Developers of some of the most intriguing music tech in recent years, ROLI have come out with 9 new soundpacks full of quality samples and one-shots including from Steve Aoki and RZA.

ROLI’s new packs triple the amount of sounds available on their fascinating new magnetic BLOCKS devices through their companion app – NOISE. With a bunch of new possibilities included in the packs ROLI’s already fascinating BLOCKS can now do even more.

One of the packs comes from rapper, founding member of Wu-Tang Clan and hip-hop producer extraordinaire RZA. ‘Spoonful of Grit’ promises some hard and tasty sounds straight out of NYC in the 90s. The second featured pack is ‘Neon Future’ from Steve Aoki which promises “distorted gritty basses and uplifting beats” with 16 custom-made presets from Big Room Lead to Deep Bass from the DJ.

The other 7 packs cover a range of genres and interesting new sounds to play around with:

5D EDM: Create stompin dance tracks that will light up the room. Includes 2 dance drum kits and a selection of 14 synth dance-oriented presets including Big Room Attack and Killer Clown Slide.

Giant Dubstep: Create powerful Dubstep tracks with in -your-face drum kits and edgy motion basses and leads. Includes 2 Dubstep drum kits and 14 synth presets including Astroticks and Digital Burn Bass.

World Colours: Travel through a diverse world of electronic and acoustic soundscapes with an eclectic set of world sounds. Includes 4 percussion drum and groove kits and 12 hybrid synth presets like Tuned Ethno Clave and Kilimanjaro Mallet.

Video Games: Enter a fun and buzzing world of sounds that evoke old computer games. Includes 8-bit synth sounds, special-effect percussive sounds like the Forest Awakening Drum Kit, and humourous and playable sounds like Run Mario Run.

Hybrid Acoustic: A collection of very playable hybrid-acoustic sounds. Expressive mallets and zithers like the Worlds Apart Pluck evoke images of distant lands. Sounds like legato Orchestra or Steel String Guitar provide a more familiar sonic palette.

Expressive Electronic: 12 powerful and playable electronic synth sounds, that includes rhythmic sounds, leads and pads. Featuring Phaser Attack, Vintage Pad and Deeper Pad.

Synthetic Leads: 12 stunning electronic leads, from warm analog to searing solos. Featuring Vintage Mono, Theremin Mini and Overdrive Solo.

ROLI are planning to release even more packs in the future, saying: “This is just the beginning of an ever-growing collection of soundpacks from world-renowned artists and sound designers.” You can get a taste of what all ROLI’s new packs sound like from here.

The brand new soundpacks come free for BLOCKS owners or can be bought in the new Soundpack Store in NOISE.

The post ROLI launch 9 new soundpacks with Steve Aoki and RZA from Wu-Tang Clan appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Hyperbits have just launched Hyperbits sample pack Vol. 2 full of high quality samples to use in your mixes.

After the giant success of his first Hyperbits Sample Pack, Hyperbits is back with hundreds more samples to give away free. The samples include a load of high quality one-shots and sounds including ones taken from remixes of Beyonce, Tove Lo and other major artists.

Hyperbits says of his new pack:

After releasing the Hyperbits Sample Pack Vol. 1 in 2014, I never would’ve thought it would go on to be downloaded over 25,000 times (and counting). The only proper way to follow up that first pack, is to make an equally impressive sample pack for round 2.

Keeping that same attention to detail in mind, this is simply an update of sounds I’ve used over the past 2 and a half years. These are the exact sounds I’ve used to remix artists like Beyonce, Tove Lo, Nick Jonas and Syn Cole.

Again, this pack is all about quality – it’s literally just an accumulation of my personal favorites folder.

And btw, there is a bit of everything in here – 220 royalty free samples + 7 construction kits that are applicable across plenty of genres, including: Future House, Deep House, Future Bass, Experimental & Chill, Trap, Progressive House & Trance.

This is a free pack that no producer is going to want to miss out on with it’s massive variety and high quality sound. The samples are free to download and 100% royalty-free so you can do whatever you like with the music you make using these samples.

To download the sample pack for free you just need to enter your email address to receive the link. Get Hyperbits Sample Pack Vol. 2 free here: free.hyperbitsmusic.com/vol2

You can also get the first pack with 150 royalty free samples, 5 construction kits and 10 production tips for free here: www.hyperbitsmusic.com/samplepack

The post Free sample pack with Beyonce, Tove Lo, Nick Jonas and more, remix samples and sounds appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Mr. Bill, producer extraordinaire, is here to show you how to create amazing songs on Ableton with just your mouse, keyboard and Ableton Live.

