How to Make Trap Beats: Drum Patterns, 808s and Melodies

Trap beats are built from a few simple parts: slow, heavy drums with fast hi hats, a deep 808 that carries the bassline, and a dark melody on top. Once you understand how those parts fit together, you can make a solid trap beat in any DAW. This guide walks you through each step, starting with the drum pattern.

Set Up Your Project

• Tempo: most trap sits between 130 and 160 BPM, with 140 as a common starting point. The drums are written in half time, so the beat feels like 70 BPM even though the grid runs at 140.
• Key: minor keys give trap its dark mood. Pick one before you start, because your 808 has to be tuned to it.
• Grid: set the grid to 1/16 notes for the drums. You will switch to 1/32 notes and triplets for hi hat rolls.

The Basic Trap Drum Pattern

Here is one bar at 140 BPM on a 16 step grid. Each number is a 1/16 note step, and an X means a hit. Start with this, then change it to make it your own.

Step	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Kick	X										X
Snare / clap									X
Closed hat	X		X		X		X		X		X		X		X
808	X										X

Kick and snare

The snare or clap on beat 3 of every bar is the backbone of trap. Keep it there. The kick is where you add movement: try extra kicks just before or after the snare, or leave space so the 808 can carry the low end. Many producers layer a clap on top of the snare for a wider, sharper hit.

Hi hats and rolls

Hi hats are what make a beat sound like trap. Start with straight 1/8 notes as in the pattern above, then add rolls:

• Switch short sections to 1/16 or 1/32 notes, usually at the end of a bar or phrase.
• Use triplet rolls (1/16 or 1/32 triplets) for that bouncing, stuttering feel.
• Pitch a few hits up or down as a roll plays, so it rises or falls.
• Change the velocity of each hit. If every hit is the same loudness, the hats sound robotic.
• Add an open hat on the offbeat once or twice per bar to give the pattern air.

Do not roll everywhere. Rolls work best as fills that lead into the next bar, with the rest of the hats kept simple.

Percussion and fills

Rimshots, snaps, shakers and percussion loops fill the gaps between the main hits. Snare rolls that speed up into a drop are a classic trap move. Keep percussion quieter than the snare so the main groove stays clear.

Program the 808

The 808 is a long, tuned bass drum that works as the kick and the bassline at once. Getting it right matters more than any other part of the beat.

• Tune it: make sure the 808 sample’s root note matches your key. A tuner plugin on the 808 shows its pitch. If it is out of tune, the beat sounds muddy no matter how you mix it.
• Follow the kick: place 808 notes on or near your kick hits, as in the pattern above. When the kick and 808 hit at the same time, they work as one heavy sound.
• Write a bassline: move the 808 between the root note and a few other notes from your scale, often the fifth or the seventh. Simple is fine.
• Add glides: slides from one 808 note to the next are part of the trap sound. Use your sampler’s glide or portamento setting, and set it to mono so one note slides into the next.
• Control the length: long 808 tails can clash with the next kick. Shorten notes where the groove needs space.
• Add some distortion or saturation: a little drive adds harmonics, so the 808 can be heard on phone speakers and small headphones, not just on big systems.

Write the Melody

Trap melodies are usually short and repetitive, built to loop under a vocal. Bells, plucks, pianos, dark pads, strings, flutes and choirs are all common.

• Use a minor scale, or the harmonic minor scale for a darker, more dramatic sound.
• Write a 2 or 4 bar loop. A simple idea that repeats is better than a long one that wanders.
• Leave space. The melody should not fight the 808 or the vocal, so keep it in the middle and upper range.
• Add a second layer, such as a pad or a counter melody, only after the first loop works on its own.

Stuck on chords? Drag in a MIDI chord progression and change the notes until it sounds like yours. Our EDM MIDI Collection has 82 key labelled MIDI files of progressions, synth lines, arps and basslines you can play through any synth.

Arrange the Beat

A loop is not a beat yet. Turn it into a full arrangement that a vocalist can write over. A common layout is:

1. Intro (4 to 8 bars): melody only, or melody with filtered drums.
2. Hook (8 to 16 bars): full drums, 808 and melody.
3. Verse (16 bars): pull back a little. Remove a layer or simplify the hats so the vocal has room.
4. Hook again, then a second verse, then a final hook.
5. Outro: strip parts away until only the melody is left.

Small changes keep the listener interested: drop the drums for one bar before a hook, mute the 808 for a beat, add a riser or a reverse cymbal, or change the hi hat pattern in the second verse.

Mix It So It Hits

• Kick and 808: these share the low end. Sidechain the 808 to the kick, or shorten one of them, so they do not cancel each other out.
• Cut low end from everything else: use a high pass filter on melodies, hats and percussion, so only the kick and 808 live in the lowest frequencies.
• Snare and clap: give them a short reverb so they sound big without washing out the beat.
• Hi hats: keep them a little lower than you think, and pan some percussion left and right for width.
• Check on small speakers: listen on phone speakers or earbuds. If the 808 disappears, add more saturation or a higher octave layer.

Want more on getting a mix right at home? See our guides to choosing studio headphones and treating your room.

Common Mistakes

• An 808 that is not tuned to the key of the melody.
• Hi hat rolls in every bar, so nothing stands out.
• Too many melody layers, leaving no space for a vocal.
• A kick and 808 that fight each other in the low end.
• One loop repeated for three minutes with no changes.

Start Faster With Trap Construction Kits

Construction kits give you drums, bass and melodies that already work together, so you can study how a full trap beat is built and then change it into your own. Open the loops, look at the MIDI files and swap in your own sounds one part at a time.

• $1 Trap Kit: one full kit with 14 WAV loops, 8 one shots and a MIDI file, taken from our Apocalypse Trap pack. A cheap way to try the sound.
• Apocalypse Trap Sample Pack: five hard trap construction kits with 104 WAV loops, 33 one shots and 7 MIDI files, labelled with key and BPM.
• Key Sounds Vol.1 Bundle: Apocalypse Trap plus Future Dubstep, Key Sounds Vol.1, the EDM MIDI Collection and our production ebook in one bundle.

All Rhino Star sounds are royalty free for use in your own music. Read what royalty free samples mean before you release, and check out our music production tips for beginners.