Best free sample packs for Detroit techno and houseAd feature with BandLab Sounds
Detroit techno was pioneered by artists such as Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson in the 1980s, frequently referred to as The Belleville Three. As shown to us by the likes of these artists, as well as the likes of Jeff Mills and Robert Hood, this sound boasts a driving, deep and minimalist feel.

READ MORE: Kevin Saunderson is the past, present and future of techno

The sub-genre, coupled with a similar driving house sound, veers from the ferocious kick drums and crushing percussion you may hear in industrial techno. It’s deeper, warmer and more soulful, often featuring revolving soul samples paired with futuristic synth stabs.
While producers may use costly drum machines and synths from Roland and Korg to create this sound, free samples make the process quicker and easier. That’s why we’ve partnered with BandLab to gather a selection of the best sample packs from the BandLab Sounds platform that suit all facets of this hypnotic techno vibe. They’re all completely free, instantly downloadable, and royalty-free.
Detroit Techno
Detroit Techno
Where else to start than with this aptly named sample pack, Detroit Techno? Created by BandLab Sounds, this collection features 24 loops of kick drum patterns, machine-made percussion, dreamy synth pads, bassline riffs, and hard-hitting snares.
If you’re looking for a subtle percussive loop to enhance your track, or you’re missing a bassline oozing with main character energy, these loops will have you covered.
Download Detroit Techno here.
Detroit Electro
Detroit Electro
When producing Detroit techno, it’s important to explore all the aspects of Detroit-originated electronic genres that inspire this subgenre. One of those is Detroit electro, headed by the likes of DJ Stingray, Underground Resistance and DopplerEffekt. It has syncopated rhythms, and flurries of 808 hi-hats, as opposed to the more minimal 4×4 nature of techno.
This sample pack by BandLab Sounds gives you all you need to create this raw sound. There are 102 loops of snappy snares, bouncing grooves and catchy synth melodies evoking the classic feel of Detroit electro.
Download Detroit Electro here.
Deep Melodic Techno Vol.1
Deep Melodic Techno Vol. 1
Detroit techno has a deep and subtle groove. To help you create these grooves, BandLab Sounds has put together Deep Melodic Techno Vol.1, which provides all the drums you’d need to accompany the melodic elements found in melodic techno, a subgenre that takes a keen focus on emotions.
Included in this pack are 79 loops of mechanical drums in the form of beats, hi-hats, percussion, kicks, claps, cymbals, and fills.
Download Deep Melodic Techno Vol.1 here.
Patch & Play Lab: Modular Techno
Patch & Play Lab: Modular Techno
Patch & Play Lab’s Modular Techno sample pack features bizarre modular sounds with a distortion-laden twist, ideal for creating avant-garde techno tracks. The pack lets you jump straight into otherworldly drones, sinister sci-fi percussion, and pulsating drum loops.
Included in this collection are 100 loops, and 10 one-shots, covering bass, pad, drum, effects, lead, and kick elements, all recorded using quirky recording techniques Patch & Play Lab.
Download Patch & Play Lab’s Modular Techno here.
Mind Flux: Warehouse Techno
Mind Flux: Warehouse Techno
Because of their booming industrial-sounding drums and dark atmospheres, techno tracks can thrive in warehouse rave environments. This free sample pack puts you right in that warehouse state of mind, offering sounds punchy enough to slice through the foggy air at a huge party.
Created by Mind Flux, a Scottish-based sound design and production studio dedicated to creating house and techno-ready sounds, this pack offers 59 loops of synths, effects and more.
Download Mind Flux: Warehouse Techno here.
Sample This: Dub Techno
Sample This: Dub Techno
Sample This has put together a brilliant pack of sounds suitable for dub techno. Dub techno has deep, reverberating basslines, spacious and immersive textures, and rhythmic patterns that reflect the key components of dub music, such as delay, reverb, and echo effects. What this merge results in is a dazed, mellow and dreamy techno sound.
This free sample pack contains 88 loops and 12 one-shots of drums, synths, effects and atmospheres that work well for creating a dubbed-out techno track inspired by the likes of dub techno pioneers Channel One or more modern names such as Al Wootton.
Download Sample This: Dub Techno here.
Granular Techno
Granular Techno
A surefire way to achieve a dark Detroit techno atmosphere is by adding textures made out of unusual sources. One interesting technique for creating this texture is through granular synthesis, which is a method that involves breaking down audio samples into tiny grains and manipulating them individually.
This sample pack, Granular Techno, focuses on granular sounds that could easily serve a futuristic techno project. You’ve got 77 loops and 22 one-shots on offer here, featuring synths sounds, kick drums, effects, granulated samples, hi-hats and pads.
Download Granular Techno here.
Mind Flux: Techno Drum Hits Vol. 1 & 2
Mind Flux: Techno Drum Hits Vol. 1
Mind Flux is back at it again with more exclusive sample packs made for BandLab Sounds. Techno Drum Hits Vol. 1 & 2 are pretty much everything you need to create the basis for a club-destroying techno track.
These sample packs are all about the drums, so you’ll find in them 123 one shots in all, consisting of metallic kicks, snares, percs, hi-hats, effects, cymbals and claps. Some are light and bright sounds, but others are weighty and industrial.
Download Mind Flux: Techno Drum Hits Vol. 1 here.
Download Mind Flux: Techno Drum Hits Vol. 2 here.
Mind Flux: Minimal Techno Loops
Repetition plays a key part in techno, serving as a central element of its rhythmic structure and driving energy. In minimal techno especially, where all typical aspects of the genre are stripped down to their bare bones, finding the right loop is key.
This free sample pack, another by Scottish techno-orientated sample pack creators Mind Flux, features 84 loopy grooves created using analogue and digital equipment, processed in “outlandish” ways.
Download Minimal Techno Loops here.
Read more buyer’s guides on MusicTech.
[Editor’s note: MusicTech and BandLab are both part of the Caldecott Music Group.]
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Zoom’s H6essential puts clip-free recording in the palm of your hand£285, zoomcorp.com
In the world of portable recorders, few names loom as large as Zoom. In its forty year history, the company has released a string of innovative products for on-location sound recording – all at extremely competitive prices. At NAMM this year, Zoom announced a big upgrade to its hugely popular H-series of handy recorders, and so, naturally, we had to take the flagship model out for a spin.