You may know Mr. Bill from his extensive discography covering a wide variety of amazing electronic music. As a talented producer Mr. Bill wants to share his knowledge with the world, and that’s where his incredible Ableton programme comes into play with hundreds of lessons, resources and more available helping you to become a pro.

Signing up as a “Hardcore Abletoneer” with Mr. Bill gives you access to a massive host of Ableton Live courses by Mr. Bill himself, project files that you can use and experiment with, Sample Packs to use in your work, and much more. All of the content on Mr. Bill’s site is available at a cost without a subscription but as soon as you become a Hardcore Abletoneer all digital content becomes free to access.

Mr. Bill’s site is already packed full of thousands of dollars worth of resources, materials and lessons to kick-start or boost your music production career. At just $120 a year or $15 a month for access to years worth of content it’s an incredible deal for anyone looking to master Ableton. With a subscription you also gain instant free access to all the amazing content released weekly after you start your subscription.

Mr. Bill says on his site: “Follow along with all of my courses and I’m confident you’ll be well on your way to becoming a superb Ableton Live user… I’m giving you the power to open the guts of the track and see how it was created, reverse engineer it and even create your own things from it. Some tracks even have supporting production footage so you can watch how it was made.”

Check out what you’re in for now on Mr. Bill’s YouTube channel where you can see a taste of the amazing Ableton lessons and resources that could be YOURS: www.youtube.com/user/MrBillsTunes

Find out more and sign up for yourself here: live.mrbillstunes.com

The post Become an Ableton master with thousands of lessons from Mr. Bill appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Roland are taking digital drums to the next level with their new SPD::ONE pads putting realistic drums at your fingertips.

Roland’s new SPD::ONE series is a range of digital percussion pads that gives drummers authentic sound and new depths to explore. The series has four pedals; Kick for all your bass drum needs, Electro for electronic drum sounds, Percussion for – you got it – percussion, and the WAV PAD which is all about sampling and creating your own sound.

Each pad (the WAV PAD is slightly different) features a bunch of in-built sounds that you can select from, alter and edit to get the exact sound you need in a compact box. With each one holding it’s own corner in the realm of drumming lets go through each one and explore what makes the SPD::ONE’s so cool.

SPD::ONE KICK

The Roland SPD::ONE KICK is a new type of digital percussion pad, one that allows any musician to add genuine kick drum and percussion sounds to their performances. It contains 22 realistic percussion sounds, including kick drums, stomp box, shakers, cowbells, and more, and you can even import your own original audio data into one of the 12 internal sound banks. Once you’re ready to go, the SPD::ONE KICK’s robust-yet-sensitive pad can be played with sticks, hands, or feet, and trigger threshold settings are easily adjusted with intuitive controls.

Powered by batteries or AC, the portable SPD::ONE KICK can be used on the floor or a tabletop, or mounted to any rig or drum setup with the included adapter. Operation is simple, even for those musicians who are not technical; just by using four knobs on the control panel, you can change the sound, volume, balance, and more. Whether you’re a drummer, percussion player, guitarist, DJ, or vocalist, the SPD::ONE KICK is a simple and flexible way to expand your sound palette and invigorate your performances.

SPD::ONE ELECTRO

The Roland SPD::ONE ELECTRO is a new type of digital percussion pad, one that allows any musician to add electronic sounds to their performances. It contains 22 iconic sounds, including fat snares, crisp hand claps, electronic cowbells, and more, and you can even import your own original audio data into one of the 12 internal sound banks. Once you’re ready to go, the SPD::ONE ELECTRO’s robust-yet-sensitive pad can be played with sticks, hands, or feet, and the trigger threshold settings are easily adjusted with intuitive controls.

Powered by batteries or AC, the portable SPD::ONE ELECTRO can be used on the floor or a tabletop, or mounted to any rig or drum setup with the included adapter. Operation is simple, even for those musicians who are not technical; just by using four knobs on the control panel, you can change the sound, volume, balance, and more. Whether you’re a drummer, percussion player, guitarist, DJ, or vocalist, the SPD::ONE ELECTRO is a simple and flexible way to expand your sound palette and invigorate your performances.

SPD:ONE PERCUSSION

The Roland SPD::ONE PERCUSSION is a new type of digital percussion pad, one that allows any musician to add authentic percussion sounds to their performances. It contains 22 realistic percussion sounds, including snares, hi-hats, cymbals, shakers, tambourines, and more, and you can even import your own original audio data into one of the 12 internal sound banks. Once you’re ready to go, the SPD::ONE PERCUSSION’s robust-yet-sensitive pad can be played with sticks, hands, or feet, and the trigger threshold settings are easily adjusted with intuitive controls.

