Right off the bat, I apologize for choosing a headline that could describe a terrible gameshow that the network should have canceled 499 episodes ago.
With that said, I do have a milestone to celebrate, and there’s no better way to celebrate than some FREE plugins.
This article marks my 500th post for BPB (Editor’s Note: here’s the first one), and while I plan to be around for many more, I want to use this milestone to say thank you.
I want to thank Tomislav, who, I’m sure we all agree, does an epic job in this community!
Of course, I want to thank the BPB community.
Thank all of you for being so welcoming when I joined and for continuing to be such an enthusiastic, sharing, supportive bunch of musical mad hatters (in the nicest possible way; I think we all have a little eccentricity).
If you’ve been around to read some of my previous posts, you might know that I’m a pianist who loves Jazz, Hip Hop, film scores, finger drumming with my trusty MPC, and I drink too much coffee.
I also reference movies, typically from the 80s, in articles whenever there’s the slightest opportunity. As do I go off on cinematic composition tangents without warning. While I’m unapologetic in saying both things will happen again, I appreciate you putting up with it!
One of the first things I loved about being part of BPB was the positive nature of the comment sections. I’ve been around music long enough to know that you never stop learning, but I also know that closed minds and doors are still too prominent in music.
I’m using such a terrible cliché because I love how helpful you are to each other here, and I never miss a chance to learn from the comments when I can. I just wanted to highlight it and share my appreciation.
With that in mind, I want to give something back to the readers who have motivated and inspired me.
So, we have four prizes to give away.
The Giveaway
One lucky winner will receive our top prize:
- The Universal Audio Essentials Edition Bundle (11 UAD Plugins).
Three runners-up will receive a free UAD plugin with the following up for grabs:
As a bonus, each person chosen will get a free copy of Inferno SFX Standard from Flame Sound (epic cinematic sounds).
Now comes the part where I tell you I want something in return!
I have a project due to come off the shelf, and I want your input (please).
To enter the giveaway, please answer the following in the comments:
- What kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
- When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
- If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
These somewhat random questions are connected; don’t worry; thank you so much for everything!
The winner and runners-up will be chosen at random from the comments and announced here on October 22, 2023! Thank you all, and good luck!
The winners are:
1) lmndtm (MAIN PRIZE)
2) Richard
3) Mikolaj Holowko
4) Jon D
Congratulations! :)
Keep an eye on your inbox – we will send you the prizes via email.
528 Comments
Vlado
on1. Field recording
2. Soundtrack from John Wick movies (hope it’s epic enough)
3. Herceg Novi
David
on1. More or less drum samples, foley and sfx. Mainly for Techno
2. Star Wars it goes with events in the movies perfectly signaling somehow what isnabout to happen
3. Berlin
Paul Stone
on1. Field recordings
2. Tenet, Ludwig Göranson did a fantastic job with the score/sound design
3. Maybe LA, though I can’t say for certain
Philipp
on1. Breakbeat drum loops
2. Pirates of the Caribbean
3. New York
Sandor
on1. Risers, Hits, Sfx
2. Star Trek – almost every scene has Sfx and the scores for each movie are similar yet unique
3. Nashville TN
Pat Jackman
on1. Drum samples and Foley
2. Avengers Endgame
3. London
Jannine
on1. Drum loops that come with midi tracks and can be dragged in a DAW for further editing, categorized according to genres and subgenres.
2. 1492: Conquest of Paradise by Vangelis, because it has all the elements of an epic soundtrack, the orchestration, arrangement, and unique musical ideas (unlike the bubble gum pop we hear on the radio).
3. Dublin.
Leonardo Ignacio
onhold on uh
What kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? Idk ive used GGD sample packs before and still do
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why? Mobile Suit Gundam Char’s Counterattack honestly i just really like it
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
Tokyo i think seems like a cool place
Jean jacques
on1.Weird samples
2.Inception
3.Rio de Janeiro
Emil
on01. I love well recorded samples of acoustic (strings, drums) and electronic retro instruments (synths, etc.)
02. Interstellar – compositions are minimalistic yet sound and the tenstion suits movie very well
03. NYC – do much great music history
Josh
on1. Field recording/foley sounds
2. Tenet – innovation
3. Berlin
Ji Hao Yan
on1. General field recordings, which I can manipulate whatever scenario
2. Hans Himmer – Insterstaller (THE GRAND DADDY OF EPIC)
3. Banff, Canada (for the amazing scenery of mountains and lake)
Adrian Mellow
on1. Vocals.
2. Star wars
3. England
Claus Petersen
on1. Vocals
2 Lord of the rings
3. New Orleans
Darshan Ajjamada
on1. I love to use organic sample packs, with sounds that are real recordings of drums and instruments. I love how they add a human element to my production.
2. I think Interstellar would be of the the greatest movies of all time to me, and the soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer has to be one of the most thrilling pieces of music ever created.
3. I’d say Berlin. Especially in recent years there have been so many electronic artists emerging from Berlin and Germany as a whole. I think it would be an amazing opportunity to learn and get inspired from them if I could ever visit.
rattala
on1. any pack that could give me rights to be re-used for commercial use or embedding in commercial products
2. a lot of music from Ennio Morricone
3. Barcelona
Paul Tuoti
onQuestion 1 – What kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most?
Answer 1 – I tend to enjoy the usage of Vst Plugins/Effects for instrument sounds and drums as it makes me feel like it’s more original music (Even though I use presets or slightly tweaked presets, lol). So when it comes to sample packs, I 80 percent look for Vocal Loops, Vocal chops, etc. something not readily available to make from a plugin. Yet I do collect and use Risers/Downers and sometimes a nice distorted transition, because it is my other 20 percent and a riser/downer in a sample pack is usually close to the exact same as a riser preset, and can be stretched to meet my need quickly.
Question 2 – When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
Answer 2 – It depends on the “genre”. If it is an Uplifting Voyage, Pirates of the Carribean; If it is a darker tone, more along the lines of batman/dark knight. Hans Zimmerman comes to mind; Yet I have played Video games that have soundtracks that thrash my mind to shreds as well; from JRPG’s like the Final Fantasy series, To the single playable character Monster Hunter series.
Question 3 – If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
Answer 3 – London, England; For the “Open to Multi-Genre Award Winning – Field Day Festival” and also in London the EDM Festival – “A State of Trance”
Thanks BPB for being on the ball for 500 posts man. Your Emails are in my personal folder, especially because of the rare “24 Hour Only” plugin. I have a lot to do, and I can’t spend as much time net surfing for deals of my favorite VST plugins, much less review them. So I decided quite some time ago to trust you to do it for me. I haven’t downloaded half of what you post, But what I have downloaded has saved me so much bank and time, and I know it comes from the best most trusted source. I probably speak on other’s behalf too; thank you BPB, for offering this free service and hooking us up out of the kindness of your heart; Good looking out!!!
Johan
on1. Field recording, percussing samples
2. Conquest of Paradise and Sorcerer (you ask for the first one that comes in mind :) )
3. New Orleans
Marcel Arp
on1. Sound of Silence
2. Pet Sounds
3. Taylor Swift :)
FRhy1999
on1. R&B/SOUL
2. Tim Burton movies
3. New York
Andrea
onHi from Italy, congrats and thanks for the good work!
