Trap EDM

History and character

Trap EDM (at first called simply "trap", later also "trap-techno" or "trapstep") was born in the United States around 2012, in the midst of the big room house and hip hop trap boom. From southern US trap it takes the Roland TR-808 drums, the rolling hi-hats and the long 808s, and from rave music and EDM it takes the builds, drops, festival synths and main stage power, with techno, dub and electro influences.

The key names are TNGHT (Hudson Mohawke and Lunice: "Higher Ground", 2012), Baauer ("Harlem Shake", 2012, which in 2013 became the first trap EDM track to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to a viral meme), RL Grime ("Core", 2014), Flosstradamus, Yellow Claw, UZ, Bro Safari, Carnage, Diplo and Major Lazer. In 2013 Ultra Music Festival hosted five trap producers (including DJ Craze, Baauer, Flosstradamus) and Tomorrowland opened a "trap stage"; the same year saw the release of "Turn Down for What" by DJ Snake and Lil Jon. The compilation "All Trap Music" (February 2013) reached number two on the iTunes dance chart.

Trap EDM soon branched out: festival trap (closer to big room), hybrid trap (with dubstep and future bass), trapwave or hardwave (with synthwave and wave), and it influenced K-pop (BigBang "Good Boy" 2014, Blackpink "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" 2018) and hip hop (Working on Dying, Lil Uzi Vert). Aesthetic: "dirty" and aggressive beats, dark melodies, synthetic brass and horns, hip hop vocal samples and chants, dense production with rave synths.

Scales and keys

Dark, "Eastern" and epic: natural minor, harmonic minor, Phrygian and Phrygian dominant. Examples on F minor (sub/808 on F1 = 43.65 Hz) and E. Roman numerals are relative to the natural minor.

Natural minor (Aeolian)

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. On F: F G Ab Bb C Db Eb.
• Chords: i Fm, ii° G°, III Ab, iv Bbm, v Cm, VI Db, VII Eb.
• Use: brass and lead melodies, 808s on i–VI–VII; i–VI loops.

Harmonic minor

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7. T S T T S T½ S. On F: F G Ab Bb C Db E.
• Characteristic note: leading tone E and the augmented second Db–E: an "exotic" and dramatic color.
• Chords: i Fm, ii° G°, III+ Ab+, iv Bbm, V C, VI Db, vii° E°.
• Use: "Eastern" leads and synthetic flute/zurna melodies, builds with a major V.
• Common mistakes: overusing the augmented second (the "Arabic" stereotype).

Phrygian dominant (5th mode of the harmonic minor)

• Formula: 1 b2 3 4 5 b6 b7. S T½ S T S T T.
• On E: E F G# A B C D.
• Characteristic note: b2 with a major third: a "Middle Eastern/Spanish" sound.
• Chords: I E, bII F, iii° G#°, iv Am, v° B°, bVI+ C+, bvii Dm.
• Use: leads and "ethnic" samples of festival trap; E–F–G#–F riffs.

Phrygian

• Formula: 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. On E: E F G A B C D. Chords: i Em, bII F, III G, iv Am, v° B°, VI C, vii Dm.
• Use: 808s that slide by a semitone, dark brass.

Minor pentatonic

• Formula: 1 b3 4 5 b7. On F: F Ab Bb C Eb.
• Use: 808s and chants, simple riffs.

How to choose

• Dark and "hard": Aeolian and Phrygian.
• Exotic and epic: harmonic minor or Phrygian dominant (in moderation).
• 808: minor pentatonic with glide.

Harmony

• Minimal harmony: often 1–2 chords or a melodic riff with no chords; the 808 defines the key.
• Brass and horns: stabs of minor chords or power fifths, mid register.
• Harmonic rhythm: one change every 1–2 bars in builds, pedal in the drop.
• Cadences: VI–VII–i or V–i (harmonic minor) before the drop.
• Voicing: power chords and octaves in the drop; minor pads in the intros.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

• Half time at 140–150: snare and clap on beat 3 of each bar; syncopated kick and 808.
• Eighth-note hats with rolls in 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 and triplets, often with rising pitch (a hip hop trap legacy).
• EDM build with snare roll and chants; drop with an impact and silence beforehand.
• Swing 0–10; aggressive, square feel.

Drums

Convention: 16 sixteenth notes; quarter notes on 1, 5, 9, 13.

Kick and 808

• Kick on roughly sixteenths 1, 8, 11 (as in r-trap: 1, 8, 11), always doubled by a long tuned 808; variations: kick on 15 to push the loop.
• Short kick (punch 50–80 Hz + click), long 808 with its tail on the tonic.

Snare and clap

• Sixteenth 9: snare + clap layered, very loud; short reverb. Snare rolls in builds with rising pitch.

Hi-hats

• Eighth notes with rolls: e.g. "x.x.x.x.x.x.xxxx" (as in r-trap: final roll in sixteenths) or triplet and 1/32 rolls before the snare; open hat on 7 or 15.

Percussion

• 808 cowbell, rim, shaker, vocal samples ("hey!", "turn up"), gunshots, sirens, air horns.

