My Base guide

My Base draws the 8-count the way you count it in class: eight cards, one per count. Each card has one row per instrument and one, two or four cells depending on how you count. Tap a cell and that hit plays.

The sounds are created in your browser on the spot: nothing to download, and it works the same on your phone as on your computer. It has two modes: Create, to make your beats, and Ear training, to listen to a beat and copy it.

The first time you come in from a browser you don't need to sign up: the visit is free until you close the tab. To come back and save your beats to your account, create one for free (and get 1 month of Pro).

When you open My Base there's already a beat loaded, Basic, counted with «and». Use it to see how things work, then make it your own.

1. Hit Play

   Press Play. The beat loops and the big count goes from 1 to 8; when you count with «and», the syllable shows up next to it in yellow. The card of the count that's playing lights up, and so does each hit as it sounds.

2. Tap cells

   Tap an empty cell to add a hit and a full one to remove it. You can do it while it plays: you'll hear it as soon as the beat gets there.

3. Look at the colours

   Each instrument has its own colour, on its name and on its cells: kick in blue, snare in coral and hi-hat in yellow.

4. Change the tempo

   − and + move it up or down one at a time; the slider is faster, and you can also type the number. It goes from 60 to 140 BPM.

5. Stop

   Press Stop. If your beat has several eights, you stay on the one that was playing.

In Count you choose how to split each beat, just like when you count in class:

1·2·3: one cell per count, beats only. With «and»: two cells per count, the beat and its «and». e·&·a: four cells per count (1·e·&·a), for fast hi-hats and rolls.

Changing the count doesn't delete anything: if you have hits in e·&·a and switch to «and», the ones that don't fall on the beat or the «and» stop showing and playing, but they're still there and come back when you go back to e·&·a. The app reminds you with a blue line under the grid.

With Pro, a second tap on a cell accents it (it plays louder and shows a white inner border) and a third tap removes it.

The instruments sit above the grid. Tap a name to turn it on or off: what's off doesn't play and shows crossed out (at least one always stays on). The small play button next to it plays it on its own, so you can recognise it.

On Free you get kick, snare and hi-hat. Pro adds five more: open hat, clap, rim, 808 and perc.

In Kit you change how they all sound at once: Boom bap (saturated, the Free one), Old school (drier), Trap (with a long 808) and Lo-fi (filtered). The last three are Pro.

Clear empties the 8 you're looking at in one tap (with several eights the button says Clear this 8). If you change your mind, Undo brings it back.

A beat doesn't have to be a single 8. You can chain up to 16 eights, each one different: for example, three the same and a fourth with a fill. You see one 8 at a time, and above the grid it tells you which: «8 · 2 of 4».

1. Add an 8

   Duplicate copies the 8 you're looking at and puts it right after. Empty 8 adds a blank one, also right after. Either way, you move to it.

2. Move between eights

   Use the ‹ › arrows on the sides, the ← → keys on your keyboard or the dots: each dot is an 8 and the blue one is the one you're looking at.

   

3. Hear the whole beat

   Play starts on the 8 you're looking at and the whole beat loops: from the first to the last and back again. The view follows the 8 that's playing and switches right on its «1». On the big count, «8 · 2/4» tells you which one is playing.

4. Edit while it plays

   If you look at another 8 while it plays, the view stops following so you can work on it calmly; the yellow dot keeps marking the one that's playing. Press Follow the playback to catch up again (or press Play again).

   

5. Remove what you don't need

   Remove deletes the 8 you're looking at, with Undo just in case. Clear this 8 empties it without removing it.

Swing: the slider goes from straight to 45 %. It delays the offbeats (the «and» and, in e·&·a, the «e» and the «a» too) so the beat feels looser and less mechanical. It works the same however you count.

Tempo: from 60 to 140 BPM, with − and +, the slider or by typing the number.

Metronome: a high tick on the 1 of every 8 and a lower one on the other counts. Handy so you don't lose the 1 while you dance.

Example beats: Boom bap and Basic on Free; Old school, Lo-fi and Trap on Pro. Each one sets its own tempo, swing and count (and its kit, if you have Pro).

Loading an example beat (or a saved one) replaces the one you have. If yours wasn't saved, Undo brings it back with all its eights and settings.

1. Name it and save it

   In Your beats, type a name (leave it empty and it's called My Base 1, My Base 2…) and press Save.

2. Open it whenever you like

   The list shows each beat with its tempo, its kit and, if it has several, how many eights («4 × 8»). Load opens it with its settings; the bin deletes it.

   

3. Use it in other apps

   Your beats show up in Freestyle Game («My beats») and in Formations, to improvise or rehearse on top.

On Free you can save 3 beats; with Pro, as many as you like. If you're signed in, they're also saved to your account, so you have them on any phone or computer.

1. In Download audio, choose the length: 1 min, 3 min or 5 min.

2. Press Download audio. My Base creates a WAV with the whole beat repeated the number of times closest to that length.

3. When it's ready, a button appears with the file name (for example, my-base-90bpm-4x8-3min.wav). Tap it to save it.

The audio includes what's playing at that moment: instruments you turned off aren't in it, and neither is the metronome. It's a WAV to use in class, offline.

In Ear training, My Base plays a random beat and you copy it on the grid. It's always one 8, with no swing and the Boom bap kit.

1. Choose what to train

   In Count, 1·2·3 or with «and» (e·&·a is Pro). Tap the instruments you want in the challenge: every change brings a new beat.

2. Listen

   Play the beat loops it. While it plays you can't see where it is, so nothing gets given away. Above the grid it tells you how many sounds there are to guess and how many you've marked.

3. Copy it

   Tap the cells where you hear each hit and compare with Play mine.

4. Check

   Check marks what's right with a ✓, what's extra in red and what's missing with a dotted border. Get several in a row and your streak goes up.

   

5. Keep going

   Another beat gives you a new one (never the same as the last). If you get stuck, Show the answer shows you, striped, what was missing.

My Base works the same on your phone: the console on top, the instruments below and the grid in two rows. With several eights, the arrows sit on either side of the 8 number.

If you'll use it often, the Install button on the app page adds it to your home screen with its own icon, like any other app.

What each plan gives you in My Base.

The Pro price, monthly or yearly, is on the plans page. See the plans →