Make Your Island Boom with Drum Sequencers

Do you want your Fortnite island to have a cool beat? You can make music without playing an instrument. We will use the Drum Sequencer. This tool lets you draw patterns. These patterns play as loops. It is like a digital music box. You will build a mini DJ booth. Players will hear your beat when they enter.

What You'll Learn

• How to place notes on a grid.
• How to connect devices together.
• How to make a loop that plays forever.
• How to change the sound of your drums.

How It Works

Think of the Drum Sequencer like a piano roll. A piano roll is a sheet of music with squares. You put stickers on the squares. Each sticker is a drum hit.

The grid has rows and columns. The rows are different drums. The columns are time. Moving right means time passes. Moving down changes the drum sound.

You create a loop. A loop is a pattern that repeats. It goes back to the start. It never stops. This keeps the music going.

You need three parts for this machine.

1. The Drum Sequencer. This is the brain. It holds the pattern.
2. The Drum Player. This is the voice. It makes the actual sound.
3. The Speaker. This is the mouth. It plays the sound for us.

You must connect them with cables. Think of cables like water pipes. Water flows from one pipe to another. Audio flows from one device to another.

Let's Build It

First, go to your Creative Island. Open the device library. Search for Drum Sequencer. Place it down.

Now, search for Drum Player. Place it next to the sequencer.

Finally, search for Speaker. Place it near the player.

Here is how to connect them. Click the Output port on the Drum Sequencer. Drag a cable to the Input port on the Drum Player. Then, drag a cable from the Drum Player to the Speaker.

Now, let's make a beat. Click on the Drum Sequencer. You will see a grid. The grid has four columns. These are four beats. There are five rows. Each row is a different drum.

Click a square to place a note. A note is a single drum hit. Try clicking the first square in the bottom row. That is a kick drum. It goes boom.

Click the third square in the middle row. That is a snare. It goes snap.

Click the first square in the top row. That is a hi-hat. It goes tish.

Your pattern should look like this:

• Beat 1: Kick and Hi-hat.
• Beat 2: Nothing.
• Beat 3: Snare.
• Beat 4: Hi-hat.

This makes a simple rhythm. It goes Boom-tish, snap, tish.

Now, press play. The music will start. It will repeat the pattern. You will hear your creation.

Here is a Verse script to automate this. It finds the devices. It sets them up. It plays the music.

using { /Fortnite.com/Devices }
using { /Fortnite.com/Devices/Patchwork }
using { /Verse.org/Simulation }

# This is our main script.
# It runs when the island starts.
# note: In UEFN, device references are declared as editable properties
# on a creative_device class, not fetched by name at runtime.
# Wire your DrumSequencer, DrumPlayer, and Speaker in the editor UI.
drum_booth_manager := class(creative_device):

    @editable
    Sequencer : drum_sequencer_device = drum_sequencer_device{}

    @editable
    Player : drum_player_device = drum_player_device{}

    # note: Patchwork audio routing (Output.Connect) is done via editor
    # cable connections, not Verse API calls. OnBegin starts playback.
    OnBegin<override>()<suspends> : void =
        # Start the sequencer so it loops forever.
        # The editor cables already route audio to the drum player.
        Sequencer.Enable()```

This code is simple. It finds the devices. It connects the wires. It starts the music. You can copy this into your Verse file. Just change the names if yours are different.

## Try It Yourself

Can you make a faster beat? Try adding more notes. Put a note on every square. That is a very fast drum roll.

Can you change the drum type? Click the row labels. They show different drum icons. Try a clap or a cymbal.

Here is a hint. The **Drum Player** has settings too. You can change the volume. You can also change the sound type. Look for the **Sample** option. It lets you pick different drums.

## Recap

You built a music machine. You used the Drum Sequencer. You drew a pattern on a grid. You connected it to a Drum Player. You sent the sound to a Speaker. Your island now has a beat. Great job!

## References

- https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/using-patchwork-drum-sequencer-devices-in-fortnite-creative
- https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite-creative/using-patchwork-drum-sequencer-devices-in-fortnite-creative
- https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/getting-started-with-patchwork-in-fortnite-creative
- https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite-creative/getting-started-with-patchwork-in-fortnite-creative
- https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/fortnite/verse-api/fortnitedotcom/devices/patchwork/drum_sequencer_device