The idea behind our latest free sample pack is simple: loops made with tuned drums to make lead and bass lines. As most drum resonances are in the lower frequency range these tend to be mostly bass lines, though there are those that poke a bit higher, and some even form chords.
The recording process was relatively simple: assemble a collection of drum hits that contain a strong but relatively simple harmonic resonance, and with some editing, processing and layering (sometimes finding a set of drums from the same source, e.g. rack and floor toms from an acoustic kit, or hits from an analogue drum synth with different oscillator settings), and of course some careful tuning.
Where a drum has several inharmonic resonances, the dominant one is used for tuning, which leaves the remaining inharmonic intervals as interesting tonal features not normally associated with tuned instruments.
Once these edited, processed and tuned base samples were loaded into Kontakt the resulting instrument patches were given some heavy handed processing via plugin chains. Once the sound had been established the loops were then carved out, which meant playing all the lines one by one to suit the instrument. Each of the eleven instruments created has 2 loops in each of six tempos (95, 105, 120, 125, 135 & 170bpm). These are in two different keys, usually a 4th or 5th apart.
What you need to know
These samples are divided into seven folders: six tempo-labelled folders of loops and a separate folder for single drum hits.
All the samples are supplied as WAV files so can be imported directly into your DAW or sampler of choice. Because they're royalty-free, you're welcome to use the samples in your music in any way you like - all we ask is that you don't re-distribute them.
The samples are supplied in a zip file, so you'll need to extract them before you can see them. Enjoy!
Example sounds
Melodic drum samples: click to download
These samples originally appeared in Future Music Magazine. Check out the latest issue for many more.
Head over to the SampleRadar hub to download over 75,000 more free samples.
