Last updated on April 16th, 2021 at 04:13 pm
You probably agree with me when I say that we can never have too many sample packs, right?
The more you have, the more alternatives to create great good music that sounds amazing and pulls your audience in you’ll get.
There definitely are some free sample packs out there that are Free and sound amazing, however it takes time to find all of them.
This is why I created this list, so you won’t have to go through all the hassle.
Some of these samples are pretty dated, but they still sound amazing and are worth checking out.
I will be categorizing them under Electronic Drum Samples and Acoustic Drum Samples so that this list is easier to navigate.
You can click on the Links in the Table of Contents to skip to one section or the other.
Lastly, I will also include a couple links to sites that sell premium drum samples, that way you can at least check them out and see if you can snag yourself a sweet deal.
Let’s get started…
Electronic Drum Samples
These samples are designed to be used in genres such as; EDM, Dubstep, Trap, House, Trance, Hip-Hop, 80s retro-sound, Future Bass, Drum and Bass.
Free Loops and Drum Samples by The Producer Spot
- All samples are royalty-free
- Trap, EDM, 808, Vinyl, Multi-track, House, and Tribal Drum kits.
- All files in .WAV 24-bit format.
Download for Free here.
Free Drum Samples by The Real Drum Samples
- Over 100 samples
- 808 Kicks, Bass Drum Kicks, Snares, Claps, Finger Snaps, Hi-Hats, Toms, Cymbals, and percussive sounds.
- You need to subscribe to the email list to get them.
Download for Free here.
Trap Drum Samples by Modern Mixing
- General 808’s (tunes ones as well), Claps, Crashes, Effects, Hi-Hats, Kick drums, Rides, Snares, Toms.
- Can be used on other genres as well.
Download for Free here.
Free Sample Pack by Hyperbeats
- 220 samples and 7 construction kits
- Designed to be used on Future House, Deep House, Future Bass, Experimental & Chill, Trap, Progressive House & Trance.
Download for Free here.
Dubstep Empire Drum kit by Sound Packs
- Excellent for dubstep and other similar genres like House, EDM, Drum and Bass, etc.
- 1393 samples: Claps, Crashes, Cymbals, FX, Hi-Hats, Kicks, Percussion, Shakers, Snares and Toms.
- .WAV samples.
Download for Free here.
80s Retro Futuristic Drum Pack by Data Drive
- 306 samples: Snares, kicks, hats, risers, falls, claps, crashes toms, TR-808 drums and more.
- Great for retro sounding music.
Download for Free here.
Real Drums Vol.1 by George Rennie
- This is an acoustic kit that is still great for EDM, Hip-Hop, etc. in a 150MB file.
Download for Free here.
Acoustic Drum Kit Samples
These samples are designed to be used in genres such as; Retro, Big Band, Vintage, Rock, Metal, etc.
Free Jazz Funk Drum Sample by Orange Tree Samples
- Small drum kit; Kick, Snare, two toms and two cymbals.
- Available for Kontakt and SFZ format, .WAV samples also included.
615 Free Cymbals by Erkan
- Old (2008), but sounds great.
- You can download individual Cymbals, no need to get the entire pack.
Download for Free here.
The 60s Rogers Pop Kit by DrumDrops
- Retro, Big Band Style
- 138 samples in total
To download click the “Buy now” Button; it will say $0.
Download for Free here.
Big Mono by Analogue Drums
- Vintage Ludwig Drum kit recorded in Mono.
- Rogers Dynasonic snare.
- Zildjian Cymbals and Sabian Ride.
- Retro Sound.
Download for Free here.
AVL Drumkits by Band Shed
- 2 Drum Kits: Black Pearl and Red Zeppelin.
- Formats: h2drumkit, SFZ and Soundfont2.
- Five velocity layers per kit.
Download for Free here.
Drummic’a by Sennheiser
The best free Acoustic Drum Sample Pack, in my opinion.
- Over 13.000 samples in 24-bit quality.
- Over 25 velocity layers
- Website is in German (Right click on the Site and then on “translate to English”).
- Support for Kontakt and Kontakt Player.
- Registration Required.
Download for Free here.
NSA Custom Series Drumkit by Nekro
- 777 Samples in 16-bit/44kHz, .WAV format.
- All samples are in Mono.
- Samples are grouped into Separate folders of Cymbals, Snares, Toms, etc.
- Total 132MB.
- Excellent for Metal.
Download for Free here.
AS Free Collection by Acoustic Samples
Bundle of 5 different instruments:
- Tiny Snare: 12” wooden snare drums.
- Drum Taste Free: Rick Marotta Signature Hipgig drum set with paiste cymbals with 6 velocity layers, NKI, EXS and SFZ Mapping.
- UDU Free: UDU Sample Pack (Nigerian Instrument)
- Viby: A three octave Yamaha vibraphone.
- Kontr: A small upright bass library.
Download for Free here.
RuffRider and EasyRider by Michael Kingston
Two simple kits:
- Ruffrider has more of a Stadium Rock sound.
- Easyrider is more natural sounding.
- Supported formats: Kontakt, Soundfront 2, .WAV, Halion 2, DR-008.
Download for Free here.
Singerland Kit by Indie Drums
- 23 acoustic samples in 24-bit .WAV format.
- Ludwig Black Beauty Snare.
- Sabian Cymbals.
Download for Free here.
G&S Custom Work Drum Kits for Kontakt 2.0 by Autodafe
Requires Kontakt 5.0 to work (Will work for 15 min in Kontakt Player)
Elements it Includes:
- Kicks, Snares, Hi-Hats, Cymbals and Toms, all with Level, Pan and Tune Controls as well as Attack and Sustain.
- Solo/Mute for every element.
- Includes a drum Sequencer with 32 patterns.
Download for Free here.
Salamander Drumkit by Rytmen Pinnie
A simple drum sample library recorded in a garage with a nice acoustic feel.
Slight pops and clicks here and there, but you can download the fadeouts made to all samples that have that issue and replace them which kind of solves it.
- Format: SFZ (Sforzando).
- Good and natural sounding acoustic kit.
Download for Free here.
Drumkits by DrumGirzmo
Actually, more than just one sampled drum kit; 5 regular drumkits and one “funkit” that contains claps, slapped chair sounds, small glass getting hit by a spoon, etc.
The Kits are:
- CrocellKit: Metal and Rock.
- DRSKit: Jazz to Rock.
- MuldjordKit: Metal and Rock.
- Aasimonster: Deathmetal.
- ShittyKit
- Funkit
Here’s a sample of the CrocellKit
Download for Free here.
Best Premium Drum Sample Packs
Loopmasters offers a HUGE collection of samples, plus it’s a fairly affordable website.
Pluginboutique also offers some cool drum sample packs such as;
And many more…
You’ll need a MIDI Controller
In order to be able to use these plugins properly, you will need some sort of MIDI Controller.
While you can use your mouse to map the MIDI in your DAW, it’s a lot faster and easier to do it with a keyboard/controller.
My recommendation here is for you to get something like the M-Audio Oxygen 25 MK IV MIDI Controller which you can find at Amazon at a very affordable price, plus it comes with some extra software like Pro Tools First.
Conclusion
There’s definitely no need to take out your wallet in order to get some high-quality samples.
Sure, once in a while you may need to purchase a couple premium ones, depending on your needs, but in most cases, especially if you’re a beginner, I’d recommend that you stick to free ones!
I hope this information was useful.
Have a wonderful day!
Are these free packs Royalty-free too?
very good