I love using my Launchpad Pro and Push 2 for step sequencing. Once you get the hang of it, it’s a fast way to lay down a new beat. The only problem when you are first starting is figuring out some basic patterns to play with. I made The Drum Pattern cheat sheet to help me draw out some quick drum patterns. The idea was I wanted to print them off to have next to my push while jamming with friends as a reference. It really helped me get started.
Here is an example page from the collection. At the top, it says the style and BPM. To make this pattern you would set your Push, Launchpad, or any other MIDI step sequencer to 1/16th note. You would then program the Open hats on the 3rd and 6th pad of step sequencer on the first row and the 3rd and 6th pad on the second row. Your closed hats are on every 1/16th note and so on.
With this sheet, you can have it next to you, or loaded on a screen, and quickly set up a beat. This is a simple place to start and from here you can start experimenting and making it more unique.
You can also make these drum patterns directly in Ableton Live. This short video shows how you would take the sheet and set it up in Live. I also showed this example so you can set up the sequence on your push and look at this video to see if it looks correct as a clip in Ableton Live.