Powered by batteries or AC, the portable SPD::ONE PERCUSSION can be used on the floor or a tabletop, or mounted to any rig or drum setup with the included adapter. Operation is simple, even for those musicians who are not technical; just by using four knobs on the control panel, you can change the sound, volume, balance, and more. Whether you’re a drummer, percussion player, guitarist, DJ, or vocalist, the SPD::ONE PERCUSSION is a simple and flexible way to expand your sound palette and invigorate your performances.

SPD:ONE WAV PAD

The Roland SPD::ONE WAV PAD is a new type of digital percussion pad, one that allows any musician to perform with their own sounds and samples. Importing audio files is as simple as connecting the SPD::ONE WAV PAD to a PC or Mac and dragging your WAV files into the drive that appears. Whether you need full-length backing tracks or one-shot samples, your sounds can be loaded and played in seconds. Once you’re ready to go, the unit’s robust-yet-sensitive pad can be played with sticks, hands, or feet, and trigger threshold settings are easily adjusted with intuitive controls.

Powered by batteries or AC, the portable SPD::ONE WAV PAD can be used on the floor or a tabletop, or mounted to any rig or drum setup with the included adapter. Operation is simple, even for those musicians who are not technical; just by using four knobs on the control panel, you can change the sound, volume, balance, and more. Whether you’re a drummer, percussion player, guitarist, DJ, or vocalist, the SPD::ONE WAV PAD is a simple and flexible way to expand your sound palette and invigorate your performances.

You can nab one of Roland’s new SPD::ONE drum pads for $199, or $249 for the WAV PAD online and from certain retailers now.

The post Roland’s new electronic drum pads could change the way you drum appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Splice has grown from a site offering samples to creating a number 1 hit with Demi Lovato and a massive round of funding.

Splice creator Steve Martocci started his entrepreneurship with a text messaging service, now years later he’s getting $35 million to sell samples to artists. Startup Splice is a two-way market of samples and digital music tools where creators can buy or sell their own.

In the four years since it’s inception Splice has distributed $5 million to creators contributing to their sample library. Their success recently peaked with Demi Lovato’s hit ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ in which producer Oak Felder used a sample from Splice prominently throughout.

So what makes Splice’s samples different from any others? Splice works as a subscription which allows users to sign up for between $8 and $30 a month and choose from their sample library with no royalties or hidden catches.

With the ever-increasing importance and usage of samples in music a subscription service revolutionises the medium for creators. It allows them to try out different things and have access to a multitude of different sounds for the price of a single sample pack.

Martocci may lose out when someone like Demi Lovato gets a number 1 single with his samples but he’s adamant that their methods work. Martocci hopes that in the future they will be able to tailor the service depending on their position, for example splitting it between bedroom producers, amateur bands, high-profile celebs and so on.

Martocci says: “The benefit of using Splice is it’s community driven. It tends to adapt to the needs of the community.”  Recently in a Series B round of funding led by DFJ Growth, Splice managed to raise $35 million.

Take a look at Splice and sign up for free today here: splice.com

The post How a site selling samples made a No.1 hit and $35m in funding appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Sampling has become a massive part of music but the legalities of when and where you can use samples can be confusing so here’s a guide to make sure your music is all good.

Sampling is the use of another sound or piece of music within your own. This could be anything from using a drum loop straight up to chopping up and manipulating clips to recreate an entirely new sound. Whatever you’re doing with samples though, you have to remember that music belongs to someone else and there may be steps you have to take to legally release it.

Most music that has been released will be copyrighted for the protection of the artist’s creations. That means that using it in any form will require ‘sample clearance’ which requires 2 licenses:

• Master Recording – Licenses for the use of a master recording is needed to sample a track. This is often owned by the label.
• Composition – You also need to have a license for use of the composition. This will either be in the hands of the songwriter or the publisher.

You will need to get in touch with the copyright holders to acquire both licenses. If they listen to the track and are happy with the use of samples then it is almost guaranteed that they will ask for an upfront fee and a percentage of the royalties. These figures all depend on the profile of the artist as well as how prominently you have sampled their music.

When you are requesting a sample clearance it is best to provide all the information that you can. That includes a copy of the track, details of when the sample is used, for how long, any changes made to the sample and any other relevant information.

The use of samples is entirely dependent on legal licenses to use a copyrighted work and is entirely up to those controlling the recording and composition. That means there is no guarantee you will be allowed to use the samples that you wish to.

This applies to all musicians. You will be required to show proof of your rights to use any samples when you upload to a digital distributor like RouteNote.

The post How to legally use music samples in your tracks appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Sampling music is an art-form in it’s own right and it’s everywhere nowadays. This Spotify playlist features all of the most used songs in sampling history.