1. Ethnic/folk instruments
2. Definitely Morricone’s The Good, The Bad and Ugly: The Ecstasy of Gold is just textbook epic
3. Timbuktu
Daniel
on1. What comes with Studio One+. That’s all I use in terms of “packs”. Genres, I really only use samples for rhythm, though I make my own samples as I go. I would really love a sample pack that has more traditional Latin rhythm instrument hits and strikes, etc. I don’t like anything I’ve looked at.
2. Danny Elfman Batman (1989) – brilliant.
3. I can’t say a remote lake? Ok. How about Nashville.
Ella
onI really want the Native Instrument Sample Pack. That would make my life so much easier.
“LaLaLand”- I saw the movie and everyone told me that I would love the story, but actually I hated the story and fell in love with the music. It is so well-thought-through and so creative. I really love the lyrics as well as the music supporting them.
LA or NYC: I don’t care at this point. I just want to be in either city soon.
Pavel
on1. Vocal samples and loops
2. Gladiator – the first soundtrack that I began to examine in detail
3. LA
Sjors Kik
onI solely use drum sample packs from misc drum computers, “vintage” or new-ish. Epic movie soundtracks would be Jurassic Park or otherwise Nightmare Before Christmas/Corpse Bride. City(cities) would be Nashville or The French Quarters in New Orleans for a non-ending stream of great inspiration!
Congrats on your 500th article, James!
Richard Cooper
on1. Swung Percussion Loops
2. Star Wars
3. Mexico City
West
on1 Sample packs with midi, I often love the composition aspects but I am super picky with my sound palette
2 Team America: World Police
3 Angkor Watt Cambodia
Pratyush
onMy favorite go to samples for this giveaway would be drums and midi. As i dont have that much proficiency in music theory right now, some midi sample pack would help me out a lot.
My movies for the epic soundtracks are
Train To busan
And Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
My go to place for inspiration would be Amsterdam. With so much electronic music around, I’ll get do much to learn about music as a producer as well as an artist.
Hell'ektrix
onHi James !
Well done for your 500th post for BPB ;)
About the answers:
I like SFX/weird sounds samples packs like Glitchmachines for example.
About movie soundtrack, I would say Orange Clockwork (but there is some more).
About city, I don’t know, I’m more inspired by forest, wild nature, animals…. or by books, stories….
I never thought of cities as possible inspiration.
Andrew
onLo Fi loops.
No single source.
New York
Thanks
Jay
on1. Obscure retro drums
2. Blues brothers
3. Hong Kong
Bassah
on1. I like glitchy / 8bit samples overall
2. I’d say star wars and blues brothers
3. Italian cities like Florence or Venice would inspire me a lot
Jim siderius
onDry drums vol 1-5
Anything from Johann Johansson
Berlin
Ian
on1. Random one shots, old drum machine sample
2. Blade Runner (original) – one of the finest examples to date where the music and pictures really compliment each other so well.
3. New York City
Frédo
on1.
I like the orchestral and traditional sound banks of the world.
2.
The film soundtracks that I prefer are those by Ennio Morricone because I find them very original and rich in emotion.
3.
There is no city that inspires me in music, it’s nature that guides me.
Scherbenfabrik
onHappy 500th! Thanks for all the work. I have to agree, the community is very nice here, and often enough i got some helpful comment when stuck.
1. I love to record my own samples. Even some plain synth sounds can be useful, but mostly it’s drum/perc sounds and FX/pattern/modifier/modulator, layers, etc. Weird stuff for some spice and color.
2. Depends on the score. I kinda dislike all those epic soundtracks and therefore they tend to sound generic (to my ears) after the xth action or super hero movie. SciFi often gets more creative soundwise, so i’d draw a line there. Sunshine for example has an epic soundtrack although its quite simple sounding.
3. There are a lot of cities i’d like to visit for some music inspiration. NYC, LA, etc are quite obvious. Since i’m living in the middle of the Ruhr Area i get a fair share of inspiration already. But if i had to choose, give me anything close to the sea and i’m good. The city will always be the contrast.
Ben
on1. Choral samples for atmospheric pieces or vocal chops and breaks for dance music.
2. Dune (the newest version).
3. The Himalayas. There’s something mystifying and enchanting about Himalayan Monk chants and percussion.
Genkid
on1. Drum one-shots
2. The Lord of the Rings
It made a huge impression on me when I was a child.
3. London!
Bruno Coelho
on1. Vocal Runs and Loops in general.
2. Game of Thrones or Lord of The Rings.
3. Toronto (I feel like so many modern artists gather up there).
Morgan
onQ. What kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most?
A. I’ve been using samples from the Oliver PowerTools series of sample packs, quite regularly, lately.
Q. When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
A. Dances with Wolves John Barry. Although I have had many favourites since, this is my earliest favourite. It’s main theme tune was echoed throughout the movie in different ways to reflect the changing mood of the scene.
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
A I would say Vienna. But actually, I could find plenty of musical inspiration from Miami. I feel inspired by most genres of music, but latino music is something I’d like to discover more of. Miami is a hub for latino music and has a vibrant scene.
Jatin Jain
onEpic vocal chords like fred again
Kicks like malaa
Bass like deadmau5
Ryan
on1.) Dark Ambient / Atmospheric
2.) Blade Runner because of its moody, lonely vibe in a rainy, melancholic city. The soundscapes really inspire me.
3.) London because it is the city that matches those vibes the closest. Especially in the fall / winter
hessei
on1.Guitar
2.The Hobbit:The Battle of the Five Armies
3.new york
Eric
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.) – Ambient/Pads
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why? Star Wars!
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be? Reykjavík, Iceland
SBTT
on1. Drum Breaks || Atmospheric pads
2. Ennio Morricone the good, the bad and the ugly and C’era Una Volta Il West
3. London
Oliver
on1. Field recordings, especially just daily ambiences of places far from me, they make great beds for ambient tracks.
2. Tron: Legacy. Just timeless, like Blade Runner (which is probably my joint first come to think of it!)
3. Seoul, it’s probably as diametrically opposed to where I currently am as possible.
BRKCAP
on1. Drum breaks || Atmospheric pads
2. Ennio Morricone C’era Una Volta Il West
3. London
Fedir Tkachov
on1. I only use my own sounds, both for samples and for synth presets. On my latest track I had a lot of fun sampling my own voice. I’m not singer, of course, but the textures I got were somewhat unique to me.
2. I just watched the new and improved Mission Impossible movie, so that what comes to mind first.
3. I often think of where I would rather be in this period of my life. I think I could be inspired by any city or place on Earth now. But somehow I think of Paris.
Gaz Tsimang
on1. Mainly rhythmic- Gqom beats
2. Mica Levi’s score for Under The Skin. Just incredible.
3. Johannesburg, South Africa. Mzansi for life.
sir isO
onAlso sitting in Johannesburg. Cheers dude, have a nice day.
Rodyx
on1_ Ambience sounds.
2_ Dune 2021. Because it’s multi genre and have Strong cinematic energy.
3_ Los Angeles.
Tonecii
onHappy 500th Birthday! Such a big milestone. Here’s to 500 more posts. I love the community because it’s non-toxic. For the most part, we’re like-minded individuals pursuing greater and increasingly better goals in music. On to the questions.
