The People Who Make the Drums
Seven storefronts run by the makers themselves: Kount and Tamuz, STLNDRMS, Kaelin Ellis, Cuckoo, Side Brain and Andrew Huang. What each one is selling, in their own numbers.
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The sample economy has two halves. One is the industrial end, where a library gets assembled by a committee and named after a mood. The other is a person with a room, a drummer friend, and a page they built themselves. This is a list of the second kind. Every number below is the maker's own, taken off their own page; nothing here claims a listening test we did not do. Prices are as of September 20.
Kount x Tamuz Drums
Two drum reputations in one folder. The Kount's page counts 293 files, of which 152 are drum breaks, with the BPM labeled from 68 to 114 so nothing has to be guessed at or warped on faith. It is WAV, it is $29.95, and the division of labour is the point: Tamuz plays, The Kount processes. Get it from Tamuz Samples — or follow @THEK0UNT, who has been posting the demos.
STLNDRMS — Fresh Baked Breaks vol 2
Sixty-plus breaks, of which 40 are originals and the rest variations on them, delivered at both 24/96 and 16/44 so you can choose between the archival copy and the one that will not fill your drive. $20. The product name on Gumroad ends with the maker's own verdict on it, which we will leave to him. Gumroad · @stlndrms
Kaelin Ellis — Bundle Vol. 1–4
Over 300 sounds across the first four volumes: drums, chords, breaks and progressions. Thirty-one buyers have rated it, and all of them at five stars, which is a thin thing to lean on but a better one than a press release. $39. Gumroad · @kaelinellis
Cuckoo — PO33 Song Pack 1 and Super 6 Pack 1
The PO33 pack is a single audio file, because that is the data backup format the PO-33 expects; inside it are synth sounds, bass, a drum kit, an acoustic celeste and vocals. You need the PO-33 for it to mean anything. $5, and eleven ratings averaging 4.8.
The Super 6 pack is 16 wavetables sorted into 8 banks, and its maker says he built most of the sounds with vocalists in mind. It needs a UDO Audio Super 6. $20. PO33 pack · Super 6 pack · @CUCKOOMUSIC
Side Brain — sample packs
Samples at 44100/24bit, loops tagged with BPM and key, and a Drum Booster audio effect rack thrown in as a bonus. The tagging is the unglamorous part that decides whether a pack gets used twice or once. sidebrain.net · @sidebrain
Andrew Huang — the sample pack shelf
A shelf rather than a product: a tape delay pack that comes with its own Ableton rack, a circuit bent pack, a WMD percussion pack, and more beside them. The through-line is that each one is a documented obsession rather than a genre folder. andrewhuang.com/store · @andrewhuang