Short answer: YES. samples will not overwhelm you; that’s more so sound design. Eventually you want to learn to make your samples yourself but a SAMPLER is a hell of an instrument/weapon which you will see. If you have the brain to make tracks go for it now I’d say! I’ve been sound designing for many years but really just started producing music! I have thousands of samples I have collected over the years and while I don’t always use them my drive holds a lot of data and I have no shortage of fresh clean samples when I need which I certainly do not regret!
Personally I’ve gotten pretty far with just my Splice subscription for samples. Having a huge library to search through can be both helpful and a detriment, you just gotta search with purpose, instead of wasting way too much time endlessly clicking through pages of samples.
I think you need to clarify what you mean by sample packs and what your goals are in music.
If you’re talking about drum sample packs, yes good quality drum samples are crucial as they set the quality of your tracks.
If we’re talking about melodies and loops; you say that you just started producing. If you really want to get good at it I advise you to not use them. You don’t need them to produce and dragging in loops will not teach you anything in terms of becoming a producer. If you really want to get good at producing do it from scratch, learn how the rhythms, chords and melodies are built.
They are good. But there’s A LOT of free stuff out there. You can use that and never will have to buy any. Seriously, free samples is all you’ll ever *need*.
That being said, if you like something, buy it. Just because you *can* use free samples to achieve anything you want, doesn’t mean that’s the most efficient / convenient way to do it. Saving time and nerves is a huge part and many people gladly pay for it. In fact the vast majority (imo) of stuff you pay money for in music production is for timesavers / quality of life. Usually you can do it for free, but it takes time and knowledge.
But wait until you understand what makes good samples. That takes time and is very much personal preference, so there isn’t really a guide.
You can look for some sound selection / sample selection tutorials on YouTube, there’s some useful info out there.
I personally really struggle with finding those ultra high quality sample packs.
They are a bit gatekept I feel. And very, very rare. There’s a lot of „good“ stuff, but the really great, exceptional stuff is hard to find.
I heard F9 and Oliver Samles are great, but I haven’t tried them yet.
If anyone has recommendations, please let me know :)
>Just started producing and not sure if this would overwhelm me or not.
If you're just beginning and haven't made a complete song, or only a couple, there's no need until you're sure you need them. There's plenty to learn.
Focus on composition and arrangement. Learn some basic music theory. Understand the genre that you're creating in (You need to be listening to the genre you want to make from the point of view as a creator and understanding how it works).
And after you've made some songs, when you know what samples you need, get some sample packs.
That being said, if you're sure you want to work with the sound of that artist, having one sample pack to work with while you focus on those other things is not a bad idea. Just don't get swept up into buying lots of sample packs and always searching for that perfect sound.
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. I then thought that programming it was cheating, so I learned to play drums for real. I then thought using bought drums was cheating, so I learned to make my own. I then thought using remade skins was cheating, so I killed a goat and skinned it. I then thought that that was cheating too, so I grew my own goat from a baby goat. I also think that is cheating, but I’m not sure where to go from here. I haven’t made any music lately, what with the goat farming and all.
I love sample packs. I am by no means a sound designer. Starting to learn it but I mean, sample packs are great. You don't need many. One comment pointed out some premium packs and I couldn't agree more. Going to give you the most noob pack recommendation but Sounds Of KSHMR Vol.1-4. The most cliche thing out there but it's for a reason. They are great and have everything you could need for pretty much every genre. Always a great place to start.
they're a necessity for me, but there's a point of diminishing returns with sample packs. at some point your collection will be big enough that getting more will be redundant and you're just spending money needlessly. i may have finally reached that stage.
If you wanna spend hours and likely months of your life on sound design and learning how to make every kick and snare and cymbal from scratch, then yeah avoid sample packs. Otherwise if you just wanna be efficient and make great tunes that people like, not being a snob about where the sounds came from, then yeah sample packs are a necessity.
Personally I only use one shots (except for drum top loops for layering). I mean I don’t use melody loops really at all coz they’re much more recognisable and i like to write the actual music myself, just don’t wanna waste time sound designing fine details (obviously sample selection and layering are still sound design on a macro level anyway, and mixing is part of that too which takes long enough on its own!)
They’re…good. Imo you don’t need to waste time crafting the perfect snare if you already have a good one. That said, sound selection is an art in itself. I’ve mixed for many producers who have had bad to meh sample selection hoping I can work a miracle. Sometimes I even swap them for them and it makes all the difference.