1. Vintage samples, whether they be movie dialogue or spoken word, old recordings and the like.
2.Not a big movie watcher, so I’ll have to go with The Sound of Music. That was such a great film, with such great music. Grease is second.
3. The music capital of the world, NYC baby.
Florian Riley
on1 Ambient.
2 Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
3 Nashville.
K. Szilárd
on1. My favourite sample pack is That Sound Sterloid drum patterns.
2. My favourite epic soundtrack is the score to the movie Heat, it creates amazing atmosphere and depth to the scenes.
3. New York.
sebastian
on1 i love cinematic ones with loads of atmos and weird fx
2 interstellar because of the epic hans zimmer score
3 tokio for the cyberpunk vibes
Llatonnia
on1. I love guitar sounds.
2. Sound track from Entergalactic
3. Los Angeles
Abhijeet
on1. Granular Atmospheres
2. Pirates of the Caribbean. This is a tough one, LOTR is pretty good too.
3. Thailand.
Alex Schiff
on1: industrial sounds, rare synths/test equipment
2: it’s not a movie, but the soundtrack to Shadow of the Colossus
3: Japan, Russia, or Egypt
Dmitry
on1. Lo – Fi aesthetics drums
2. Any of the James Bond movie soundtracks.The soundtracks for these films convey the mood of the time when they were released perfectly.
3. Tokyo, Japan. It`s my dream to live there.
Vish Sr
on1. Sample Packs – I mostly look for Neo Soul guitar samples
2. Soundtrack – Drive – Bride of Deluxe
3. Place – Lofoten Islands, Norway
Akim
on1. Sounds of KSHMR
2. Interstellar. Hans Zimmer did a great job with this soundtrack, it fits the movie perfectly.
3. Tokyo
El°HYM
on1. Modular Percussion
2. 2001:A Space Odyssey
3. Ho Chi Minh City
THRL
onHappy 500th article! Cheers!
1. long, one-shot jungle pad chords
2. Prince of Persia soundtracks from Jesper Kydd
3. New York
hefal
on1. I use mostly Maschine packs and I want mostly Maschine packs ;)
2. Interstellar. It relatively simple but it just cliiiiiiiicks with something inside.
3. Many but pragmatically – New York.
Gabriele
onHappy 500th post! :)
1. Analog synths, textures, vintage-retro sounds
2. “Once upon a time” soundtrack by Ennio Morricone, I think it’s perfect: epic, a little nostalgic but powerful, It gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it
3. Moscow
Pate Mans
on1) I like odd, atypical field recordings I can use as percussion & ambience. There are so many percussion sample kits around already so it’s fun cutting up new sounds to use instead.
2) I thought the most recent Dune was powerful & fresh. My heart though lies with Star Wars because its themes & motifs have been so accurately stereotyped at this point.
3) New York City because there are so many diverse areas to zone out in & get ideas. If I get bored of one, I’ll just walk to the next & people watching in its parks is good too. (I know this is not necessarily exclusive to NYC but there are sure many diverse characters & all walks of life.) There’s also always something fun going on.
Bob
on1. Honestly, I’d like a good convincing accordion.
2. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly it is just a great soundtrack.
3. Probably Nashville.
foxAsteria
on1. Sample packs are for wimps. But I do like multi-sampled drum libraries…
2. Amelie. If you don’t know why, you haven’t seen it.
3. Iceland
Jonathan Paris
on1. Loops from real live instruments like, strings, horns, ethnic, drums grooves
2. Pirates of the Caribbean series
3. Nashville
Haliax
on1. Drum breaks and strings
2. Interstellar
3. New York
Jon D
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? Probably omnisphere-like sounds, easily manipulable. Also, toned cityscape type sounds, etc.
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why? Interstellar or Inception. Hans Zimmer and his team make epic orchestral sounding things, so although he’s not my favorite composer, I think towards soundtracks like these, versus things that are too much like trailer music – I prefer the cinematic epic variety.
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be? Probably Paris
Lyke Paws
on1. Something that hasn’t been done 100 times already, but other than that, field recordings and foley are always nice
2. Dune by Hans Zimmer, very atmospheric and otherwordly
3. Bristol
sergey
onAnalog synths,
Aleksandr
on1. It seems to me very interesting sets of legacy Spectrasonics, for example “Heart of Asia” Ban-Di Flute from the Mulan 1998 soundtrack Christina Aguilera Reflection. And I also think the Ensoniq SD-1 is great.
2. Brad Fiedel, The Teminator – every time I hear it, it creates a certain atmosphere for me.
3. Los Angeles – as soon as the filmmakers did not imagine this city.
Baladin
on1) Drum breaks and non-typical sounds, like water streams or electormagnetic fields
2) “Inception” and “Lord of the Rings” Soundtrack
3) Bergen, Norway
Brad E
on1. Drum Loops
2. Interstellar because it’s not like anything I’ve heard before and I like when composers think outside of the box
3. Beijing because Chinese music has really been inspiring me
John B.
on1. ambiences and backgrounds (eg: field recordings) to be effected and blended into the foreground for almost subliminal effect.
2. Blade Runner (and BR 2049) – both have the perfect tone and mood to complement the movie action. Original has the added benefit of being by Vangelis, with 2049 having the benefit of a specific direction by Denis that Hans should try to approximate Vangelis’s genius – both are successful in my mind.
3. Burnley, England – to visit the “Singing Ringing Tree” sculpture
cristian
on1. Drum/percussive samples, voice samples, or quality recorded samples/sample based instrument of acoustic instruments.
2.GOOD TIME/UNCUT GEMS by Daniel Lopatin. Best score in the world. That guy did an incredible epic score with synths. I find them very inspiring, unique and something that drive both films.
3. Definitely Bristol. (I love Massive Attack and Portishead.
Mark C
onFor sample packs, the free stuff from Slare is pretty good.
For soundtracks, Jaws. Basically another character in the film,
For music London, cause it seems like they’re really open to anything musically (never. been there, so I don’t really know if this is true or not!)
Oliver
on1.Foley
2.Batman (1989)
3.Seattle
3rdPersonProductions
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most?
Key-labelled pads & SFX that aren’t too “identifiable” – so that they can easily be disguised in a mix.
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
Something intense but plodding and patient at the same time. Blade Runner 2049, because of the seamless blending of electronic, uncanny and cinematic/real instruments.
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
Seattle
Jacques
on1. Drum samples for rock
2. Batman, the first one with Keaton (I was so into the music in the opening fly by the Batman logo)
3. London
Justin
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.) tech House
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?Miami Vice – Jan Hammer was the artist that used music in such an interesting way being a first
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?Berlin
Marcel
on1. Vocal samples, but I also like samples of metallic / glass / wood sounds
2. Blade Runner by Vangelis is the best score ever
3. Marrakesh for Moroccan rhythms
Nick
on1. I don’t use sample packs
2. Braveheart
3. Dublin
Bani
onWhat a giveaway!
1. Right now I’m looking for a rhythm acoustic guitar pack.
2. Interstellar. Because it makes the movie what it is.
3. Some small city in brazil where it rains a lot.
Bani
onJust in case it becomes relevant, I’d be happy to get the 1176
I’m glad you guys are doing this. Its just… fun! Thank you!
Ferenc Mosolyhozó
onAloha!
