Part of the reason we made iBeat was due to being fed up with shit sites that boasted amounts of free downloads and only delivering a few costly crappy beats.
There are, however, sites ‘out there’ that just deliver great music and sound samples. We would like to spotlight five of our favorites. Nice and easy content, so our one eager reader (the lovely Beatman) might find something of interest.
OLPC – One LapTop Per Child
Loads of audio samples, by loads of different artists. It’s packaged as a torrent and pretty messy with all the stuff bundled into one. But there is something great in there for everyone:
Ontology SampleSwap
SampleSwap has been around for a while – and the title says it: people swap samples. It’s run by a seemingly nice guy (Canton) and we urge you to buy the archive DVD:
Freesound
Sound and soundscapes. We really like Freesound like most do. It’s an ideal place to find Creative Commons licensed material you wouldn’t think audio enthusiasts would have found time to record:
ccMixter
A collaborative Creative Commons project – that is pushed foreward by some very talented users and a hard working admin. This is a remix site – and therefore you’ll find loads of samples – and what people may find particularly useful: Acapellas.
BBC Studios Samples
Although not updated any more, still a great resource for music samples.
A whole lotta sound – in a few links.
We like the audio on these online sites, but we particularly appreciate how clearly and honestly they share sound. Even though some slipups can occur on Freesound and SampleSwap – most seem legit.
Thanks for the mention!
I actually have used most of the sites you’ve mentioned. Except ccMixter, which is pretty cool. Sample swap is one of may favs that I haven’t used much lately. Their samples are very high quality!
I think I now have an illegal amount of drum samples [including ibeats] that no one person should have in their possession! Even ones I’ve gotten from demo software. What will I possibly do with all this stuff?
BTW: You’re not apart of *Nephew* are you, with a remix kit @ Koblo.com site? The 2 guys in the middle seem to favor you guys!