Samples are used everywhere in music today: in Hip-Hop, dance music, pop, even rock music will make use of other musical works. Whilst there’s no boundaries (except legal ones) to what can be chopped, screwed, and manipulated in a new way – there are a number of tracks that appear across hundreds of tracks thanks to a unique drum line or a sexy bass riff that can be used and reworked endlessly.

Reddit user sooryuken has compiled the top 100 sampled songs into a killer Spotify playlist that shows music inspiration from all kinds of places. They sourced the top sampled tracks from WhoSampled, an amazing website dedicated to sourcing samples that have been used in a track or where a track has been sampled. Unfortunately Spotify didn’t have all 100 of their top sampled songs but 92/100 is a pretty good ratio.

Speaking on HipHopHeads where sooryuken posted his playlist, they said: “I’m constantly making all kinds of playlists. This felt “perfect”/complete enough to share so I did haha … I’ll also probably make a playlist later based on this but more suited for background listening.”

The post The 100 most sampled tracks in music history appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Hip-Hop and R&B is now the most popular genre in the world, here are some of the greatest sounds that are making the hits of this generation.

Last year Hip-Hop/R&B overtook rock as the most popular genre in the world for the first time ever. To celebrate the rise of a new genre Producer Loops have compiled the most popular packs of samples that are helping to make Hip-Hop the landmark genre it is now with sounds from soulful modern hip-hop to the 808 days of old – and they could all be yours!

8. Bang Bang

These Kits are filled with ambient arps, heart-stopping chords, booming 808’s and ear-grasping snares. The pack contains five booming Construction Kits made in the style of up-and-coming rapper, Chief Keef and super producer, Young Chop.

7. Cinematic Hip-Hop Vol 1

Next up is ‘Cinematic Hip Hop Vol 1’ from Producer Loops. This is the first in a Block-busting series of deep, dark and brooding Construction Kit libraries fusing the very best in modern Hip Hop with epic soundtrack vibes. Combining traditional Urban instrumentation with ethereal textures, emotive sound design and dramatic overtones, this genre-defying release is perfect for everything from advertising campaigns that need a serious Urban edge, through to soundtracks and standalone Hip Hop releases.

6. Hip-Hop Soul Piano Melodies

Coming in at number six is ‘Hip Hop Soul Piano Melodies’ from Strategic Audio. This pack features five authentic, piano-driven Hip Hop Construction Kits inspired by the music of artists like Common, Alicia Keys, The Roots and Melanie Fiona.

5. West Coast Wave Vol 1

‘West Coast Wave Vol 1’ is next, the debut sample pack from Diginoiz. It features 10 great Construction Kits inspired by the hot climate of West coast America. High quality loops, hits, and percussion samples in tempos from 89-97 BPM will satisfy even the most demanding producers.

4. Cinematic Hip-Hop Vol 2

‘Cinematic Hip Hop Vol 2’ is the second instalment in this epic, silver screen-esque series of Construction Kits from Producer Loops. Following in the footsteps of its immensely successful predecessor, this Volume features all the dark instrumentation you need to dominate the dark Hip-Hop scene.

3. Lo-Fi Vol 1

Just making it into the top three is ‘Lo-Fi Vol 1’ from Kryptic Samples. It is the first release of this soulful, laid-back Hip Hop series,made with hand crafted nostalgic and dusty samples. Authentic and old school.

2. Urban Legends Vol 1

At number two, ‘Urban Legends Vol 1’ from Producer Loops fuses elements of EDM, Pop, RnB, Trap and Hip Hop to bring you five highly polished Construction Kits with an authentic Urban undertone.The loops in this pack have applications far outside of strictly Urban music and can be re-combined in a near-limitless number of ways.

1. Symphonic Hip-Hop

Our most downloaded hip-hop sample of all time is ‘Symphonic Hip-Hop’ from Bunker 8. A huge 5.4 GB Construction Kit that merges powerful symphonic arrangements and orchestrations with block busting hip-hop rhythmatics. There are 347 seriously hot loops here, waiting for your next urban blockbuster.

You can find many more great sample packs at www.producerloops.com

The post 8 of the best and most popular Hip-Hop sample packs appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

As you can imagine the BBC have a massive collection of sound effects for use in all of their shows, now they’re free for you to download and do anything you like with.

The BBC are releasing 16,000 samples to everyone for free WAV download out of their giant library of sound effects. They are releasing them under a RemArc license which means that they can be downloaded and uses for “personal, educational or research purposes”.

