In part one of our guide to free online beat composers we took a closer look at Drumbit, Drumbot Sequence, Online Sequencer, HTML5 Drummachine as well as Rhythm Composer i0-808. All of them have their strengths and weaknesses, but the one thing that they have in common is that they can be used for free. Just in case none of the websites covered in our first article didn't catch your fancy, here are X more free online beat composers to try out. 

Beatboxer

Link: https://sig.gy/beatboxer/

Beatboxer is actually a human-sized drum machine that was made out of LEDs, Go, and a Raspberry Pi after the creator was inspired by the stage sized drum machine Nine Inch Nails used for a concert. However, before building anything physical, the creator first tried replicating the drum machine on a web page. He also tried to accomplish this using as little code as possible and ended up with just a few hundred lines of HTM, JavaScript and CSS. Although he eventually rewrote the code in Go and build the hardware, the free web version of Beatboxer is still up and quite fun to mess around with. To learn more about how the hardware version was made and to see some videos of it in action head on over to the Beatboxer website (https://sig.gy/bbox/).

Beat Maker

Link: https://splice.com/sounds/beatmaker

Beat Maker is basically a promotional tool for Splice Sounds to advertise their more than two million royalty-free sounds, but it is still very decent. It allows you to put together a beat from up to sixteen sounds consisting of all the usual culprits, like kick drums, snares, open and closed hihats, toms, percussion and even synth hits. The has a couple of "featured beats" for inspiration and you can also save your own beat if you like what you managed to come up with. If you want access to all two million sounds you'll need to pay a monthly subscription, but even with the free sounds this beat composer is pretty neat. 

Drum Machine

Link: https://www.onemotion.com/drum-machine/

Drum Machine by OneMotion features a composer, pads for playing drums with your keyboard, and even "iDrums" so you can play virtual drums if you open the page on your iPhone. It has a selection of drumkits with samples from DrumGizmo.org and also enables you to choose from a number of effects. Drum Machine is simple to easy and sounds good, but be aware that if you want to load or save your composition you will need to sign up. 

Typedrummer

Link: http://typedrummer.com/

If you feel like messing around with drum beats, but can't be bothered with the complexities sketching out your own beat, why not try Typedrummer by Kyle Stetz? This nifty little program allows you to create new beats by simply typing random words. This is perfect if you ever wondered what type of beat your name or favorite saying would make. Typedrummer is obviously not as complex or customizable as the other beat composers, but don't be surprised if you waste a lot of time typing in random words or phrases in search of a catchy beat. The page even generates a custom URL if you happen across a beat that you would like to share. 

Ordrumboxjs

Link: https://www.ordrumbox.com/jsdrumbox/index.html

While Ordrumboxjs is never going to win any awards for looks and sound, it is an interesting example of a free online drum machine. You have a number of drumkits to choose from, each with eight samples. You can adjust the pitch and velocity of each sample as well as their placement in the beat. Other notable features of this beat composer is the inclusion of selectable scales as well as plenty of sample patterns in different styles that you can listen to for inspiration. If you enjoy this beat composer, but would like something that offers a little more, then also check out orDrumbox from the same developer, which is free drum machine software that can automatically compose everything from bass lines and melodic patterns to complete songs. 

PatternSketch

Link: https://patternsketch.com/

PatternSketch is an online audio sequencer and drum machine that makes use of HTML5 as well as Javascript. This means that it uses no frameworks and no flash in order to function. PatternSketch can be used to create your own drum loops before saving, sharing or exporting them. Export options include mp3, wav as well as ogg formats. You can use up to 16 samples at a time with PatternSketch and adjust everything from the steps to the tempo. It even has a new shuffle feature that you can experiment with in order to create interesting rhythms. 

Conclusion

Let us know on the forum or in the comments below what your thoughts are on online beat composers and what, if any, you ever used yourself for inspiration or simply to play around with.