Mixing Trap: 808s, Hi-Hats, and Vocal Effects

The Trap Mixing Mindset

Trap music is built on extremes. The bass goes deeper than any other genre, with 808s dominating the sub-bass region below 60 Hz. The hi-hats are relentlessly fast, with rolls and triplet patterns that push above 10 kHz. The vocals are processed with overt autotune, aggressive compression, and effects that would sound out of place in any other context. Mixing trap means embracing these extremes and making them translate across playback systems from club PA stacks to phone speakers.

For context on how trap fits into the broader landscape of genre-specific mixing, review our genre mixing approaches overview. Trap sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from country and acoustic music in almost every parameter: more compression, more effects, more loudness, and a fundamentally different relationship between bass and the rest of the frequency spectrum.

The biggest challenge in trap mixing is managing the relationship between the 808, the kick, and the vocal. The 808 demands massive sub-bass energy, the kick needs to punch through without fighting the 808, and the vocal needs to sit on top of both without getting buried. Getting this three-way balance right is what separates amateur trap mixes from professional ones.

808 Processing: The Foundation of Trap

The 808 is not just a bass instrument in trap. It is the harmonic foundation, the rhythmic driver, and the emotional core of the beat. Everything else in the mix is arranged around the 808. Getting it right requires attention to tuning, saturation, sub-bass management, and its relationship with the kick.

Tuning is the first and most critical step. Every 808 note must be in key with the song. Out-of-tune 808s sound weak, undefined, and amateur. Load your 808 sample into a sampler with pitch tracking and verify it is tuned to A=440 Hz or whatever reference pitch your production uses. If the 808 slides between notes, a technique common in trap and drill, make sure the slide starts and ends on in-key notes.

Saturation is what makes 808s audible on small speakers. The fundamental frequency of an 808 tuned to C1 is about 33 Hz, which most earbuds and phone speakers cannot reproduce at all. Harmonic saturation using a tape or tube-style plugin at 20 to 40 percent drive generates upper harmonics at 66 Hz, 99 Hz, and 132 Hz that small speakers can reproduce, creating the perception of bass even when the fundamental is missing. Be careful not to over-saturate: too much drive turns the smooth 808 sustain into a buzzy distortion.

Keep the 808 in mono below 100 Hz. This is non-negotiable. Sub-bass frequencies in stereo cause phase cancellation on mono playback systems, which includes most club PA systems, phone speakers, and many Bluetooth speakers. Use a mono-bass plugin or mid-side EQ to collapse everything below 100 Hz to the center. You can add subtle stereo width to the 808's upper harmonics above 200 Hz for a sense of spread without compromising mono compatibility.

Kick and 808 Relationship: Frequency Slotting

The kick and 808 are the two elements most likely to fight each other in a trap mix. They both occupy the low-frequency range, and if they are not carefully managed, they create a muddy, undefined low end where neither element has impact.

The first strategy is frequency slotting. If your 808 dominates below 80 Hz, choose a kick sample with its fundamental higher at 80 to 120 Hz and its click at 3 to 5 kHz. High-pass the kick at 40 to 60 Hz to remove its sub-bass content, letting the 808 own everything below. Conversely, if you want a sub-heavy kick, high-pass the 808 higher and let the kick dominate the sub region, though this is less common in trap.

The second strategy is sidechain compression. Route the kick as the sidechain input to a compressor on the 808 bus. Use a fast attack of 0.1 to 1 ms so the compressor engages instantly when the kick hits. Set the release to 50 to 100 ms so the 808 recovers quickly after the kick transient passes. A ratio of 4:1 to 8:1 with 3 to 6 dB of gain reduction creates a clean pocket for the kick to punch through the sustained 808 tone. The pumping effect this creates is a desired characteristic of the trap sound, not an artifact.

Make sure the kick and 808 are in the same key. An 808 tuned to C and a kick with a strong fundamental at F# will create dissonant beating in the low end that sounds muddy and undefined. Either tune the kick sample to match the 808 or choose a kick with a very short, pitched-down transient that does not sustain long enough for its pitch to conflict with the 808.

Hi-Hat Mixing: Speed, Movement, and Space

Trap hi-hats define the genre's rhythmic character. The rapid rolls, triplet patterns, and velocity variations create the restless energy that drives trap production. Mixing hi-hats well means making them cut through the dense low end without becoming harsh or fatiguing.

High-pass hi-hats aggressively at 500 to 800 Hz. There is no useful information below this point, and removing low-frequency content prevents the hats from adding mud that competes with the 808 and kick. Some engineers high-pass as high as 1 kHz for extremely thin, cutting hats that slice through even the densest arrangements.

