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UK garage has inspired generations of electronic music producers. Today, artists like Interplanetary Criminal and Main Phase are at the forefront of a new wave of UK garage, carrying the sound forward to a new generation of clubgoers. 

 In this guide, you’ll learn what the genre is, where it came from, and how to build your own UKG tracks, step by step in Reason 14.

Whether you’re brand new to the genre or looking to add some UK garage flavor to your own productions, we’ll walk through programming drums, writing a bassline, and adding lush, jazzy chords and vocal chops. Let’s get into it.

What is UK garage?

UK garage (often shortened to UKG) is an electronic dance music genre that emerged in the early-to-mid 1990s, blending heavily swung rhythms with deep sub-bass and chopped vocal samples.

The genre traces its roots to the soulful US house of the late ’80s and early ’90s, but the true UK sound emerged from London afterparties. At early Sunday morning events designed to catch exhausted crowds leaving mega-clubs like Ministry of Sound, DJs needed to give ravers a second wind. To do this, they took imported US house records, specifically the stripped-back, B-side dub mixes by producers like Masters At Work, and pushed the pitch faders all the way up to +8%. This was the maximum possible on Technics turntables at the time. Speeding these 120 BPM house tracks to 130+ BPM gave the drums a bouncy, frantic urgency and pitched the scattered vocal chops into a tight, chipmunk-like register.

Fusing this sped-up blueprint with the massive low-end of the UK hardcore and jungle scenes, a new distinctly British sound was born. 

This Sunday scene, deeply rooted in Black British culture and the city’s diverse underground, quickly evolved into its own subculture. In stark contrast to the sweat-soaked warehouse raves of jungle, UKG clubs became synonymous with a more chic nightclub scene, a fashionable crowd dressed up in designer suits and heels. Yet despite the glamorous dress code, the basslines remained ruthless. By the late 1990s, driven by support on pirate radio stations, bass-heavy anthems like “RIP Groove” by Double 99 had pushed this sound out of the underground and onto the UK charts.

The sound of UK garage

What makes UKG instantly recognizable? A few key elements come together: tempo, rhythm, bass, and vocals. Once you understand these building blocks, you’ll know exactly how to build your own tracks in this style.

Tempo and rhythm

UKG typically sits around 128–135 BPM, with variations depending on the style and era. What really defines it, however, is the swung, skippy feel. The drums don’t land rigidly on the grid. They bounce.

You’ll hear two main drum patterns in the genre:

Four-on-the-floor: The kick hits on every beat (1, 2, 3, 4). This drove the early speed garage sound and is still very popular today.

2-step: The kick is “broken” and skips the standard quarter notes, typically hitting on step 1 and 11. This rhythm drove the mainstream UK garage sound of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Bass and vocals

Sub-bass is essential. UKG tracks lean heavily on deep, rolling basslines that you feel in your chest. The bass locks in with the syncopated kick to drive the groove forward.

Vocals are treated as rhythmic layers. Producers chop, pitch-shift, and time-stretch soulful R&B vocals, slicing them into stuttering fragments.

Subgenres and legacy

As UKG evolved, it branched out. Speed garage moved faster and hit harder, keeping the four-on-the-floor kick while adding jungle-influenced basslines. 2-step brought a smoother, more R&B-infused, radio-friendly sound.

But UKG’s influence didn’t stop there. Grime, dubstep, UK funky, and bassline are all widely credited as direct descendants. When dubstep producers started creating dark, half-time tracks at 140 BPM, they were building directly on 2-step’s syncopation. Grime MCs spitting over minimal, gritty beats, were similarly building on the foundations of the early garage club scene.

The UK revival

While UK garage never fully went away, it is currently experiencing a massive, club-focused renaissance. 

Today’s sound is faster, bouncier, and heavily influenced by the gritty energy of 90s speed garage and bassline. Producers and DJs like Interplanetary Criminal, Main Phase, Silva Bumpa, Sammy Virji, and Conducta have revitalized the genre for a new generation. Independent labels like ATW Records and ec2a are pushing out new releases monthly that combine the nostalgic swing and pitched-up vocal techniques of the 90s with hyper-modern clean sound design and crushing sub-bass.

The revival spans both 2-step and four-on-the-floor UKG. Compare the broken kick pattern of Main Phase’s “Hive Mind” with the steady pulse of Interplanetary Criminal’s “Nananana”. Both bring plenty of swing and bass weight, but the kick placement gives each a very different feel.

2-step:

Four-on-the-floor:

If you want to make tracks that fit into today’s UKG sets, you need tight drum programming, an understanding of swing, and bass that hits hard.

What you need before you start

We’ll use Reason 14 and the UK Garage Sound Pack by Ri Za, included in Reason+. The pack includes Combinator Patches we’ll use as starting points for our sounds. 

