How to make phonk on your phone, cowbell and all

Phonk on your phone comes down to three things: a cowbell playing a melody, a dirty 808 and heavy drums. Want to hear the idea before downloading anything? Bank B, included in the free version, already has a Cowbell and four 808s: turn on the Keyboard (the piano button) on the Cowbell and there's your phonk melody. For the full sound there's the Phonk kit in the plugins: in fifteen minutes you've got a loop playing by itself.

Hear what comes out of PadLoopRecorded inside the app with PadLoop's sounds, exactly as it comes out: no mixing on a computer.

Phonk

Watch the video on its own page →

Transcript

1. 0:00 Make a phonk beat from scratch
2. 0:02 Pick track 1 and tap REC: a one-bar count-in starts
3. 0:05 Phonk kit on bank F. Track 1: distorted kick and half-time snare
4. 0:08 The loop starts again by itself: listen before adding more
5. 0:12 REC again on track 1: hi-hats
6. 0:16 Track 2: the cowbell melody
7. 0:20 Track 3: 808 with a slide
8. 0:24 All the layers, in time. Now arrange it.
9. 0:28 LOOP tab: mute the drums in time for a break
10. 0:32 …then the bass: the tension builds
11. 0:35 Drop: everything comes back in
12. 0:39 Hold an effect while it plays: filter down, then echo
13. 0:46 Note repeat on the hi-hat: rolls in time
14. 0:50 The performance recording is ready to share or export

From the kit to your first phonk loop

1. In MORE → Plugins download the Phonk kit (16 sounds, about 1.2 MB).
2. In the PAD tab tap ⊞ (the menu for banks and Ready beats), pick Phonk (marked Plugin) and the bank to load it onto.
3. Tap the BPM in the top bar and set it around 130-140.
4. Turn on the Keyboard, pick Cowbell and the Min. pentatonic scale: tap the pads and the melody is already there.
5. On track 1 (the numbers at the top are tracks, the layers of your song) press REC, play Kick dist and Snare, then add Hat with ⟳ (it repeats a hit in time) turned on.
6. Tap track 2, press REC and record the cowbell melody you found on the Keyboard.
7. On track 3 record the 808 with the Keyboard on 808, and end the loop with Memphis or Tape stop.

BPM is the tempo, in beats per minute. By step 4 you already have the phonk sound; steps 5 to 7 turn it into a full loop. Prefer a ready-made start? The Ready beats include Phonk at 130 BPM, with cowbell, drums and 808 on three tracks, using this kit's sounds (loading it comes with the full version).

From Memphis to your phone: where the sound comes from

Phonk grew out of 1990s Memphis rap, made with samples and worn-out cassettes, and it's come back with a harder edge. Its signature is the cowbell: a tuned cowbell repeating one short melody, over and over. Underneath sits a distorted 808, long and often louder than everything else. The drums hit hard, with busy hi-hats like in trap; on top, dark vocal snippets on repeat. And everything sounds dirty, like tape: crackle, slowed-down loops, tape stops. The tempo varies a lot, but today it often sits around 130-140 BPM.

The Phonk kit, sound by sound

It's one of the six sound kits in the plugins. It fills a whole bank (a page of 16 pads), all one-shots, so it works at any tempo.

Cowbell melodies that never go off-key

With the Keyboard on Cowbell, the sound spreads across all the pads: low at the bottom left, high at the top right.

• Min. pentatonic: every pad fits with the others, so you improvise without fear.
• Minor: a couple more notes, for darker melodies.
• Cowbell 2 and Cowbell 3: the same melody changes character.

A trick: with ⟳ on and Arpeggio set to "Up", hold three keys and the melody runs by itself, in time. More on the Keyboard page.

Distorted 808 and heavy drums

Turn on the Keyboard on the 808 pad and play notes under the cowbell, in the same scale. An 808 is long, and two overlapping notes muddy the bass. Tap the pencil (the button that edits pads), open the pad and set If you retap it to Restarts: each new note stops the previous one.

For the drums, start with Kick dist on beat one and Snare on two and four, or on three for trap's half-time feel. Then hi-hats with ⟳: 1/16 for the bed, 1/32 for rolls. Tap low on the pad for a full hit, higher for a soft one. Many of these tricks are the same as for trap beats and drill beats.

Dirty in the right way: lo-fi, tape and vinyl

Clean phonk isn't phonk:

• The bolt (the button for hold-down effects). Lo-fi crushes the sound, Pitch down drops the loop like a slowed record, Filter down smothers it. Let go and it's clean again.
• Lo-fi on a single pad. Tap the pencil, open a pad and raise Lo-fi: it stays in recorded loops and in the exported file too.
• The kit's pads. Vinyl adds crackle, Tape stop the tape brake at the end of the loop.

Make your own Memphis vocals: in the SAMPLE tab record a phrase with the microphone, put it on a pad and drop its Pitch a few semitones. It turns dark and slow. The sampler, part of the full version and included in the trial, is explained on the sample your voice page.

Try the kit free, keep it with one purchase

The Phonk kit and every other plugin are included in the 7-day trial. After that they're part of the full version, a single purchase that also covers export, the sampler and up to 16 tracks. Bank B with its Cowbell and 2 looper tracks never expire: for a phonk sketch, they're enough.

Good to know

• Effects in the file. A pad's own Lo-fi already ends up in the export; to capture the hold-down effects too, use Record performance (full version, open during the trial).
• One download, then offline. A connection is needed only to get the kit; recording, playing and exporting work without it.

Questions about making phonk on a phone

How do you make phonk on your phone?

With PadLoop's Phonk kit you get cowbells, a distorted 808, drums and vocals on a 16-pad bank; you record in layers on the looper and play the cowbell melody in key with the Keyboard.

Can I make phonk on mobile for free?

PadLoop is free to download and you can use every plugin free for 7 days, Phonk kit included; after that the kit is part of the full version, a one-time purchase. Free forever, you still get bank B (Trap), which has a Cowbell and four 808s.

Is there a phonk beat maker online or with AI?

With PadLoop you make phonk on your phone and play every note yourself. You need internet only once, to download the kit; after that you play, record and export offline.

What BPM is phonk?

It varies, but today's phonk often sits around 130-140 BPM. The Phonk kit sounds are one-shots, so they work at any tempo: you set it from the BPM, anywhere from 40 to 220.

What's in PadLoop's Phonk kit?

16 sounds on one bank: Kick dist, Kick, Snare, Hat, Open hat, three cowbells, 808, 808 slide, the Eerie 1 chord, Dark lead, the Memphis and Yeah vocals, Tape stop and Vinyl.

How do you make a phonk cowbell melody?

Turn on the Keyboard, pick one of the Cowbell pads and the Min. pentatonic scale: the cowbell spreads across all the pads in key, low at the bottom and high at the top, with no wrong notes.

Can I make Brazilian phonk?

There's no kit made specifically for Brazilian phonk: the Phonk kit has cowbells, a distorted 808 and dark Memphis-style vocals. You can still use its cowbells and 808s and play whatever rhythm you like.

Is there a ready-made phonk beat?

Yes: the Ready beats include Phonk, at 130 BPM, a complete 4-bar beat with cowbell, drums and 808 on three tracks. It uses the Phonk kit's sounds: if you haven't downloaded it yet, the app tells you and offers to open the Plugins page. Loading it is part of the full version, included in the trial.

Last updated: 21 October 2026