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Zoom’s H6 was a multipurpose powerhouse, boasting an interchangeable capsule mic system, four onboard XLR/TRS inputs, and the capacity to be used as a six-in/two-out audio interface. The new H6essential builds on this foundation with a number of improvements, the most important of which is its recording format – 32-bit float.
H6essential (side)
If you’re not familiar with this fairly recent development in recording formats, the selling point is simple. There’s no need to set gain levels and don’t worry about clipping — just hit record and walk away.
The H6essential achieves this marvel by using a pair of analogue-to-digital converters; one dedicated for low-volume sounds and the other for high volumes, with the recording stitched together as a 32-bit float audio file. The practical result is a portable recorder that can represent a staggering 1,528 dB of dynamic range, compared to 24-bit audio’s measly 144 dB.
With that kind of headroom, digital clipping becomes functionally impossible. Of course, you can still overload the microphone itself but, given that the H6essential’s built-in X-Y capsule handles levels up to 135 dB, this shouldn’t be a concern unless you’re out to record a jet engine.
H6essential (side)
A ‘clip free’ workflow has serious benefits for all kinds of recording projects, but especially for those in unpredictable conditions. Let’s say you want to record yourself playing an acoustic gig at a local market – a gust of wind, a baby crying, a passing siren, any of these unexpected noises might clip a 24-bit recording. With the H6essential, those sounds will certainly still be audible, but they won’t introduce the kind of nasty digital distortion that can render audio all but unusable.
Furthermore, that gigantic dynamic range means you can record both very loud and very quiet sounds with the same gain setting, secure in the knowledge that they can be adjusted later.
We’re able to capture the hushed ambience of a library, a passing train, and a beer can being stomped on, all with no need to worry about input levels. After loading the files into a DAW, it’s a simple matter to balance the audio – the crushed can, which peaks at +13.4 dB, has a perfectly intact waveform once the volume is decreased. Boosting up the library ambience, which peaks at around -30 dB, introduces no audible increase in the noise floor.

