Beat Making
The 6 Best Free Drum Kits on LANDR Samples
As a drummer, I can tell you that the most fun part of writing a new track is that moment when you get to work programming the drumbeat.
Drums just add so much structure and dynamism to track—it’s incredible how the smallest detail in your drum arrangement can add so much interest to an otherwise dull track.
But no drum part will sound good if you don’t start with good samples to build your drum arrangement.
Find a backing beat to start from.
Get the 50 Best Free Drum LoopsThat’s why free drum kits are so useful. They help you piece together the perfect set of samples that complement each and sit nicely within whatever genre you’re producing.
What are drum kits?
Find a backing beat to start from.
Get the 50 Best Free Drum LoopsIn music, drum kits traditionally refer to various parts of a drum set. Generally, a drum kit will comprise hi-hat, snare, kick, high tom, mid tom, low tom, ride and crash.
In sampling and music production, the concept remains the same. Drum kit sample packs give producers everything they need to recreate all the tools a real drum set offers to drummers.
Except, they’ll generally stick to a specific genre. For example, a trap drum kit will focus on 808 kicks, snare, hats, bass, claps and more.
Drum kits samples come in many shapes and sizes, some come with loops while others focus entirely on one-shots.
Finding a drum kit that fits your style is as easy as knowing what genre you’re looking to produce and listening closely to what the sample pack has to offer.
With that out of the way, here’s our favorite free drum kits on LANDR Samples.
1. The 50 Best Free Drum Loops
Free loops are a great way to get inspired. You can jam with them, chop them up, add effects, add your own instrumentation and so, so much more.
The pack of 50 free drum loops couldn’t be a better place to start cutting your chops with drum production.
It’s essentially a pre-arranged drumbeat that’s ready to inspire as the underlying groove for your next beat.
And, if there’s a sound in there you like you can always cut out the sample and use it as a one-shot.
If you’re looking for free drum loops to kick start your next rack, it doesn’t get better than this.
Our favorite sample from the pack: drumbeat_70bpm
2. Best TR 606 Samples
The TR-606 is a legendary drum machine that was a huge part of early techno and house production in the 90s.
So don’t pass up this opportunity to grab six excellent 606 sample loops and add this drum machine to sample library, for free!
This sample collection, curated by the experts at LANDR comes with a handful of choice TR 606 samples, loops and one-shots to get you started with your next house track.
Our favorite sample from the pack: TR 606 Beat 9_125bpm
3. LinnDrum Synthwave
The LinnDrum is maybe the most under-rated drum machine. It originally made its way into the market in 1982 and has been used in countless iconic tracks ever since.
Everyone knows about the TR-808 which inspired most trap productions, and if you’re into house or techno you’re probably familiar with the TR-909.
But the LinnDrum has been used in so much music it’s surprising that it hasn’t achieved the same cult-like status as its Roland TR counterparts.
You’ll hear it used in many classic Prince tracks and Thundercat is still a huge proponent of the drum machine today—listen to his music and you’ll hear the samples everywhere.
LinnDrum Synthwave was entirely made with a vintage LinnDrum machine, it’s the best way to get LinnDrum sounds in your tracks without dropping $2,000 or more on a vintage machine.
Our favorite sample from the pack: LANDR_LS_Kick_&_Snare_Smash_100bpm
4. Free Creator Kits
Creator is the free beat maker for LANDR Samples. It’s super easy to use while browsing the LANDR Samples marketplace.
Creator allows you to hear how up to eight loops sound together, no matter what key or tempo the loops are in Creator will time-stretch and pitch-shift them so everything sounds good together.
It’s an amazing way to start sketching ideas and hear how your ideas sound in context.
Of course, we’ve got some incredible free starter kits with excellent-sounding drum loops. You can bend them to your liking in Creator and then download them for free to finalize in your DAW.
Don’t sleep on this chance to play with these top-tier drum loops in Creator and beyond!
Our favorite pack from the collection: Trap Basics
5. PANTONE Color of the Year 2020
Last year LANDR Collaborated with PANTONE and Audio UX to release an impressive sample pack that tries to answer the question—what does the color blue sound like?
The pack is a palette of low-key lo-fi samples, melody loops and of course a collection of great-sounding drum samples.
If you’re into lo-fi, the drum kit in this sample pack is top tier.
The recording quality from the genuine pros at Audio UX is pristine and you can tell these drum samples are perfect for building out a lo-fi drum kit.
There’s really no excuse not to have this incredible free drum kit in your sample library.
Our favorite sample from the pack: COY_Satoshi_drums_all_105bpm
6. Supplements Vol. 1
Supplements are a collection of electronic samples that make sense for ambient, techno, experimental, house, and beyond.
Craft your next hit with a collection of over two million exclusive, royalty free hooks, loops, FX, vocals, beats and more. Try LANDR Samples
It focuses on low-key one-shot samples of interesting percussion and synth sounds that are perfect for creating minimal ambient, electro, techno and beyond.
Definitely worth checking if you’re interested in creating some calming, relaxing sounds with this chilled-out drum kit.
Our favorite sample from the pack: industryloop_125bpm
Or Just Search for Free Drum Samples
There’s thousands of free samples on LANDR Samples. We love empowering artists to get started producing music with great, free samples.
So if you’re looking to build out a drum kit I’m sure you’ll find something to get you started just by searching for free samples on LANDR Samples.
Alex Lavoie is a drummer, music producer, songwriter and marketing professional living in Montreal, Quebec. He works as a staff writer at LANDR by day and writes indie post-punk tunes in his band UTILS while moonlighting as drummer for folk-rock outfit The Painters. Connect with Alex Lavoie on LANDR Network!
@Alex LavoieGear guides, tips, tutorials, inspiration and more—delivered weekly.
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