This article discusses the benefits of using sample packs, how to use sample packs, and Tips and Tricks for getting the most out of sample products


Why Use Sample Packs?

Sample packs have been a staple tool in the music production world, offering an extensive range of pre-recorded and pre-processed performances, sounds, and samples that can significantly enhance the creative music production process. They will speed up workflow, offer inspiration and give you access to sounds, equipment, musical knowledge, musicianship, techniques, and recording and mixing environments that the majority of producers don't have!


Do producers use sample packs?

Whether you're an aspiring producer or a seasoned professional, incorporating sample packs into your workflow can bring numerous advantages. Every producer has their own way of using sample packs, here are some reasons why producers use them.


1. Flexibility and Productivity:

Sample libraries provide an extensive collection of professionally crafted sounds across many genres, instruments, and styles. The huge amount of libraries available offer musical building blocks without the need to spend huge amounts of time and effort creating everything from scratch. This convenience allows producers to focus more on the artistic aspects of music production, such as composition, arrangement, and mixing, which significantly speeds up production workflow and is great for meeting demanding deadlines.


2. Creative Inspiration:

Loops serve as a treasure chest of inspiration, igniting creativity and expanding sonic palettes. By exploring different packs, you can open up to new sounds, textures, techniques and arrangements that can inject fresh energy into a composition. They can be a catalyst for experimentation, encouraging combinations, layering and manipulation in many different ways to match your imagination.


3. Professional-Grade Sound Quality:

Sample packs feature recordings made in top-tier studios using expert engineers, high-quality equipment, and an exquisite acoustic environment to ensure exceptional sound fidelity. Using the highest-quality recordings can really elevate the overall timbre and sonic richness of the end production. For labels offering this please see Supreme Chops.


4. Educational Resource and Musical Horizons:

They can be used as valuable educational tools providing insight into sound design, arrangement ideas, rhythmical patterns, composition, and mixing techniques. This is especially true when the product comes with MIDI files. By analyzing and deconstructing the samples and MIDI, you can learn from the production choices made by professional sound designers, composers, and engineers and apply those principles to your own compositions. This includes opportunities to explore different genres and styles beyond your comfort zone. They expose you to musical cultures, techniques, and arrangements, allowing you to expand your musical knowledge and versatility.


5. Legal and Ethical Compliance:

Reputable sample pack providers ensure that all included samples are properly licensed, granting you the peace of mind to use them in your productions without infringing on copyright laws. This legal compliance frees you from potential legal issues and allows you to focus solely on your creative process. Learn more about royalty-free samples

Our sample packs have been exclusively produced and recorded to create original sample collections. Learn more about royalty-free samples.


Throughout this blog, we will delve into the intricacies of using sample packs in music production. We will explore how to choose the right sample pack and employ creative sampling techniques. Furthermore, we'll discuss how sample packs can serve as a foundation for your own unique sound design and offer insights on taking your productions beyond the confines of pre-packaged samples.


Sample pack selections



Choosing the Right Sample Pack:

The production tools included in each product can vary in genre, style, format, and file type. In this section, we will discuss different sample pack features, as well as the benefits of mapping your samples in a sampler. We will also illustrate how to cut or modify sample files within your DAW's arrange page, and how to get the most out of your sample library.

When embarking on your music production journey, selecting the right sample pack is a crucial first step. With the vast array of options available, it's important to consider several factors to ensure that the product aligns with your creative vision. Here are some essential considerations to guide you in choosing the perfect sample pack:


1. Understanding the Different Types of Sample Packs:

Sample packs mostly come in 2 different forms, each catering to specific genres or production styles but containing different file types, arranged with different structures. Construction Kits mostly contain MIDI and Loops and offer flexible building blocks of pre-made compositions, while sample Packs contain Single Hits and Loops which can also be used as production building blocks, but also with a Sampler to trigger your own sequences and patterns.

Whether you're focused on electronic music, hip-hop, rock, or orchestral compositions, there's likely a sample pack tailored to your needs. Familiarize yourself with the different types and explore specialized packs that align with your musical interests. More information here - https://www.transmissionsamples.com/best-sample-packs


2. Tips for Selecting High-Quality Sample Packs:

To ensure you're working with the best sounds, keep the following tips in mind:

  a. Reputation: Look at the musicians, producers, and studios involved, check out their profiles, websites, YouTube, or SoundCloud, check they are recognized in the scene, and produce the styles you're also aiming for.

  b. Sound Quality: Listen to audio demos or samples from the pack to assess the overall sound quality. Pay attention to clarity, depth, and the production value of the samples. If you are buying from a reputable vendor, then the products will be quality checked and you will have multiple choices of products which will offer value.

 c. Variety and Versatility: A good sample pack offers a wide range of sounds and textures, allowing you to add depth and diversity to your compositions. Look for packs that include drum hits, loops, melodic elements, vocal samples, and atmospheric sounds to cover various aspects of your production.

