How to make a beat for a rap song

By Tongkit Leong · June 26, 2026 · 7 min read

A rap beat is built from three core elements — a kick-and-snare skeleton, a bass hit that follows the kick, and a melodic loop or sample hook above them — and you can program all three from scratch in the Tracks browser studio in under an hour, with no software to install and no account to create.

The anatomy of a rap beat

Before you touch the drum machine, it helps to know what a rap beat is made of at its core:

• Kick drum — the heavy downbeat hit that drives the groove and sits in the lowest part of the frequency spectrum along with the bass.
• Snare — the sharp crack that defines the backbeat and gives the listener a rhythmic reference to nod or rap along to.
• Hi-hats — the faster, higher-pitched subdivision that adds energy and movement between the kick and snare hits.
• 808 bass — a long, pitched sine-wave bass hit (originally from the Roland TR-808) that locks to the kick and fills out the low end, often with pitch slides between notes.
• Melodic element — a piano, string, pad, or vocal chop that gives the beat its emotional character and something for the rapper to write to.

Most rap beats use all five. A beat without a melodic hook can work, but most rappers prefer something musical underneath them. Tracks has every one of these tools built in — the 808 drum machine, a subtractive synth for the bass, and a piano roll for the melody — so you do not need anything outside the browser tab.

Choose your style: boom bap or trap

The two dominant styles in rap production sit at opposite ends of the energy spectrum, and the drum programming is different enough that you should decide before you start:

Boom bap

Classic boom bap — associated with 1990s New York hip-hop and producers like DJ Premier and Pete Rock — runs between 85 and 100 BPM. The kick lands squarely on beats 1 and 3, the snare cracks on beats 2 and 4, and the hi-hats play straight eighth notes. The groove is upfront and punchy. The 808 bass is short and hits like a punch, not a long slide. Everything sounds muscular and deliberate.

Trap

Trap production, associated with Atlanta and producers like Metro Boomin and Southside, is programmed at 130–145 BPM but the kick and snare move at half that speed, so it feels slow and heavy. The snare lands once per bar instead of twice. Hi-hats run fast — 16th notes or faster — with hi-hat rolls used as a rhythmic accent. The 808 bass is long, loud, and glides between pitches. The atmosphere tends to be darker and more cinematic. If you are new to trap, program at the full BPM but think of every two beats as one beat.

This guide covers both approaches with the same toolset. Pick the style that fits the sound in your head, and start with the drums.

Step 1: Set your tempo

Open the Tracks studio. The tempo control is in the transport bar at the top of the screen. Click it and type your target BPM:

• Boom bap: 85–100 BPM. 90 BPM is a reliable starting point.
• Trap: 130–145 BPM. 140 BPM is a common starting point.

Click play on the empty project and listen to the metronome click for 15–20 seconds before touching anything else. The click has to feel right at a gut level before you start layering drums. If it feels slightly too fast or slow, adjust it. Changing the tempo after you have written melodies and a bass line is more work.

Step 2: Program the kick and snare

Add a track and open the 808 drum machine. You will be working with a 16-step grid, where each step is a sixteenth note. Boom bap and trap use different placement conventions.

Boom bap kick and snare

Place the kick on steps 1 and 9 — these are beats 1 and 3 in a 4/4 bar. Place the snare on steps 5 and 13 — these are beats 2 and 4. That is the basic boom bap skeleton. From here you can add variation: a second kick hit on step 11 or 15 gives a syncopated kick, and a ghost snare on step 7 or 14 at low velocity adds a subtle shuffle to the pattern without breaking the backbeat feel.

Trap kick and snare

Place the kick on step 1. For a basic trap pattern, the snare lands on step 9 only — the halfway point of the bar, beat 3 at the programmed BPM. This half-time snare placement is what makes trap feel slow despite the high BPM. Add ghost snare hits on steps 3, 11, and 15 at low velocity (20–40 out of 127) — these sit under the music and add feel without competing with the main snare crack. A second kick hit on step 7, 13, or 15 deepens the bass energy.

After the kick and snare are in, listen to the pattern loop for several bars. The pattern should feel like it is breathing — not just hitting mechanically on the grid. If anything sounds too static, lower the velocity on a few hits to create dynamics even without adding more steps.