The archive is available on their website and can be easily searched by keywords to look for the sounds you’re after. There is a massive variety to the samples, as you can imagine with 16,000 of them, ranging from simple sounds of the sea to parrots talking to a creepy doll saying ‘Mama’ over and over again for a minute. You’re sure to find something interesting you can use.

The samples range from anywhere to the past year to nearly 100 years ago so you can even access some archaic, archive sounds from the BBC. You can play any of the sound effect samples on your page and download them all individually for free.

The website is currently in beta and unfortunately doesn’t seem to work very well at all. It’s slow to load, hard to access and once you do it’s luck whether the samples will play or download but hopefully the BBC will work on making the site usable as this could be a great resource for musicians, filmmakers, and beyond.

If you have a minute for it to load, you can check out the giant list of samples here: bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk

The post Get 16,000 of the BBC’s sound effect samples for free appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

SampleRadar are back with an awesome bundle filled with great sounding samples that will spice up your mix and it’s totally free to download.

There’s a great new pack out on MusicRadar’s awesome sample site where they offer thousands of samples of all varieties for free. The new pack available on SampleRadar will breathe new life into your percussion with 275 retro drum machine sounds from that go beyond Roland’s infamous TR range with their own unique sounds.

The collection features samples from old and under-appreciated models like the Soundmaster SR-88 drum machine, Pearl SY1 Syncussion drum synth, and the Casio MT40 synth’s rhythm section. The 275 samples are made up of both raw and processed hits and loops for a versatile range of sounds to play with in your mixes.

Check out what sounds you get included in the pack in this SoundCloud playlist:

The pack is divided up into 2 sections of hits and loops that are arranged by tempo so you can easily sort through the type of sample you need and which will suit what you want to create best. The samples are ready to be imported straight into your DAW or sampler in WAV format and are all royalty free so you can use them however you like, even commercially – except you can’t redistribute/sell them.

If you’re looking for even more free and exciting sounds to liven up your tracks and mixes then head to the SampleRadar hub where they’re offering over 50,000 samples in a massive variety of packs sure to inspire anyone of any musical preference to create something new.

Download your pack of free retro drum machine samples now and start beatmaking with some cool, rarely heard sounds.

The post Mix it up with 275 free retro drum machine samples appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Loops and samples are a producers best friend, providing endless opportunities to use and rework unique sounds, melodies and rhythms into a new surrounding. But quality samples are hard to find without denting your wallet, so we’ve collected the best places to go where they are free to download.

SampleRadar

SampleRadar is a giant hub of free loops, hits, and multis offered by music news and tech publication MusicRadar. It’s updated all the time and full of every type of sample you could ever imagine. Whether you’re looking drum hits, acoustic guitar samples, reggae loops, ambient sounds, or really just anything – SampleRadar has the packs for you.

There are over 66,000 samples available for completely free download with SampleRadar. All of the samples are royalty free and come from the discs included with Computer Music and Future Music magazine. We highly recommend you have a scroll through all the packs that they have to offer and expand your library with a whole host of tasty new sounds and samples.

Converse Rubber Tracks Sample Library

Converse are best know for their shoes but they also have a wicked audio library full of high quality samples that they’re giving away for free. The Rubber Tracks Sample Library is a bunch of professional samples recorded at Converse’s Rubber Track studios.

There are percussion packs, moog synth sounds, clips, blips, trips and much more. All of the samples in the surprisingly extensive library are free download and entirely royalty free so you can use them however you like with no strings attached.

Producer Loops

Producer Loops isn’t inherently a free sample site but it does currently offer 86 amazing sample packs at no cost. And their free offerings may not be as regularly updated as the rest of the website but you can be sure that when a new pack is added it will be a quality treat.

The highlighted pack is currently in theme with next week’s festivities and offers a spooky Halloween selection of loops based on recent tracks from producers like Martin Garrix and Steve Aoki. Every pack is up to a premium standard and offers a wide selection of tasty sounds that are completely free to use

Samplephonics

As with Producer Loops, Samplephonics offers a premium library of paid for sample packs. But with premium charges comes premium sample packs, so you know that their free offerings are of real worth and the best quality.

You will need to sign up with a free account to take advantage of Samplephonic’s free library of samples, loops, and packs – even synth presets. With packs ranging from amazing brass recordings, future bass effects, professional vocals and much more, Samplephonics has a lot to offer the producer on a budget.

HipHop Makers

Despite the site’s name HipHop Makers have loads of high quality packs for anyone, regardless of style. That said, if you’re a Hip-Hop producer you may have just found your new favourite site for sample packs.

The bread and butter of this site are the numerous drum kits, drum loops, hits and basically the hundreds of percussive possibilities offered in the multiple packs on HipHop Makers. It doesn’t stop there though with Kanye West style loops for inspiration, heavy brass for some fat melodic beats, piano loops for an old school sound, and much more.

