Trap Hi-Hat Rolls
Genre: Trap · Tempo: 140 BPM · Time signature: 4/4 · Length: 32 steps · Style: trap's 808-and-clap skeleton with escalating hi-hat rolls
Open this pattern in the interactive Patchpad (with playback)
The pattern
| Instrument | Steps (1 = start of the bar) | Velocity | Timing and chance |
|---|
| kick | 1, 7, 12, 17, 23, 28 | 82-115 | step 7: early by about 4% of a step, plays 90% of the time; step 12: late by about 8% of a step, plays 80% of the time; step 23: early by about 4% of a step, plays 90% of the time; step 28: late by about 8% of a step, plays 80% of the time |
| clap | 9, 25 | 108-110 | on the grid, always plays |
| hat-closed | 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 19, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 | 30-75 | step 7: plays 60% of the time; step 23: plays 60% of the time |
Digitakt II
Tracks
- T1: kick
- T2: clap
- T3: hat-closed
Settings
- Steps 9-12 (bar 1) and steps 25-30 (bar 2) on hat-closed (T3): VEL descending 70/60/50/40 and 75/65/55/45/35/30 respectively with 0 µtime — program these as literal consecutive-step bursts on one track, not a single repeating LFO-driven subdivision.
- Step 9/step 25 (clap, T2): TRIG page VEL locked to 110/108 with 0 µtime — the half-time trap backbone; resist adding a beat-4 hit.
- SRC page TUNE on kick (T1) plus MOD page 1 DEST set to SRC TUNE, MODE set to ONE (one-shot-like envelope), DEP locked negative around -20 to -30 — a downward pitch-glide on each 808 hit (steps 1, 7, 12, 17, 23, 28) rather than a flat-pitched hit.
- AMP page DEC on kick (T1) locked long, around 100-110 (of 0-126,INF), for the sustained 808-style tail between syncopated hits.
Digitone II
Tracks
- T1: kick (ALGO 1, plain low carrier, MOD-page pitch glide)
- T2: clap (high-FDBK FM noise)
- T3: hat-closed (high-FDBK FM noise, roll clusters)
Settings
- 808 kick (T1, steps 1, 7, 12, 17, 23, 28): SYN page 1 ALGO 1, RATIO C 0.25 for a plain, sustained low carrier; AMP page ATK 0, DEC 105, SUS 40, REL 60 for the long 808-style tail between syncopated hits. MOD page 1 DEST set to pitch, MODE ONE (one-shot envelope), SPD fast, DEP locked negative around -25 — a downward pitch-glide on each hit, the direct Digitone II equivalent of Digitakt's LFO-into-SRC-TUNE technique.
- Step 9/step 25 (clap, T2): SYN page 1 FDBK 100 for a noisy FM crack; AMP page ATK 0, DEC 38, SUS 0, REL 25, VOL locked to 110/108 (matching the step data's own VEL) — the half-time trap backbone; resist adding a beat-4 hit.
- Steps 9-12 (bar 1) and steps 25-30 (bar 2) on hat-closed (T3): SYN page 1 FDBK 90, FLTR page 1 TYPE toward HP (~95). AMP page DEC descending across the cluster — 30/25/20/15 on steps 9-12, 32/27/22/17/12/10 on steps 25-30 — program these as literal consecutive-step DEC p-locks, not a single repeating LFO-driven subdivision; vary the roll length bar to bar (4 hits vs 6 hits, as written) for the escalating trap feel.
Syntakt
Tracks
- T1: clap (CP Vintage)
- T9: kick (BD FM)
- T12: hat-closed (CH Metallic)
Settings
- Steps 9-12 and 25-30 on hat-closed (T12, CH Metallic): SYN page DEC p-locked shorter on roll hits (around 10-15 of 0-127) than on the sparse single hits (steps 3, 7, 15, 19, 23, 31, around 25-30) so the rolls read as a distinct 'buzz' rather than louder single hats.
- SYN page on kick (T9, BD FM): DEC locked long, around 100-115 (of 0-127), TUNE set low, and SDEP (pitch-sweep depth) locked high, around 90-100, for a sustained 808-style tone with the machine's own built-in downward pitch sweep on each hit (steps 1, 7, 12, 17, 23, 28) — no external LFO routing needed, BD-family machines have this pitch drop built in.
- Step 9/step 25 (clap, T1, CP Vintage): TRIG PARAMETERS page VEL locked to 110/108, matching Digitakt's half-time backbone.
Notes
A two-bar trap skeleton: syncopated 808 kick, a single half-time clap on beat 3 each bar, and hi-hat 'rolls' — clusters of rapid consecutive hits at descending velocity — that grow from a 4-hit roll in bar 1 to a longer 6-hit roll in bar 2 for an escalating feel. An original pattern in the modern trap idiom.
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