The Best Free Loops and Samples
The Best Free Sample Packs, Audio Samples, Loops and One Shots
We scoured the internet, downloaded and tested many free sample packs from bigger and smaller brand names. Our goal is to create the most in-depth and useful list of free samples for music production.
Our approach to assembling the list is:
- Real: We download and test all libraries, from a musician's perspective.
- Rated: We give an overall rating out of 5 to help narrow down choices.
- Detailed: We include detailed information on the number of samples, size, instrument and sample types for each library.
- Reviewed: We assess each library according to 3 criteria: Quantity, Quality, and Originality.
What they say
"THE ULTIMATE 1 GB COLLECTION OF FREE SAMPLES AND PRESETS FROM BLACK OCTOPUS SOUND!"
What we say
A generous free offering from Black Octopus, providing plenty one shots and loops, covering genres from R&B, hip hop, dance, disco, to ambient. The quality standard is high, as you would expect from such a well known brand. Don't hesitate to download this free sample pack.
Originality
We applaud the inclusion of more unusual sounds and loops, in particular well played acoustic performances on drums, guitar, bass, and vocals. A versatile selection with plenty of nice surprises. Perhaps a few too many electronic sounds which most people have aplenty.
Quality
Top notch. Well recorded sounds, organised into 36 sample packs, and with consistently easy-to-understand naming.
Quantity
1GB of samples and over 1,200 one shots and loops provide plenty of choice.
What they say
"All BRAND NEW, never heard before sounds designed from scratch by DECAP. Premium quality, groundbreaking as always."
What we say
DECAP is known for hard hitting drums that have dominated productions from hip hop and trap to pop. If that is what you are after for your productions, this free pack is definitely worth a download.
Originality
The sound sources are not particularly original. However, producer DECAP has carved a powerful niche in creating samples that deliver their promise: drums that knock.
Quality
DECAP is one of the top sample pack producers, and one of the biggest names in hip hop sample production. And deservedly so. These are mix ready, punchy sounds that need little else. If anything, samples are so powerful, they might need taming and shaping to fit into your mix.
Quantity
This is not a big pack, more of a taster pack. But it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. There is a good selection of sounds, covering 808s + Bass, Drum loops, Hihat loops, Hihats, Kicks, Melodic loops, Percussion loops, Risers, Shouts, Snares + Claps + Rimshots.
What they say
"We are a group of passionate producers and sound designers who teamed up with one simple goal in mind: to create tools for producers, artists, & engineers that make creating music easier & more fun than ever before."
What we say
A high quality free sample collection from ESW, with a focus on hip hop/ trap, house and electronic genres. Plenty of kicks, snares, melody loops, guitar loops to keep you entertained.
Originality
This selection focused on popular genres, often referencing the artists and songs samples have been inspired by.
Quality
High quality throughout. Well balanced, ready to use, with sufficient punch and presence that hip hop and electronic genres call for.
Quantity
Over thousand samples is on the higher end. Bear in mind the genres and packs concentrate on drums.
What they say
"Free sounds to help you on your way to your first beat."
What we say
Make sure this LANDR sample pack lands in your lap. It is a bit unwieldy to navigate with 147 packs but the quality and breadth of samples makes this a worthwhile endeavour.
Originality
LANDR provides a few taster collections across popular instruments and genres. Instruments includes drum loops, synths, vocals, guitar, and kicks. When it comes to genres, the free samples bias towards hip hop, electronic, and pop.
Quality
The quality is high across the samples. They are well recorded, balanced, and ready to use in productions.
Quantity
147 packs. Nearly 7,000 samples. Over 18 GB. For Free. Need I say more?
What they say
"Gratis is our free sample library. It contains 500 samples from various libraries in our catalog. It's the perfect way to test drive our samples to know which library might provide what you're looking for."
What we say
Outstanding. That Sound is one of our favourite sample producers when it comes to clean, cutting, natural drum samples. We have been using the free library in our productions for years, and have bought extra samples from That Sound since.We didn't hesitate to award this free sample library 5 stars. They set the standard.
Originality
You won't find crazy sounds from That Sound. But you will find plenty of original sounds, all stemming from brilliantly recorded acoustic drums and percussion. The stomps and claps are outstanding, hard hitting and ready to mix. Offering dry and room samples from the same sound source gives plenty of options. Some snares and toms include "round robin" samples from the same source, or you will find kicks and snares recorded at different velocities for more dynamic play.
Quality
First class. For natural drum sounds that cut through the mix yet sound natural, That Sound are my go-to sample label. The Instagram feed of That Sound provides insight into the production process and producers behind the samples.