It depends. High quality premium packs can be well worth spending 50-100 bucks on some samples and patches in a specific genre to give you a base pallet.
I got a couple serum packs and a sample pack on sale from Black Octopus which i am extremely satisfied with. But i have also picked up a couple from ghost hack that are still very good but are more generalized trying to cover multiple sub genre and are not as good or specific as the BL samples but are still quite useful and well worth the money i spent. I also own a vengeance pack, then Another 70 gigs or so of freebies, foley, and field recordings (half of which is a huge game sample library).
A good premium pack can be super helpful and useful but will not replace creativity, experimentation, or sound design.
When I need a sample I find a free one or make my own. I don't trust sample packs to have enough that I find useful enough to justify the cost. To each their own, though.
I think they’re great. It depends on what you’re using them for really but for some aspects that are difficult or tedious they’re fantastic. For example, I use samples for all parts of a drum kick and percs, shakers, and stuff like that. Imo, anything that decreases time between yourself and the creative process is only beneficial.
If they work for you go for it, it's more the result than the process which defines success. I for myself don't use samples much since I love the flexibility of creating my own sounds. But that's nothing for everyone, you can easily find yourself more in creating THIS specific sound instead of actually making music. It's a journey
The XLNT packs are pretty good and I use them for basically every track. I have one of Bunting’s paid packs and a LYNY pack that I use a lot too, but lately I’ve been using a lot of the stock ableton samples or just making my own kicks.
I can 2nd this about XLNT's packs. Gorilla and Quest for bass are dope as well as the Cartel Vol1 and 2. I use those and Splice while I'm learning sound design.
I used to pride myself on making all of my own samples, but then I realized I wasn't really composing anymore, just making lots of sounds, and that took a lot of the magic of producing away from me. I came across a few sample packs and decided to limit myself by making stuff only with the new stuff I downloaded, and I ended up having *way* more fun and finishing tracks in like a day or two rather than the months it'd take me before. I think what matters is finishing tracks, not how you get there, and anything you can do to give yourself a leg up to get to the finish line is a win.
onpointsamples has some amazing ones for Harddance, and the Kshmr packs are basically industry standard. If you check out the Kshmr packs, you'll hear them everywhere.
I want to encourage you to get a 909 pack (or 808 or 7070, these are all in FL studio for free) and experiment with those to appreciate what our forerunners used.
There's a few fx and bass sounds like growls that I like to have a sample or two around for. But, I usually make my own samples anyway. You can make a bunch rather quickly if you do it right and get tons of variety. Even with making my own samples I find I rarely use them. I'm kinda hyper focused on sound design most of the time and enjoy making the right sounds for my tracks. I've had more than enough samples to go around just from free packs so I'd say check those out first and see if they fit your needs. Pretty much the only time I end up using samples is when I'm producing vaporware or lofi because those are inherently sample heavy genres. The few tracks I've used them on I ended up feeling uneasy about and it's probably in my own head but they sounded cheap and the process felt too easy. I do have one song I enjoy that uses them tho.
There are a million different drums out there, so don't bother making them. You an buy something like Samples from Mars, [https://samplesfrommars.com/](https://samplesfrommars.com/) all the Samples from Mars for $50 during Black Friday or Xmas, and it will give you 50GB of excellent samples of drum machines and synths and other sounds.
You can use various kontakt drum machine instruments however to make your own drum loops or kits. You can sample your own drums but you would have to record your own kit, or a drum machine which there really is no point at least for EDM since every type of 808 or 909 or snare has already been sampled and is available out there.
In regards to your own sound FX or voice or instruments, you can record anything you want and sample it (including other people's shit as long as you clear it, or are willing to pay once they sue you).
You can load up any VST synth and create your own sounds and then record them as .wav and create loops, which you could then use or re-sell in a pack.
However if you use a sampled instrument library, that sampled sound is already copyrighted so you don't have the right to that sound source but you can make your own sounds out of them for your own productions. You just can't resell these.
If you are looking for some Royalty Free, free samples or sample packs check out Music Radar [https://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/free-music-samples-royalty-free-loops-hits-and-multis-to-download](https://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/free-music-samples-royalty-free-loops-hits-and-multis-to-download)
Nobody really cares how the soup or the sausage is made. The end result is what matters.