Any sites that you use and love for free samples? Share the love and post them in the comments below.

The post The best sites for free samples and loops to download appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Andrew Huang is back at it with another awesome video that breaks new ground for music. This time he has left the atmosphere to create a new track using real sounds from Mars.

If you need inspiration on how to get creative with your samples then there’s no better place than Andrew Huang’s YouTube channel.

The post The first music from Mars is out of this world… literally! appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

In the digital music age copyrights and sampling laws have become a much more prescient issue in music. Producer Abid Hussain summarises what you need to know in his great talk at Ableton’s Loop summit.

Watch this short video and get to grips with what you need to know.

The post Music copyrights and sampling: What you need to know appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Soundweaver is a new software that designs new sounds to create from using the samples you already own and have.

A world of additional possibility is lying in wait within your existing folders music and sound samples. Soundweaver is a new piece of audio software from Boom Library that designs entirely new sounds from existing ones to infinitise your sound collection.

The standalone app searches your sound library using keywords and folders to find sounds it can match and meld into new designs. You can pitch, offset, gain, shuffle and randomise sounds, groups and entire projects to create endless sonic possibilities.

Once you have something new that you like the sound of it’s as simple as dragging it in to your DAW to edit, chop and play with. SoundWeaver can generate countless variations from your project during export via pitch, offset and take randomisation.

It sounds like a great source of inspiration and also a big money saver on new sample packs and VSTs. Just transform your existing ones and take them even further than ever possible before.

KEY FEATURES

• SoundWeaver automatically picks, slices, aligns and layers sounds
• Search by keywords, folders or drag’n’drop
• Pitch, offset, gain, shuffle and switch out individual sounds, groups or the whole project
• Each of the previous parameters can be randomized.
• Export: Drag’n’drop the project into your DAW
• Export as: Individual layers, groups or mixdown
• Export features: Generate variations using pitch, offset or random takes
• Take snapshots and return to your favorite combinations, parameter settings and sounds at will

USE CASES

• Produce more assets and increase productivity on tight schedules
• Set up your sound design session with ready-to-use sound combinations
• Generate variations with ease instead of manually tweaking everything
• Find new combinations, discover and create new flavors and variety within your library

SoundWeaver is available from Boom Library’s website and is currently on sale for $159.20.

The post Create whole new sound designs from your existing sample library appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Sampling has developed as an art-form in itself and laces genres and artists through evolving patchworks of music; but when the paintbrush is sodden in legal and ethical questions how does it prevail and where does it stand?

The art of music sampling is a storied and mostly modern tale. It’s evolution is found in the essence of all autered creation: to take inspiration from the creators and artists who came before and wield that power to paint your own picture with the methodology and vision you’ve soaked up from your experiences of all the art and creation you’ve witnessed throughout your life.

But beyond ingesting an author’s prose or finding a resolute influence in the music you hear; sampling is the method of literally taking that work and making it your own. It’s the re-working of something you see potential in and bringing it into a new light, one found from your own vision.

Sampling found a calling through hip-hop as disc jockeys took disco hits and funky rhythms and bent them to their will. They took music that they loved and moved them into the backseat, no longer the piece itself being the foreground they laid the blueprint for MCs to rap over. A new form of appreciation blossomed in how people were able to make songs their own, as a newly realised whole.

The decades progressed and so did the flowering process of sampling. To the work of producers reworking records into brand new mixes, to vocal chops being spliced into dance anthems, to the entire deconstruction of elements that could be plucked and placed anew within an entirely different context.

Now, here we are today with years of the process and the expanding possibilities with each generation behind us and the art in full flourish. There are entire websites dedicated to the creation and distribution of samples that were made to be used in tracks as their own ingredient. Sampling has come a long way and the process can be found in music spanning all genres, from the biggest acts to the fledgling bedroom producer.

Taking directly from other source material of course means that sampling can be a legal grey area. It can be as simple as asking the original copyright holder for the legal rights to use their content but a lot of the time it’s not as simple as that.

For a start, making contact with the original copyright owner isn’t a feasible task for a lot of creators and it only gets more difficult the more high profile the source material. Then there’s a deeper ethical argument to be had when the sample has been reworked to the point where it is entirely abstracted from the original – is it then still under the ownership of the sampled creator/copyright holder?

Legally, yes. But of course, its an argument that finds loyal supporters on both sides of the issue. The barriers to legally obtaining the rights to use samples are being softened though. There are now dedicated websites to licensing the use of songs and samples withing tracks that open up the access to that kind of request to people around the world.