You can also have a drum break or percussive top loop ready to layer. Loops are commonly used to fill out the grooves in this style. 

Keep a reference track handy to compare drum patterns, swing, and the balance between bass and drums. Use one of the examples above, or explore Spotify’s New UK Garage playlist below for more inspiration. 

How to make UK garage in Reason

Now for the fun part. This step-by-step tutorial will walk you through building an authentic, club-ready UKG beat in Reason 14, from nailing that crucial 2-step swing to designing heavy sub-bass and chopping vocals.

Step 1: Build a 2-step pattern

We’ll start with a two-bar loop at 135 BPM. We’re using the UK Garage Drumkit Combinator Patch from the UK Garage Sound Pack (which uses the Umpf Club Drums Rack Extension) as our sound source. A syncopated kick and heavy 16th-note swing establish the classic UKG bounce, while the snare anchors the groove. Use a 1/16th-note grid, with 16 steps per bar.

A digital audio workstation (DAW) Reason piano roll interface displaying a one-bar MIDI drum sequence. The left vertical axis shows a piano keyboard spanning from C1 to above C2, while the horizontal axis represents time divided into a 16-step grid. Bright red and orange rectangular blocks represent MIDI notes plotted across the grid, with varying color saturations indicating different note velocities. The sequence illustrates a classic 2-step UK Garage drum pattern: a kick drum on C1 strikes on the first beat and is followed by a heavily syncopated hit on the 11th step of the grid. A snare or clap is plotted on the standard backbeats at steps 5 and 13, located just above the kick drum. A dense, syncopated hi-hat and percussion pattern fills the middle rows around G1, while scattered higher-pitched percussion hits punctuate the offbeats throughout the upper section of the grid.

    1. Program the kick. Place a kick on steps 1 and 11. Repeat this in the second bar, and add an extra kick on step 3 at a lower velocity for variation.
    2. Add the clap. Place your snare or clap on steps 5 and 13 (beats 2 and 4). Repeat this for bar 2.
    3. Add syncopated snare hits. Place additional snare hits on steps 8 and 10 for that classic UKG shuffle. Turn down the volume of these hits so they are quieter than your main clap or snare.
    4. Add the offbeat hats. Place an open hi-hat on steps 3, 7, 11, and 15 in both bars. Keep the velocity high on these hits to drive the rhythm forward. 
    5. Add quieter hats. Place a shorter closed hat on steps 4, 8, 12, and 16 in both bars. Give these hits a lower velocity than the open hats.
    6. Add percussion. Place short percussion hits on steps 2, 10, and 14 to fill the gaps in both bars.
    7. Apply swing. In the ReGroove mixer, apply a 58% Shuffle. Then choose A1 from the Groove Select menu on your drum note lane in the sequencer. 

Here’s what it should sound like:

This pack is available in Reason+, but if you aren’t a subscriber, this exact technique and pattern can easily be recreated using Reason’s Redrum drum machine.

A square graphic cover for a sound pack featuring the words "UK GARAGE" prominently centered in large, bold, rounded, off-white capital letters. The background consists of a heavily textured, grainy, and motion-blurred photograph of a dense crowd in a dimly lit nightclub or rave setting, giving the image a nostalgic, underground aesthetic. The color palette features dark, washed-out purples, pinks, and deep blues, contrasted by a distinct, blurry patch of bright orange in the lower right foreground. In the bottom left corner, a small hexagonal logo is positioned next to the text "Reason+ Pack" in a muted, semi-transparent gray font.

Step 2: Big sub-bass

For the low end, we are using the Garage Bass Combinator from the UK Garage Sound Pack. The engine powering this patch is Reason’s stock Monotone Bass Synthesizer. If you aren’t using the pack, you can easily load up Monotone and select the “Blasta” preset for a similar starting point. The Combinator adds extra width and movement using Devices like The Echo, RV7000 MkII, and Synchronous, but the core sound is pure Monotone. 

A split-screen view of the Reason digital audio workstation interface, featuring a virtual instrument rack on the left and a MIDI sequencer on the right. The rack houses a "Garage Bass" Combinator unit layered with an MClass Maximizer, The Echo, an RV7000 MkII reverb, and a Synchronous modulator. These effects process a Monotone Bass Synthesizer module loaded with the "Blasta" preset, while the right panel displays the corresponding orange track regions, a sparse MIDI piano roll sequence with notes plotted on D3 and D4, and a ReGroove Mixer applying a shuffle patch.

