Over the past couple of years, the fast paced, drum machine-driven sound of juke and footwork has gained an ever-growing following outside of the genre’s native cities of Chicago and Detroit.

The sound's adoption by producers such as Addison Groove and Machinedrum, plus labels like Planet Mu, means that the high tempo, rough edged style is having an increasing influence on artists worldwide.

808 kick drums are often used to get the faster footwork sound, so let’s take a look at how we can create that authentic old-school analogue feel using software.

Start by loading D16’s Nepheton drum machine (demo version available from the developer’s site) into your DAW. Activate the Patt. Write button, then hold Ctrl or Apple and hit the red Clear button. This gives us an empty pattern to play with.