Take the time to explore different options, listen to demos, and read user reviews to ensure that the pack aligns with your creative goals and workflow.

For information on Transmission Samples favorite sample packs


Sample pack folder structure




Sample Pack Tips and Tricks?


Overview

Sample packs can be used in many different ways, and the production tools included in the pack can vary. In this section, we will discuss different sample pack features, as well as the benefits of mapping your samples in a sampler. We will also illustrate how to cut or modify sample files within your DAW's arrange page, and how to get the most out of your sample library.


Construction Kits

Some products include construction kits, which give you the ability to layer loops with the matching MIDI information to create tracks pre-arranged by the sample pack producer. Due to the MIDI flexibility, this allows you to get creative by changing the pitch, groove, or feel of the track. Combined with a synthesizer or VST you can add any sound you can imagine to the MIDI composition, or simply use the loops as a sound design guideline. The samples featured in construction kits also include individual loops or stems of the main song theme, offering flexibility for mixing and modifying details within the loops. So, although construction kits are mapped out for you, the sounds and composition can still be manipulated, remixed, and rearranged to maximize your creative output. 


Single Hits

I think it would be fair to say, you'll struggle to find a computer music producer who doesn't use single drum hit samples. They allow ease of audition and offer a multiple choice of sounds that can be dragged and dropped into your track. Using single hits with a sampler will give you much more control and modulation options over your samples. Although it can feel like a pain mapping them, the ability to change velocity and note length combined with the sampler's envelope and filter controls is invaluable. This manipulation of sound can be changed directly within your DAW and by using other VSTs, however, a sampler can give more precise and convenient control.


Loops

Guitar recordings, Synthesizer phrases, Chord progressions, Vocal lines, and drum kits are all examples of loops. They can be 2-bar phrases, to 16-bars or more, and labeled with key and tempo information to allow you to drop the files straight into your project. The loops can still be cut, duplicated and manipulated with your DAW, as well as using a sampler to make use of the sampler's controls and re-sequence drum loops.


MIDI

MIDI files are included in many sample packs and especially in construction kits. This gives you even more flexibility and control over the production and allows the producer to keep the melody, chord progression, or drum loop but combine their own sound design or trigger any other sample from their library. MIDI is extremely powerful due to its versatility as the files can be used at any tempo, re-pitched, re-quantized, and used to trigger any sound imaginable. 


Tips and Tricks overview

Loops and single hits, you can seamlessly integrate them into your arrange page using any DAW's capabilities. At the most fundamental level, you have the ability to cut, paste, duplicate, re-pitch, and time stretch the audio files to align with your track's tempo and key. Expanding beyond these basic functions, you can leverage additional features provided by your DAW or third-party VST plugins to manipulate and modulate the sounds and loops further. For instance, you can experiment with specific sections of a sample or loop to reverse, ad fx, re-pitch, or even slow down allowing for intriguing sonic transformations and creative possibilities.


Modulation


Modulation is changing the sound over time. This can be short rhythmical patterns, or arrangement direction, to create an intensity build-up, or drop. Modulation can be controlled via automating parameters using the DAW's automation lanes or using an automatic modulator such as an LFO.


What parameters to modulate?
Modulating a filter is arguably the most popular modulation FX

Filter modulation


A filter combined with resonance is an excellent way to build intensity during a buildup or just to create rhythmical movement. This type of modulation can be heard everywhere in electronic dance music and throughout electronic genres. One of my favorite uses of this effect is in Josh Wink's track higher state of Consciousness where the low pass filter and resonance of a TB-303 is manually modulated to build intensity throughout the whole track, plateauing to a high-frequency scream towards the end of the song.

A high pass filter is commonly used by DJs and producers alike for buildups and breakdowns, it can be used to enhance the arrangement dynamics by gradually opening up the frequency range before the drop. This technique injects impact and power into the moment of release. 

An example of this can be seen below


The track fades in at the beginning of a break with the high pass filter cutting out the low frequencies. As the break intensifies I have used manual automation on the filter and resonance to pull focus from the low frequencies and enhance the higher frequencies. This ramps up by increasing both the resonance and the cut-off up to the point the track drops. As you can see below, as the drop track drops, I have backed off the resonance and cut off to open up the whole frequency range, this then enhances the impact of the low frequencies when the kick and bass drop. The idea is to create high-frequency energy tension and then release the tension and the low frequencies to get the dancefloor moving again.

You can hear the audio example below


LFO Modulation

Using an LFO to control your parameters allows you to quickly route your LFO settings to multiple parameters of multiple effects, you are also able to change the settings of your LFO which will change all the mapped controls at once. Most LFOs will time sync to your internal DAW's tempo making them really useful for adding rhythmical modulation which is heard throughout genres such as Drum and Bass and Dubstep. It is also worth noting that combining manual and LFO modulation is very powerful, try manually modulating the speed for the LFO for some interesting results.

With modulation techniques at your disposal, you can build energy up, or build it down, add groove and sonic transformations to any electronic instrument.