1. Field recordings from various forests all over the world.
2. Music of various spaghetti westerns composed by Ennio Morricone because a few weeks ago I watched more of them. Especially The Dollars Trilogy.
3. Havana, Cuba
Keep up the great work, I am waiting for the next 500!
Alex Pons
onReggae, Dub, Guitars, Bass, Drums, etc..
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, It’s not quite epic.
Here in my house, maybe bauneario de ipanema.
myha
on1. acoustic drum kit one shots round robin with phase aligned matching overhead and room mic hits
2. jurassic park
3. paris
Richard
on1. Choral samples
2. Dune. You can almost taste the sound when listening
3. Jakarta
Matthew
onCongrats, James!
My answers:
1. I probably use foley or sound design samples the most.
2. The Dark Knight! Not necessarily my favorite of all soundtracks, but I think its influence is undeniable, from the minimalistic sorts of themes to the usage of synthesizers as supporting elements in the background (and sometimes in the foreground as well of course!).
3. Vienna
Here’s to another 500! Cheers!
ki
on1 Drum one-shots
2 Prince Purple Rain
3 L.A
Łukasz
on1. My own sample pack of my vocals / sounds made by voice
2. Fight Club – Pixies -“Where is my mind” – ending
3. Utopian Playland of dr. Phineas Waldolf Steel
Leo
on1. Mostly drum related. I recently bought kontakt and now sitting through their sample packs.
2. Real epic to me would be scores made by Hans Zimmer and John Williams.
3. Berlin
Oscar
on1. Definitely drum samples, and specifically drum machine samples/loops! Been looking for loops from old Rhythm King drum machines recently.
2. Either Tenet or Lord of the Rings, very different, but each amazing and impactful in their own ways.
3. Probably NYC, it seems like there are a lot of interesting things always going down including many musicians I have a lot of respect for!
Dee
on1 – Samples I use most are drums and perc. Samples I like are ambient/nature. Samples I want…anything that’s not been processed to oblivion lol.
2 – A film called “The Guest”. Licensed tracks and an original score from Steve Moore. Dark brooding goth synthwave that perfectly fits the tone of the movie.
If we are going traditional, then I suppose any of the Starwars original trilogy.
3 – London. A melting pot of people, culture, and music genres. Inspiration everywhere.
Evan Rorong
on1. I like the orchestral especially Cello
2. Secret (2007) – Jaycou, because there are lots of Instrumental sections and musical compositions
3. Virginia – USA
Schabbes
on1 – Foley
2 – Inception
3 – chinese Ghost cities
Henry
on1. Foley samples……always
2. The Drive My Car soundtrack because its so incredibly soothing
3. New York City
Yaz
onCongrats on the 500th article James!
1. Samples that are well organized
2. The Dark Knight – the impact and emotional roller coaster it takes you while watching the movie. Epic
3. Tokyo
bill edwards
onanalog drums
game of thrones
iceland
Andrej
on1. Old drum machines, complex SFX
2. Star Trek, Jerry Goldsmith. The guy just knew how to score.
3. Skopje, Macedonia
George Smith
on1. Something I can’t do myself. inspiring but not obvious.
2. lord of the rings
3. York (UK)
Matthias
on1. Well tuned and recorded jazzy Drums that still fit into other genres
2. Toru Takemitsu’s score for Kurosawa’s “Ran”. Incredibly dark and epic.
3. Rio de Janeiro
Marcos Milagres
on1 – Orchestral sounds
2 – Everything by John Williams
3 – Rio de Janeiro
tansu
onCongrats!
1. I mostly use Zero-G and other classic 90s sample CDs
2. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
3. Boston
J-Bomb
on1. I’m always looking for more horns, flutes, string ensembles, and foley/found percussion.
2. I mean, anything John Williams, but especially Star Wars. It’s as iconic as it is thematic.
3. Portland, to match my eccentric energy.
LostKafka
on1. Real good Drum One Shots (Direkt and Room)
2. Stranger Things (Good song selection can be crucial)
3. Berlin (A melting pot for punk and electro)
Karl Jones
onWell
1. Vocal Samples: Vocal samples are widely used in electronic music genres like EDM, house, trance, and hip-hop. These sample packs offer a variety of vocal phrases, chops, ad-libs, and vocal effects that can be incorporated into tracks to add energy and emotion.
2. When thinking of an epic soundtrack/score, one movie that immediately comes to mind is “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, composed by Howard Shore. This film series, directed by Peter Jackson and based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels, is renowned for its breathtaking and immersive music that perfectly complements the epic fantasy world depicted on screen.
3. If I could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, I would choose New Orleans. Known as the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans has a rich and vibrant musical history that continues to influence musicians from all genres. The city’s unique blend of African, European, and Caribbean cultures has given rise to a diverse range of musical styles, including jazz, blues, zydeco, and funk.
Joseph
on1- Drum samples
2- The Lord of the Rings, every piece of music fits every scene
3- Athenas
ilias
on1. natural drum hits and claps and folley etc
2. i still like vangelis’s music more….
3. i don’t travel somewhere specifically for inspiration, for a brake i like forest parties, no cities involved.
Pratyush
onMy favorite go to samples for this giveaway would be drums and midi. As i dont have that much proficiency in music theory right now, some midi sample pack would help me out a lot.
My movies for the epic soundtracks are
Train To busan
And Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
My go to place for inspiration would be Amsterdam. With so much electronic music around, I’ll get do much to learn about music as a producer as well as an artist.
Juan manuel
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
A: i like from Cymatiks and Slate digital. good company
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
A: the buttefly effect
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
A:London
Chris
on1. Vocals, foley/field recordings, industrial samples.
2. Tron/Clockwork Orange. Wendy Carlos scores in general. Synthesizer orchestral composition wins me over. Not too over-the-top, but nicely arranged.
3. Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. I do love gamelan.
Tassanai Makham
on1.Forest Percussion
2.Interstellar
3.Berlin
samuel
on1. mostly instruments that are difficult to replicate with plugins (guitars, live drums, etc.)
2. tron
3. NY
John
on1. Zero-G Degrees of Abstract.
2. Equilibrium.
3. Seoul.
Al Felton
on1. I love drum samples and melodies from different countries.
2. Star Wars. The musical score for all of the movies is epic. John Williams is a genius.
3. Detroit. especially during the 60s. Motown was there and was doing very very well.
Guilherme
on1. Field recordings.
2. Back to the Future. The melody is catchy and gives such a cool adventure vibe. However, my favorite soundtrack is from the TV show Lost. It is really diverse, lots of awesome motifs and it is an important part of the show.
3. Probably Toronto because some of my favorite rock bands come from that area.
bunnyboy
on1.Tech-House, One Shot Drums
2.Gravity, “Fire”,”Parachute”
3.Vancouver
De'Angelo
on1. One Shot Pop Drums
2. Dark Knight (such an epic movie and Hanz Zimmer is just amazing)
3. London
Maciej
on1. Mind bending, heavily distorted screeches and FX’s in hardstyle/hardcore electronic music, decorated with spacey reverbs.
2. “Drive” from 2011 with Ryan Gosling. Really satisfying retro style soundtrack. Very specific, a bit dark story. I back to this movie from time to time. It also reminds me the good times that I have spent with my parents.
3. It wolud be Tokio
Mike S.
onFirstly, congratulations on this milestone!
