Drum Samples: The Best Sites To Download Drum Samples [2024]

Drum samples are all over the web and it may be hard to find the best places for them, No worries we put together the ultimate list of drum samples from all over.

We break it down to in three categories:

• Big Companies
• Independent Companies
• Producers

We think this is a fun way to break it down. With big companies you get reliability and consistency. They're generally safe ways to go.

MIDI Mighty is a small company with MIDI drum patterns and guides so we wanted to shine light on the other small independent companies out there. There's plenty making great drum samples. In addition to solid drum samples, these smaller companies tend to get a bit creative with their drum samples. You'll find some creative packs here.

And of course, we have to highlight the producers out there who have - and who still are - making a name for themselves. If you love supporting indy producers, you'll love this category.

Of course, once you get those drum samples you'll need to put together great and unique drum patterns. We have MIDI drum patterns and guides to help you do just that.

Let's get to it:

Drum Samples From Big Companies

First I want to say when we say Big Company we're not talking Fortune 500 companies here. Rather the more established music brands and companies that are roughly around a mid-size company or a very large small company. Here's the list:

Native Instruments

Native instruments has been around for quite some time with a number of flagship products. For drum samples, they sell expansion packs for Battery and Maschine.

What I love about these is they are very specific in style. For example, the Borough Chops is uniquely tailored to that golden age hip hip sound from New York.

They do a good job of honing in on a specific sound and crafting drum samples to fit that sound. You also get a lot of bang for your buck.

 

Serato Studio Packs

Serato studio is known as the go to software for DJying ("you don't have any Yeezy in your serato?!?!"). But did you know they have beatmaking software too?

Yup, it's called Serato Studio and is one of the best beat making tools out there. It's super easy to use and great for those who love using samples and drum sequencers.

It comes with a a number of drum samples but you can download more packs. Free and royalty free. We recommend starting with the Just Blaze pack or the DJ Jazzy Jeff pack.

Akai MPC Expansions

MPC is basically synonymous with drum machine. It's iconic and has been a staple in hiphop for as long as hiphop as been around.

For their hardward and software they offer MPC expansions. Like Serato, they offer a number of artists packs such as Marco Polo Boom Bap Beats.

 Loopcloud / Loopmasters

Loopmasters has been around since 2003. It's biggest advantage is it is a distribution platform for many producers. That means it has a wide range and depth of offerings. They cover virtually all genres and there's no shortage of drum samples.

Loopcloud is the superscription service. Loopcloud Drum is their drum plugin.

They have a robust search engine and tagging system. So though there is a wide assortment of packs, it's pretty easy to navigate and find samples you might be interested in.

You can even filter down to individual drum sounds (snares, kicks, rims, brushes, etc)

Their preview software is nice too so you can get a sense of what you're about to download.

Filter through their sounds section and you'll see a ton of loopcloud drum samples. It's a lot to go through but it's well worth it to try the 14 day free trial and get your feet wet with all they have to offer.

Tracklib

A bit off the beaten path here. Tracklib allows you to sample real music. Most sample sites that sell samples are samples that are made by producers for the sake of selling.

Tracklib offers actually released music and allows you to sample it. Pretty cool.

You'd have to go in and do the sampling yourself but you'll get awesome music.

They offer collections for drum samples such as the Boom Bap Drum Samples collection or the Ultimate Drum Library. This makes it easier if you're looking for specific sounds.

Landr

Landr started out as a mastering service and since has expanded into distribution, plugins, and samples and sounds.

Similar to those above they not only offer artist packs but also act as a distributor for others.

With a robust portfolio of drum kits and drum samples they offer a nice UI to navigate through. What I particularly like is the type of drum kits you can filter through such as: acoustic kit, drum breaks, or even a Travis Scott drum kit.

Splice

Splice started out as a way to get your hands on a ton of sounds for a monthly subscription. They eventually got into their own plugins. Like others, they act as a distributor for other smaller companies and producers.