Quantity
500 samples is a generous amount of samples from That Sound, giving you plenty of options across drums sounds. The narrower focus on one shot drum samples, compared to other free sample packs, is an advantage in our view, as this specialism avoids the 500 samples being spread too thinly across too many instruments.
What they say
"Enjoy these intricate foley recordings to bring a Christmassy atmosphere to your tracks." (Christmas Foley) "Between the ghostly hours of midnight and 2am, our dear David meticulously recorded his late Grandfather's clock." (Terror Clock) "On a very rare occasion when there was a can of beer left over in the fridge, we decided to see if we could make some cool sounds out of it, rather than immediately drink it." (Beer Kit)
What we say
Foley galore from Caelum Audio. What the packs lacks in quantity, it makes up for in originality. If you like unusual percussive sounds, this pack is for you.
Originality
Sounds from Christmas utensils, body popping and a beer can. Plenty of originality, no question.
Quality
Pretty good, however the raw, dry foley sounds will require plenty of processing to stand out and fit into contemporary productions. Caelum Audio though included some processed sounds already to get started.
Quantity
Nearly 800 sounds with about 800 MB of data is plenty.
What they say
"Access 1000’s of free plugins, samples and more for your music production!"
What we say
A solid choice with a wide variety of packs, if you accept the pushy sales tactics that go along with Cymatics.
Originality
From acoustic guitar loops, to electronic sounds and beach foley, there is a wide variety to explore
Quality
Well recorded and produced, with a raw edge and plenty of character.
Quantity
One of the top free sample packs in terms of size and number of samples.
What they say
Trap Samples Pack: "Download this free collection of 50 trap drum samples, taken from premium sample packs across from the Noiiz catalogue. This royalty-free sample pack is delivered in pristine 24-bit quality and is crammed full with 5 trap drum kits including slammed 808 kicks, pitched snares and tight hit hats for your tracks." Vocal Samples Pack: "Download this stunning free collection of 50 female acapella vocal loops and samples, taken from premium sample packs across from the Noiiz catalogue. This royalty-free collection is delivered in pristine 24-bit quality and is crammed full of catchy hooks, lush harmonies and rich adlibs for your tracks, perfect for a wide range of genres including Pop, EDM, Soul, Hip Hop, Trap, Electronic & Jazz."
What we say
Noiiz is the sample subscription service run by the people behind the Samplephonics sample label. While you won't find novel sounds in the two free packs, or a big library, the quality makes this worth a download in our view. The drums are production ready for trap, hip hop, rap, hip hop, and pop productions alike. The vocal packs are highly usable, with no fillers.
Originality
Both packs are not big on novelty. Trap Drums covers the now over-familiar snappy kicks, sub 808, short snares, and splashy hi-hats. And the vocals don't stray far from the typical soul/ R&B female phrases ubiquitous in vocal packs everywhere.
Quality
This is where the free packs shine. The kicks kick, the snares cut, and the hi-hats sizzles. And the vocals have an accomplished shine and usability that inspires you to drop them into your DAW. Not forgetting that tempo, type, and root notes are all clearly labelled in the file names.
Quantity
For Noiiz, less is more. But then I would rather have 100 usable samples than 1,000 poor ones.
What they say
"As we mark our 9th year in the industry, we've put together an incredible bundle of some of our best sounds and samples from the past year. This collection includes a diverse range of top-quality Samples, Construction Kits, Presets, MIDI, Loops, and much more, covering a wide range of musical styles and genres."
What we say
A solid free library from a quality company. WA Production generously provide a new free library each year for their anniversary. This is the ninth and latest edition, released in 2023.
Originality
You won't find unusual instruments or sounds in this library. The bias is towards electronic sounds, with most samples drums and percussion. I could not see any field recordings or acoustic instruments, so if that is what you are after, give this one a miss.
Quality
The quality standard is high. The samples all are extracted from commercial packs, are well balanced and mixed, and ready to use in electronic productions.
Quantity
400 samples is a good number of quality samples WA Production gives away for free.
What they say
"LEX Sounds is the premier sample pack label for sonic innovators who blur the lines of live musicianship, creative forward thinking sound design, and world class production tools."
What we say
Worth a download if you like gritty, lofi, groovy one shots and loops.
Originality
Plenty of what you expect for lofi and hip hop genres, with few surprises.
Quality
If you like lofi and grit, with decent punch, that's the quality you will get.
Quantity
A bit limited with just over 100 samples.
What they say
"Over 50 volumes of vintage, rare, and landmark drum machines that narrate the history of this modern instrument—from the inception of this invention to relevant contemporary devices—this collection covers any and all electronic rhythm needs and sonic character."
