Sample Magic 34. Drum Hits. Reviewed

This is the 34th and latest pack from one of the most solid EDM sample production companies out there. Since their establishment in 2006, they’ve cranked out brilliant release after brilliant release, and consequently grown a very loyal fan/user base.

Drum Hits; the 34th major release from Sample Magic does not disappoint. They’ve taken a slightly different direction with this one – it’s a library of 1317 24 bit WAV drum hits and a selection of 28 drum kit presets.

Sample magic took over half a year to create this library. On the CD, or in the download, are 2 folders, one containing all the hits, the other containing the various preset kit folders.

The single hit folder contains 7 different percussive categories – claps, cymbals, hats, hit types, kicks, percussion and snares. Each of these categories are separated into subcategories. So for example, the Kicks category is separated into ‘Layered, Live, Mid and Subby’ elements, presenting an easy browse to the type of sound you’re looking for.

Cruising through all the hits, they are immaculately recorded – nicely compressed, and clear but not harsh transients for immediate satisfaction in a mix. The sounds are fresh, and although more mainstream than leftfield in general direction, the huge selection, quality and variety of the sounds mean you’re only really limited by your imagination. The sounds are a mix of synthetic and recorded, with some nice takes on classic 808 909 (Linndrum?) to recorded sounds ranging from clean crashes and rides, to vintage and grubby snares, or heavily EQ’ed and compressed layered kicks. There’s more direct reference to genre in the second folder, but I think that whatever style you’re in to at the moment, you’ll be able to find sounds that fit your mix. I particularly liked the variety in the percussion folder – there were subsections of clicks and sticks, glitch, tribal, and shaker sounds amongst others. Lots of inspiration in amongst that lot, with sounds that would work on their own, or layered. I noticed that when I was putting these sounds into mixes, they sat nicely. You didn’t have to tweak too much to get them in the right space.

The second folder is pre-set kits created for different genres. There are 28 kits covering all the major electronic bases at the moment, Mainroom, Indie dance, tech, dub step, minimal, chill wave, disco funk, and on. You name it, they’ve got at least 2 different full kits for that genre. In each kit folder, there are presets for Ableton drum racks, NI’s Battery, EXS24, NN-XT, and KONG kits. This covers the major software drum samplers. It’s a very useful folder for getting you going with your beatmaking if you haven’t got time to spend drifting through thousands of sounds looking for the right one!

One excellent aspect of Sample Magic’s online presence is the introduction of ‘Click and Mix’. If you don’t fancy the whole library, but find yourself coveting just the Kicks, or the preset kits, then you can download separate parts of the full release for a smaller price.

Conclusion
Sample Magic has been a go-to sample production company for anything EDM for many years now. They consistently create magnificent sample packs that cut the edge of whatever genre they turn their minds to. This release is a slight break from the norm with a focus on drum hits and kits, rather than loops. But once again, they’ve done an excellent job, and this will be a pack that creative producers will look to for inspiration for a long while yet.

Price
£34.90 full download

…the huge selection, quality and variety of the sounds mean you’re only really limited by your imagination….

Product page

PROS

• Sound quality excellent
• Wide range of styles and genres
• Click and Mix is extremely useful

LOVE IT OR HATE IT

• If you’re ever going to use drums in your electronic musical escapades, I would say this is an essential first stop for a wide base of drums and percussion. If you’re looking for loops, or ‘real’ drums, take a look at the other releases in Sample Magic’s library, or the myriad of drum libraries out there. BUT for sure they won’t have cover art as good as Sample Magic.

CONS

• Maybe a wider selection of kit formats (Maschine, geist, etc)