  1. Leave space for the kick. Start with a D3 note on step 3, leaving step 1 clear.
  2. Add melodic movement. Place an F3 on step 6 and a D3 on step 7. The move up a minor third adds a little bounce.  
  3. Fill out the pattern. Add D3 notes on steps 9 and 12. 
  4. Push into the next bar. Add D3 notes on steps 14 and 16. Repeat the pattern in bar 2. 
  5. Match the drum swing. Choose A1 from the bass lane’s Groove Select menu to apply the same 58% swing as your drums.

A reason piano roll show the notes D, Bb and A.

Here’s what that will sound like by itself:

And here it is again with drums for context:

Step 3: Fill it out with top loops

UKG is one genre where filling out the groove with sampled top loops is very common. The trick here is to find quality loops, then process them in a way that will complement your beat instead of clashing with the other elements. 

  1. Find quality royalty-free loops. In this example, I’m using wt_ukgd_top_loop_harlemshuffle_136 from LANDR’s UK Garage Drums 2 sample pack.
  2. Select one without a kick drum. Look for percussion such as hi-hats, shakers, and tambourines. Drag your loop onto a new audio track. Reason automatically stretches it to your project tempo, but always check that it plays in time with your drums.
  3. EQ out the lower frequencies. Use a high-pass filter around 200 Hz to remove unwanted low end. 
  4. Turn down the volume.  Let the drums you built earlier shine. This added layer should only be there to fill out spaces in the midrange. It should be felt rather than perceived.

Here’s how everything sounds so far with the top loop added:

Step 4: Creating UKG chord progressions in Chord Sequencer

UK Garage relies heavily on jazzy, extended chords to achieve its signature sophisticated and soulful sound. Electric pianos, such as Rhodes and Wurlitzer emulations, work well for this. Reason’s Chord Sequencer is perfect for exploring these complex voicings without needing years of music theory.

The Reason Chord Sequencer device interface displaying a custom chord progression. The left panel shows the "Soul & R&B" chord set loaded in the key of D, which populates a central 4x4 grid of circular pads with complex chords like Dm9, BbMaj7, and A7#5. A modified "D -?-" chord pad is currently active and highlighted in bright green, with its specific constituent notes displayed on a mini piano keyboard directly below it. At the bottom, a four-bar timeline displays the programmed sequence: Dm9, BbMaj7, the custom D chord, another BbMaj7, and A7#5.

  1. Load Your Instrument: Start by loading the Garage Keys preset from the UK Garage Sound Pack (available in Reason+) as your sound source.
  2. Add the Player: Drop the Chord Sequencer MIDI tool directly onto your instrument track.
  3. Pick a Starting Point: Select “Minor R&B” from the “Soul & R&B” category for lush, extended voicings such as 7ths and 9ths. Set the key to D.
  4. Personalize the Progression: Don’t just stick to the default chord set. For this example, use the Edit Chord function to add a flat 9th (Eb) to the third D minor chord, bringing in a darker, Phrygian feel. Be sure to adjust the Velocity and Humanize features so the keys feel played rather than programmed.
  5. Print to Timeline: When you are ready, hit the Send to Track button. You can then edit the MIDI notes further directly on your main timeline. Here, I personalized the voicings further by moving some notes down an octave to smooth the transitions between chords. This is an easy way to make inversions without focusing heavily on the theory behind the changes.

A digital audio workstation (DAW) piano roll interface displaying a sequence of sustained MIDI chords against a dark green grid. The vertical axis on the left features a piano keyboard spanning from below C2 to above C3. Bright orange rectangular blocks represent the MIDI notes, which are stacked vertically to form a five-chord progression across the timeline. The notes are spread across multiple octaves, visually illustrating complex, extended chord voicings with overlapping, sustained tones.

Here’s just the chord progression:

And everything together again for context:

Step 5: Single-note strings for tension

Simple one-note strings work well in UKG, contrasting with the choppy drums and syncopated bassline. In this example, we are holding the root note D to support the track without adding another melody which could be distracting. Here, the sustained strings deny listeners a sense of resolution, which is an easy way to build tension in the track.

A vertical view of the Reason digital audio workstation rack displaying a complex instrument chain housed within a "Meow Strings" Combinator patch. The core sound generator is the Scenic Hybrid Instrument loaded with the "Maiya Chords" preset, featuring a large central circular dial blending "Solo Strings" and "Voiced Synth" engines. The signal is processed through a stacked effects chain that includes a Rotor Rotary Speaker set to "Fast Shimmering", an Alligator filter gate, an Audiomatic Retro Transformer, and a Channel EQ with an active high-pass filter at the bottom of the rack. Additional effects units like The Echo, an RV7000 MkII reverb, Synchronous, and Sweeper are layered above the main synthesizer.