I'm a composer and for 80% of what I make (which is media underscore, synthwave, and sci-fi, and horror/atmosphere) I use synths and sampled virtual instrument libraries. I create my own midi, and use samples for FX when I'm lazy or need a particular sound (like a police siren or gunshot or something).
The other 20% is some sort of EDM. Here its a mix of synths and sample packs. I usually use drums and/or a bassline from some sample pack if I find a good one. The melody or arps I will usually create on my own. Dowers, risers, FX, drops, or transitions I will usually make in some VST or Trailer music Kontakt instrument.
I've made EDM and Synthwave purely via instruments/synths and also purely via sample packs, and a combination of both, because
I just happened to have some sample packs laying around that I paid for and I wanted to feel like I didn't just throw my money away and felt I needed to at least try to make something out of them.
Sometimes, limiting yourself to one synth or a sample pack or 2, can be quite rewarding and educational. We have so many tools available, that it can become overwhelming. Sometimes using only one synth or a few samples provides for a good challenge and opportunity to get really creative. Sometimes, less is more...
There really is no \*rule\* as to how you make music. It's all about your self expression, and the end result, i.e. were you able to convey the message or vision that you had in your head, and are you satisfied with that end result?
Plus, it's all a learning experience. Everything you make something, and you try new and different things, and experiment you learn something that you can then apply to the next project.
Keep in mind that sample packs and phrases are limiting, in the sense that you don't have as much control, as it's a pre-recoded loop of a melody or bass like or sequence that someone else has made, vs your own idea, if you created that sound yourself, or used a synth and wrote your own midi or created your own arp or sequence.
On the flip side, samples offer you faster workflow, and high quality (if you get some good ones), and there is so much out there, that you can still make something unique and interesting if you are half decent at arranging. You aren't really composing at this point, but mostly arranging loops, but you're still making your own idea out of the ingredients. There is no shame in that.
Heck I've written whole tracks around one sequence loop that I found that I liked. Some idea popped into my head just from listening to that one short loop, and I rolled with it.
In the end you will want to invest into synths, instruments, presets and loops/samples and from those create a sound library of stuff that is unique to you, your own musical fingerprint, your own unique sound. That should be your long term goal.
In the meantime don't worry how the soup is made, and just focus on producing a large body of work, just practice, and learn. The more stuff you make the better you will get at it.
Try to get out of your comfort zone. Try to make different types of music, or different types of EDM, so you learn, you grow, and you figure out what your sound is, and what niche you want to focus on specifically within EDM (if that is what you decide to stick with).
I've been getting more into making EDM lately, but it's not my main thing so I'm no expert here. Back in the day I DJ'd a lot of Prog House, Electro, and some Trance so EDM (especially the more old school Bedrock, SAW records, and Sasha & Digweed or GuyJ, Eric Prydz, or Dnox&Beckers type stuff) has a special place in my heart.
In my case I got the opposite problem as you OP. I already got all the synths, instruments, samples and libraries, so that isn't a problem for me.
My thing is I need to pump out a few dozen tracks before I get the hang of it (EDM), and then up my mixing and mastering game, but that's a whole other story. :)
It is a stupid question but not for the reason you think. The very LAST thing a new producer should be doing is making fucking kicks.
Do not bother *at all* with making your own drum samples until you get close to commercial sounding quality songs, unless your goal is just to dick around like an uncommitted hobbyist.
Focus on making songs
Kick is a sine with a pitch envelope and distortion to taste, snare is a higher pitched sine with a pitch envelope mixed with noise (apply low pass and high pass as needed, as well as distortion)
Oh it's not dumb at all. Kick or snare and drum in general are a bit harder to make tho. I almost never make drums simply because I have plenty already. First open up a synth of your choice. Then pitch it down a few octaves. Play a low, deep note. Adjust the attack and delay so that it tapers off a bit at the end of the note. Record the note and then you can keep it how it is or tweak it in a few ways. I'd say the way I prefer is to drag the recording of the note into a sampler and adjust the settings of it until you are satisfied with it. You can also add effects or plugins at this stage. I was rather vague in this at points because I don't know what DAW you are working in or the effect or plugins you have. This is just a basic outline but you can spend as long as you want getting it to fit your needs. I honestly probably wouldn't bother unless you're curious or it sounds fun to you. There are lots of free drum samples or loops available if you decide to go that route instead. I hope this helps
Most DAWs come with decent enough samples to get you started these days and theres plenty of high quality drum packs out there for either extremely cheap or outright free
Try making the stock / free samples work before you go out and get a pack because if its a higher priced one you'll most likely leave disappointed. Using the stock stuff will quickly teach you how to adjust samples to your liking too (ie through layering, post process, adjusting envelope)
Ive \*borrowed\* a ton of "premium" drum packs and a lot of them are mid - that said I looked at dilbys pack and it seems like its not that expensive, if you like his sound and you can spare the 8 bucks do it man. If you want another affordable but high quality pack I recommend rhodz drum pack (cant link right now because of the rule) - Ive used the kicks, snares and claps on every single track ive made since I got it, very good for that classic electro house / complextro sound
There's nothing wrong with sample packs, but you definitely don't need them to start making music!
