Sample packs/drum loops...is it cheating?

Hi guys.



I’m new to music production and am very much wet behind the ears on the whole thing, I was wondering what the opinions of the more experienced of you out there are on the subject of sample packs. I am learning to produce in ableton and have started creating my own drums using various kicks, hats, snares etc. I have recently downloaded a couple of sample packs from a royalty free site online and was very surprised at the number of pre made drum loops and baselines which came with it. They all sound really good and I can imagine learning to produce these myself with the time I have available would be very difficult, I love baseline driven deep house and am struggling to understand how to create rolling sub baselines that I want to. Heres the question…how many producers (both small time and big time) use sample packs to create their music, do most make regular use of the massive amount of sample packs that are available online? The reason I ask is because I can’t help but feel like I’m cheating by using them, or is this the wrong way to look at it? Just wondered what peoples opinions are on this, might sound like a silly question to a lot of you but as I say I’m new to all this! :slight_smile:

Sample packs are ubiquitous in dance music from beginner to pro.



I would tend not to use one loop just on its own… i find it much more creative and interesting to mix and match and filter a few loops.

If you’d have a look at some “In The Studio With” vids you probably wouldn’t ask this question.



Think almost all producers make use of samples. House is built on making use of samples. It’s just how you want to make use of samples. Keeping them as they are, or, as Phil said, play with them and make 'm your own.



Surely you can create everything your own. There’s nothing wrong with that. I just want to make clear that it’s not wrong either to make use of samples :smiley:



I often use small parts from percussive samples to spice up the beats.

Cheers guys. Thats what I thought, I’ve been experimenting adding different samples and loops to other loops and using the filters etc, got some good sounds going on :smiley:

A mate of mine gave me some advice about this some time back he said

“If the finished product sounds good, how it was made is irrelevant to anyone else but yourself”



Makes sence really.

If you make a full tune from loops i guess thats kinda cheating if your not changing it. However the art of taking a loop / sample and making it your own by tweaking it etc is something thats always good to know. I love to take samples, change them up, stutter them, stretch them etc



using top loops as well is a good way to get more energy into a track when ur not sure what single sound can do it