Dynamics and groove

• Hats with alternating velocities; rolls with increasing velocity; light swing.

Interaction with the bass

• The 808 follows the kick and often plays the bass melody with glide; sidechain or volume cuts under the kick.

How it changes by section

• Intro: hats and pad; build: snare roll, chant ("put your hands up"), riser; drop: everything; breakdown: minimal half time.

Fills and transitions

• Stop before the drop with a vocal sample; 808 tom rolls; reverses.

Sound choice

• 808 kits and modern trap samples; "fat" claps; "street" percussion.

Typical mistakes

• 808 and kick in conflict (untuned); monotonous hats; too many vocal FX.

Bass

• 808: long, tuned, with glide (portamento 50–150 ms) and distortion (saturation, clipper) for audibility; it is the bass and often the riff.
• Synth bass: in hybrid drops, growl and reese on top of the 808.
• Notes: tonic, b7, b6, 5; octave slides; chromaticism.
• Register: 808 between E1 and A1; 100–400 Hz harmonics from distortion.
• Relationship with the kick: a short kick over the 808, or an 808 with its transient acting as the kick; tuning the 808 to the key is essential.
• Examples: RL Grime, Baauer, Flosstradamus.

Harmonic instruments

• Synthetic brass and horns (stabs), dark pads, strings, epic choirs, plucks; "Eastern" leads (synthetic flutes, zurna), rave synths (hoover).
• Mid register; few elements in the drops.

Melody and vocals

• Hip hop vocal samples, chants, rap ad-libs ("yeah", "hey"), chops; short leads in harmonic minor or Phrygian dominant; brass that "answers".
• Guest rap vocals in vocal versions (e.g. Lil Jon in "Turn Down for What").
• Effects: 1/8 delay, distortion and pitch shift on vocals, short reverb.

Instruments

• TR-808 (kick, snare, clap, hat, cowbell, 808), synth brass, pads, strings, choirs, synthetic ethnic leads, vocal samples, air horns and FX.

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Jup-8 V — Brass and stabs: Saws with a filter that opens with an envelope (attack 20 ms, decay 400 ms), unison: festival trap horns.
• CS-80 V — Epic brass: Wide brass with ribbon and aftertouch for glissandi: builds and breakdowns.
• Mini V — Alternative 808: Sine with pitch envelope (from +12 to 0 in 50 ms) and glide: a tunable synthetic 808.
• Korg MS-20 V — Lead and growl: Aggressive leads with drive; growl for hybrid drops.
• Augmented Voices — Epic choirs: Choirs in builds and breakdowns.
• Emulator II V — Vocal samples and "hey": Low-resolution chants and vocal one-shots.

Song structure

• Length 3:00–4:00; 16-bar drops made for festivals.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

• Huge 808 that is audible even on small speakers, snare/clap "in your face", wide leads and brass, high loudness.
• References: RL Grime, Baauer, TNGHT.

Kick

• EQ: high-pass 30 Hz, +2 dB at 60 Hz, −3 dB at 300 Hz, +3 dB at 3–5 kHz; short; mono.

Snare and clap

• EQ: high-pass 150 Hz, +2 dB at 200 Hz, +3 dB at 2–4 kHz, +2 dB shelf at 10 kHz; 4:1 compression + clipper; 0.6 s room reverb.

Hi-hats and percussion

• High-pass 500 Hz; rolls with auto-panning; cowbell at −6 dB.

808 and bass

• 808: high-pass 25 Hz, saturation/clipper for harmonics at 100–300 Hz, mono, limiter; +2 dB EQ at 100–150 Hz for audibility.
• Sidechain from the kick (if separate) 4–8 dB, short release.

Brass, leads, pads

• High-pass 200 Hz, −2 dB at 2–3 kHz if harsh, width 120–150%, short hall reverb (1.5 s) in drops.

Vocals and samples

• High-pass 120 Hz, heavy compression, light distortion, presence at 3 kHz; 1/8 delay.

Backing vocals

• High-pass 200 Hz, long reverb, wide panning.

FX

• Air horns, gunshots, sirens: controlled level, high-passed; impacts for the start of the drop.

Buses and groups

• Drum bus with clipper; 808 bus with limiter; music bus with sidechain.

Sidechain

• Kick → 808 (if separate), 808/kick → brass and pads.

Master

• Chain: EQ → glue → clipper → limiter.
• Indicative targets: −5/−4 LUFS integrated for festivals, −7/−8 for streaming; true peak −0.5/−1 dBTP.

Common mistakes

• Untuned 808 or one with a fundamental that is too low (it disappears on small speakers); a thin clap; brass that cover the snare.

Reference tracks for the mix

• Baauer — Harlem Shake (2012); TNGHT — Higher Ground (2012); RL Grime — Core (2014); DJ Snake & Lil Jon — Turn Down for What (2013).

Reference listening

• TNGHT — Higher Ground (2012)
• Baauer — Harlem Shake (2012)
• DJ Snake & Lil Jon — Turn Down for What (2013)
• RL Grime — Core (2014)
• Carnage feat. Migos — Bricks (2014)