Sampling has been a key process for a great many music makers for decades now, an undeniable staple of modern production. But with the ubiquity of sampling comes what feels like a sheer avalanche of samples.
Ableton is in the spirit of the season with gifts in the form of free samples! An overwhelming volume of sample packs are available online today, ranging from common to exotic, from free to eye-wateringly expensive, all vying for attention in a super-saturated market.
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Download the free Sounding The Collection Live Project
This kind of accessibility might sound like a dream come true to those who remember genesis of the art form – those first waveform explorers on devices like the Fairlight CMI or early Akai and MPC grooveboxes. But too much of a good thing can have a counter-effect; the paradox of choice paralysis, a psychological state in which an individual is unable to act for fear of making the wrong choice among too many options. Additionally, some collections of samples have become so popular they’ve become clichés, where some sounds have been sampled and re-processed so many times they lose whatever it was that made them special in the first place.
At a time where creating a truly unique group of samples seems an impossible task, Sounding the Collection has done the impossible.
An Invitation to Create
To the Powerhouse Museum, these samples are a springboard. Sounding the Collection has just become a public archive and will continue to be used in projects internal or otherwise. As the collection grows, so too will the applications artists and other creatives find for it.
You’re also invited to become a part of the Sounding the Collection story. You can now download any of the samples straight from the Powerhouse Museum’s collection website, and below you can download both Ableton Live and Ableton Note sets featuring a curated selection of these sounds.
Download the free Sounding The Collection Note Set
Keep an eye on the Powerhouse as the Sounding the Collection project continues to grow
Keep reading about the project here.
