The Drums - One Shot Samples & Instruments

Drum machines are our speciality, and our drums are extensively multi-sampled one shots, based on the parameters on each drum machine. Where available, we sample every pitch, decay, etc (in Ableton there are Macros that select different drum machine pitches, which makes a huge difference in sounding like the original drum machine).

We capture the cleanest possible samples (we've spent years sampling and at this point may have more experience than anybody else in the world doing so). This starts with making sure the drum machine is serviced, plugging it into the cleanest possible power. We record through high quality conversion (Apogee Symphony MKII) and often spice things up with a mastering reel to reel, and a host of mastering level hardware saturators, EQs, and compressors we've collected over the years. Most of our drum products include clean and color samples.

We've recorded everything from classics (808, 909, etc) to the more rare, hard to find drum machines and everything in between. We've even recorded our own custom drum machine hits, by tracking acoustic drums with vintage broadcast mics and sampling them through our favorite hardware samplers (similar to how the early digital drum machines were made). The following are demos composed of the one shot samples:

The Synths - One Shot Synth Instruments

Our synth products are multi-sampled one shots (we sample every single note), often looped, and formatted for samplers in various DAWs. Sampling a synthesizer has proven to be somewhat of a dark art. It's something I had to teach myself over the years - downloading archaic software from brilliant (and quirky) Italian software developers who discontinued their product after being bought out by Apple.

Basically, we start with a synth we are in love with - mostly this is stuff that hasn't been sampled (for example, vintage Russian synths or the Voyetra), but we still find ourselves sampling classics because we love them.

On the keyboard itself, we spend days synthesizing the coolest and most useable patches - juicy analog bass, warm pads, cutting leads, wild FX - the list goes on, and greatly varies with each synth. Then, we multi-sample every note, often sampling additional filter and modulation settings. Usually we record synths pretty cleanly, but sometimes we'll hit various tubes and saturators and even tape!

Once these are chopped, mapped and looped to perfection (it takes forever and is its own art form), we go to town creating presets in various software samplers. Each software is different and has its own options and sound - Ableton allows us to get really deep with modulation, and FX, while Logic just sounds really good.

Sample-based synths, while not quite as flexible as virtual analog synths, have a completely different sound, and are often more realistic and just plain wild in our opinion.

More than just Drums & Synths

Multi-sampling synths and drum machines is our speciality, but throughout the years we've done more than just this! We've created Found Sounds by recording rain hitting various objects, thunder, traffic, the ocean, elevators, refrigerators, drill bursts, etc - in different environments, and then re-pitched these on tape machines. We've also developed a massive collection of modular synth loops and drones, and created the most comprehensive collection of drum machine midi grooves in existence.

And this year, we transformed a bunch of acoustic drums, Rhodes, Clavinet, bass, guitar, vocals, obscure records, dogs barking - into synthesizers and custom drum machine hits by sampling them through an old skool sampler. This is all created from acoustic drums, bass and guitar:

This is all to say, there is just too much to write here about the products we've developed over the years. We recommend clicking the product links to the left if you want to read more about the detailed sampling processes.

Downloading and Installation Made Easier

Downloading and installing a 40+GB sample library can be daunting. Based on your feedback (thank you!), we've made several significant changes that should make the experience much more pleasant this time round.

1. There is only 1 file per product now, with no duplicate WAV
2. Ableton Preset Installation is easier now
3. We've developed a new 1 GB product called Essential WAV From Mars that contains the most essential samples from every single product (more below)

Essential WAV From Mars

Essential WAV From Mars is a "best of" - a simplified version of our catalog that includes only the most essential samples from every one of our products. Essential WAV is a great way to start using all of our sounds instantly without having to download a bunch of products first. Anything you really like, you can download the full version for a more in depth (and formatted) version.

Essential WAV is also great for hardware users, people who use audio samples on their DAW timeline, and people who generally like more minimal browsing experiences. With no daunting multi-samples or crazy folder structures, browsing is quicker and easier. Read more here.

About the Offer

The only reason we're able to give away all of this hard (and costly) work for this price is because of your continued support. Somehow we've been able to drop the price AND reach more people - so, for as long as that happens, we'll continue to discount this catalog every so often.

We put *everything* we make back into recording gear, new instruments to sample, and new team members, to continue giving you guys and gals even better samples every year. From last year's sale, we upgraded our entire studio and the quality of our products increased exponentially.

However! The nature of this deal is that it includes more and more stuff every year. This means it won't last forever because eventually we will lose money from bandwidth charges. But for right now, it's working. So Enjoy !