What Exactly A Trap Beat Is And How To Make It?

If you find yourself enjoying music more and more and you have your friend making more trap music than normal hip hop yet you have no idea what he exactly doing, you might start wondering what really a trap beat is. The term is greatly familiar in music but many musicians and music fans do not know what those words really mean and how to make such composition. If you’re one of them, help yourself out.

In this article, you will learn what makes the certain genre a trap beat and how to make such difference yourselves.

What is Trap Beat?

Trap beat or trap music is a genre starting to gain quite a bit momentum through the growing sub-genres in the culture of dance music. Trap music has been gaining lots of attention. It is based on the use of the 808 Roland drum machine, pitched and re-sampled hip hop or rap vocals, pipe flutes various FX and gangsta synth leads. Although the music style originated many years ago, trap music is making a new school comeback in many forms nowadays. Trap music or EDM (Electronic Dance Music) trap music as some may call it, was first emerged primarily from the South.

This genre is filled with a hard attitude just like the sound you can hear in the brass, triangle snappy snares and other instruments that are used in composing tracks. The new trap music genre has been used widely in techno, dub, and dutch house like the sounds incorporated and originated from the Roland TR-808 drum and vocal samples used by the originators of the trap music game such as the Southern rappers: Waka Flocka Flame, Gucci Mane, Young Jeezy, Three 6 Mafia, and Manny Fresh.

Recognizing the Genre

Hi-hats are the most recognized from the trap. However, some tend to have re-sampled and pitched vocals, high-pitched synthesizers, repetitiveness and have low frequency throughout the song. Trap music comes down to the synth, hats and 808’s. It is such an easy crossover. This is because trap music was originally a hip hop then later on EDM picked it up and started to bloom at the crazy hi-hats and had drops.

Everything on top of that, they started to add stuff from dub and any other new forms have formed. The beats of the trap are made with synthesizers and strings for added effects, fast faced, ratting hi-hats and massive bass. Today, the genre has changed a lot.

Trap music is a genre that would be played in the trap. It sounds like Southern’s favorite music. You will know it well when you hear it.

How Trap Beat was Formed

To simply understand what makes a beat a trap beat, it is best described as the combination of the following:

•  1/3 hip hop (similarity of tempo and song structure, tracks are usually between 70-110 bpm) –vocals are usually pitched lower, sometimes higher.
• 1/3 dubstep/dance music (the same drum arrangements, different builds, and drops) – High pitched Dutch synth work, samples of Hardstyle and a plethora of trap or the remix of popular EDM songs
• 1/3 dub – a low-frequency focus with strong emphasis on repetitiveness throughout the song Trap beat is best described as a delicious dish and the things above are what makes the recipe good.

How to Make a Trap Beat

WHAT YOU NEED:

1.  Music Equipment
2.  Music Production Software
3.  Sounds (Free Trap Music Sample Packs)

PROCEDURES:

1. Set a tempo high when the program is on the beat. It is when the feel of the beat has its fast.
2. Set the tempo to 135 then try hearing the difference between the sounds.
3. Download 808 drum samples or refill if you don’t have it. Because if you just lie on the 808 machine, nothing sounds quietly like the 808.
4. Start playing the drum leads by dragging close the hi hats on every beat. The snare will also provide solid back beats. This sounds good but trap beat has not been made with this yet.
5. Trap and hip hop beats use layered drum sounds.
6. And just like the other musical styles, you have to use Jazzy Kick Pattern.
7. Try to put a kick drum on the beat and off the beat but leave some blocks empty. That’s the foundation of the beat done.
8. Combine the tracks. This is how you will get a nice layer of different sounds. Still, a wonderful track combination is not a trap beat.
9. Add special fills such as triplet rhythms and rolls. They give special swing to the beats.
   10.Make the sound cool by using velocity ramp. It is a series of fast notes which often create volume intensity.

THE QUICK WAY:

1. Tempo range 135-160bpm
2. 808 Drum Samples
3. Layered Drum Sounds
4. Jazzy Kick Pattern
5. Triplet and Rolls