Drum Sample Library

[Penny Bozic]

Manyyears ago, I learned the hard way that the drum samples you use in your tracks must be absolutely amazing. The lead could be mixed too quiet or the FX could be generic and predictable, but the drum samples had to be on point...

And I realized how much of a mistake this was when they announced the winner; a young producer who submitted only a single drum loop (which I later learned he had sequenced and programmed using entirely free drum samples). It was a hard lesson learned, but it forced me to take my drum samples VERY SERIOUSLY.

Samples are the backbone of music production and have been a vital part of almost every producer's workflow for the better part of four decades. If you are not using samples, you are hamstringing your career as a musician: full stop.

Hearing amateur producers claim that you need to be doing everything from the ground up always makes me remember a popular internet analogy that often circulates throughout the producer community online:

"I thought using loops was cheating, so I programmed my own using samples. I then thought using samples was cheating, so I recorded real drums. Then thought that programming was cheating, so I learned to play drums for real...

But there is an infinite number of samples out there, and it takes time to developed an ear to recognize good samples from bad ones. It all starts with building up a drum library, but even that can get expensive. But when done right, it can open up a ton of creative doors and get you finishing music faster!

What They're Good For: Cymatics was all the rage just a few years ago and for good reason. Their percussion one-shots hit hard, making them a staple of genres such as G-House and Riddim for years. They are quick to use and require little processing.

What They're Not So Good For: Their quality is a blessing and a curse, seeing as how 90% of all bass-music producers were using these samples heavily. And their distinctive punch and weight make them even more easily recognizable.

Pro Tip: These free drum samples shine when you can find ways to make them not as recognizable. By layering more textured samples over the top (foley hits or gritty hip-hop percussions), you can add uniqueness to them while still maintain their power, weight, and quality.

What They're Good For: Grammy winning quality drum samples put together by Jay Fisher (drummer, audio engineer and beat maker/producer). He has built a gigantic collection of the best drum sounds and acoustic percussion samples out there for any modern professional quality genre. Years in development, these sounds record everything from vinyl records to vintage drum machines and an immense amount of his own live recordings as a drummer and percussionist.

What They're Not So Good For: Hard to pinpoint many negative qualities, but these samples definitely fit into a more mainstream sound. Think popular major label artist sounds in Pop, Hip-Hop, Electronic, and Rock. They are going to pack a lot of punch into your sound, so if you make more chilled out styles and don't want your drums forward then these might not be for you.

What They're Good For: This pack offers a wide range of different drum samples, all of varying tempos and genres, which is a great way to introduce wildly different sounds to your sonic pallet. They have interesting textures, unexpected loops, and many options to choose from.

What They're Not So Good For: What makes these samples great also make them a bit finicky to work with, especially for making more popular genres of dance music. It can take some processing, manipulation, and experimentation to really get these drums fitting correctly and hitting properly.

Pro Tip: The hip-hop-oriented loops offered in this pack have some incredible swing to them. Dropping loops that range from 70-90BPM into your dance-friendly tracks that are 120BPM+ can often introduce a quicker swing and drive to a more rigid drum loop. Take this a step further by extracting the groove template for ThatSound's loops to carry this swing to other elements of your drums.

What They're Good For: Sure, I'm biased here but the proof is in the results. These sample packs contain some of the exact same samples I've used in some of my best productions and I give them away to producers entirely for free. Better yet, there are two different volumes each containing entirely different material!

What They're Not So Good For: These packs do great to whet the appetite, but are so DOPE that you'll want even more. Unfortunately, only students enrolled in the Hyperbits Masterclass get access to the entire Creative Suite of samples.

What They're Good For: This pack is massive and filled with some incredibly high-quality samples. They have very weighty percussion sounds that dominate the mix, and can instantly grab a listener's attention with little processing.

What They're Not So Good For: These percussions, I've found, tend to work their way to the forefront of the mix. This can be good for drum-forward tracks but might need a fair amount of EQing and compression if you're wanting to push these sounds further back in the mix.

Pro Tip: Use these percussions for fills and transitional FX all their own. They work great for grabbing the listener's attention momentarily, which keeps the transitions between sections sounding fresh and interesting.

What They're Good For: Splice is an incredibly powerful tool and the free offerings it brings to the table can be second to none. Their rotating stash of free samples is a great way to introduce new sounds that you might not have tried before.

What They're Not So Good For: Overall, one should be watchful of how they are utilizing the power of Splice. When you're in the groove of producing and think you need one specific loop or sound, it can be tempting to pop into Splice and start searching for that tone. But nothing kills creativity and flow faster than mindlessly clicking through a haystack of samples looking for that single, proverbial needle of a sample that will do the trick.

Pro Tip: Use Splice as a tool to add secondary and supplementary elements to your tracks. Wait until the entire song is arranged and most of the elements are in place. Then bust open Splice and find interesting, sporadic drum loops to help fill in the gaps or small guitar rifts to elevate the song's ear candy one more notch. This keeps you in the zone while composing while still keeping an ace up your sleeve when it comes to adding one more layer of nuance to your song.

What They're Good For: This pack has a ton of great drum samples, but I was most surprised by their quality bank of 808 and 909 sounds. Dance music producers can never have a big enough bank of these iconic drum machine hits, and this free pack of drums is a great starter kit for new producers and an even better addition to seasoned producers' libraries.

What They're Not So Good For: I know that beggars can't be choosers, but I wish this sample pack was a bit bigger. The process to obtain them can be slightly obnoxious, and you opt-in for signing up for another lengthy email sequence once you give Slate your email. That being said, the 808 songs make it worth it!

Pro Tip: 808 kicks are so iconic in the dance music world that you can use them in almost any track of almost any genre and people won't think twice. It's strange how people can point out kicks when they seem "off," but never with 808s.

What They're Good For: More so than any other era in pop music, the pop music being made today often pushes the boundary in terms of textures and sound design being used on the drums. As such, these drums are unique and quality for the more modern forms of pop music.

What They're Not So Good For: It might just be due to my background in dance music, but many of these more interesting samples lack a weighty punch that would get a dance floor moving. Sure, it leaves space for vocals and softer elements, but as a DJ and dance producer, I NEED that power.

Pro Tip: These drums work great for secondary percussive layers. The lighter snares and hits included in this pack work great for ghost notes and other hits work great for adding background syncopation to a classic 4x4 drum pattern.

What They're Good For: I like this pack because it's light, easy, and diverse. Not only does it come with a few killer 808 samples (remember, you can never have enough 808 samples), but also includes a few free presets for popular synths like Massive and Serum.

Pro Tip: The presets in this pack are what truly make it shine. Try reverse-engineering the patches they provide and gain a deeper understanding of what makes these popular synths work.

The Rundown: I used to watch tutorials from YouTuber Shane Robbins with a ferocity only matched by my plugin purchasing habits. I use his Serum presets on pretty much every production of mine, and his samples are just as banging.

What They're Good For: There are some genuinely great hits in here, especially when it comes to the more acoustic-sounding and real-life hits. If you take the time to comb through the whole free pack, you'll be duly rewarded.

What They're Not So Good For: Students of the Hyperbits Masterclass learn ASAP that organization is vital to a producer's workflow, and the delivery of this pack simply makes me anxious. One folder with a laundry list of samples will take extra time to organize into appropriate folders in your sample library.

Pro Tip: You are likely to find 10-20 samples you like enough to actually use in your tracks. So take the time to scroll through this list of samples and delete any ones you know that you will not use. Sort the remaining ones into your "Favorite Drums" folder, and save yourself a TON of time down the road.

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