Manual automation


Using manual automation gives you the maximum amount of control and allows you to manipulate the sounds in a way that suits the track and arrangement. This is unlike using an LFO, which often operates within predetermined repeating patterns, manual automation offers greater flexibility and has a more human-like vibe. However, setting up automation across multiple parameters can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, so understanding your DAW and making use of keyboard shortcuts is a must to ensure a speedy workflow.


Loop Tricks for your DAW


Layering loops to create a new groove or build up a groove is a great way to achieve more interesting arrangements, cleaner mixing, and track individuality.

The 2 loops below show an example of using the DAW's file editing tools to cut out parts of the loops I don't want overlapping, this is to avoid masking the sound when two or more sounds are played at the same time within the same frequency range. Here I have cut out the snare drum in the first few bars and gradually brought them into the groove creating a more interesting groove and playing with tension in the arrangement. I would recommend also using the fade-in and out functions and the cut points to fix any clicking issues or sounds abruptly stopping, this is also shown in the image below.

Cutting Method


You can hear the layered samples here

Sample Loop 1 isolated - African Sample loop


Sample Loop 2 isolated - 3over4 polyrhythm drum loop

Once you have found a great arrangement or groove for your production, creative EQ can really help your mix and arrangement, and like the cutting method above, we can bring out the best parts in the layered loops. 

Here I've used a high pass filter to take out the higher frequencies of the African Techno Loop 1, and a Low pass filter on the 3over4 polyrhythm loop 2 which creates a new feel completely. Slightly cleaner and easier to work in a mix. This is a rough example, more time could be given to both techniques to find a happy medium when mixing the two loops together.

African Techno High pass filter 


3 over 4 polyrhythm loop with a high shelf



You can hear the layered EQ loops below
Layered EQ loops -
Note - These loops are percussive polyrhythmic loops, please see here for more information on polyrhythms and polymeters


Single Hit tricks for your DAW


This trick is especially important when dealing with low-end and possible mix complications by having more than 1 low-frequency sound playing at the same time. I have used a Kick for this example as this technique is essential when matching your kick drum to your bassline. By using the fade-in and out tools and changing the file length you can achieve louder, more professional sounds and cleaner mixes.

As you can see from the image below, the kick drum I'm using has a lot of sustain and sounds great on its own, however, it is taking up all my low-frequency range giving me very little space to include a bassline. The MIDI note in the example below shows where the bassline starts and as you can see the sustain of the kick drum is masking this.

Kick masking the bass



The simplest trick is to shorten the Kick drum to finish as my bassline comes in, the fade-out tool is used to smooth out the kick's tail. As you will here this cleans up the low end significantly giving the low drivers on your speakers clearer information to reproduce.

Enveloped Kick


You can listen to the difference here

Longer Kick masking the bass audio 

Shortened Kick Audio
For more information on Kick mixing and sound design


Using a Sampler


There are many great samplers on the market, they can either already come with a DAW, or come as free VSTs, or paid and generally more powerful options are vastly available. As we had discussed at the beginning of this article, there are many great reasons to use a sampler, but the most obvious reason is being able to utilize MIDI and MIDI functions, such as changing the sample length, velocity, sample pitch as well as other modulation controls you can apply with a keyboard and MIDI controller. After touch and Pitch bend are two great examples. MIDI also allows you to use a keyboard or MIDI controller to play the sample at different pitches. This is where samplers such as Native Instruments Kontakt really shines, as this allows you to play your sample via a keyboard, just like a synthesizer or any other virtual instrument. Kontakt has some great multi-sample patches which I would highly recommend trying. Couple these Kontakt instruments with a MIDI product allows an extremely quick and flexible way to produce music. MIDI packs will contain information for great melodies, chord progressions, and rhythms which can easily be re-pitched and played in any tempo to suit your genre or style.

As the functionality of a sampler is vast with so many different ways to use it depending on the sampler, the sounds used and the music output you are aiming for, I will include sampler trick and trick in a separate article. 


Where's the best place to buy sample packs? 


There are lots of sample providers out there, these include large online superstores which stock thousands of products or independent labels which sell their own products from their own online stores. As stated above, please check important factors such as if the products as unique and original, royalty-free, and high quality. As the sample pack industry is very easily accessible, with little barrier to entry then the market is flooded with products that lack quality and usability. Purchasing from a well-established store that has transparent terms and conditions will eliminate you from wasting your money.


Why use Transmission Samples Sample packs?


Transmission Samples take huge pride in the products we sell, we have a pool of highly successful, experienced, and professional producers from around the world bringing you knowledge, creativity, and inspiration. Our products give you the tools and understanding as well as access to high-quality equipment, musicianship, and mixing environments not available to most producers. We can offer you recordings from the professional session percussionist, Tocar, or recordings from successful guitarist and music producer Waywell, as well as a handful of electronic music producers with releases on a multitude of record labels. These products are all covered by our license terms which gives our customers permission to use the samples or compositions in their own productions without any copyright concern or royalty share.