Where Are the Best Free Loops?

Any producer worth its salt probably has a million loops scattered across several hard drives, stashed up in a closet somewhere. Both melody and drum loops are ubiquitous in modern beatmaking, they're great to spark up ideas, get the ball rolling and get you making the beats you want to make in no time. If you're thinking real musicians don't use loops, think again. Loops are all over the music populating the charts. In fact, you could give a sample to 100 producers and get 100 different tracks. Creativity is all about taking stuff that's out there and making it your own. To me, music production is all about making something happen that wouldn't have existed without you, and especially when you're working with vocalists, making up pro sounding beats on the spot is paramount!

Whether you're new to the beat making game and looking to get started in the wonderful world of royalty-free samples, or you're an old dog looking for inspiration on the cheap... Here's where you can find the best free loops on the web.

1. Splice

In the world of loops, Splice is king. Featuring samples from the best loop makers in the world, this exhaustive database has all the tools you need to make a hit. And if you spend enough time on the platform, you might even recognize a few phrases and melodies from your favorite hits!

Splice is based on a subscription model, which means you get a certain amount of credits every month which you can trade for the loops and packs of your choice. It also means it isn't free, technically... There is a free trial when you open an account though, so you can pick up a bunch of loops, and then cancel your account and still keep the rights to your files, make a hit and get paid. 

It's a little sneaky, but don't say that like it's a bad thing.

Check out Splice right here.

2. Arcade by Output

Just like Splice, Arcade is available with a subscription model. The big difference is that instead of making you hunt and peck for samples, Arcade just loads their unique and very cool loops right in their VST, which is automatically synced to the bpm of your track. In an instant, you can be jamming cool instruments or drum parts on a track.

My favorite is of course the mind-blowing future soul vocal hooks of the Hooked module... They've spiced up more than a few of my blend beats, I'll tell you that much.

Why is it on this list of free samples? Well, you guessed it, there's a free trial for a month when you open an account. After that, you're free to cancel, and you get to do whatever you want with the samples you've used during that period. 

A cool feature is that Arcade will keep running in your session after you've cancelled your membership, so you won't have the headache of freezing tracks, or the dreaded anxiety of trying to load an old session and having it crap in your hands.

There's only one thing I don't like about Arcade: While you can use it to make beats, you can't use it as a starting off point to make your own unique loops, which I think is a) dumb, and b) a real shame. My thinking is that Arcade is more akin to a next-gen rompler than a collection of "competing products". In other words, they're selling themselves short by competing with indie loop makers, which this product is clearly aimed at btw... 

I had a big convo with them about it, but they're not having it. What can you do?

Arcade is still very cool. Check it out here

3. Loopcloud

Splice's clunky little brother, Loopcloud has made a lot of progress in the past year or two. The platform is way more fun to use than it once was.

Loopcloud knows what it's up against, and it's ready to do what it needs to do to make you switch over to their dark side. Cool features, very affordable pricing, awesome packs, and of course... Free loops! And I don't mean free as in "trial period", I mean truly free sh*t.

Hop on over to the free hashtag in their browser and you'll find some cool options, but while you're there, why not take advantage of their dirt cheap subscription plans and get started in the debilitating world of loop hoarding. You could do a lot worse than Loopcloud, I'll tell you that much!

PS- If Loopcloud is reading this, you can use the quote "You could do a lot worst" as a blurb on your website. That's my endorsement.

Check out Loopcloud over here

4. ADSR

I'll be honest, I don't love ADSR's website. It's hard to find what you want, and the site can be glitchy... That being said, it's still a ressource I love when I need samples to go off the beaten path! Contrary to services like Splice and Loopcloud, ADSR only sells full packs, and a lot of them are by small companies and indie loop makers.

There isn't as much curation as with Splice packs, and it's harder to find exactly what you are looking for, but there are some great deals and sales on this site, so you're gonna have to take a chance on it.

I copped a bunch of Mondo Loops for cheap during one of their sales. In case you don't know, Mondo is a UK producer that make these great guitar stems that are perfectly suited for lofi and rnb. Just one of the many inspiring producers on the platform.

To my knowledge, there aren't really free samples on ADSR though, but they do offer many VST freebies and whatnot. I thought it was worth mentioning here. 

Visit ADSR here

5. The Kount

You might know The Kount for his dope social media content that lets us peep at his creative process. Nestled in a cosy studio, the Canadian beatmaker experiments with percussion and drums of all types to make those insane boom-bap beats, frankenstein-ing old school vibes with modern soul. J Dilla would definitely approve.

What you might not know is that The Kount is also your fave beatmaker's loop maker. His many sample packs have all the janky grooves and dislocated beats you need to give that swing to your trap and rnb jams. No wonder Kenny Beats shouted him out on Twitch,  his samples have shown up on countless (kountless??) modern prods.

The Kount offers plenty of free packs on his Sellfy profile, as well as a few awesome paid packs you will be able to cop during one of his sales.

Check out The Kount sample packs here

6. KXVI

Let's be real, usually when a beatmaker makes great videos, their music sucks. I mean, there are super inspiring tutorials on YouTube, but then you go check out the person's beat and they're straight up embarrassing. There's one exception to the rule, and it's a big one. KXVI makes super entertaining and engaging vids, but his music is ON POINT. (it's also Grammy-winning, if you're keeping track).

As he mentioned in his videos, KXVI is focusing more and more on loop production, and it shows. On his site Sonix (fka Loopstash), you'll find awesome sounding packs that offer a whole lot of value for a reasonable price. There are also affordable packs, and free ones that will keep you satiated until his next sale, when you'll be able to grab the whole lot.

KXVI also fosters a great community of producers on his Discord server, offering a new free loop every week for his following to remix and jam around with.

Same as with The Kount, I like when you can feel someone's touch behind the loops you use. It's that much more inspiring.

Check out KXVI’s site Sonix over here

7. Cymatics

Let's be honest, you want to hate Cymatics, but at this point, they might be the leader in the industry. With packs covering all the big and small genres in the game - anything from EDM to trap, rnb, afrobeat, amapiano, and even lofi - Cymatics offers so much value, it's impossible not to bow down to their greatness.

Their production suites require a certain investment, often costing around 100$, but they regularly get discounted at 50% and come with a 50$ gift card, which... I mean, it makes them virtually free, right??!

And they come with stems, MIDI, one-shots, bonuses. You could make beats for the rest of your life with a single one of these.

Cymatics also send you a bunch of free packs and discounts, making their newsletter one of the only ones I won't unsubscribe from. Seriously, these guys have it all figured out.

Finally, they have great and very personal customer service. It really matters.

Visit Cymatics site here

BONUS: Plugins, Generators, AI, etc…

If you're still feeling a bit queasy about using loops in your production, you can also turn to various VST and plugins to spark inspiration.

With the developments in AI, we'll no doubt see a whole lot of assistant tools and generative instruments in the next few years. For the moment, I'd recommend Scaler 2, an awesome plugin that lets you generate chord progression, and then make them your own through all kinds of cool features.

For drums, plugin's like Audiomodern Playbeat 3 and UJAM Glory are great starting off points to let generate all sorts of cool grooves.

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Photo Credit: 3030 Magazine