Sampling Drums from Vinyl

Vinyl is one of the best sources for drum sounds: full breaks, isolated kicks, snares, and hats with character that sample packs often can't match. The warmth, slight saturation, and imperfection of vinyl give drums a lived-in feel that sits well in boom-bap, lo-fi, and sample-based hip-hop. This guide covers how to find drum-friendly sections on records, record them cleanly, and chop them into usable one-shots or full breaks for your beats.

What to look for

Drum breaks—four- or eight-bar sections with minimal other instruments—are the classic source. Soul, funk, and jazz records from the 60s and 70s are full of them; look for intros, drum solos, and breakdowns. You can also grab single hits from fills, drops, or moments where the rest of the band drops out. Listen for clarity and punch; too much reverb or bleed from other instruments can limit how you use the hit in a mix. For famous breaks and their history, read drum breaks history and how to use them; for which records to dig, read best soul and jazz records for sampling and library music and soundtrack LPs.

Ripping and chopping

Record at 24-bit, 44.1 or 48 kHz from a clean turntable setup. Use a decent phono preamp and interface—see phono preamps for sampling and best sampling gear for beginners. Reduce clicks and rumble with your DAW or a dedicated editor (e.g. de-click, high-pass for rumble); for the full process, read vinyl to digital recording and cleaning. Then chop by transients so each hit is its own region or pad; that way you can reorder, layer, or program the break. For the chopping technique, see chopping by transients; for programming the drums once you have the sounds, read boom-bap drum programming.

Vinyl drums are the backbone of boom-bap and lo-fi. For gear, see best turntables for sampling and vinyl to digital. For organizing your drum kits, organizing chopped kits in your DAW.