Best sample packs of the month: July 2021

We’ve scoured the Internet once again to select a handful of sample pack releases that have stood out this month.

• READ MORE: The 10 best portable recorders to buy in 2021 for field recording, sampling and rehearsals

Our top picks for July include emotional vocals, classic 90s house and jungle, deep and melodic house and techno, beautiful lo-fi pianos and more.

Loopmasters – Rodriguez Jr. Polychromatic House

• Price £29.95
• Contact Loopmasters

For Polychromatic House, Rodriguez Jr distils his 20-year career into an immaculately produced collection of emotional leads, modulating basses and thick, analogue drums. The producer has used masses of hardware to create the 147 loops and 248 one-shots, including classic synths from Roland, Moog, Korg, Yamaha and even a rare Elka Synthex. Rodriguez Jr notes that he paid particular attention to textures and transients to give a polished sound but still leaves enough headroom in the samples for experimentation.

Soundiron – Voice of Wind: Connie

• Price £85
• Contact Time | Space 

The fourth volume in Soundiron’s vocal series focuses on the cheerful and smooth mezzo-soprano voice of Connie Doolan. The library loads into Kontakt 6 or the free Kontakt Player and includes over 3,300 samples across 2.88 GB of content. Articulations include sustain, staccato and true-legato for six core vowels, with 8x round-robin sampling. There are also over a thousand melodic phrases organised by mood and tempo, plus hummed phrases and 20 custom sound-designed effects and ambient presets. This versatile vocal instrument seamlessly blends cabaret, jazz, folk, blues and musical theatre.

UNDRGRND SOUNDS – US House & Garage

• Price £34.90
• Contact UNDRGRND SOUNDS 

Paying homage to the timeless house and garage sound of veterans such as Masters at Work, Mood II Swing and Kerri Chandler, this collection includes plenty of authentic MPC beats, Korg M1 keys, vocal chops and custom distortion algorithms. This breaks down to 593 jackin’ loops, 110 MIDI files for the melodic elements, and a massive collection of 518 one-shots (plus sampler patches) covering classic synths, keys, bass stabs, and chunky drum hits. It’s definitely one to check out for anyone writing 90s inspired house music.

ModeAudio – Redshift Cosmic Synth Loops

• Price £18
• Contact ModeAudio

The latest from ModeAudio comes from the vintage synth lab, with 150 minimalist sequences and analogue tones, presented as 15 construction kits. You can expect to find complex, interlocking synth and bass patterns alongside swelling, atmospheric chords. Expect nods to minimalist composers such as Steve Reich and synth pioneers like Laurie Spiegel. Tempos range from 76 to 135 bpm, and you also get 150 MIDI files and 121 synth tail samples that bring each loop to a smooth conclusion.

BandLab Sounds – Neo Soul Vocals

• Price Free
• Contact BandLab 

There’s plenty of new free BandLab Sounds content to check out this month, but this one caught our attention, as it’s often hard to find freely available vocal samples and stems. This pack of 118 female vocal loops comprises three song kits, with separate dry lead and harmony lines, plus plenty of adlibs ready to be mixed and chopped into your productions. Each file is labelled with the key and tempo so you can easily add them to your tracks.

Mind Flux – Minimal Electro Techno Drum Racks

• Price £19.90
• Contact Mind Flux 

Sometimes it can be nice to have the technical bit taken care of so that you can get straight to the business of jamming out beats. This new pack of 10 Ableton Drum Racks contains over 900 one-shots covering classic drum machines, modular drums, found sounds and an array of vocal, synth and bass snippets so you can get to work quickly. Also included are 40 MIDI clips, 30 drum loops and two Audio Effect Racks to help with additional processing.

SFXtools – Snacks

• Price £19.95
• Contact Loopmasters

Looking for something different to build your next beat around? How about the sound of someone munching popcorn? This unique sound effects library from SFXtools samples a spread of munch-ables, from soft and squishy to hard and crunchy snacks, including crisps, nachos, peanuts, chickpeas, biscotti and more. You get plenty of chewing and eating sounds alongside packets being opened and rustled. There are 231 files in total, all recorded in 24-bit/192kHz format for high-quality pitch manipulation or use in TV and film projects. Moreish.

ElementOne – 94 Jungle

• Price £14.95
• Contact Loopmasters

This pack revisits one of the pinnacle years for jungle music, which saw exciting scenes and new sounds at raves across the UK. 94 Jungle showcases blistering drum breaks, deep pads, energetic sequences and booming, sub-heavy basses, alongside plenty of classic sound effects like dub sirens, risers and vinyl spin downs. The 80 loops all come in at 160 bpm and are accompanied by 41 bass and effects one-shots, plus seven demo tracks for inspiration.

Loopmasters – An On Bast – Vibe Techno

• Price £29.95
• Contact Loopmasters 

An On Bast has put together a new pack for Loopmasters that sees the Polish techno star blend high-powered sounds and textures into a potent 493 MB collection. Vibe Techno showcases rolling drums and percussion, deep bass sequences, euphoric melodies, and an array of intricately designed sounds. There are 126 loops from 120 to 131 bpm, plus 130 one-shots with 69 accompanying sampler patches. Everything has a crisp finish, and there’s plenty to explore for producers of techno, melodic techno and house.

Freaky Loops – Jazzy Keys

• Price £19.95
• Contact Loopmasters

If you’re after some deep and vibey keys, then look no further. This excellent pack from Freaky Loops contains 101 soulful melodies perfect for hip-hop, lo-fi and organic house. All loops have been beautifully processed to give maximum character, with plenty of reverb and a dusty vintage vibe. There are electric and acoustic pianos, vibraphones and more, with a mix of delicate lead lines and complex jazzy hooks, with tempos at 70, 80, 90 and 100 bpm.