How To Produce Ghost Notes For Organic Drums

Program a drum pattern in your DAW. Kicks on the 1 and 3, snares on 2 and 4, closed hats on every eighth note. Quantize it. Apply some swing. Maybe add velocity variation. This is a basic 4/4 beat.

It still sounds flat and lifeless. What's missing? Add some percussion, a few extra samples. But now it’s just busier, remains disconnected, and doesn’t really hit the sweet spot. 

You might find the culprit is a lack of ghost notes – those quiet, barely-audible hits that fill the space between your main drum elements. Real drummers use them constantly, but they’re poorly replicated in electronic productions. 

Read on to learn more about ghost notes and how to implement them in your music. 

What Are Ghost Notes?

Ghost notes (also called grace notes) are quiet drum hits – usually snare or percussion – played between the main accented beats.  They add rhythmic texture without dominating the groove. 

In MIDI terms, ghost notes typically sit at 30-50 velocity while your main snare hits are at 90-100. 

However, this isn’t just a matter of velocity. Real drummers create them with different techniques – a lighter touch, a different stick angle, and hitting closer to the rim. This creates both a volume difference and a timbral difference. Ghost notes sound thinner, drier, and more percussive than full hits.

You can see acclaimed drummer Nate Smith show how he plays ghost notes with a slightly different technique from his main hits, plus some variations.

Ghost notes are not one "thing," they come with different techniques unto themselves

Benny Greb also artfully shows how ghost notes form the texture between beats, turning the snare itself into far more than a single transient-producing instrument. 

Masterful use of the snare as an instrument

Want to see how diverse DnB and jungle beats can get? Jojo Mayer is your man.

This shows how advanced jungle and DnB breaks can really get

To catch some classic 16th ghost notes, Bernie Purdie is the pioneer. This is your go-to tutorial for learning exactly what they are and how they operate in real drum beats. 

The best demonstration of ghost notes

And here’s a nice tutorial on playing ghost notes, with the subtly dialled-in expertly so you can hear the contrast with the main rim shots.

An excellent demonstration of expertly played ghost notes

Ghost notes fill the infinite space between 1 and 0, creating groove. On that note, read our last article on creating groove itself. It goes hand-in-hand with this one. 

Key Examples From Electronic Music

Ghost notes show up throughout electronic music history, even if producers don't always call them that. 

For example, classic breaks like "Funky Drummer" and "Apache" contain ghost notes. When producers like DJ Premier, Pete Rock, or J Dilla chopped these breaks, ghost notes emerged in their productions, creating that rolling, textured feel.

This beat has bongo ghost notes

From DnB to garage, house, and techno, electronic productions often use very quiet ghost notes – sometimes just filtered noise or rim shots – to add texture without breaking hypnotic repetition.

It can also be a creative choice to deliberately not use ghost notes to accentuate the rim shot itself. You can see this in some of Travis Barker’s new hip-hop jams, like the cover of Lil-Nas X below. 

Stripping ghost notes to focus purely on the cutting rim-shot, with great fills

So it’s not always appropriate to laden beats with ghost notes, but it should be a creative decision.

How to Program Ghost Notes

Programming effective ghost notes requires attention to velocity, sample selection, timing, and placement. 

The big mistake people make is trying to program ghost notes using the same sample or sounds as their main snare. 

Some sample packs or MIDI instruments purposefully offer ghost notes that go along with the main snare – and you might have spotted these before. 

However, to really push the limits, you’d need several different ghost note sounds to create a truly organic, dynamic drum beat. 

Let’s walk through the key steps:

Sample Selection: Use Different Sounds

As noted, this is critical and often overlooked. Using your main snare sample for ghost notes – just quieter – sounds wrong because real drummers create ghost notes with different techniques that produce different timbres. 

A real snare drum can produce hundreds, if not thousands, of sounds. Here’s what to do:

  • Dedicated ghost note samples: Many drum libraries include ghost note articulations. Superior Drummer, Addictive Drums, and Steven Slate Drums all have multiple snare articulations, including ghosts, rim shots, and sidesticks. Use these when available.
  • Layer different samples: If you don't have ghost samples, layer a rim click or sidestick with your main snare at very low volume. Or use a completely different, thinner snare sample for ghosts.
  • Synthetic alternatives: For electronic drums, use filtered noise hits, short synth clicks, or even hi-hat samples pitched down. As long as it sits in roughly the right frequency range without jumping out, it works.
  • Processing tricks: Take your main snare sample, filter out most of the low end, add some distortion or bit crushing for texture, and save it as your ghost snare. It's related to your main snare but distinctly different. Often works very well for breaks, DnB, and other faster and more mechanical beats. 

Below is a brilliant tutorial on producing ghost notes for DnB, but it’s applicable to any genre, showing how it’s not just about velocity, but about sample choice too. 

Simple ghost notes for DnB

Velocity: Quieter Than You Think

The most common mistake is making ghost notes too loud. If you can clearly hear each one as a distinct hit, it's probably too loud. Ghost notes should blend into the groove's texture rather than stand out as individual elements.

Try this workflow:

  • Program your main drum pattern with kicks at 100 velocity, snares at 90-100
  • Add ghost note hits where you want texture
  • Set all ghost notes to 40 velocity initially
  • Play it back in context with your full mix
  • If ghosts jump out too much, drop to 35. If they're totally inaudible, raise to 45.

Most ghost notes wind up in the 35-50 velocity range depending on genre and context. Too quiet might be better than too loud unless you’re trying to create a certain effect. Always adjust by ear, not by numbers alone.

Timing: Let Them Drift

Ghost notes should sometimes be nudged off the grid. Looseness is part of what makes them feel human and natural rather than programmed. Perfect quantization kills the vibe unless the genre specifically calls for it. 

