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The art of sampling has become one of the predominant ways of making music in the era of digital music production. Samples allow users to take ready-made musical audio files (without needing to play an instrument), and sculpt it into something entirely new in a swift process. And with advancing computing technology, there are always new ways to work with audio samples.

Music has a history of creative sampling, and just because the artform omits the traditional ‘playing’ of an instrument, it doesn’t make it any less musical, or less integral to the history of music as a whole. In fact, it’s arguably the main backbone of modern music, dating back to the rise of Hip-hop in the 70s-80s. After which, it spread to other genres, including EDM and its many offspring.

So… There's no wonder the market for digital audio samples is so expansive across the web. With that, there are places offering both free and paid-for samples. Many beginner producers are looking to start their journey without breaking the bank, and it can be a challenge to know where to look for high-quality free samples. With that in mind, we’ll shed light on some solutions throughout this article.
 

Getting Started with Free Audio Samples

Most of the high-quality audio samples online are available through certain aggregators, and as a result, most of these are paid-for. Most sample companies typically opt for monthly subscription payment models, which grant users a certain amount of tokens or points to spend on a vast database of samples per month.

Even though these services generally cost money, the fees are usually under $10 per month, depending on the subscription tier. It’s worth noting also that most of these services offer a free introductory or beginner trial, where you’re awarded a free amount of tokens to spend on samples within their library, and this is a great way to pick up some free samples – as long as you cancel before the trial period ends.

Net up to 100 Sounds of Your Choice with a Loopcloud Trial

Loopcloud is one of the most popular sample services, offering complimentary plugins alongside over 5 million sounds and 150,000 MIDI files. The subscription model is available in three tiers. The cheapest of which (the Artist tier) comes in at $7.99 per month, giving you 100 total points to spend each month, as well as some other neat goodies.

For users who want to test the waters, a 14-day trial is available, giving access to everything within the Artist tier for a short time frame. In that time, users are more than welcome to use up their 100 total points, accumulating a significant amount of samples. Typically,  short, one-shot samples cost 1 point, medium-length samples cost 2 points, and long loops and vocals cost 4 points.

With 100 points to spend over 14 days, this is great for an experiment, helping you to build a small sample library and produce some fire tracks! Loopcloud also has intelligent search filtering, allowing you to search via BPM and key signature, whilst auto-mapping samples to the key and BPM you’re working in if you like. This takes a huge strain off the workload. You can also use the MIDI or MIDI Files tag to search specifically for MIDI.

Please note that the Loopcloud trial and intro offers can change from time to time, and information is correct at the time of writing. Please check current information at the Loopcloud Pricing page.

Get Free Samples in Different Genres from Loopmasters

If the subscription-based pathway isn’t one you’re willing to venture, there’s always the option to resort back to the old-fashioned way and download entire sample packs at a time—yes, that includes free ones. Before Loopcloud, there was Loopmasters, where sample packs were the most popular way of compiling, purchasing and downloading samples.

Fleshing out your own library of samples using free packs is still a great way to expand your creative options. There are plenty of free packs, for specific genres, still available on Loopmasters. For example, the Tech House pack, the Hip-Hop & Trap pack, the Drum & Bass pack, the Afro House pack, the Vocals pack, and more.

Aside from containing audio samples, some of these packs also have synth presets and MIDI files, which are other popular digital assets in the electronic music production world. Downloading them has never been easier too, just add the pack to your cart (it’s $0.00), and checkout. Your pack will be available as a ZIP folder download immediately after.
 

How to Find Free MIDI Files

Finding MIDI files for your next melody, bassline or chord progression has never been easier with Loopcloud's dedicated MIDI tag which lets you search the extensive library of over 150,000 MIDI files so you can find something that fits perfectly with your track. Additionally if you prefer purchasing full packs, there is a wealth of MIDI packs and files available via Loopmasters.

If you want to delve into your favourite song's through their MIDI transcriptions, you'll probably find most things over at BitMIDI which is an archive of 113,229 MIDI files curated by volunteers around the world. Just be wary that other artists' songs in MIDI form are subject to intellectual property copyright laws but they can be a great place to uncover some of the secret sauce that makes your favourite tracks the way they are.