Sometimes, it takes just that one set of sounds to unfreeze your creativity and get a song started. And that’s why freebies are sometimes such fun: they’re even a bit more odd, a handful of offbeat sounds that just begs to be turned into … something.
The folks at Puremagnetik have been posting some gems to their Tumblr account. This just in: “Wicked Kits” is a collection of five drum kits pre-configured for Ableton Live. (As with any Live kit, there are raw samples you can use in any tool you like – Renoise, MPC, whatever.)
The emphasis here is definitely vintage, dirty, and weirdo synth-y – they’ve sampled some classic drum machines, synths, and vinyl to built the set. 808 and SP-1200 figure prominently.
Analog Bully is some out-there retro synthesized beatmaking goodness. Drty Brty, Dope Loafa, and Kid Glitch are grimy and ready to play. And Grinder Kit combines a bass with a drum kit (though breaking them out is also a decent idea). They’re all a bit crazy on the effects, so I started by turning most of the macro knobs down. (And yes, sometimes there’s more than one delay, with one delay labeled something other than delay, so watch out for that.)
Must-download, though:
Wicked Kits – 5 Free Drum Kits for Ableton Live
For more organic sounds – literally – look no further than their “Pine Percussion,” beautiful, woody sounds perfect for some experimental dance music or cinematic applications or other notions. The backstory:
A kit of percussion recorded in the hills of Israel’s Carmel region. While meandering through this fire destroyed forest, I came across a number of fallen trees, many with crispy blackened pinecones and brittle branches still in tact.
This Free Ableton Live Pack includes an assortment of these sounds all programmed into Drum Racks – optimized for (but not limited to) Push integration. Enjoy!
For previous Create Tree Music action:
Music for Plants, Music by Plants, in Two Eco-Themed Album Releases [Listen, Galleries]
Follow these folks on their Tumblr “log”:
http://puremagnetik.com/tagged/log
Lots of other stuff there from travels abroad, including a prepared piano and whales. I like that idea – I might have to start sampling everywhere I go, too.