Lex Luger / Metro Boomin · Trap Template · 2011
half-time. 140bpm that FEELS like 70bpm because the snare lives on 3 alone. the 808 sub is the song — the bassline + the kick + the harmonic foundation are all one synth voice with a portamento slide between root and 5th.
trap template (post-Waka Flocka)
lex luger took the 808 + half-time + sub-bass slide template and made it the dominant sound of the 2010s. before him, hip-hop was sample-based + 909/SP-1200 driven. after him, every rap record had an 808 sub-bass doing the work of a bassline + a kick at the same time.
two elements
click any download. the lab opens in a new tab, renders the pattern, drops a WAV in your downloads folder. lab stays interactive — tweak knobs + re-export.
- DRUMSelement 1 of 2
the half-time pocket — TR-808 drums + triplet hat rolls
kick on 1 ONLY (NOT 1+3 — that's hip-hop, this is trap). snare alone on beat 3. hi-hats at LOW velocity running 16ths with one triplet roll per bar. tape on for the master-bus saturation that ties it together.
↓ download wav → - BASSelement 2 of 2
the 808 sub-bass — pitched + sustained
the same trap-808 pattern bundle includes the pitched sub bass voice. it slides root → 5th over 2 bars then resets. that PORTAMENTO between notes is the personality.
↓ download wav →
the 808 sub IS the song. trap producers in the real world pitch-shift a sampled 808 kick across MIDI to play melodic bass lines. the 'sustain' is just the natural decay of the kick stretched out by holding the note. lex luger's whole sound is: hard half-time drums + one slow-sliding 808 bass + hi-hat rolls + space. nothing else. negative space is the instrument.
putting the snare on 2 AND 4. that's hip-hop, not trap. trap = snare on 3 ONLY. and people add too much — bass + sub + drums + lead + pad. the genre is MINIMAL. one bass voice (the 808). one drum kit. that's the whole arrangement.