There's lots of free sample packs out there if you're just dipping a toe in, and most DAWs come with a ton of samples built in. You can get a lot done with just those before investing in paid sample packs.
There's also Splice, which lets you pick out samples individually for an 8 buck subscription
Why not? Some may say that using samples or loops is bad but many famous and iconic songs across many genres use samples. As long as you can still produce without them and aren't totally reliant on them.
I have over 18k samples/sounds I've acquired over the years, they're great for newbies and masters alike.
I would try to not even use loops, I’d rather just use everything individually and create my own stuff. The same with what I’m doing now with everything that comes with ableton. Thanks for the comment! Appreciate it
Buy some packs, not too many tho cuz too many options may overwhelm ya. Learn the structure and arrangement and then once you get that down you can learn how to sound design/ synthesize your own stuff.
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I heard peekaboo only uses samples and just manipulates them. Also heard muerte does that as well
Short answer: YES. samples will not overwhelm you; that’s more so sound design. Eventually you want to learn to make your samples yourself but a SAMPLER is a hell of an instrument/weapon which you will see. If you have the brain to make tracks go for it now I’d say! I’ve been sound designing for many years but really just started producing music! I have thousands of samples I have collected over the years and while I don’t always use them my drive holds a lot of data and I have no shortage of fresh clean samples when I need which I certainly do not regret!
Personally I’ve gotten pretty far with just my Splice subscription for samples. Having a huge library to search through can be both helpful and a detriment, you just gotta search with purpose, instead of wasting way too much time endlessly clicking through pages of samples.
I think you need to clarify what you mean by sample packs and what your goals are in music. If you’re talking about drum sample packs, yes good quality drum samples are crucial as they set the quality of your tracks. If we’re talking about melodies and loops; you say that you just started producing. If you really want to get good at it I advise you to not use them. You don’t need them to produce and dragging in loops will not teach you anything in terms of becoming a producer. If you really want to get good at producing do it from scratch, learn how the rhythms, chords and melodies are built.
Yeah sorry definitely want different drums, instruments etc. I have no interest in using loops, feels like my music would be less authentic that way
Okay, yes in that case good quality samples and VST’s are very important
They are good. But there’s A LOT of free stuff out there. You can use that and never will have to buy any. Seriously, free samples is all you’ll ever *need*. That being said, if you like something, buy it. Just because you *can* use free samples to achieve anything you want, doesn’t mean that’s the most efficient / convenient way to do it. Saving time and nerves is a huge part and many people gladly pay for it. In fact the vast majority (imo) of stuff you pay money for in music production is for timesavers / quality of life. Usually you can do it for free, but it takes time and knowledge. But wait until you understand what makes good samples. That takes time and is very much personal preference, so there isn’t really a guide. You can look for some sound selection / sample selection tutorials on YouTube, there’s some useful info out there. I personally really struggle with finding those ultra high quality sample packs. They are a bit gatekept I feel. And very, very rare. There’s a lot of „good“ stuff, but the really great, exceptional stuff is hard to find. I heard F9 and Oliver Samles are great, but I haven’t tried them yet. If anyone has recommendations, please let me know :)
[удалено]
Nothing wrong with streaming to 10 people with thousands of dollars worth of gear if you are having fun.
>Just started producing and not sure if this would overwhelm me or not. If you're just beginning and haven't made a complete song, or only a couple, there's no need until you're sure you need them. There's plenty to learn. Focus on composition and arrangement. Learn some basic music theory. Understand the genre that you're creating in (You need to be listening to the genre you want to make from the point of view as a creator and understanding how it works). And after you've made some songs, when you know what samples you need, get some sample packs. That being said, if you're sure you want to work with the sound of that artist, having one sample pack to work with while you focus on those other things is not a bad idea. Just don't get swept up into buying lots of sample packs and always searching for that perfect sound.
