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Why do drum sample suppliers make it so difficult to find out exactly what they are offering?

If you’ve ever searched online for great sounding drum samples, you’ll know what I mean. Free or paid, it doesn’t seem to make much difference…

There’s a huge variation in just how much information they provide, as well as how clear it is.

Here, I’ve pulled together a checklist to help make a good value match to your music style and current gear.

(I’d love to hear from you about how useful this is, or if there’s something you feel is important that I’ve missed. Just use the comments section below…)

Drum Samples Checklist

1. Sound Source
   • what kits were used?
   • synthetic - who were the sound designers?
   • acoustic - who were the drummers?
2. Audio Engines supported?
   Are the samples usable with your Digital Audio Workstation? For example, the Pop/Urban sample package from ADS includes a ‘Sampler Instruments’ folder for Logic users with EXS24
3. Which platforms are supported?
   • Computers
     • PC
     • Mac
   • Samplers
     • Battery
     • Reason
     • HALion
     • Kontakt
     • WAV
     • Other
4. Just individual sound files, or are loops or rhythms included?
   Many samples packages are pure sound files. Some offer loop or even rhythms using the samples.
5. How many?
   Instead of a number of samples, this is often listed as total file size eg 1GB
6. Beating Tools
   • Sticks…
     • brushes
     • rods
     • felt mallets
   • Bass beaters…
     • felt
     • plastic
     • wood
7. Instrument List
   • cymbals
   • drum kits
   • hi-hats
   • snares
   • percussion - bongos/congas/tambourines/cowbells/triangles, etc
8. Velocity range
   Is each sample provided in different velocity levels? How many?
9. Recording gear and techniques used
   • Mics
   • Pre-amps
   • with/without processing
   • normalized
   • bleed/leakage
10. Styles
    • US
    • Brit
    • world
11. Suitable for…
    • ambient
    • sound tracks
    • multi-media
    • other
12. How is Package Organized?
    How easily can I find the samples I’m searching for?
13. Royalties?
    Royalty free or not?
14. General Midi compatible?
    Will they work directly with GM, or will I have some programming to do?

Watch this space for a comparison of [tag]drum sample[/tag] packages available…