Building Beats workshop leader & music producer DJ RAY BLK has some tips to create a Trap drum pattern using the free browser-based music production program Soundtrap. You can access Soundtrap on your laptops, phones, and iPads using the Chrome Browser.

Trap music has become extremely popular over the last 10 years; it is becoming one of the most listened-to subgenres in hip-hop. This tutorial will show how to create a trap beat similar to one you would hear DaBaby, Lil Baby, or Young Thug rapping over. Trap is all about the bounce, and the beat RAY BLK has created below is pretty simple, yet has a lot of energy. 

First, set the Tempo, or beats per minute, to 140 BPM. Trap beats are usually in between 130 and 140 BPM, giving it that fast but also bouncy feel. 

Next, start your beat.

RAY BLK usually starts his trap beats out with closed High hats. Once you lay your hats down, it is a lot easier to start adding all of the other elements. The High hats act as a metronome, which helps with rhythmic timing.

To start your drums, go to Patterns Beatmaker, and you will see a new pop up screen with three different tabs: Instruments, Patterns, and Piano Roll. Head over to the Patterns tab, and you’ll see that RAY BLK is using the Old School drum kit (which is included in the free version of Soundtrap). Each square in the sequencer represents a quarter beat, and each cluster of 4 quarter beats represent 1 beat, (you’ll notice the thicker lines separating each beat and the thinner lines separating each quarter beat). Place a high hat on every other quarter beat. 

Next, add a new drum track via Patterns Beatmaker, and add an Open hat, which will give your track some space. To access drums that are not listed in the sequencer view, click on any drum (the snare for instance) and you will be able to access a drop-down menu. Select the open hat from the drop down menu. Add the open hat only once, on the second beat (the first quarter beat in beat #2). Now you have the groove going. 

Time to create the Snare. Add a new drum track and head into the pattern view once again. RAY BLK is using the Vanilla drum kit for this one, so change from the Old School kit to the Vanilla kit, and place a Snare on every 3rd beat (again, the first quarter beat in beat #3). Now your head should be nodding.

These three elements, the High hat, Open hat, and Snare, are essential for making a good trap beat. Next, we’ll add the Rimshot, which will add movement to your beat. Create a new drum track, and stick with the Vanilla kit. As you did with the Open hat, click on any of the drums in pattern view and select Rimshot from the drop down menu. This will be a more subtle sound (lower the volume a bit on this instrument). To create these, let your ear be your guide - play the other drums that you have created so far and lay these down on the grid until it sounds good.

Now last but not least, the most essential ingredient: the 808 bass. There is no trap without the 808 bass. The cool thing about Soundtrap is that there are a lot of 808s to choose from. In this track, RAY BLK has selected an 808 that has a similar sound to DaBaby’s tracks (made by producer Jetsonmade). This bass has a lazy bounce to it, yet it is still very deep. The goal in making a trap beat is to make the 808 bass in your face; you want it to be the most heard instrument in your drum pattern. 

To access this sound, add a new track, and this time select Guitar & Bass. Click on the default instrument square that shows (likely a Rock guitar) and you will see a pop up window with all of the different types of instruments. Click on Bass - Kick 808, and select Gritty Long Sub 808. Now you can start playing your computer keyboard, which will play the keyboard you see on the screen.

If the pitch sounds too high or low, you can see an option to adjust the Octave to the left, on top of the keyboard. Begin to play your notes via the provided virtual keyboard, while playing your other drums to keep a sense of rhythm. Once you’ve got the melody you want, hit the record button at the bottom of the screen, with your other drums still playing. After that, you can go into the Piano Roll view and fine-tune it. 

Now you have created a trap beat! We encourage you to play around with the different drum kits and 808 basslines to make it more your own creation. If you enjoyed this, stay tuned for our other How-To videos!

Note: RAY BLK is creating these all on separate tracks instead of all together, which is smart, so you can manipulate the volume of each individual drum sound.