What we say
It's worth a download if you don't have a good range of drum machine samples, but certainly not a must have. While reviewers on Reverb rate the Complete Collection 4 stars, we give this library only 3 stars, because of the bad organisation, low peak levels, and lack of originality.
Originality
The usual suspects of drum machines are included. From the ubiquitous Roland TR 808 and 909, to the more esoteric Ace Tone and the outright obscure Conn Min-O-Matic.
Quality
The quality is good but drum machines are well served, so the bar to make a download worthwhile is high. There is nothing unusual, creative or outstanding in quality in our view.What is annoying, however, is that the samples are not well normalized. Most samples only peak at -15 dB, when I am used to 0 dB as standard.
Quantity
The size of decent with 1.4GB zipped. The format is not convenient, with the sample library zipped, and 52 individual drum machine sample packs all zipped individually.
What they say
"The team at SFM focuses on capturing the beauty of vintage (and often rare) machines through high end hardware, consoles, tape machines and more, in order to create the highest quality, most useable and inspiring instruments possible."
What we say
A decent choice with quality samples worth downloading if you lack classic drum machine samples.
Originality
Drum machine samples are a hard genre to be original with; this pack is no exception. One exciting offering, however, is the free MIDI grooves, which include MIDI grooves from 25 drum machines, encoding swing settings, and groove templates to apply to your tracks.
Quality
The individual one shots are well recorded, processed and usable. The description and organisation is good, with more file options than most other free libraries. However we didn't like that the 101 Drums kit did not have any descriptive file names.
Quantity
The free packs won't fill your sample boots. Bear in mind that some samples are from the same source, but recorded with variations of saturation.
What they say
"The sound designers of nu.wav are excited to bring you a free collection of loops shaped with all of your favorite plugins from BABY Audio. This pack includes unique song-starters, dynamic grooves, and unusual effects that will be at home across of variety of genres, especially r&b, experimental music, and trap."
What we say
A small and niche selection of loops. The quality is good and interesting enough but with full musical loops with extensive baked effects, the usability of the nu.wav free sample pack is limited.
Originality
The pack includes some surprising sounds and heavily processed loops. Guitar loops bathing in long reverb tails, hectic synth bass loops and hyper compressed, distorted drum loops are some of the sounds included.
Quality
The recording quality is very good, with balanced and normalised loops, well cut to tempo, and good naming so you instantly know what each loop entails.
Quantity
23 loops in total is meagre but if you are after exotic and interesting, a download may still be worth it to you.
What is Sampling?
Definition of Sampling
Sampling is the process of using pre-recorded audio segments or sound bites, known as samples, in the creation of new music. These samples can be extracted from various sources such as music, movies, or field recordings and can be manipulated, edited, and combined to create entirely new compositions.
Types of samples
Loops
Loops are short, continuous segments of audio that can be repeated to create a rhythmic pattern or texture. They are commonly used for drum patterns, melodies, and harmonies in various music genres.
One-Shots
One-shots are single, isolated sound events or hits, such as a drum hit or a single note. They are usually triggered manually or by a sequencer and can be combined with other one-shots to create new patterns.
Instruments
Instrument samples are recordings of individual notes or a range of notes played by a specific instrument. They can be used in a software sampler to create a virtual instrument, enabling musicians to play these samples using a MIDI controller or a sequencer.
How do I use samples in music production?
Turntables
Turntables have long been used by DJs to manipulate and mix samples, especially in hip-hop and electronic music. By scratching, pitch-shifting, and crossfading, DJs can creatively incorporate samples into live performances.
Hardware Samplers
Hardware samplers allow users to load, manipulate, and trigger samples in various ways. Many hardware samplers have built-in sequencers, effects, and modulation options for further sound shaping.
Software Samplers
Software samplers and plugins or standalone application that allow users to load, manipulate, and trigger samples in various ways.
Samplers in DAW (Digital Audio Workstations)
FL Studio
FL Studio offers a variety of sampling tools, such as the Fruity Slicer for chopping loops and the Sampler Channel for triggering one-shots. The DirectWave Sampler plugin allows for more advanced sample manipulation and layering.
Ableton Live
Ableton Live features the Simpler and Sampler devices, which provide essential tools for working with samples. Simpler is a straightforward sample playback device, while Sampler offers more in-depth control over sample parameters, such as modulation and looping.
Logic Pro
Logic Pro's built-in sampler, the EXS24, is a powerful instrument for working with samples. It allows users to map samples across a keyboard, manipulate them with effects, and create complex, multi-layered instruments.
Pro Tools
Pro Tools includes the Structure Free sampler, which allows users to import and manipulate samples within the DAW. Additionally, users can work with third-party sampler plugins for more advanced sample editing and processing.