AmenBeats is a study-and-remix toy for the most famous drum breaks ever recorded. Load a classic, then twist it into something of your own.
Start from the legends
Eight study templates to learn by ear and rebuild: the Amen break, the Funky Drummer, Apache, Think, Impeach, When the Levee Breaks, Cold Sweat, and the Big Beat. Hit play, hear the groove, then make it yours.
A 16-step sequencer you can read at a glance
Four voices — kick, snare, closed and open hi-hat — laid out on a clean grid. Tap a step to cycle it through on, stomp (accent), and ghost. Stomps add the punch; ghost notes add the feel that makes a break breathe. Mute or solo any voice while you play.
Twiddle the character
Ride the tempo from 40 to 220 BPM. Add swing for groove. Hold DROP to cut the beat out for a beat, then slam it back. Tap FILL for a one-bar snare roll on the next downbeat. Clear and start over anytime.
Make it feel human
Dial in Humanize to loosen every hit's dynamics so a loop breathes instead of machine-gunning. Drag any voice behind the beat with per-voice lay-back for a relaxed, in-the-pocket feel.
Save your grooves and build a song
Name and save the grooves you like, load them back anytime, then chain them into a looping song — each pattern held for as many bars as you want.
Plays anywhere, no files needed
Every drum sound is synthesized on the fly, so the app is tiny and every hit is tweakable. Plays through the speaker even on silent.
Made to sit in your studio
Send MIDI to Ableton Live (or any DAW) so your pattern drives a real drum rack. Export any pattern as a Standard MIDI clip — or import a .mid clip back onto the grid. Sync tempo with Live and other apps over Ableton Link.
Free.
Support
Questions, bugs, or feature requests for AmenBeats: email billdonner@gmail.com. It reaches the person who wrote the app.
Status and copy on this page come straight from App Store Connect (2026-08-06).