Loops can form the foundation of a track, and are useful for quickly putting some ideas together when sketching out an arrangement. Samples provide us with sounds and colors to create our music with. Some of the sites we list provide packs you can download for free. Other sites allow you to purchase packs at a reasonable price. Every music producer worth his salt is in the process of building up a useful collection of useable sounds.But where can you download great loops and samples?
Here are 9 great places to start.
Audiotuts+ reader Peter Simcoe comments: "I’ve bought some loops from loopmasters – they’re usually pretty good and at a reasonable price and have a variety of formats including Reason Refill which is great."
"Twenty-five years ago, we recorded and created the first commercially available virtual instrument, the Prosonus brand of orchestral libraries. Since 1986, Big Fish Audio has consistently produced the highest quality sample libraries available. Over the years, our sounds have been featured in hundreds of charting songs and top film and television soundtracks. We are the largest distributor of sample libraries in the world, and we create the most up-to-date loop and virtual instruments libraries using our extensive recording facilities and team of producers. As when you hire a musician or engineer in the studio, experience is vital.
"We sell 5114 LEGAL downloads from 263 Sample Pack Labels. Our catalogue includes the world's largest and most comprehensive range of Sample Packs for Download. Shop here and Download Sample Packs, Sample CDs, Drum Samples, Acid Loops, MIDI Loops, Reason Refills, Synth Sounds, Virtual Instruments, Audio Plug-ins, Video Tutorials and more. All products on this site are available for Immediate Download to your PC or Mac."
MangoLoops is a Distributor of Instantly Downloadable High Quality Loops, Sample Packs, Synth Patches, etc. Mangoloops Has been famous in the Industry for providing a wide Range of Samples to fit all Genres of Music for Producers, DJ's and Film. They provide 100% Royalty Free, High quality Loops and Samples to Match all of your Production Needs.
5. P5 Audio
Our sister site P5 Audio - a royalty-free stock audio marketplace - is a great place to buy samples and loops, as well as full audio tracks.
"P5 Audio is an Envato Marketplace. At P5 Audio you can buy and sell royalty-free music and sound effects that are completely Podsafe for just a few dollars. The site is home to a bustling community of audio composers and producers."
"analogfactory is a brand of the in Munich/Germany based company Diginauten UG (haftungsbeschränkt) which was founded by Metalhead, Linus and Adam in 2010. We have the goal to produce professional sounds for synthesizers and samplers at an affordable price. The team consists of experienced musicians with years of studio experience and classical musical training who work also active as composers for film music.
"Platinumloops is a massive library of royalty free loops and samples. We offer loops and samples as well as thousands of other loops and samples in many different categories ranging from Heavy Metal Drum Loops to Ethnic Loops."
"Wave Alchemy offer a unique selection of award-winning sample cds and royalty free sound libraries to download. Our wav samples are suitable for music production, sound design, media production and DJ use."
100% acoustic drum loops available in WAV, Apple Loops, REX2 formats.
Audiotuts+ reader Billy Shuler comments: "I sometimes use Beta Monkey drum loops for songwriting."
"This 100% free AIFF/WAV collection contains 7.5 GB of sounds -- including 2,430 techno, hiphop, rap, trance, and drum and bass drum beats / loops, 1,265 drum hits, 95 drum kits, 2,214 sound FX, 1,207 instrument sounds, 1,006 vocal samples, 1,255 melodic parts, fruity loops and more."