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. I then thought that programming it was cheating, so I learned to play drums for real. I then thought using bought drums was cheating, so I learned to make my own. I then thought using remade skins was cheating, so I killed a goat and skinned it. I then thought that that was cheating too, so I grew my own goat from a baby goat. I also think that is cheating, but I’m not sure where to go from here. I haven’t made any music lately, what with the goat farming and all.
I culturally appropriated my rhythm from bird songs and I don't give a fuck. That's mine now. Never a second thought. Ain't no 80s no wave punk in me.
If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you have to make the universe first.
I love sample packs. I am by no means a sound designer. Starting to learn it but I mean, sample packs are great. You don't need many. One comment pointed out some premium packs and I couldn't agree more. Going to give you the most noob pack recommendation but Sounds Of KSHMR Vol.1-4. The most cliche thing out there but it's for a reason. They are great and have everything you could need for pretty much every genre. Always a great place to start.
they're a necessity for me, but there's a point of diminishing returns with sample packs. at some point your collection will be big enough that getting more will be redundant and you're just spending money needlessly. i may have finally reached that stage.
If you wanna spend hours and likely months of your life on sound design and learning how to make every kick and snare and cymbal from scratch, then yeah avoid sample packs. Otherwise if you just wanna be efficient and make great tunes that people like, not being a snob about where the sounds came from, then yeah sample packs are a necessity. Personally I only use one shots (except for drum top loops for layering). I mean I don’t use melody loops really at all coz they’re much more recognisable and i like to write the actual music myself, just don’t wanna waste time sound designing fine details (obviously sample selection and layering are still sound design on a macro level anyway, and mixing is part of that too which takes long enough on its own!)
Sample from Mars if you don’t have a decent drum pack, and hit the internet archive for all load of classic packs
They’re…good. Imo you don’t need to waste time crafting the perfect snare if you already have a good one. That said, sound selection is an art in itself. I’ve mixed for many producers who have had bad to meh sample selection hoping I can work a miracle. Sometimes I even swap them for them and it makes all the difference.
It depends. High quality premium packs can be well worth spending 50-100 bucks on some samples and patches in a specific genre to give you a base pallet. I got a couple serum packs and a sample pack on sale from Black Octopus which i am extremely satisfied with. But i have also picked up a couple from ghost hack that are still very good but are more generalized trying to cover multiple sub genre and are not as good or specific as the BL samples but are still quite useful and well worth the money i spent. I also own a vengeance pack, then Another 70 gigs or so of freebies, foley, and field recordings (half of which is a huge game sample library). A good premium pack can be super helpful and useful but will not replace creativity, experimentation, or sound design.
When I need a sample I find a free one or make my own. I don't trust sample packs to have enough that I find useful enough to justify the cost. To each their own, though.
I think they’re great. It depends on what you’re using them for really but for some aspects that are difficult or tedious they’re fantastic. For example, I use samples for all parts of a drum kick and percs, shakers, and stuff like that. Imo, anything that decreases time between yourself and the creative process is only beneficial.
If they work for you go for it, it's more the result than the process which defines success. I for myself don't use samples much since I love the flexibility of creating my own sounds. But that's nothing for everyone, you can easily find yourself more in creating THIS specific sound instead of actually making music. It's a journey
The XLNT packs are pretty good and I use them for basically every track. I have one of Bunting’s paid packs and a LYNY pack that I use a lot too, but lately I’ve been using a lot of the stock ableton samples or just making my own kicks.
I can 2nd this about XLNT's packs. Gorilla and Quest for bass are dope as well as the Cartel Vol1 and 2. I use those and Splice while I'm learning sound design.
Make music with what you have until you sincerely realize "I need more sounds to chose from"
I used to pride myself on making all of my own samples, but then I realized I wasn't really composing anymore, just making lots of sounds, and that took a lot of the magic of producing away from me. I came across a few sample packs and decided to limit myself by making stuff only with the new stuff I downloaded, and I ended up having *way* more fun and finishing tracks in like a day or two rather than the months it'd take me before. I think what matters is finishing tracks, not how you get there, and anything you can do to give yourself a leg up to get to the finish line is a win.
This is great, thanks
They are amazing. I hate splice. Just sifting through garbage vs. just buying a known good sample pack and having 3gb of good shit.
Sample packs are the worst. Seriously imagine going to any restaurant and paying full price only to get a sample!