Step 3: Add hi-hats

Hi-hats define the energy level of the beat more than any other element. On the same 808 drum machine track, program the hi-hat pattern in the row for the closed hi-hat.

Boom bap hi-hats

Program a closed hi-hat on every odd-numbered step — 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15. This gives you straight eighth notes. Add a single open hi-hat hit on step 7 or 15 — the "and" of beat 2 or beat 4 — and cut the closed hi-hat on that same step so the open hat rings out. Vary the velocity on the hi-hats so every other hit is slightly quieter. This two-level dynamic makes the pattern feel pushed rather than mechanical.

Trap hi-hats

Trap hi-hats move much faster. Program a closed hi-hat on every step from 1 to 16. Then delete the hi-hat on steps 1 and 9 to give the kick room. Now select the last 4 to 8 consecutive steps of a bar — for example steps 13 through 16 — and trigger those as a hi-hat roll, which is the defining signature of trap production. In Tracks you can increase the rate of a selected group of steps to 32nd notes or 64th notes for a dense, stuttering roll effect. Place one open hi-hat at the start of every second bar to punctuate the phrase.

Step 4: Build the 808 bass

The 808 bass is the low-frequency backbone of the beat. Add a new instrument track and open the subtractive synth. Set the oscillator to a sine wave, drop the octave down two steps, and reduce the attack to nearly zero so the note hits immediately. Set the decay to 1–2 seconds and the sustain and release low so each note punches in and then fades rather than sustaining indefinitely.

Open the piano roll on the 808 bass track. Write a note that starts exactly on the same step as the kick drum and sustains for one or two beats. The pitch of the note defines the key of the bass line — pick a root note in your target key (for A minor, that is A; for C minor, that is C). Rap beats often use one or two bass notes per bar rather than a complex melody. Simplicity in the bass makes the low end sit cleanly without competing with the kick.

Adding portamento for the trap slide

If you are making a trap beat, the 808 slide between pitches is essential. In Tracks, enable portamento on the synth and set the slide time to 80–150 ms. Then, in the piano roll, write consecutive notes without gaps between them — the synth will glide from the pitch of one note to the next. A common trap bass pattern is two notes a fourth apart with a long slide between them. The slide has to be exaggerated enough that you can hear it clearly in the low end.

Apply a compressor to the 808 track with a medium attack and a 4:1 ratio to control the dynamics so the long notes do not overpower the mix. On boom bap beats, you will typically not use a slide — keep the bass punchy and staccato.

Step 5: Add a melodic element

The melodic hook is what gives the beat its character. Add a new instrument track and pick your sound source. The most common options in rap production are:

• Piano: Load a piano SoundFont (.sf2) for an acoustic or electric piano tone. An electric piano (Rhodes or Wurlitzer style) works in both boom bap and trap.
• Strings or pads: Use the FM synth with a slow attack and a long sustain. Strings pair naturally with minor-key, cinematic trap beats.
• Choir or vocal chop: Load a vocal sample into the 16-pad sampler and spread the notes across the keyboard in the piano roll. A pitched vocal loop is one of the most distinctive elements in modern rap production.

Writing the melodic loop

In the piano roll, write a two- or four-bar phrase that repeats. Minor keys are the most common in rap production — A minor, D minor, and C minor are all high-frequency choices. You do not need a complex melody. Many iconic rap beats use two to four notes repeating in a pattern. The goal is something the rapper can write and perform over comfortably — it should feel like a bed, not a competition for attention.

Simple progressions that work in minor keys:

• Am – G – F – E: a classic descending run that works in any tempo range.
• Dm – C – Bb – A: similar movement in D minor, slightly darker in feel.
• Cm – Bb – Ab – G: a four-bar minor loop that lends itself to cinematic trap.

Set the note velocity to 60–80 out of 127 so the melody does not overpower the drums. You can always bring it up in the mixer if it gets buried.

Step 6: Arrange the beat

Most rap beats need to run for two to three minutes to be useful to a rapper who wants to record a full verse and chorus. In the Tracks timeline, copy your one- or two-bar drum clip and extend it across the full arrangement. Do the same with the melodic loop.