But there’s not always the guarantee the sampler will simply be granted permission for having gone down the official route, nor is it ubiquitous for all music or all types of sampling. It’s best to affirm this position before sweating blood and tears over a track – if you plan to release it commercially.

What is the state of sampling in music today?

Sampling is thriving in the modern market and is more common than ever before, though you may not always recognise it. Whether it be hip-hop artists continuing to re-invent the process that their forefathers birthed with sliced beats to rap on top of – to some of the biggest pop artists in the world making use of the endless catalogue of music that has come before.

A recent study by Tracklib (a great source of songs that can be bought and legally sampled) found that 15% of all of the songs on Billboard contained samples last year. In fact, over the last decade up to a quarter of the songs listed by Billboard have contained samples each year. The biggest track of 2019 used a sample!

Lil’ Nas X’s hit song ‘Old Town Road’ used a sample of ‘Ghosts IV’ by Nine Inch Nails and is a perfect example of how music can be recreated from it’s source material to become an entirely new whole. I’m sure that Nine Inch Nails are upset by their cut of the track’s massive success either. In fact, NIN’s Trent Reznor won a Country Music Award for his listing as a writer on the Country/Rap track.

There are no confines in the 20th century to this production tool. Pop artists like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande use samples. It’s a technique that is now used across all strands of the wide open musical tapestries of the 21st century. It is constantly being re-invented and applied in new ways. Check out how much sampling was used across all broad genres last year:

Sampling is more prominent this decade than it ever has been, second only to the 70s – although people have been sampling since the 50s. It’s used to such effect now that most of the time you won’t even know when a song has been sampled and it has almost become a craft of its own to find obscure sample sources.

It’s also interesting to note how the use for sampling has evolved. When hip-hop made it so popular its primary use was for snatching drum breaks to provide rhythm as a backdrop. Now with advanced music production tools for creating drums sampling has become entirely more creative taking vocal chops or melodies and reworking them. Just look at how Kanye re-invented the vocal sample in the early 2000s.

Sampling can cause issues but for the most part it has become an instrument of it’s own in much the same way that DAWs have. In fact, Tracklib also found that over half of the Top 100 albums contained samples last year.

If you’re sampling you just have to make sure that you’re following the unwritten code of ethics relating to it – and more importantly the very-much-written copyright laws relating to it. It’s an art form, an appreciation, an instrument, a paintbrush, and it has made for some of the greatest music of recent years.

If you’re at all confused about how copyright laws affect your music or the music of others that you might want to use then you can read our essential guide for artists here: https://routenote.com/blog/protect-your-music-a-guide-for-artists-on-copyright/

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Apple have unveiled the biggest update for the music production DAW since Logic Pro X 7 years ago.

Apple’s DAW is one of the top choices for music recording and production and a favourite for studios around the world. That’s why the announcement of a massive new update that has just dropped for Logic Pro X is hugely exciting news.

Logic Pro X 10.5 is available as a free update to all existing users today and represents their biggest update in 7 years since they launched the monumental Logic Pro X. Apple say it is “a massive release for all musicians, including those producing electronic music”.

With a 90 day free trial currently available for Logic you can try it out for a few months even without paying.

There’s a lot to get into, so let’s take a look at what’s new:

Live Loops

With Live Loops on the Mac, Logic users can now create music in new freeform and nonlinear ways. Loops, samples, and recordings can be organized into a new musical grid, where musicians can spontaneously perform and capture different arrangement ideas into the timeline. From there, tracks can be further refined using all of the professional production features in Logic. Remix FX enhances Live Loops with an exciting collection of electronic effects like Bitcrusher, filter, gater, and repeater that can be performed in real time over individual tracks or the entire song mix. Both features become even more powerful when using the free Logic Remote app, allowing users to pair their iPhone or iPad with their Mac to provide Multi-Touch control over Live Loops and Remix FX.

Sampler and Quick Sampler

Sampler represents the next generation of the popular industry-standard EXS24 plug-in with an all-new modern design and expanded sound-shaping controls, while maintaining full backwards compatibility. Producers can use Sampler to create and edit sophisticated multisampled instruments, using elegant drag-and-drop workflows that automate complex production tasks.

Quick Sampler is a fast and simple way to turn any individual sound into a playable instrument. Musicians can pick a sound from within Logic, the Finder, Voice Memos, or even record directly into Quick Sampler. With just a few clicks, an imported sample can be trimmed, looped, and played across a keyboard controller, with access to creative sound-shaping controls.