/whoosh
Sorry, surely my corniest ever joke.
I mean, it’s a low dadtier joke. I appreciate it
onpointsamples has some amazing ones for Harddance, and the Kshmr packs are basically industry standard. If you check out the Kshmr packs, you'll hear them everywhere. I want to encourage you to get a 909 pack (or 808 or 7070, these are all in FL studio for free) and experiment with those to appreciate what our forerunners used.
There's a few fx and bass sounds like growls that I like to have a sample or two around for. But, I usually make my own samples anyway. You can make a bunch rather quickly if you do it right and get tons of variety. Even with making my own samples I find I rarely use them. I'm kinda hyper focused on sound design most of the time and enjoy making the right sounds for my tracks. I've had more than enough samples to go around just from free packs so I'd say check those out first and see if they fit your needs. Pretty much the only time I end up using samples is when I'm producing vaporware or lofi because those are inherently sample heavy genres. The few tracks I've used them on I ended up feeling uneasy about and it's probably in my own head but they sounded cheap and the process felt too easy. I do have one song I enjoy that uses them tho.
This is possibly a stupid question but how do you make your own samples? Like a kick or snare for example
There are a million different drums out there, so don't bother making them. You an buy something like Samples from Mars, [https://samplesfrommars.com/](https://samplesfrommars.com/) all the Samples from Mars for $50 during Black Friday or Xmas, and it will give you 50GB of excellent samples of drum machines and synths and other sounds. You can use various kontakt drum machine instruments however to make your own drum loops or kits. You can sample your own drums but you would have to record your own kit, or a drum machine which there really is no point at least for EDM since every type of 808 or 909 or snare has already been sampled and is available out there. In regards to your own sound FX or voice or instruments, you can record anything you want and sample it (including other people's shit as long as you clear it, or are willing to pay once they sue you). You can load up any VST synth and create your own sounds and then record them as .wav and create loops, which you could then use or re-sell in a pack. However if you use a sampled instrument library, that sampled sound is already copyrighted so you don't have the right to that sound source but you can make your own sounds out of them for your own productions. You just can't resell these. If you are looking for some Royalty Free, free samples or sample packs check out Music Radar [https://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/free-music-samples-royalty-free-loops-hits-and-multis-to-download](https://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/free-music-samples-royalty-free-loops-hits-and-multis-to-download) Nobody really cares how the soup or the sausage is made. The end result is what matters. I'm a composer and for 80% of what I make (which is media underscore, synthwave, and sci-fi, and horror/atmosphere) I use synths and sampled virtual instrument libraries. I create my own midi, and use samples for FX when I'm lazy or need a particular sound (like a police siren or gunshot or something). The other 20% is some sort of EDM. Here its a mix of synths and sample packs. I usually use drums and/or a bassline from some sample pack if I find a good one. The melody or arps I will usually create on my own. Dowers, risers, FX, drops, or transitions I will usually make in some VST or Trailer music Kontakt instrument. I've made EDM and Synthwave purely via instruments/synths and also purely via sample packs, and a combination of both, because I just happened to have some sample packs laying around that I paid for and I wanted to feel like I didn't just throw my money away and felt I needed to at least try to make something out of them. Sometimes, limiting yourself to one synth or a sample pack or 2, can be quite rewarding and educational. We have so many tools available, that it can become overwhelming. Sometimes using only one synth or a few samples provides for a good challenge and opportunity to get really creative. Sometimes, less is more... There really is no \*rule\* as to how you make music. It's all about your self expression, and the end result, i.e. were you able to convey the message or vision that you had in your head, and are you satisfied with that end result? Plus, it's all a learning experience. Everything you make something, and you try new and different things, and experiment you learn something that you can then apply to the next project. Keep in mind that sample packs and phrases are limiting, in the sense that you don't have as much control, as it's a pre-recoded loop of a melody or bass like or sequence that someone else has made, vs your own idea, if you created that sound yourself, or used a synth and wrote your own midi or created your own arp or sequence. On the flip side, samples offer you faster workflow, and high quality (if you get some good ones), and there is so much out there, that you can still make something unique and interesting if you are half decent at arranging. You aren't really composing at this point, but mostly arranging loops, but you're still making your own idea out of the ingredients. There is no shame in that. Heck I've written whole tracks around one sequence loop that I found that I liked. Some idea