  • Manual nudging: After programming your ghosts, zoom way into your piano roll. Select individual ghost notes and nudge them 3-8ms late (for laid-back feel) or 2-5ms early (for urgency). Don't nudge all of them the same amount – vary it slightly for natural feel.
  • Humanize function: Most DAWs have randomization tools. In Ableton, right-click your MIDI clip and select "Humanize." Set timing to 5-10ms and velocity to 5-10%. Apply only to your ghost notes, not your main hits.
  • Groove templates with low strength: Apply a groove to your entire drum pattern at 20-30% strength. This shifts everything slightly, but ghost notes benefit more from the timing variation than main hits.
  • Record them in: If you have a MIDI controller, finger drum your ghost notes in without quantization. Then tighten up the main hits while leaving ghosts loose.

The goal is subtle variation, not random chaos. Ghost notes should feel musical, like they're responding to the kick drum or anticipating the main snare.

Placement Strategies

Where do ghost notes actually go? This is the tricky one as it’s not always intuitive, and really, they can just about go anywhere.

Here are common patterns that work across electronic genres. These aren't rigid rules but starting points you can adapt to your style.

  • The "and" placement: Put a ghost note on the sixteenth note just after beat 1 (the "and" of 1). This creates flow into the snare on beat 2. One of the most common placements in hip-hop and house.
  • Sixteenth note fills: Between your kick pattern, fill some (not all) sixteenth notes with ghosts. Leave space – three or four ghosts per bar often works better than constant sixteenth notes unless you're making funk.
  • Pre-snare anticipation: A ghost note placed one or two sixteenth notes before your main snare creates tension that resolves when the full snare hits. Makes the main snare feel more impactful.
  • Response to kicks: When your kick pattern has two hits close together, a ghost note just after the second kick creates a "question and answer" feel between kick and snare.
  • Asymmetric patterns: Don't make ghost notes perfectly symmetrical. Place three in one bar, two in the next. This prevents the pattern from feeling overly programmed.

Not Just The Snare

While ghost notes are classically played on the snare, any lighter supporting note can be a ghost note by some definition.

So in reality, your drums – percussion – cymbals – etc – can use strings of subtle notes if appropriate. It just depends on the genre. You can even create ghost notes with the bass drum, or indeed other instruments like the bass.

Below is an example of ghost notes used for pre-snare anticipation using a bass drum (as well as demonstrating ghost notes with the bass).

It helps the beat lob and bump along and is extremely common in hip-hop production. 

Great tutorial for incorporating ghost notes in beat-making

For an extreme version of ghost note implementation in electronic music, check out Squarepusher’s legendary album “Hard Normal Daddy,” which makes extensive use of percussion to create some exceptionally organic breaks. 

An amazing album for learning organic drum production

Ghost Notes by Genre

Different electronic genres use ghost notes in distinct ways. Understanding these conventions helps you program ghost notes that fit your style while knowing when to break the rules for creative effect.

Genre

Ghost Note Usage

Hip-Hop

Ghost notes are common and essential, especially in boom-bap and other groove-centric styles. Place them on sixteenth notes between main snare hits, typically 3–5 per bar. Velocity around 40–50. Timing often dragged 5–10ms late for laid-back pocket. Modern trap uses fewer ghosts but they add texture when present.

House

Minimal ghost notes work best. One or two very quiet ghosts (30–40 velocity) per bar add texture without disrupting the hypnotic four-on-the-floor groove. Often just filtered noise or rim clicks. Timing stays closer to grid than hip-hop.

Techno

Even more minimal than house. Many techno tracks skip ghost notes entirely, embracing machine precision. When used, they're extremely quiet (30–35 velocity) and sparse – maybe one per two bars. Often more about adding subtle texture than creating groove.

Drum & Bass

Ghost notes between main snare hits create rolling, urgent patterns characteristic of the genre. Can be relatively frequent – 5–8 per bar in busy sections. Velocity around 35–45. Timing often rushed slightly ahead (3–5ms early) for forward momentum. Liquid DnB uses them more sparingly than neurofunk.

UK Garage

Ghost notes fill the skippy, syncopated snare patterns. Placement is often asymmetric and unpredictable, creating that off-kilter bounce. Velocity 40–50. Timing varies – some ghosts on grid, others dragged or rushed for shuffle feel.

Footwork / Juke

Constant ghost notes create the tumbling, rolling snare patterns at 160 BPM. Can be very frequent – 8–12 per bar in busy sections. Velocity needs to vary more (30–60 range) to create dynamic shape. Timing often has swing applied.

Downtempo / Trip-hop

Moderate ghost note use, often mimicking the breaks these genres sample. 3–5 per bar, velocity 35–45, timing dragged behind the beat for that heavy, head-nodding pocket.

Breakbeat / Breaks

Heavy ghost note use since the genre is built on chopped breaks that naturally contain them. Study your source breaks and preserve or enhance the ghost notes when chopping. Velocity varies widely depending on the source drummer.

Getting Ghost Notes Right

Ghost notes are subtle but can totally transform your drums. The difference between drums that sound programmed and drums that breathe and groove often comes down to a few quiet notes between beats. 

The best thing to do is study real drummers playing your genre's influences. You’ll see so many different variations in how ghost notes are placed. 

Watch their left hand (or right if they're left-handed). Notice where ghosts fall and how they create conversation with the kick and main snare. Translate to your programmed drums.

Looking to build drums with character from the outset? Sample Focus has thousands of drum samples, including numerous snares and percussion samples, and other sounds you can use to add texture to electronic productions. 

Browse the collection and start making beats that actually breathe.