A functional rap beat arrangement typically follows this pattern:

• Bars 1–2 (intro): hi-hats only, or hi-hats with the melodic hook and no kick or snare. This gives the rapper a moment to breathe before coming in.
• Bars 3–18 (first verse section): full beat. Drums, bass, and melody all running.
• Bar 17 (drop or break): mute the drums for one bar, or drop out the melody. This one-bar break creates anticipation and marks the transition between sections.
• Bars 19–34 (second verse or hook section): full beat continues.
• Outro: fade out or let the melody play for two bars after the drums stop.

These are starting points, not rules. Listen to the arrangement and adjust based on what feels right. The rapper will ultimately tell you what works for their flow.

Step 7: Mix and export

Before you export, spend a few minutes on the mix. Open the Tracks mixer and set levels starting from the low end:

1. Balance the kick and 808 bass together. They should feel like one element — the kick provides the transient attack, the 808 provides the sustained low note. Neither should overpower the other.
2. Bring in the snare until it cuts through the low end without harsh edges. Apply a small EQ boost around 200 Hz for body and a cut around 400 Hz to reduce muddiness.
3. Set the hi-hat level so it is present and clear but sits above and behind the kick and snare in the stereo field. A high-shelf boost above 8 kHz adds air.
4. Bring in the melodic element last. It should feel like the sonic center of the beat — neither buried under the drums nor louder than everything else.

On the drum bus, apply a compressor with a fast attack (5–10 ms), a 4:1 ratio, and a medium release (100–150 ms). This glues the drum hits together and adds punch. Apply reverb on a send for the snare only — not the kick or 808 — to add space without losing tightness in the low end.

When the mix feels balanced at a comfortable volume, export to WAV for a lossless master file, or MP3 if you are sending it to a rapper or posting it online. See How to export your song to MP3 or WAV for the full export walkthrough. Your project stays in your browser and never leaves your device — Tracks is entirely local.

Frequently asked questions

What BPM is a rap beat?

It depends on the style. Boom bap, the classic New York style, runs between 85 and 100 BPM. Trap is programmed at 130–145 BPM but designed to feel slower because the kick and snare move at half-time. Conscious hip-hop and jazz rap can go as slow as 75–85 BPM. Drill runs at 130–150 BPM with even more aggressive hi-hat patterns than standard trap. Start at 90 BPM for your first beat — it is a versatile tempo that works for most rap styles.

What is an 808 in a rap beat?

The 808 is a pitched sine-wave bass hit that originated with the Roland TR-808 drum machine, released in 1980. In modern rap production it serves as both the kick drum's low-frequency tail and a melodic bass line that changes pitch between notes. On trap beats the 808 is often longer and more prominent than the actual kick drum hit. In Tracks, you replicate it with the subtractive synth set to a sine wave at a low octave, with portamento enabled for the sliding pitch effect.

Do I need samples to make a rap beat?

No. Sample-based production (chopping and rearranging existing recordings) is one approach, but synthesized beats built entirely from drum machines and synths are equally common and have no copyright complications. All the beats described in this guide use Tracks' built-in drum machine and synthesizer with no external samples required. You can optionally load your own audio files into the 16-pad sampler if you want a sample-based approach, but it is not a requirement.

How long should a rap beat be?

A standard rap beat is 2.5 to 3.5 minutes long to give a rapper room for an intro, two verses, and a hook or bridge. For a showcase or demo beat that you are sending to other artists, two minutes is usually enough to show the vibe. If you are making a beat to use in a fully arranged song, extend the arrangement to at least three minutes and vary the sections so the beat is not identical from start to finish.

How do I make the beat louder without clipping?

Use compression on the drum bus to control the dynamic peaks — fast attack, 4:1 ratio, and enough gain reduction to catch the loudest kick hits. Then bring the master fader up in the Tracks mixer. If the master meter clips into the red on loud kick hits, reduce the kick level slightly before increasing the master. The goal at the mixing stage is a headroom of around -6 dB on the loudest hits, leaving room for mastering. Export the WAV and run it through an online mastering tool if you want a louder, release-ready file.

Can I use a MIDI keyboard to play the melody instead of clicking notes?

Yes. Tracks supports Web MIDI, so if you have a MIDI keyboard connected via USB you can play the piano roll in real time and record your performance. Go to How to use a MIDI keyboard in a browser DAW for the setup steps. Playing the melody by hand often produces a more natural, less grid-locked feel than clicking notes in one at a time, especially for jazz-inflected or soulful boom bap melodies.