Orchid Mantis has released Samples and Patches – Vol. 1, a pack of 172 samples. The samples range from synth melodies, drum loops, field recordings. Thomas Howard of Orchid Mantis sampled Casio SK200 drums (ideal for Ableton drum rack), and many others. He included sampled Univox SR-55 drums (hits, loops, etc.) which he used on Yellow House, Lifted, Far From This World, Close The Door, and other recordings. Howard even included synth presets for Ableton Simpler (ALP files).
Some of the samples have been bounced to tape, with the amazing warped and saturated tones you’ll find on Orchid Mantis albums. This collection is perfect for dream pop artists. For this, we’re so grateful! You can listen to ten of these samples (Thomas includes a few demo songs made from these samples) on BandCamp.
Thomas explains:
“I’ve spent the last few months recording & organizing a collection of 150+ samples centered around synths, guitars & drums I use regularly. This is not a ‘professional’ sample pack – it’s not mastered, particularly well mixed, or in pristine fidelity. However, it’s recorded and processed through the same equipment and recording workflow as my music, in the hopes I can share some of my creative material for producers and songwriters. It is meant to chopped up, looped, pitched up/down, etc.”
Using the Samples
If you purchase the Orchid Mantis sample pack on BandCamp, you can download in your preferred audio format (WAV, AIFF, and then bring them into your DAW of choice. Grabbing these in WAV, you can pull them into Reason, Ableton, Pro Tools, Logic, etc., and create your own drum loops in a sequencer, or chop them up and tweak the audio however you imagine.
The title of the file includes the BPM of the sounds (when relevant). Once you purchase the pack, they are royalty-free (just be kind and credit Orchid Mantis). Thomas includes a text file with a few explanations and his email for any questions you have. Seriously, grab Samples and Patches – Vol. 1 and explore!
Orchid Mantis links: