There are many ways to create a breakbeat, but there are two methods which are most common. The first one involves using a drum machine or sampler that contains single drum hits and arranging them with a software sequencer such as Cubase or Cakewalk. You can also arrange them inside the drum machine or sampler if it has an internal sequencer.

The second method for making a breakbeat is to record (or sample) a loop of a drum solo, or a section of a song where the drums are isolated, and then cut that loop into 8 or 16 equal sections (so {bare with me here this is kinda abstract} if this were the loop ________ you would cut it up like this _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ so each section of the original loop is represented) and then arrange these pieces in a hardware or software sequencer. So essentially you take your drum hits from the pieces of the loop you sampled and looped and use them as hits. It allows you to rearrange a beat while, this is the great part, if the loop was tight, you can keep the human groove of the original loop or manipulate the grove into more groovy ways. As well you should isolate individual hits that might not have been fully represented in the 8 or 16 pieces and make them into individual samples to further funkify the beat.

If your totally clueless after reading this read sampler, sample, breakbeat and sequencer. maybe it will help. If you want to hear the god of breaking beats then listen to Amon Tobin.

There is a program called Re-Cycle (originally for the Atari ST, now for the PC and Mac) which virtually invented the modern breakbeat, especially in the manic cut'n'paste form heard in much drum & bass music.

When fed a sample, it automatically detects the beats within it and cuts it into as many separate smaller samples as you require, which you can then transmit (via midi or scsi) back to your hardware sampler or load into your appropriate software.
The real magic of the program is that is also generates you a midi file which, when played into the sampler will recreate your original loop, or, more usefully, allows you to have enormous fun cutting up and changing the original loop into something far more crazed and frenzied.

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