Set up your drum machine or drum sound console. This can include connecting any power cables, audio cables and amplifiers needed to play the audio. If your drum machine does not have speakers built into it, you will need to connect it to an amplifier to get it to play.
Download drum machine software if you are a computer musician and will not be using a drum machine. There are many types of drum machine software available for both Mac and PC, from free to professional grade software. Professional electronic music software company Propellerhead offers a free drum effects program for Windows, which is called Rebirth.
Pick your sounds. On most digital drum effect interfaces, a row of lit buttons allow you to specify a pattern of beats and sounds that comprise your beat. Advanced digital drum effects interfaces will usually have a means of loading original sounds into the console for programming.
Create a drum kit. Often, the digital drum effects console will allow you to load premade drum "kits," or groups of drum sounds chosen to complement each other. Loading a drum kit can be a quick way to get started, but can give your music a formulaic, unoriginal sound.
Lay down a bass beat. The bass beat is a good basic place to start building your beat. Common bass patterns for hip hop and pop music include bass strikes on the two and four beats of a four-four pattern.
Choose an accent beat. Accent beat sounds in pop generally include claps, hi-hats and snare drums, but the possibilities for experimentation are endless. Some musicians, especially those in the "glitch" genre, alter sounds in pitch and timbre to create an unusual beat sound.
Play around. With the steps above, you should have put down basic beata to make your own. Experiment with new beats or try to copy the style of artists you have liked in the past.
Add some depth to the sound using the effects and adjustments available on your digital drum effects console. Available effects usually include reverberation, which puts and echo on your beats, but some consoles also have adjustments that can change the pitch and sound qualities of the digital drum effects you use.