2018 was an incredible year for music, and a just as incredible year for sounds.
Our editorial team at Splice picked out a few of our favorite sample packs that came out this year – maybe one or two that you haven’t tried out yet.
Thanks for another year of creating music with Splice.
ALEPH: Outlines 001 (Renraku)
Matteo: This is such a unique pack. Hazy pads give way to glitched-out synths, distorted basslines, and shuffling drum rhythms that straddle the line between analog and digital. If you’re looking to create something atmospheric and bass-heavy, this is definitely a collection to explore.
Photek Sample Pack Vol. 1 (Splice)
Matteo: You may have missed this one the first time around, but it’s an absolute gem. Photek really puts his extensive production and sound design experience on display here with masterful drum breaks for the jungle heads, ominous sweeps for the composers, and incredibly crisp drum hits for whatever you’re feeling in the moment.
Astral House (Touch Loops)
Matteo: Playfully touted as ‘cosmic house,’ this pack is just plain fun. A fresh take on signature deep house sounds, it’s hard to not start dancing in your chair with the array of funky drum loops on offer. Combine them with some lush keys and full-bodied synth chords, and let the dance floor magic commence.
Emmit Fenn: Sounds of Winter (Splice)
Katie: Emmit Fenn’s “Sounds of Winter” sample pack opens you up to feel the feels and start writing. Coming from less of a producer’s perspective and more of a songwriter’s, I found this pack to be incredibly inspiring and un-intimidating. The stunningly melancholy yet uplifting loops encourage full songs to form in my mind, while the clean percussive one-shots allow me to build a beat without extensive production chops. This pack simply invites all who explore to dive in and create immediately.
Psytronica (Famous Audio)
Ayesha: I had never encountered a pack with handpan samples in it prior to this one – these are rad as percussion tools and make the pack worth checking out.
Brazilian Drum & Percussion Grooves (Organic Loops)
Ayesha: This pack is full of solid grooves that retain an organic feel.
Live Downtempo (Loopmasters)
Ayesha: The FX samples in this pack really stand out.
Utopia Vol. 2 (Origin Sound)
Max: Origin Sounds’ follow-up to their hit “Utopia” sample pack, this collection of downtempo and ambient sounds features introspective synth keys, melodic loops, and drum grooves. The chord progressions in “Utopia Vol. 2” are just begging to be chopped and sliced on top of some hip hop or R&B drums.
December 28, 2018