Working without the need to set input levels is truly liberating. However, you actually can’t set those levels even if you want to: Zoom has leaned into the benefits of 32-bit float so completely that they’ve designed the H6essential with no direct gain controls whatsoever. There is also no option to change the bit-depth when using the device as a portable recorder, so if you wanted to drop down to 24-bit for some reason, then too bad.
On one level, this makes sense; 32-bit float means that you have an all-encompassing safety net and can always fix things in post-production. However, there are scenarios where it’s preferable to get your audio levels right at source without the need to load up a DAW later on. This is technically possible on the H6essential, but it means venturing into the Mixer view, something that is hard to recommend.
In the Mixer view, audio meters are rendered in grey, not the green, yellow, red traffic light system we all know and love. There are no decibel numbers on any of the tracks, but just a single ‘0’ on the master output. The greyscale makes it hard to see what’s going on in full sunlight and tracks must be adjusted one at a time via button presses and a dial located on the side of the unit. If you can manage to navigate all this, it is possible to set your recordings to ‘Post Mixer’ and get some control over the individual audio levels but, in truth, it would be far less painful to just do it in a DAW.
When it comes to sound quality, the H6essential comes with a bright and highly directional X-Y microphone capsule which is surprisingly good for spot recording. A busking harmonica player was kind enough to give us a short performance and the mic did a great job of focusing in on the instrument while minimising the sound of some children playing nearby.

As with its predecessor, that X-Y capsule can be swapped out for a shotgun mic or an extra two XLR inputs – both available as additional purchases. Unfortunately, if you already invested in extra microphones for your old H6, these won’t fit the new model’s redesigned capsule clip.
Speaking of that new clip design, it’s hard to see what improvement it offers. While the old capsules unclipped and lifted off the top of the recorder, the new design requires you to hold the catch down and slide the microphone forward and out. The first time you do this, it feels a bit awkward, but by the tenth time… it still feels a bit awkward.
There are undeniable trade-offs with the H6essential. Musician-friendly features found on the H6, such as built in compression, limiting, and a metronome are now gone, but, at the same time, there are a number of new, well thought-out features that make up for this. There’s a new Waveform screen which gives a nice, bright visualisation of the incoming audio, and of which tracks are currently recording, there’s now support for support for microSDXC cards up to 1TB, and the additional purchase of Zoom’s BTA-1 Bluetooth adapter means you can control the unit via an iOS device.
H6essential Waveform screen
Also, there’s now a speaker situated in the centre of the unit’s front panel, and this can dispense accessibility instructions in seven different languages. Once the feature is turned on, a voice-over will read through menu options, tell you the battery level, and provide confirmation beeps when tracks are armed. This feature may not be a drawcard for everyone, but for those who need it, it’s fantastic.
Few devices try to wear as many hats as Zoom’s H-series. These recorders are used by musicians, podcasters, field recordists, and filmmakers – what’s incredible is that the company manages to offer genuine value to all of them.
There are shortcomings to be sure, but the H6essential packs a feature set that you won’t find anywhere else at this price-point. It remains the consummate all-rounder for portable recording.
H6essential battery holder
Key features

32-bit float recording
4 XLR/TRS inputs (expandable to 6)
Supports microSDXC cards up to 1TB
iOS App and timecode sync available with additional Bluetooth adapter

The post Zoom’s H6essential puts clip-free recording in the palm of your hand appeared first on MusicTech.

All His Music Got Removed From Spotify for “Fraudulent Streaming Activity” Which He Didn’t DoThis week, Ari is joined by Benn Jordan, musician, youtuber and entrepreneur, to discuss fraudulent streaming activity, the financial challenges of being an independent musician, the future of sustaining a music career, the ethics of AI in music, and the role of artists in shaping the future of music and AI.

Classical Highlights for March 2024This month we reviewed classical recordings celebrating the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, including a banjo version by Béla Fleck and an inventive medley by Michael Feinstein and Jean-Yves Thibaudet (pictured) that mixes Gershwin's songs with the Rhapsody.

@Potus just joined the fediverse via Instagram ThreadsThe fediverse — the name for the social network made of interconnected servers, like Mastodon and others — just got another boost of legitimacy Tuesday as the @Potus (President of the United States) account on Instagram Threads shared its first federated post. The account operated by Biden’s team published a message regarding the president’s support […]
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How to make lo-fi music: Tools, theory, and techniques
Learn how to make lo-fi music via our in-depth guide that explores the style's key characteristics, music theory, and production techniques.