1. Interesting rhythmic “top loops” and sounds that are difficult to recreate with synthesizers like acoustic instruments recorded in natural reverb environments. Also like high-quality processed single drum hits in matched and organized kits suitable for house, techno, and their various sub-genres, with tuning listed where applicable.
2. Tie: Lord of the Rings (Howard Shore) or Gladiator (Hans Zimmer). Both soundtracks are so essential to the overall feel of their respective epic movies through the usage of themes for characters and settings and masterful orchestration. Props to the folks that listed Star Wars (or almost any John Williams movie really; he has penned so many A-list soundtracks it’s mindblowing) and Blade Runner (1982, Vangelis)—both are iconic scores.
3. Berlin
Dmitrii
on1. I like using samples like sound of typing on the keyboard or prepared piano or just any short percussive sound to layer the sounds of the clicks with synth sounds to make them more realistic and textured and interesting (aphex twin’s druqks album has a lot of sounds like this. when you hear the played note of the piano but also the physical click of the key, makes you feel like you’re in the same room with the instrument).
Also I’d like someone to make ‘industrial’ sample pack but not with regular drums or one hits but literally with industrial sounds like pistons moving in the factory or any other real industrial machinery working.
2. 2001: Space Odyssey when the spacecraft floats in the space with the ‘blue danube’ playing in the background. classical music might seem unfitting or unrelated to such futuristic concepts as space travel. But that combination creates great contrast while also making the spacecraft look majestic and epic.
3. Probably Berlin, if it was good enough to get inspired for Bowie and Iggy, it would be definetly enough for me.
Or New Orleans, city with a lot of musical history, also I bet louisiana swamps are creepy and atmosperic enough to get me inspired
Lawrence Phaw
on1. Thunderous Drums samples
2. Mad Max: Fury Road – Brothers in arms
3. It would be any city in Japan, China and India.
Lawrence Phaw
onMy apologies. This is not another attempt to get another entry for the giveaway. I just want to explain the reasons for the answers I posted the other day.
1. I have a lot of instruments libraries (free/paid) yet no big drums samples that hit hard so I could use them in composing music for movies.
2. Film industry has been bringing us a lot of great musicians/ composers. Hans Zimmer, John Williams, David Newman .. just to name a few. I like all of them. It is hard to pick who my favourite is. But when we discuss about film scores or soundtracks, Max Mad: Fury Road always comes to my mind first. Personally, I feel that the musical sores for Mad Max: Fury Road are quite epic and fit the visuals. They take you to the realm of Valhalla.
3. Cities of Japan would be quite relatable to above answers. Yet, a lot of places in China and India as well would provide inspiration for many musicians as I feel they are quite unique and authentic, aren’t they?
Chris
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most?
melodic packs – isolated or sparse arrangement, clearly labeled with key & bpm
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
any by Francois de Roubaix – always unusual and cool arrangements
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
LA – a don’t love the city, but many producers I enjoy seem to be from or live there
Jeffriezal
on1. I want most Contemporary instrumentation, especially rainforest or classical Asia that brings out their cultural sounds.
2. Puteri Gunung Ledang – the soundtrack and scoring element in the arrangement just delivered the legendary story of Gunung Ledang Princess with its time and culture to life.
3. Malaysia
Kyle Cean
on1. A full-pack collection of all the common drum and fx samples
2. Studio Ghibli Movies
3. I would say Japan at the moment
swarup mandal
on1. Cinematic drum kit with some texture sample
2. HZ’s Batman series – Why? bcoz, it’s a perfect example of composing Dark in the Night.
3. Berlin
Ants
onGreat Post James and thanks for your contributions to BPB, looking forward to more !!
1. I don’t use any Splice or similar platforms as I dislike prefabricated loops, I want my music to feel alive and handcrafted. For sample packs I do appreciate drum hits especially if there are velocity layers which is actually way too rare. I never use melodic samples, way prefer to use synths or instruments.
2. We now have heard many many epic soundtracks. I think the best ones retain a catchy melodic elements, I think of Star Wars for example. Catchy yet contains complexity. These days it seems all about big brass and all those fairly cliche thunderous hits… Works, but a bit overused.
3. I see many movie scores are produced in Bulgaria, I think the country has a fascinating history and culture, I’d love to go.
One thing I’d love even more is to win this competition, I work SO HARD on producing my first album, writing playing and recording everything by myself, already over a year with about two thirds done, I need quality plugins!
PureFire
onCongratulations James, its always interesting reading your great posts on BPB, even if you do go off on tangents, it makes it more fun to read, so thanks for making your posts more interesting and entertaining too, i appreciate you and wish you all the best with your new project 🙏
Thanks so much to you, BPB, Flame Sounds and UA for this awesome opportunity
long may you continue to write good stuff for all to learn 💛😊👍
Good quality drum samples
Dirty Harry (Lalo Schifrin)
Brazil
June
on1.) Thats a hard one, I’d say themed sample packs, like horror themed, space themed, etc. Really challenges the designer i think cus they always have a really unique sound.
2.) Interstellar and the LOTR trilogy come to mind
3.) For me personally I’d say Seoul or New York City
Yu_Oahz
on1.field recording
2.braveheart
3.dublin
lmndtm
on1. Foley and atmospheric sample pack
2. Interstellar, cause it always give me a chill
3. UK for some history, Japan for musical influence
Prismatic Brain
on1) I would like a pack of .wav files that are interesting and unique impulse responses to use in convolution plugins. Things like speakers that are damaged or speakers made by putting a transducer on a sheet of glass or other rigid surfaces.
2) The movie Waking Life has my favorite soundtrack.
3) Texas
Daniel Lanark
on1. Ambient, noise, field recordings
2. Dune (2021)
3. Ushuaia
Wing Yee
on1. Acoustic drum samples.
2. Axel F (Beverly Hill Cops) – Instant recognition from the first note.
3. England.
Ian
on1. I use mainly drum and percussion loops.
2. “Inception” – Hans Zimmer
3. Stavanger in Norway. Make sure to visit the Lysefjorden and then hike to Preikestolen. I am sure you will find a lot of inspiration there
J-Unit
on1. Drums and vocals are what I usually dig through sample packs for
2. Hans Zimmer’s “Dune”
3. Berlin! The hub for music technology.
Jerry Yang
on1.Cymatics is really cheap and always give gifts , like some vintage drums is well.
2.La La land(best vocal I think)
3.Scotts Valley, where the Universal Audio is come from.
Mark
on1. Ambient evolving pads and atmospheres
2. Lord of the Rings – Howard Shore
3. Edinburgh, Scotland
Ramses
on1. I use cinematic samples a lot; from transitions to drums and percussion.
2. Still liking Inception’s soundtrack!
3. I’ve been inspired by the views in London as a kid, so I want to visit there at least once.
Congrats on the 500th article, and cheers to the BPB team!
Attaman King
on1. What kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
A: I like cymatics samples and use them alot, but the one I want most are the Spitfire paid collection, really awesome!
2. When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
A: Matrix
3. If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
A: Paris
Larreche
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
1.Some foley sounds that can be used in sound design
2.The Sun Also Rises – Joe Hisaishi, it’s just breathtaking
3.Chengdu
Larreche
on1.Some foley sounds that can be used in sound design
2.The Sun Also Rises – Joe Hisaishi, it’s just breathtaking
3.Chengdu
Shyam Lal
on1 Hip-hop & vocal sample pack and Foley samples
2 lord of the ring and Hobbit.
