How do I make a dancehall beat?

Dancehall typically sits around 70-100 BPM and is built on a "one drop" rhythm, where the kick and snare hit together on beat 3. Here is a practical workflow on the EP-40.

Set your tempo

Press tempo and use knob X to dial in around 75-90 BPM for a classic dancehall feel.

Load your sounds

Press sound to enter sound mode. Use Group A for drums, Group B for bass, Group C for melodic sounds like organ or piano hits. Kicks are stored in samples 1-99, snares in 100-199, hi-hats in 200-299.

Program the one drop

Press main, then hold shift and minus to go to step 1. Hold record and press your kick pad on beat 3 (step 9 in a 1/16 grid). Add your snare to the same step. Leave beats 1 and 2 relatively empty, this space is the defining character of dancehall.

Add the skank

In Group C, load a short choppy organ or guitar stab. Program it to hit on the offbeats, steps 3, 7, 11 and 15 in a 1/16 grid.

Add a bassline

Switch to Group B, press keys and play a rolling bass pattern. Dancehall bass often follows a stepwise pattern that mirrors the vocal melody.

Add swing and reverb

Press timing and use knob Y to add a small amount of swing. Then press FX, use minus and plus to select reverb, and add a short room reverb to your snare group for that classic sound.