TRAP
Trap music is an offshoot from hiphop, and originated in the southern USA during the late'90s and early 2000s. Generally starker than hip-hop, both in its lyrical content and production, trap takes its name from the trap houses in which illegal dealings occur, with crime being a key lyrical theme. Unlike many classic hiphop beats that major heavily on sampled breaks and one-shots for the rhythm track, trap instead uses classic Roland TR-808 samples for the drum track, often with thekick and bass combined into one musical, yet percussive element.
Musically, trap records generally feature a lot of synth pads, drones and leads, with sampled one-shot stabs or loops also used in places. However, a basic trap rhythm track can work well with musical ideas from a wide variety of other genres, as evidenced by the influence of trap music on other strands of hip-hop, pop and dance culture. Many records across these genres make use of production techniques from the genre, ranging from trademark trap drum sounds, patterns and fills, through to manic chopped-up vocal samples or stabs.
Over the next few pages, we’ll show you how to make a trap banger – using any DAW and the samples available at . We’ll be using Ableton Live 10 for this feature, along with plugins available free with our sister mag Computer Music, but these techniques can also be used to