Suno is a music AI company aiming to generate $120 billion per year. But is it trained on copyrighted recordings?Ed Newton-Rex discovers that Suno produces music with a striking resemblance to classic copyrights
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A Nifty F1C100S Dual-Board ComputerThe F1C100S (and the F1C200S) is a super simple CPU to use – it’s QFN, it has RAM built-in, and it can run Linux. It just makes sense that we bring it up to you once again, this time, on this dual-board computer by [minilogic]. The boards look super accessible to build for a Linux computer, and it’s alright if you assemble only one of them, too – the second board just makes this computer all that much nicer to use!
One the main board, you get the CPU itself, a couple USB ports, headphone and mic jacks, a microphone, a microSD socket, power management, SPI flash chip, plus some buttons, headers and USB-UART for debug. Add the second board, however, and you get a HDMI video output socket, a RGBTTL LCD header, LiIon battery support, RTC, and even FM radio with TV input.
One problem with this computer – it’s not open-source in the way that we expect and respect, as there’s no board files to be seen. However, at least the schematics are public, so it shouldn’t be hard, and the author provides quite a bit of example code for the F1C100S, which softens the blow. Until the design files are properly published, we can at least learn from the idea and the schematics. If you like what the F1C100S CPU offers, there are other projects you can take things from too, like this low-cost handheld we’re patiently waiting for, or this Linux-powered business card.

Changes to Spotify’s royalty model, including the 1,000 annual streams royalty policy, are officially live as of April 1Changes to the way Spotify calculates recorded royalties go live on the platform as of Monday, April 1
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Sony’s Pro Audio Solutions Enhance Grammy-Nominated Artist’s Sonic WorldAs someone who “swam the path of digital technology in the early days” and was an early adopter of Pro Tools, Richard Tozzoli is no stranger to pro audio. His musical transformation may have originally started in the business world of banking, but he would end up taking a diverse path as a Grammy-nominated composer, mixer and producer. With music on over 1800 TV series in 40 countries, his credits range from the NFL, FIFA World Cup Soccer and the MLB to such shows as Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, as well as programs including Pawn Stars, Swamp People and Forged In Fire. As an engineer/mixer, he’s also worked with a number of artists he grew up listening to, including Ace Frehley, Al DiMeola, Hall & Oates and David Bowie.

With a fully equipped home studio for his distinctive productions, Tozzoli blends traditional recording techniques with cutting-edge technology. Sony’s MDR-MV1 headphones and C-100 condenser microphone were the perfect addition to his line-up.

“Sony truly breaks boundaries for me,” says Tozzoli. “I literally rely on these two pieces of gear every day to get my work done. I use the Sony headphones because not only are they ultra-lightweight and incredibly comfortable, but more importantly, they sound amazing. In fact, I literally look forward to using them each day to mix, compose and edit. They are like having clouds on your head.”

He is also a big fan of changing environments when composing and recording. Working with a powerful mobile rig, he travels to the Virgin Islands yearly, recording for a variety of television shows and pushing the boundaries of the latest pro audio equipment. This year, Sony’s MDR-MV1’s made the trip. “I can recall that experience vividly because it felt so good to put those headphones on and to sit there with the sunrise looking out over the Caribbean and composing to that view.” He says.

The headphones also enhance his creativity and productivity. Because of their accuracy, he’s noted how he can hear tiny details such as reverbs and delays that get lost in a room while using speakers, or with other types of headphones. Tozzoli was so impressed with the MDR-MV1’s that he now has two pairs, to make sure anybody working alongside him hears exactly what he is hearing.

Aside from the headphones, he’s also a big fan of Sony’s microphones, especially the C-100. “I started with the classic Sony C-800G and have used that on several projects, including guitarist Romero and Al DiMeola.  But now I love the C-100 because they not only capture the lows and mids beautifully, but because of the second capsule, they have an amazing high frequency response.” he says. Aside from their clarity, he’s also impressed with their ability to take equalization and compression well, which allows him to push their boundaries in a mix.

