Origin Sound is a UK-based team of producers, sound designers, and musicians creating sample packs spanning a vast array of genres.
Their pack, “Future Soul – Melodic RnB & Trap,” remains at the top of Splice’s top downloads list. For this blog post, we sat down with their team to discuss their newest pack, “Vintage Soul II,” as well as their process for creating and curating sample packs.
1. Can you tell us how you got into producing packs? Tell us a bit about the story (or origin, if you will,) of Origin Sound. What was the first sample pack you all created, and how does it compare to the ones you’re creating now?
We started out making sample packs for companies such as Loopmasters, Black Octopus, and Sonic Academy, all of which we are very grateful for, since they introduced us to the industry. After doing this for a little while we decided it would be a good idea to create our own brand and help give our friends the same opportunity that was given to us. It’s been an amazing journey that we are both very proud of, and we cannot thank our collaborators and team members enough.
The first sample pack we created as Origin Sound was “Fundamental Ambience,” which is still doing quite well on Splice. We’re happy with the sound of it, but feel we’ve come along way in terms of sound design, mixdowns, and sample complexity. I think the simplistic qualities it has is what keeps people coming back for more.
2. What’s your approach to sound design? Do you abide by certain audio processing techniques in terms of plugins, effects, etc.? How do you go about creating your drum sounds?
Our approach varies depending on the genre or style. For instance, when we’re creating a pack such as “Vintage Soul II,” we rely heavily on our analog gear such as guitars, keyboards, pedals, and synths. We then heavily process these using various plugins such as RC20 Retro Color, Decimort, and Waves’ Soundshifter – we’ve found these to be best for a lo-fi sound.
Our drum sounds are a blend of synthesized parts, foley audio, recorded hits, and sampled drum machines we have. We also have a great unit by Electron, Analog Heat, which we can always rely on to add character and grit to our hits.
3. Can you tell us a bit about creating “Vintage Soul II?” What was your process for replicating and playing tribute to old hip hop records? Did any particular artist or album inspire these packs?
When working on “Vintage Soul II,” we started with the stacks, which are designed to sound like they’re sampled from an old record. We did this by simply writing songs that sounded like old school records; we then added in some subtle fx such as a percussion loop on the left speaker to emulate the sampled feel. We would then process the stack as a whole to add some dirt and vintage flair. These were really fun to make and we had a blast in the studio getting the old school vibes down. The pack is inspired by the hip hop greats such as J. Dilla, DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, and RZA.
4. In 5 words (or more), can you share with us the things that embody your creative process and give you inspiration? Whether it’s technical, atmospheric, ritualistic, emotional, etc. – we want to know what you need to fuel your creativity and what keeps you inspired.
Authenticity, originality, musicianship, downtime, friends.
October 15, 2018