Panning creates movement and width. Pan individual hi-hat hits alternately left and right at 20 to 40 percent for a bouncing effect. On rolls, use automation or an LFO-driven panner to sweep the hi-hats across the stereo field. Keep the primary closed hat pattern centered or slightly off-center at 10 to 15 percent, and pan open hats wider at 30 to 50 percent. This creates a hi-hat image that has both a stable center and interesting stereo movement.

Add stereo width to hi-hat rolls using a short Haas delay of 3 to 8 ms on one channel. This creates a wide, immersive hat sound that surrounds the listener on headphones. Check mono compatibility after applying Haas delay; if the hats thin out significantly in mono, reduce the delay time or blend more dry signal.

Clap and Snare Layering

Trap snares and claps are typically layered from multiple samples for weight and character. A common approach is a punchy, tight clap for the transient attack, a wide clap or snap for width, and a snare with a reverb tail for sustain and depth. Layer them so each sample contributes a different quality, then bus-compress the stack at 3:1 to 4:1 with a fast attack of 1 to 3 ms to glue them into a single cohesive hit.

The reverb on trap snares and claps is an important character element. A short, bright plate reverb with a 0.5 to 1.0 second decay creates the snappy tail that most trap claps need. High-pass the reverb return at 500 Hz to keep it thin and bright. Some producers use a gated reverb effect with a 200 to 300 ms gate for an even tighter, more aggressive tail that cuts off sharply before the next hi-hat pattern starts. The approach to snare processing in trap is fundamentally different from pop production, where snares tend to be brighter and tighter with less reverb sustain.

Trap Vocal Processing and Effects

Trap vocals are processed more aggressively than almost any other genre. Autotune is not a correction tool here; it is a creative effect that defines the vocal aesthetic. Compression is heavy. Effects are dramatic and automated. The result should sound bold, aggressive, and unmistakably modern.

Set your pitch correction retune speed to 0 to 5 ms for the hard-tuned sound. Make sure the correct key and scale are selected, and consider using a chromatic setting for melodic passages where the artist slides between notes. Use a noise gate before the pitch correction to prevent autotune from tracking breath and room noise between phrases, which causes unmusical pitch artifacts.

Compress the lead vocal at 4:1 to 6:1 with a fast attack of 1 to 5 ms and medium release of 100 to 150 ms, targeting 6 to 10 dB of gain reduction. Trap vocals should be aggressively consistent, riding on top of the beat at a nearly constant level. Some engineers follow the primary compressor with a limiter catching another 2 to 3 dB of peaks for absolute consistency.

EQ the vocal with a high-pass at 100 to 120 Hz, a cut at 300 to 500 Hz for clarity over the 808, and a bright shelf of 4 to 6 dB at 8 to 10 kHz. The brightness is essential: trap vocals need to cut through the dense low end without adding more midrange competition.

Ad-lib processing is where trap vocal mixing gets creative. Ad-libs, the background vocal exclamations and responses, get dramatically different treatment from the lead vocal. Apply heavier reverb with a 2 to 3 second decay, distortion or bitcrushing for aggression, telephone-EQ filtering with a bandpass at 500 Hz to 3 kHz, and delay throws that send specific ad-libs spiraling into reverberant space. Keep the lead vocal relatively dry while the ad-libs are drenched in effects. This contrast creates depth and energy.

For vocal doubles, add subtle distortion using a saturation plugin at 30 to 50 percent drive and pan them 20 to 40 percent left and right. The distortion helps them cut through without adding volume, and the panning creates a wide vocal image around the dry center lead. If you are blending trap vocal techniques with a smoother style, the rock mixing guide shows how a completely different approach to parallel processing and saturation achieves aggression through different means.

Mix Bus and Loudness Targets

Trap mixes are loud, punchy, and heavily limited. Target -8 to -10 LUFS integrated with a true peak of -1.0 dBTP. The limiting is part of the sound: it adds density and aggression that trap listeners expect. Use a multi-stage approach with a soft clipper catching the first 2 to 3 dB of peaks, followed by a true-peak limiter handling the remaining gain reduction.

On the mix bus, apply a multiband compressor to control the low end independently from the rest of the mix. The 808 creates massive energy swings below 100 Hz that can eat into the headroom and cause the limiter to clamp down on the entire mix. A multiband compressor with its low band set to control the 30 to 100 Hz range at 3:1 to 4:1 and 3 to 6 dB of gain reduction keeps the sub-bass consistent without affecting the vocal and hi-hats in the upper bands.

Check your mix on multiple systems, especially phone speakers and earbuds. If the 808 disappears entirely on small speakers, you need more harmonic saturation to generate audible upper harmonics. If the mix sounds harsh on earbuds, the hi-hats or vocal brightness may need to be pulled back by 1 to 2 dB. Trap mixes should translate from a car subwoofer to AirPods without losing their fundamental character.