  1. Load Your Instrument: Start by loading the Meow Strings preset from the UK Garage Sound Pack (available in Reason+) as your sound source. If you don’t have it, load Scenic Hybrid instrument and its “Maiya chords” preset which will get you pretty close.
  2. Add movement with Rotor. Use the “fast shimmering” preset to give the sustained sound a gentle pulsing motion.
  3. Hold the root note. Draw a D note across your two-bar loop.
  4. Clean it up with EQ: Apply a HPF at 600 hz to remove the bottom of the signal. This will thin out the sound and allow space for your kick and bass.

Here are the strings on their own:

And here are the strings with the rest of the beat:

Step 6: Chop and pitch for classic UKG vocals

Pitched-up, rhythmic vocal chops are a defining hallmark of UK Garage. Here is how to turn a vocal phrase into a tight, syncopated hook:

  1. Source your vocal. Royalty-free R&B or diva acapellas work well. In this example, I’m using Vocal_Chop_Loop_Acknowledge_Dm_135bpm from LANDR’s Speed Garage Euphoria sample pack. 
  2. Chop and pitch: Slice the vocal into syllables and pitch it +3 to +12 semitones. Use Reason’s Razor tool (R) with Snap set to 1/16 to isolate a single punchy syllable, trimming it short so it ends abruptly. Repeat this slice into an off-beat, syncopated rhythm across bars 1 and 2, then double up the chops in bars 3 and 4 to build energy before the turnaround.
  3. Clean it up with EQ: Apply a HPF. This removes unwanted low-end rumble.
  4. Add space and modulation: A 1/8th note delay works perfectly to fill the empty gaps between your staccato chops. To give the vocal even more character, experiment with modulation. Here I’m using the Sweeper Modulation device set to the basic phasing preset for adding character.

A digital audio workstation (DAW) timeline displaying a four-bar track of chopped stereo audio waveforms. The audio clips, colored in a muted purple, are sliced into short staccato segments with visible gaps of silence. In the first two bars, the slices are arranged in a sparse, syncopated rhythm, while in bars three and four, the chops are noticeably doubled up and placed closer together, visually demonstrating the technique of building rhythmic energy before a turnaround

Here are the vocal chops:

And finally, here’s our complete UK garage beat:

Final thoughts

Whether you lean toward the soulful bounce of classic 2-step or the aggressive weight of modern speed garage, UKG is a sound built on feeling rather than strict rules. The same energy that fueled 90s London afterparties still drives the genre today. It’s underground DIY communities and labels that keep the culture alive while pushing the sound forward. Use the techniques above as a starting point, then experiment with different shuffle amounts, extended chord voicings, and vocal chops to craft your own take on the UK garage sound.

Final thoughts

Whether you lean toward the soulful bounce of classic 2-step or the aggressive weight of modern speed garage, UKG is a sound built on feeling rather than strict rules. The same energy that fueled 90s London afterparties still drives the genre today. It’s underground DIY communities and labels that keep the culture alive while pushing the sound forward. Use the techniques above as a starting point, then experiment with different shuffle amounts, extended chord voicings, and vocal chops to craft your own take on the UK garage sound.

Tutorial by Tobias Rochman

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FAQ

Why is it called UK garage?

The name comes from New York’s Paradise Garage nightclub, where garage house originated in the 1980s. When that sound traveled to the UK, producers developed their own version, and the “UK” was added to distinguish it from its American roots.

What is UK garage? UK garage (UKG) is an electronic dance music genre that emerged in the early-to-mid 1990s from London afterparties. It blends heavily swung rhythms, deep sub-bass, and chopped vocal samples, originally created by pitching up US house records.

What BPM is UK garage? The genre typically sits between 128 and 135 BPM, though faster variations and descendant genres like dubstep push tempos up to 140 BPM.

What are the main drum patterns in UK garage? The genre relies on two primary rhythms: a four-on-the-floor pattern where the kick hits on every beat, and the syncopated 2-step pattern where the kick skips standard quarter notes, typically hitting on steps 1 and 11.

Did dubstep come from UK garage? Yes. Dubstep, grime, UK funky, and bassline are direct descendants. Early dubstep and grime producers built directly on 2-step’s syncopation and the foundations of the early garage club scene.

Is UK garage still popular today? Yes, the genre is experiencing a club-focused renaissance. Producers like Interplanetary Criminal, Main Phase, Silva Bumpa, Sammy Virji, and Conducta are all pushing a modern sound that combines 90s nostalgia with clean sound design and heavy sub-bass.

What do you need to make UK garage? You need a capable DAW like Reason to program tight drums with a heavy shuffle, utilizing tools like the ReGroove mixer for authentic swing. You also need a rolling sub-bass driven by an engine like the Monotone Bass Synthesizer, jazzy extended chords explored through the Chord Sequencer, and rhythmic, pitched-up vocal chops.