Where to find a proper sounding retro electro drumkit?

I am a bit overwhelmed by the gigabytes of samples on my harddrive… Also have plenty of drum vsts, but where to find proper retro electro drums? Was it a 808 usually? I doubt that, something other… Is there a vst doing a fine job here?

Thanks for hints!

how about rolling your own on UhhyouWebSynthesizers?

In particular:

SingenBD2
SingenBD3
Singen0.1
Singen0.2
Singen0.3
PadCymbal2
ClangCymbal
SerialCombCymbal

Those mainly, amongst the rest.

I might also mention an upcoming VST/AU plugin called Emergent Drums, which uses GAN synthesis to read an enormous set of samples (online), to re-synthesize and create an entirely new percussive sound.

Honestly, there are so many ways to generate percussion, and even though you are specifying retro-electro (which really could be just about any sort of electronic drum ran through any set of effects from the past/future), you may want to try these out.

Electro is a very general term, and retro means old, but there’s no date specified to what you ‘feel/think’ is old. No artists listed, no examples. I can say this with confidence, as I’ve been listening to electronic music since the very early 80s, born in '79. Help us help you :slight_smile: I’d love to point you in a direction you feel is the right one!

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Thanks, those links look very interesting. Though I am looking for a “classic” electro drum sound, not so much experiental stuff. Could be just my lack of imagination, wouldn’t know how to create proper electro drums with those links…

I recorded a lame example to point into the direction, but more fine of course, here simply put 808 through distortion:
https://soundcloud.com/hanzmeyzer/8-final-1-808/s-yblExFZQ4bS?si=3d00a5a464754ebdba4a607df85898a4

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Ah! Two drum machines come to mind - a TR-606, and the DR-55. Mainly because they’ve got a slightly ‘harder’ sound. Or the TR-505.

Even though you might not want to synthesize drums on your own, I can go as far as to say the Drumspillage plugin would do wonders for a variety of electro sounds. It’s also very easy to do. I really love their bass/snare/hihat sounds, and they can get very aggressive or have a sort of ‘tak’, deeper sound. Really pushes through a mix. Make a beat, using Drumspillage, and cut out the drum sounds you want, or use it as a plugin.

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Paging @TNT:slight_smile:

While we’re at it, please recommend some favorite electro artists/labels/tracks pls!

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You’re looking for stuff like this?

Yes, of course. You might also want to check this.

You could try TR-808 if you’re willing to subscribe to the Roland cloud. Otherwise check your 808 samples. If you don’t have proper ones have a look at Goldbaby or Samples From Mars.

Yes, there are Elektro tracks with a different drum sound than TR-808, but 808 is dominating.

My favorite Elektro artists are Plant43, E.R.P., MetaComplex and Anthony Rother, but I also like for example Sound Synthesis, Datawave, Nullptr, Module 3F, Commuter, Komarken Electronics, Morphology and more. And of course I gotta name Deemphasis, one of the best Acid Electro artists and he’s also using Renoise.

My favorite Elektro labels are Central Processing Unit, Plant43 Recordings and Ukonx Recordings.

Keep in mind that I’m primarily focussed on atmospheric, more melodic Elektro. But there’s much more than that when it comes to Elektro, Elektro has different styles and subgenres, too. But anyway, here are 10 tracks of my personal favs:
Anthony Rother - Red Light District (1998 Elektrolux)
Anthony Rother - Sex With The Machines (1997 Kanzleramt)
Plant43 - Crowned Earthstar (2016 AC Records)
Plant43 - Tellarium Snow (2013 Central Processing Unit)
Claro Intelecto - Peace Of Mind (2014 self-released)
Boris Divider - Extinci​ó​n Humana (2006 Drivecom)
E.R.P. - El Camino (2012 Bleep43 Recordings)
Hardfloor (feat. E.R.P.)- 4th Dimension of the 5th Ward (2011 Hardfloor)
Module 3F - Jump Into The Void (2018 Noise To Meet You)
MetaComplex & DVS NME - Replicant (2018 Ukonx Recordings)

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Ah yes, thats the sound :badteeth: Very good. I remember those tracks haha

@TNT Do you know an ancient electro track which goes like this (only remembering kind of the bassline):
https://soundcloud.com/hanzmeyzer/8-final-1-808b2/s-Dd7Wqxzr4Ib

The label Central Processing Unit (aka CPU Records) already has more than 100 EP of electro (in the original purist oldschool term of electro). https://cpurecords.net/

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Yes, coincidentally I just have listened to it a few days ago. But unfortunately I can’t think of the name. I will let you know if I stumble over it again. I don’t listen to this kind of Electro that often.

Bedroom Producer Blog released free 606, 808 and 909 sample packs - think they’re called BPB Cassette. You get clean samples and then folders with various real cassette warmth versions also. I use them a lot.

For some real life analog feel I set a random LFO to pitch and velocity macros set to very low amplitude so that each hit feels very slightly different - as though they’re being generated on demand by a VCO.

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