3 Delhi ( INDIA )
Céline
on1. Trance and techno packs are my bread and butter
2. Star Wars and Apollo 13 in a tie; both scores made an impression
3. NYC
John
on1: Crunchy 80s 90’s drum machine or rompler samples.
2: The AKIRA soundtrack. Or Terminator II. The emotional intensity of these movies seem largely in debt to the music.
3: Granada, Spain.
Congrats James! Looking forward to many more great articles.
Abhay
on1. Decap Drums That Knock Vol 1-X
2. Dune
3. LA
Brenden Ortiz
on1. any kind of atmospheric samples thst are long and are taken from places
2. Lord of the Rings for sure, with different phases throughout all three of them. there can be joy, emotional sections, and even dramtic and intense moments that really makes the trilogy one of a kind in my opinion.
3. If I had to choose one i’d say Norway. Just seems reallt beatiful and it has a really cool culture behind it
congrats also! thanks for your contributions
Jingrong
on1. foley sounds, rhythm loops, etc.
2. Dune
3. Tokyo, Japan – I love the music from Anime..
Frank Reitz
on1: noise and foley
2. Interstellar. The soundtrack by Zimmer jis simple but very very effective
3. France, Paris
Vladislav
on1. Drum mashines samples and field recordings
2. Arrival (2016) – soooo scary!
3. Any location in Iceland
Chris S.
onHappy 500th anniversary James! Thank you for all of your great articles, I come here everyday and always enjoy reading them! The BPB community is really awesome! :)
1. I like interesting cinematic textures from orchestral instruments.
2. Interstellar because it can’t get much more epic than transcending through space and time. The soundtrack makes the movie that much more epic and I also love that it is so emotionally intense.
3. I would go to Reykjavík because I love Icelandic music and Iceland seems like a perfect place to get inspired and write emotional music.
Miika
on1. Field recording/foley sounds
2. Oppenheimer or Bladerunner 2049. Idk what it is but they just give me goosebumps every time
3.London
Ighor
on1 Drum one-shots and loops
2 I immediately remember Terminator 2, the music is impressive!
3 Prague
Professor Oh
on1. Mostly sound packs that combine electronic synths with orchestral/natural acoustic sounds, loops, and one shots. Huge fan of revisiting those vintage Zero-G and vintage Akai/Roland/Alesis etc drum sound packs
2. Blade Runner original soundtrack by Vangelis because it perfectly captures the distant time period that the film depicts while simultaneously capturing the futuristic aspirations of the early 80s music technology.. Unrivaled pairing of visuals and sound design
3. Rio De Janeiro
刹那
onI just want to thank you and highlight your constant effort reflected in this site and its content. You and organizations that, for free or with the option of free, open doors to countless new talents.
alex
on1. Foley
2. The Dark Knight (at least today)
3. Berlin (probably)
poe
on1. I want to have a session horns pro because it allows me to play JAZZ FUNK music
2. Of course it is
, nothing is more exciting than this
I will go to China (my own country). Long history and profound culture
poe
on2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Arshan
on1. I’ve never been a good drummer as it isn’t my primary instrument, so anything based for solving that as a sample pack is a blessing.
2. Dark Knight- Hans Zimmer
3. City wise, I’d like to work in a place where artists are not swindled, given delayed payments, false promises, discouraged to strive for musical greatness. Anywhere that is the case, please sign me up!
myron
on1. Cool synthetic/hybrid drum & percussion samples. Interesting noise samples.
2. Interstellar: stunning scene and music.
3. Some east europe cities.
Nik
on1. Mythica by Cinetools
2. Dark Knight
3. Most (Brüx)
Lars
on1. Vocal packs (because im not a singer) and field recordings for background layers
2. Waterworld. Such a diverse use of instruments and from action packed to very calm. Beautiful tracks all of them.
3. Amsterdam. So many stages of which the best is Paradiso. All the big names like the Rolling Stones have performed here. All music genres can be found here.
Jonathan
on1) I mainly use Primeloops sample pack currently using “ The Major Avenue “Drill Violins”. *I love rap/ classical music
2) Inception sound track by Hans Zimmer because of the power sounds and it inspires visual image
3) Berlin, Gernany . To watch some real orchestra
Thanks a lot Will really appreciate the plugins
Márcio Azevedo
on1. Snares.
2. Blade Runner
3. Salzburg
James Lipton
on1. I don’t use samples. I try to use physical simulation generators wherever possible, because they have such higher fidelity. I’m in love with the FL drum synths BassDrum and DrumPad because BassDrum sounds like a DS9 (which I used to own!), and DrumPad for it’s sick snare sounds. I like procedural synths because I can push and twist them in interesting ways. I love Twangstrom because it’s the only spring reverb I own that actually sounds like the real units (I don’t own Springs… yet.)
2. 2001.
3. I would go hang with aborigines in the australian outback. Didgeridoos sound amazing. I love how they combine multiple tones.
Lawrence
on1) Single note samples of strange lesser known instruments.
2) My first inclination was Dune (Hans Zimmer), but then I remembered Neon Demon, absolutely loved Julian Winding and Cliff Martinez.
3) Japan, finest strings in the world.
AWUTO
on1.I usually use Trap sample packs, but generally not for the genre. I incorporate them in pop productions mostly.
2.The first epic soundtrack that comes to my mind is “Jack Sparrow” from Pirates of the Caribbean.
3.I would probably go to Rio de Janeiro . Produce some upbeat music with my friends.
Jeff
on1. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been mostly using samples (melodies and one shots and drum samples,and thier Origin plugin) from Cymatics, and experimenting with lo-fi sounds. I’ve also been using stuff from Spitfire Labs, like their vintage keys, and trumpet fields.
2.Starwars. I don’t know why, but when I read the question it was the first thing that popped into my head.
3.New Orleans, and listen to some jazzy stuff. Lately I’ve been chopping up jazz samples from pianos, horns and things like that.
Gabriele
on1. chillwave, vaporwave, synthwave
2. Interstellar
3. Los Angeles
mira
on1. love to record my samples from nature
2. Dark Knight
3. Japan / and from silent atmosphere Tibet .)
Dana
on1. I use a lot of Singomakers stuff. It’s not the fattest drums, but i like it.
2. I really enjoy the OG Pacific Rim soundtrack and Man of Steel.
3. I really want to write music in Padang. It’s my childhood home in Indonesia. I never really get the chance to write any music there because i start writing music after i move away.
Xaither
on1. I tend to stick to one shots and serum presets for a wide variety of production from EDM like future bass, to trap, or to even lofi beats.
2. Star Wars is no doubt one of the most iconic epic soundtracks that comes to mind first. Duel of the Fates’ choral beginning alone is so powerful and memorable that almost anyone who remotely knows of Star Wars, even without having watched it, might recognize the magnificent composition.
3. I’m a big fan of Singapore for its unbelievable cultural variety. The night life consisting of those distinct city lights and days filled with bustling modern malls are also a huge fascination for me that gets me in a good mood to produce something. Though inspired as I may be, I must admit that the heat doesn’t sound to appealing to be in realistically haha.
Patrik Roncolato
on1. Drumkits are the most important, since I’m pretty good at playing instruments (guitar, keyboard) and in synthesizing
2. I think of Interstellar because Hans Zimmer is the top composer humanity has.
3. That’s a difficult question. I would say that lakes, rivers and seas have inspired me so much… I just need one of them ;)
Congrats on your 500th article!
Tomas
on1. Cinematic guitars and percussion loops.
2. Interstellar by Hans Zimmer. Excellent composing, and the production and mixing is perfect in every way.
3. Nashville.
Jim
onHappy 500th.
1. Drums, Percussion, Drum Machines etc.
2. Blade Runner
3. Berlin
Krishna Seth
on1 ) I’m a multi genre producer, all kind of samples are best for my work .
2 ) Crossing the Rubicon by Anoushka Shankar, that track itself has no explanation . simply a masterpiece !!!
3 ) I’m from India , i must say Indian music always inspire the world . i would like explore music in India .
GiGi
on1) Experimental
2) Birdman
2) Santa Cruz
Gosha
on1 children choir
2 Oppenheimer
3 Tokyo , japan
SATYA
onCONGRATS James , your article are always wonderful,
i kinda collect every kind sample pack and more into trance music
i mainly hear the hard beating songs of Shiva and Krishna, they are awesome
i would love to visit Vasanani someday
Yambu
on1) Naturgeräusche
2)Harold and Maude
3) New York
Woendiexp
on1. house
2. Parcific Rim
3. Tokyo
Maurizio
on1) now i’m loving and enjoyng two free packs: BFD Player – Fracture Sound BluePrint Electric Keys (Looplabs taster for BPB is one of the my most used)
2) Ennio Morricone’s Once upon in the West
3) NY… but i’m always well inspired at home, near Rome (ITA)
JP
on1.) you get a lot of drum and synth packs, but a good vocal pack is rare and therefore always appreciated
2.) Lord of the rings if I am allowed to only name one (but for the sake of different ‘epic’ approaches there are Dune (Villeneuve) and Ghost in the shell)
3.) Paris (not for the musical scene but for the diversity in culture, architecture and history
Sergei Sakovich
on1. Ambient Vocals
2. Oppenheimer
3. Tokyo
Venkatesh
on1.Pop sample pack.
2.Interstellar.
3.My home town 😀
Bruno de Souza Lino
on1 – What kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
I’m not that big on sample packs personally. I either use my own samples or synthesis.
2 – When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
Probably Blade Runner. Modern movie soundtracks are dated by many standards and all sound more or less the same.
3 – If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
Any place that’s quiet. You cannot understand how massive and epic something is supposed to sound if you don’t learn what silence is.
Brenny C
on1.) Field recordings
2.) The Dark Knight
3.) New York City
Brenny C
onCongratulations on your huge milestone, James!
Good luck, everyone!
gnox
on1. Asian and African Drum Sample Pack
2. The Wheel of Time
3. Quincy
Daniel Reid
onWhen it comes to Samplepacks I prefer Percussion loops or Foley sounds.
2. Lord of the Rings:
A) the movie has an epic story and pictures
B) the soundtrack is very dynamic and uses not only harmony but also dissonance to create moods.
C) each Melody is memorable and singeable.
3. Toledo
Max
on1. Samples from Slate Digital and Vengeance
2. Dune
3. Sahara
Krzysztof
on1) Industrial sounds, and samples from old synths
2) Blade Runner, and Inglorious Basterds (or most of Tarantino movies) – while they are very different, they have one thing in common: they empower the atmosphere and enhance the experience of the movie – makes the movie fuller.
3) Haunted places and old factories/industrial places – just to feel the atmosphere and inspire, tell the stories of the ordinary people that experienced things there.
Rob T
on1. Funk / hip hop / soul acoustic drum loops, organic atmospheres, analogue synths recorded to tape.
2. Lord of the Rings because it epitomises the word epic.
3. Berlin.
Thanks!
Fabio
on1. Genre-specific packs to understand the trademark sounds of a particular genre of music
2. Dune by Hans Zimmer. Very little to say..
3. Berlin. I love techno and industrial music, so it’s the city I want to visit the most right now!
David
on1. I don’t use samples because it does not inspire me unless we talk about ir- samples. But if I would use any it would be upright jazz bas because I don’t have a good way to get that sound.
2. The holy mountain! It’s a stunningly beautiful movie with stunningly beautiful music made by Don Cherry and most likely Bengt Berger to some degree. The soundtrack lifts the movie to an even higher level and blend in with the visual language of the movie. The track “tarot will teach you” I can’t stop myself from playing often
3. I would probably visit the gnawa dessert music festival in Morocco and stay there a few days to listen to as much as possible aswell as buy instruments to bring home to sweden.
KalnzEB
on1.Field/Foley
2.Oblivion
3.Berlin
Tăng Trí Hào
on1. Rock-based sample packs, haven’t seen many ppl doing that kind of stuff
2. Sarah Schachner, her scores in AC Origin and the new MW trilogy is badass
3. 150 Freston Road, London; you know the rules, and so do I
Gavz
on1. Funk breaks
2. Arrival, Dune…anything by Dennis Villenuve
3. New Yoirk (jazz!!)
Nick
on1. Drums mainly. But love atmospheres and textures.
2. Gladiator – Hans Zimmer. Incredible in the cinema. Epic film and score.
3. New York
Pansh K
on1.I really like the World sounds sample packs. They are just amazing, so many amazing instruments and vocals from different corners of the world.
2. The 2004 Spiderman movie, it is the one that i watched when I was a kid, so there is some nostalgic factor also , apart from this the prince of persia movie, Harry Gregson-Williams did an amazing job on that one . And the osts in games are also amazing ..
3. Assam for understanding traditional Bihu music more.
Shonx
onMostly drums, foley, and vocals, generally avoid anything that is melodic or harmonic.
Loved the soundtrack from Annihilation, huge sounds and very mysterious and alien tones and melodies, complementing the mood of the film.
New Orleans
Georg
onThank you James for 500 posts!
1. I’m always looking for 138 BPM Trance percussion.
2. John Williams – Jurassic Park. It’s at the same time a good fit for the movie, but it also works really well as a standalone album.
3. L.A.
Sino
on1. Birds
2. Das Boot
3. Castrop-Rauxel
Ralf H
on1. Rare world music instruments.
2. The old Blade Runner, it’s just a classic.
3. Tokyo
Guido
on1. Machines/industrial sounds
2. Inception, because without this score there would be no Braams :)
3. Reykjavík
Shango Sankara
on1. Soul, Jazz and Blues
2.A fistful of dollars. Ennio Morricone
3.Nigeria
Fred
on1. I don’t usually use sample packs, I try to record everything myself.
2. Inception because it’s grandiose.
3. Tokyo.
Ian
on1. I’m a sucker for any samples of the original sampler – the Mellotron.
2. Blade Runner is always my first go-to soundtrack – Vangelis’ synth-work is second to none!
3. I’d like to go to Cross Plains, Tenessee, US – to be inspired by the Prog Rock master, Neal Morse.
Gordon D Frew
on1. atmospheres key labelled samples – to get that background of the track sitting nicely
2. Hard to say a favourite as mood dependant but one example is Pirates of the Caribbean – it has energy, that feel good factor. it has an epic score
3. Vienna – for their Philharmonic orchestra
Mark
onWhat I use the most are one-shot samples of vintage drum machines adding layers of synthesizers, cinematic effects, foley and, above all, the ability to play with the keyboard (I like to create my own original melodies with synthesizers, real instruments and sound design).