Beat Creation

Logic Pro X 10.5 offers a collection of new creative tools designed to work together to make it fast and fluid to build original beats — an integral part of hip hop and electronic music production.Step Sequencer is a new editor in Logic designed to make it fun and easy to program drum beats, bass lines, and melodic parts using an interface inspired by classic drum machine workflows. Step Sequencer combines a pattern-based style of music creation with powerful editing options for creating original parts — providing detailed control over note velocity, repeat, gate, skip, playback direction, and randomization.

Drum Synth provides a wide collection of kick drums, snares, toms, and percussion sounds generated entirely by software. Each sound is accompanied by dedicated sound-shaping controls to help musicians fine-tune their favorite parts. Drum Synth sounds can be used on any pad in Drum Machine Designer, where it can even be blended with samples for creative sound design options.Drum Machine Designer, the tool for building electronic drum kits in Logic, has been enhanced to integrate with the new sampling and beat-programming workflows. Each drum pad can host the new Quick Sampler and Drum Synth plug-ins, making it easy to edit and shape individual sounds within a drum kit. After kits are created, they can be played in real time, or programmed with Step Sequencer.

Logic Remote

Logic Remote is a free companion app that allows users to pair an iPhone or iPad with their Mac to control and perform Logic features and instruments using Multi-Touch. Logic Remote is receiving a major update to allow triggering of sounds in Live Loops, browsing and adding loops, and applying Remix FX to a session.

Optimized Performance for the Mac

Logic Pro X has been optimized to take advantage of the latest Mac hardware and the power of macOS, delivering incredible performance when working with the most demanding projects with thousands of tracks and hundreds of real-time plug-ins.

Logic Pro X 10.5 is available today as a free update for all existing users, and is available on the Mac App Store for $199.99 (US) for new customers. Logic Remote 1.4 is also available today as a free download on the App Store. Customers can sign up for a free trial of Logic Pro X. For more information, visit apple.com/logic-pro.

The post Apple’s HUGE new update for Logic is packed with music production tools and out now appeared first on RouteNote Blog.

Sample, loop, preset, plugin and DAW project sharing site Splice have recently acquired Superpowered, a company that helps developers build audio functionality into apps.

Subscription based service Splice has been a favourite for producers sharing samples, plugins and DAW projects, but will they go beyond this area? Splice’s recently purchase of Superpowered has people wondering what the next moves from the company will be.

Superpowered is an audio technology company, offering frameworks to companies building cross-platform, real-time, audio based applications to run on mobile, web, desktop, etc., with existing clients such as Beatport, Naver and Tencent.

We created Splice with the mission of empowering musicians to realize their creative potential. Content – samples – have been a huge part of achieving that mission to date. But technology is also key to the creative process, and we’re excited to be investing in technology that will usher in a new era of creation and collaboration tools that empower musicians to realize their creative potential.

Steve Martocci – Splice Co-Founder and CEO

Creating new, interactive audio experiences can be unnecessarily arduous and time-consuming, because most of the audio development world is still stuck in decades-old paradigms. Superpowered is changing this status quo, and we’re thrilled that Splice shares our vision. We look forward to joining forces and extending our reach to unlock even more juice in Superpowered’s technology.

Gabor Szanto – Superpowered Co-Founder and CTO

Will Splice be making audio apps for their services, or give support to third-party developers? Only time will tell.

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LANDR’s new Creator tool expands their already-huge set of resources for artists to use in their creations to near unlimited potential.

LANDR have just launched the beta of their new beat maker Creator. It uses their database of over a million samples in their ‘LANDR Samples’ library to open up new possibilities in beatmaking.

It makes exploring their huge sample library even easier by allowing you to quickly see if they work together – automatically editing them so that you can hear what they sound like aligned rather than comparing their discordant raw files.

It matches sounds to your key and BPM so that they can be immediately harnessed in your workflow and then you can add more samples into the mix to match them up. Download the samples once they’re sounding how you like and they’ll be in the perfect position to go straight into your track.

It’s as simple as this:

1. Log in to LANDR Samples
2. Add up to 8 samples to Creator
3. Press play and Creator will match your sounds to your key and BPM
4. Close Creator and add more samples as you go
5. Change your key and BPM anytime
6. Download your samples time-stretched and pitch-shifted

LANDR Samples is available for just $5.99 a month and unlocks their entire library with over a million sounds. With this great new tool making it simple to get samples working together, it’s a subscription with almost unlimited creative potential.

LANDR CEO, Pascal Pilon says: “Our goal with any new feature is to help producers do what they are best at, make creative decisions. The addition of Creator to the samples platform streamlines sound selection for pros and helps aspiring artists to quickly sketch ideas for a track without having to download and manipulate individual sounds.”

Check out some of the sounds or sign up here.

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