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I was on Skype the other day with Dave Valler, a professional song writer working in the British pop scene. Recently, with a colleague, he’s set up a new online service providing top quality pop/urban drum samples built up over several years of studio work, so I took the opportunity to interview him on the fundamentals of drum samples.

First, I asked Dave what the difference was between [tag]drum samples[/tag] and [tag]drum loops[/tag]…

Dave: Hi Ken, yes a ‘drum loop’ is a piece of audio that normally runs for between 1 and 4 bars, it’s made up of several different drum sounds all working together to create the impression you have just recorded a drummer playing a pre-defined rhythm.

(A lot of these are more electronic type sounds now, so they don’t normally sound much like a ‘real’ drum kit. But you get the idea. They may not have to have all the elements of a drum kit, just a looping rhythm of some sort).

‘Drum samples’ are the individual elements that are used to create a rhythm from scratch, they are usually loaded into a ’sampler’ and triggered via playing notes on the keyboard and in that way you can choose each element of your drum parts individually.

For example I have a whole sampler patch full of Kick drums or snares that are mapped across the keyboard, so you’re almost creating your own loops from individual elements.

Drum loops are often made in professional studios and each one has had some time spent on it already so you can just bring them into the track at a certain tempo and they will provide a drum backing for the song. But you don’t have the flexibility to split up the parts.

Ken: So what are you providing right now on your new web site?

Dave: AudioDrumSamples just offers drum samples at the moment, which people can load straight into their samplers.

We have about 348 samples on offer overall and the reason people want drum samples is the quality of the production.

Our sounds are good and professional sounding which is sometimes hard to get if you are an up and coming producer.

Hope that all makes sense!

Ken: That’s great - very clear. Can you give me typical example of which track styles would use drum loops vs samples?

Dave: quite difficult to do as any style could well use either.

However if I’m allowed to generalize first, you wouldn’t normally find any loops or samples used in Rock music, or Classical, or Jazz or any ‘live’ band music etc.

On the other hand, all the produced styles like Pop/ RnB/ Hip Hop/ Drum and Bass/ Dance Music etc make full use of samples and loops.

We have classed our samples as “Pop/Urban” (which would cover genres like pop, hip hop and RnB) but we always wanted to come at it from a British point of view because the British pop sound is often different from the American one.

If I had to choose, I’d say that…

• Dance music/Drum and bass etc uses more loops
• RnB, Hip hop use more samples
• Pop really can use either depending on what style track it is.

But certainly it’s not exclusive to any genre. It really is just one way versus another and very often you might start off with a loop and use samples later on in the same track. So bottom line, I would be nervous to not include a certain style in either category because loops and samples are universal to all.

Our samples as I’ve mentioned are much more geared toward Pop and RnB/British hip hop production but you could equally use them in any style with the right treatment.

Ken: So if I’m new to home recording and want to use samples and/or loops effectively, what “tools” do I need?

Dave V: Well most of the samples are software based now. So you’d need a sampler such as you get as part of a larger software package like Logic, Cubase, Reason, etc. You would need this to actually arrange your song in some way.

You could also use a hardware sampler but you would need a keyboard to trigger it.

If you’re new to working with samples and loops, then you’re probably pretty new to digital music recording. Most people at this stage will take advantage of the array of free stuff out there - and rightly so, since they won’t have the experience to recognize the value in paying $50-$500 or more for professionally produced unique samples.

On the other hand, someone who has used drum samples before and already has the knowledge and equipment - but is looking to get more/better produced sounds to improve the quality of their tracks - will be better placed to appreciate the value of higher priced products.

So to answer your question:

• samples/loops package (free, or paid)
• music production software - with sampler
• MIDI keyboard and interface
• computer

…would be the very basics to start making music with samples and loops.

Ken: Many thanks Dave! Wishing you every success with the new website.

For more information about the ADS Pop/Urban drum sample package, visit AudioDrumSample.com