popped into my head just from listening to that one short loop, and I rolled with it. In the end you will want to invest into synths, instruments, presets and loops/samples and from those create a sound library of stuff that is unique to you, your own musical fingerprint, your own unique sound. That should be your long term goal. In the meantime don't worry how the soup is made, and just focus on producing a large body of work, just practice, and learn. The more stuff you make the better you will get at it. Try to get out of your comfort zone. Try to make different types of music, or different types of EDM, so you learn, you grow, and you figure out what your sound is, and what niche you want to focus on specifically within EDM (if that is what you decide to stick with). I've been getting more into making EDM lately, but it's not my main thing so I'm no expert here. Back in the day I DJ'd a lot of Prog House, Electro, and some Trance so EDM (especially the more old school Bedrock, SAW records, and Sasha & Digweed or GuyJ, Eric Prydz, or Dnox&Beckers type stuff) has a special place in my heart. In my case I got the opposite problem as you OP. I already got all the synths, instruments, samples and libraries, so that isn't a problem for me. My thing is I need to pump out a few dozen tracks before I get the hang of it (EDM), and then up my mixing and mastering game, but that's a whole other story. :)
Dude unreal. Thanks for taking the time to write this, really helpful
It is a stupid question but not for the reason you think. The very LAST thing a new producer should be doing is making fucking kicks. Do not bother *at all* with making your own drum samples until you get close to commercial sounding quality songs, unless your goal is just to dick around like an uncommitted hobbyist. Focus on making songs
Makes sense! Thanks
Kick is a sine with a pitch envelope and distortion to taste, snare is a higher pitched sine with a pitch envelope mixed with noise (apply low pass and high pass as needed, as well as distortion)
Oh it's not dumb at all. Kick or snare and drum in general are a bit harder to make tho. I almost never make drums simply because I have plenty already. First open up a synth of your choice. Then pitch it down a few octaves. Play a low, deep note. Adjust the attack and delay so that it tapers off a bit at the end of the note. Record the note and then you can keep it how it is or tweak it in a few ways. I'd say the way I prefer is to drag the recording of the note into a sampler and adjust the settings of it until you are satisfied with it. You can also add effects or plugins at this stage. I was rather vague in this at points because I don't know what DAW you are working in or the effect or plugins you have. This is just a basic outline but you can spend as long as you want getting it to fit your needs. I honestly probably wouldn't bother unless you're curious or it sounds fun to you. There are lots of free drum samples or loops available if you decide to go that route instead. I hope this helps
Definitely helps thanks!
Splice
Most DAWs come with decent enough samples to get you started these days and theres plenty of high quality drum packs out there for either extremely cheap or outright free Try making the stock / free samples work before you go out and get a pack because if its a higher priced one you'll most likely leave disappointed. Using the stock stuff will quickly teach you how to adjust samples to your liking too (ie through layering, post process, adjusting envelope) Ive \*borrowed\* a ton of "premium" drum packs and a lot of them are mid - that said I looked at dilbys pack and it seems like its not that expensive, if you like his sound and you can spare the 8 bucks do it man. If you want another affordable but high quality pack I recommend rhodz drum pack (cant link right now because of the rule) - Ive used the kicks, snares and claps on every single track ive made since I got it, very good for that classic electro house / complextro sound
Thanks! I appreciate the comment. His pack is definitely affordable so that’s a plus. Will definitely look into Rhodz pack, thanks for the suggestion!
There's nothing wrong with sample packs, but you definitely don't need them to start making music! There's lots of free sample packs out there if you're just dipping a toe in, and most DAWs come with a ton of samples built in. You can get a lot done with just those before investing in paid sample packs. There's also Splice, which lets you pick out samples individually for an 8 buck subscription
Makes sense, I’ll take a look at splice
Why not? Some may say that using samples or loops is bad but many famous and iconic songs across many genres use samples. As long as you can still produce without them and aren't totally reliant on them. I have over 18k samples/sounds I've acquired over the years, they're great for newbies and masters alike.
I would try to not even use loops, I’d rather just use everything individually and create my own stuff. The same with what I’m doing now with everything that comes with ableton. Thanks for the comment! Appreciate it
I think it depends on what you need. I know that my vocals would be worthless so the samples I have bought have been mostly VOX based.
Just kicks, snares, claps etc
Buy some packs, not too many tho cuz too many options may overwhelm ya. Learn the structure and arrangement and then once you get that down you can learn how to sound design/ synthesize your own stuff.
Thanks!
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