“I love the C-100 so much that on a recent project for Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, I had a pair flown to Budapest, Hungary where the Budapest Recording Orchestra was tracking the piece. I ended up using a huge amount of those two mics in the final mix, because they sounded that good. I also used them on the same piece to track Omar Hakim’s drums, using them as overheads, along with some C-80’s for the drums. We were both blown away by the sounds. We’re now mixing the piece in Atmos and Sony 360RA, so stand by for that!” says Tozzoli.

“Sony’s pro audio products really enhance your sonic world,” he adds. “You’re going to play better, you’re going to write better and you’re going to perform better. When it comes to creating music, Sony’s pro audio equipment is a definite must.”

Wear Testing Different 3D Printer FilamentsOver the couple of decades or so since it started to be available at an affordable level, 3D printing has revolutionized the process of making custom objects. But as anyone with a 3D printer will know, sometimes the materials don’t quite live up to the application. There is a huge variety of available filaments to help make better prints, but which one really is the most hard-wearing? [My Tech Fun] set out to measure the resistance to wear of a variety of different 3D printed materials.
The test takes a standard print made across a variety of different materials, and several of each using different manufacturers’ offerings. These are then put on a test rig that moves backward and forward twice a second, with the test piece rubbing against a steel shaft under pressure from a 2.5 kg weight.
As might be expected, the common and cheap PLA performed the worst while PETG, PA, and TPU performed the best. But for us the interesting part comes in the variance between brands; the best PLA sample outperforms the worst ABS and nearly equals the worst of the PETG. Proof that maybe you do get what you pay for.
The whole test is well worth a watch, and if you 3D print anything that might be subjected to mechanical stress you should find it to be of interest. If comparing filaments is something you’d like to see more of, we’ve featured some tests before.

Biography on MF DOOM dissecting his “personas, projects, tracks, and lyrics” lands this yearA biography on the life and work of rapper and producer MF DOOM will be published this year, and it’s set to offer a deeper look into his personas, projects, tracks and lyrics.
Landing on 7 November 2024, The Chronicles of DOOM: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast will also include exclusive interviews with those who worked with him.

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The biography has been written by journalist S. H. Fernando JR, and as reported by DJ Mag, it has been newly announced that it will land later this year via Faber. News that a biography was in the works originally circulated back in May of 2022.
In the biography, Fernando lays out the history of east-coast rap against DOOM’s life story and provides an “intimate, behind the scenes look” into his life. The book “recounts the rise, fall, redemption, and untimely demise of MF DOOM”, and is broken down into five sections: The Man, The Myth, The Mask, The Music, and The Legend.
MF DOOM, real name Daniel Dumile, sadly passed away in October 2020. He was admitted to St. James University Hospital in Leeds after suffering a reaction to blood pressure medication. An inquest was later held following his death after concerns were raised over the care provided at the hospital. Leeds Hospital Trust then issued an apology.
Back in 2021, it was announced that MC Serch’s Did I Ever Tell You The One About… podcast would take a look back on the legacy of MF DOOM for the entirety of its second season. The programme was created with the approval of the late rapper’s wife and estate, with his story being told by his “family, friends and artists who knew him best”.
Copies of the new biography signed by the author are available through Rough Trade to pre-order now for £25.
The post Biography on MF DOOM dissecting his “personas, projects, tracks, and lyrics” lands this year appeared first on MusicTech.

Songwriters: Are you getting paid all the Mechanical Royalties you’re truly owed?Navigating the digital music royalty maze can be challenging. This guide reviews what all songwriters need to know about royalties so that they are correctly compensated.....
The post Songwriters: Are you getting paid all the Mechanical Royalties you’re truly owed? appeared first on Hypebot.

SongTools adds SongFly, an advertising tool built for musiciansMusic and playlist marketing platform SongTools has added SongFly, an advertising tool designed to help artists grow their fanbase on streaming platforms.....
The post SongTools adds SongFly, an advertising tool built for musicians appeared first on Hypebot.

Drum Depot Offers Vinyl Drums For FREE For A Limited Time!
Drum Depot, Marco Scherer’s boutique sample imprint, is offering the Vinyl Drums sound pack for free for a limited time. You might know Marco as the man behind the German Beat magazine (which has also been published in English in recent years). Vinyl Drums contains 24 WAV samples, numbered chronologically and ready to use in [...]
View post: Drum Depot Offers Vinyl Drums For FREE For A Limited Time!