’s built from, and it has kept producers picking it apart ever since.
Our Remake of The Drum Pattern
This audio clip is how close we've matched the original notes and MIDI drum pattern from the song "Flim" by Aphex Twin.
Challenge Yourself
Can you recreate the notes and rhythm by ear? Try it now in this interactive challenge where you'll enter notes into a real in-browser DAW. Hit "Start Challenge", and follow the steps that appear.
Can't figure it out? Scroll down for the MIDI Recipe and our DAW recreation.
MIDI Notes Recipe
The spec
- Tempo: 140 BPM
- Time signature: 4/4
- Feel: Straight 16ths, tight to the grid. Bounce comes from velocity dynamics.
- Loop: Two bars that differ; the pattern keeps evolving through the track.
- Voices: Kick, snare on the backbeat plus ghost notes, closed and open hi-hats, a low-tom accent, and a snare roll on the turnaround.
What makes it work
- Kick is the lead. Syncopated across the offbeats and the “a”s; it carries the pattern while the snare and hats hold the frame.
- The bounce is velocity. Two kicks and one snare are ghosted at about half volume; the loud/soft contrast is the groove.
- It evolves. Bar two adds an early kick, an extra ghost snare, and the turnaround roll.
The pattern
Beats run across the top (1 e + a). x = hit, o = open hi-hat, (x) = ghost note (played soft). The loop is two bars, shown separately because they aren’t identical.
Bar 1
| 1 | e | + | a | 2 | e | + | a | 3 | e | + | a | 4 | e | + | a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi-hat | x | x | o | x | x | x | ||||||||||
| Snare roll | ||||||||||||||||
| Snare | x | x | x | |||||||||||||
| Low tom | x | |||||||||||||||
| Kick | x | x | x | x | (x) | x | x |
Bar 2
| 1 | e | + | a | 2 | e | + | a | 3 | e | + | a | 4 | e | + | a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi-hat | x | x | o | o | x | x | x | |||||||||
| Snare roll | x | |||||||||||||||
| Snare | x | (x) | x | x | ||||||||||||
| Low tom | x | |||||||||||||||
| Kick | x | x | x | x | (x) | x | x |
Build it
In the player below:
- Clear the current notes (erase button, bottom-left of the DAW).
- Using your own DAW? Set 140 BPM, 4/4, 16th grid. (The player below is already set up.)
- Kick: syncopated, on the offbeats and the “a”s. It’s the lead; lock it first.
- Snare: backbeat on 2 and 4.
- Hi-hats: mostly closed, two open (o).
- Ghosts: two kicks + one snare at about half velocity.
- Low tom accent + snare roll at the end of bar 2.
- Bar 2 differs: early kick, extra ghost snare, the roll.
Want it note-for-note? The grid above is exact, and so is the player below.
Make it yours
- Layer up: kick first, then one voice at a time.
- Change the motion: shift where the hats open, re-pick the ghosted hits, or rewrite bar 2. Keep it evolving.
- Keep the dynamics: don’t flatten to full velocity. Loud vs soft is the groove.
DAW Recreation
Check out the notes yourself below in this embedded DAW. Play it, edit it, make it your own!
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