They offer on of the better UIs for searching through sounds with a dedicated app to do so.  This makes it quite easy to search for drum samples on Splice.

The best feature is a "similar sounds" feature. When you find a drum sample you like, say a nice drum break, they'll show similar drum breaks to what you are currently listening to. Great for discovering new sounds.

Big Fish Audio

Big Fish Audio has been around for quite a long time. It's one of the largest distributors of samples. They like others, also produce their own content as well.

Eventually they got into software as well with the release of Momentum - a tool that helps shape sounds and samples to get the most out of them.

Big Fish Audio offers a ton of drum packs and drum samples. Their UI makes it easy to filter by Format and Brand.

 

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Drum Samples From Small Independent Companies

Yurt Rock

Yurt Rock was founded by Ryan Gruss. Ryan founded The Loop Loft which was later acquired by Native Instruments. After some time at NI, he left and formed Yurt Rock.

With a bit more focus on Rock and Funk, Yurt Rock offers a unique take on drum samples. Partnering up with world renown musicians, all drum kits are made from these professional musicians. With some of the bigger sites you'll get a mixed bag, but at Yurt Rock you're getting some premium drum chops, loops, and drum samples.

Samples From Mars

Samples from Mars is a team of producers focusing on capturing, and preserving, the classic vintage sound from hardware. Using a series of high end hardware, tape consoles, vintage gear, their drum samples are top notch.

Drum Broker

The Drum Broker provides high quality sample packs and drum kits where you can find great drum samples. Like a few others they are distributors. Unlike the much larger companies, they have a more curated touch. That means pretty much everything that makes it on the site is top quality, including the drum samples.

Cymatics

Cymatics offers a wide range of custom sample packs and drum kits. They also started to offer their own plugins. It's products and drum samples cover a wide range of styles and they offer great deals on their bundles.

Circle Drum Loops

Described as "drum samples with attitude", Circle Drum Loops offers custom sets of drum samples, and loops, each in a very unique and stylized sound. Made by a professional drummer, they go through quite the process to record, mix, and master these unique drum sounds.

Drum Sample Shop

Created by musicians look for high quality acoustic drum samples, that's exactly what the Drum Sample Shop offers. It's great they offer multi-velocity layers and include pre-mapped presets for popular tools like Ableton, Logic and Battery.

Beat Batter

Beat Batter offers custom drum samples from scratch. Similar to Circle Drum Loops, the sounds are very unique and stylized.

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Drum Samples From Producers

Many producers out there have their own site where they sell their drum samples. Here's are some of the top ones out there:

Illmind

Illmind is a well respected producer who produced/ worked with many famous artists such as: Kanye, Nicki Minaj, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Ludacris and many more. He has is own site Blapkits, where he sells his own drum samples, drum kits, and song samples.

Beat Butcha

Beat Butcha made a name for himself working with Griselda and making some of the nastiest, grimiest boom bap beats. You can get your hand on his drum kits and drum samples from Drum Broker.

AJ Hall

AJ Hall is a drummer and a beatmaker who records and processes his own drums. The results are some solid high quality drum breaks with drum samples. Check out left field drum breaks for his stuff.

Shroom

A music producer and sound designer from the Netherlands, Shroom found his way working for many popular hiphop acts including Wu Tang, Mobb Deep, Pusha T, The Lox, J Cole, Logic and Eminem. He sells his drum kits and drum samples on his site Shroom Samples.

 L. Dre

 L Dre is a producer known for his lofi beats. He's quite active on Youtube where he shares a lot of his story and insights into his process. He also has a store where you can get his drum kits and drum samples

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This list wasn't meant to be exhaustive, just some of the best places out there that focus on drum samples, sounds and kits.

I know I didn't get them all so if I missed any hit me up at cole@midimighty.com and let me know! (Or you can use the chatbot on this page).

Don't forget: once you get those drum samples, you'll need a nice drum pattern to take full advantage. Check out all our MIDI drums and guides to make the most of your drums.