Some are better than others, sure, but I’ve listened to a bunch of them, and it seems me like 90 to 95% are quality. With over 1,000 samples to utilize, there’s no way you can go wrong. Best Free Guitar Sample Packs, Final Thoughts You’d need to make sure you were playing something in the specified key and play along to a metronome or drumbeat to make sure your performance matched your settings. But it will not affect what you record direct. You can set the key signature and BPM to whatever you want. If you sequence a drum groove for said sample, make sure it’s also at 135 BPM, because that would allow it to “lock in” with the groove.īoth settings should appear somewhere in your DAW. This is a vast generalization, but it’s enough to take hold of the concept.Īs with key signatures, a loop or sample that’s in 135 BPM, for example, would be complemented by instrumentation that’s also set to 135 BPM. You can use your own ears to figure out what sounds good to you, but it’s good to know that there is some theory behind all of it.Īs for BPM, it’s an acronym for “beats per minute.”Ī BPM of 1 to 80 is very slow to moderate, 80 to 120 is moderate to upbeat, 120+ is starting to get fast. If a loop is in the key of D, then the surrounding instrumentation should also be in the key of D. The vii chord, or diminished chord, rarely appears in pop music though.īasically, if a sample or loop was in the key of C, it means it would be complemented by bass lines, melodies, rhythmic parts, etc. These seven notes and chords sound “in tune” with each other, regardless of the order in which they are played. We can’t necessarily get into all the specifics as to why that’s the case, but the takeaway is that every key signature has seven notes and seven chords belonging to it. That means the chords in the key of C are C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, and Bdim. The key of C, for instance, is made up of the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Most music is built around diatonic scales, which means a seven-note scale. Why are there 12 keys? It’s quite simple – it’s because there are 12 notes in music.

In music, there are basically 12 key signatures, as represented by the circle of fifths. While this is not a post about music theory, I’ll cover the basics, so you aren’t lost without any help. Many of them are perfect for chill, mellow, lo-fi music projects. I’m hearing some ambient chords, somber fingerpicking, heavily effected rhythmic wobbles, and much more. You can listen to all of them on the LANDR website, and you can either download them one by one or in one convenient package. Just as the name would suggest, there are 50 samples included, in a variety of keys and BPMs. LANDR is mostly known for their A.I.-powered mastering services, but they do have side projects like this one – 50 Best Free Guitar Samples.

Dancehall guitar loops