When I think of an epic soundtrack, I always think of two icons that inspire me, Hans Zimmer and John Williams.
But for more modern productions Hans Zimmer in my opinion is the perfect combination of emotions and modernity even playing just 2 notes, fantastic! An epic soundtrack becomes such when it marries perfectly with the spirit of the film it must accompany. Films like Interstellar, The Kraken, Chevaliers de Sangreal, Star wars soundtracks by Williams, but also soundtracks from Back to the Future, or looking for pop music, I see Fire by Ed Sheeran on The Hobbit.
Wroclaw, Prague, Copenhagen, Singapore, New York
kbear
onCongratulations on the big 500!
1. Electric guitar
2. Interstellar
3. Marseille
Corti.Son
onHi,
1. I don’t need more samples.
2. Monsters, because made by Jon Hopkins.
3. Somewhere, just away from here.
Jozef
onSamples- I like to use drum samples one shots or loops then adding a little bit of field recordings and it will turn into weird drum stuff.
Soundtrack – “Meet Joe Black” The movie is slow and emotional but beautiful so as the music and Im 90’s kid so memories and nostalgia.
Iceland – Reykjavík (but of course the whole country its a magical place with loth of inspiration)
Dirk
on1: Percussion;
2: Fitzcarraldo
3: Berlin
Stephen
onCongrats on your journey!
1. Ambiences, textures so I can layer them up in my sounds.
2. Interstellar, because of the clever use of various techniques to capture the essence of the moment
3. Vienna. Love the stuffs from there.
Nick Kositsyn
on1. Hardcore/Hardstyle samples 789Ten/Fragment Audio/General Guible.
2. The scenes from Van Helsing, and, the scene from Star Wars. Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Gladiator btw.
3. Amsterdam no doubts. But sometimes my native Odessa inspires me very much.
Good luck to everyone!
Chris
on1. Drum samples
2. Inception and Mortal Kombat (nostalgia)
3. Seoul Korea
Jon B
on1. I always love free/cheap acoustic drum sample packs, but I also like good electronic drum samples for pop/electronica.
2. I have to say Bladerunner. Vangelis is hard to beat when it comes to soundtracks.
3. Definitely Japan. Japan’s nature and cities are something else.
Temmeh
on1. Mostly use drum samples have not really messed around with other samples that much.
2. Definietly The Pirates of the Caribbean. I think anybody who has seen the movies can agree.
3. Something exotic to get out of the everyday grayness of the world. So like maybe Athens or something like that.
Uwe
on1. Drum samples
2. Dune (or almost anything from Hans Zimmer)
3. Oslo or Tokyo
Remi
on1.) Really raw sounding acoustic drum sample libraries. Ugritone’s stuff is top notch.
2.) Probably Inception, I don’t really watch movies at all.
3.) Sofia, Bulgaria. I love traditional Bulgarian music and the Jazz Fusion stuff coming out of there is an amazing blend of their traditional music and Jazz Fusion. The musicianship is out of this world good.
Blamn
on1. Some organic stuff, like field recording, forleys, etc…
2. Joe Hisaishi (Ghibli) and Sakamoto Ryuichi is my favorite film composer.
3. Berlin
Fran
on1. Drum samples
2. Blade Runner
3. Tokyo
Jordan Auber
on1. Obscure percussion one-shots
2. Princess Mononoke, Joe Hisaishi is a brilliant composer
3. Delhi and Budapest are high on my list for places that I think would be musically inspiring!
Simon Hartley
on1. Drum and percussion, world percussion
2. Gladiator
3. New Orleans
Pink Pills
on1. I like chord loops that I can flip
2. Lord of the Rings
3. Tokyo or LA
John T
on1. Authentic sounds, sounds that cannot be made by a synthesizer or some other plug-in.
2. Star Wars. Perhaps the most iconic score of all time, spot on in every aspect. It really describes what type of movie it is and highlights the feeling and the story all the way through.
3. Los Angeles
Caleb Schniepp
on1. Field recordings from urban and rural settings to create an ambience layer
2. Blade Runner/Blade Runner 2049
3. Tokyo
Philip
on1. Ethnic/folk instrument loops
2. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Ennio Morricone) ; I also dearly love Nicola Piovane’s scoring (e.g. the Kaos soundtrack) but I don’t think it sufficiently qualifies as epic.
3. Dublin
Mat
on1. I love MIDI chord progressions. Or anything in the realm of lofi & R&B. I also like house “tools” (good grooves, synth stabs)
2. Epic score = The Shinning by Wendy Carlos. Dark, weird, ambient.
3. NYC is where it’s at. Or anywhere where it’s warm and there’s a beach…
p1an0_guy
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
I use a lot of drum one shot kits, as well as melody loops to chop up.
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
Probably Insterstellar… that was the last movie with a really memorable epic score that I watched
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
Hmm I’m not sure. Maybe Nashville? There are a lot of musicians that I look up to there. Maybe also San Diego or LA
Tommy Cooper
on1. Old school hip-hop drum kits
2. The Nun 2 soundtrack was scary as hell
3. New York
Karsten Krause
on1. All kinds of percussion (world/ethnic), but then nothing sets me more on fire than brazilian stuff.
2. Apocalypse Now, for an epic soundtrack that doesn’t sound bombastique like (too) many others.
3. Rio de Janeiro (or Sao Paulo)
Piotr
on1. What kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant)
I don’t use sample packs at all. I don’t like them, they’re full of loops, already composed (by someone else) fragments or other stuff I don’t really use. I would be happy to find some great multisample pack to use in some popular plugins (like Kontakt or SampleTank), but it’s not what you can really find in sample packs.
2. When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
When I think about epic soundtrack, I mostly think about many similar, “cinematic” themes that started to irrirate me some time ago. I am trying to avoid everything with “cinematic” word in it.
3. If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
Probably some abandoned city, very quiet one.
Jerry Payne
on1. Drum samples
2. Star Wars
3. Paris, France
Thanks for 500!
Petr
onCongratulations on your five hundredth article!
Thanks for dedicating yourself to this endeavor.
1. bass sample packs in jazz free style.
2. blade runner 2049 – because the soundtracks from this movie can be safely listened to separately without being tied to the plot.
3.Nashville or Los Angeles.
Ahnìon
on1. Industrial hit/drum samples.
2. Really, anything that uses Carl Orff’s “O Fortuna”. (300, Red October, Natural Born Killers and so on.) It is very hard to beat for that massive, epic overload. The way the choir and particularly the timpani work together both in the insanely intense crescendoes and the ominous builds is in my opinion unmatched still, nearly ninety years later.
3. While it may stretch the definition of “city” (since it’s no longer inhabited) I would love to visit the archaeological site at Ur in what is currently southern Iraq. I find the profound meeting of alien and familiar in Sumerian culture hugely inspiring.
Silvio Justo
on1. Drum loops, foleys and fx stuffs
2. Poledouris’s Conan soundtrack is my choice, because it gives that energy to go and conquer things hahahh
3. Denmark
Rob
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
Rob
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? Mostly drums
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why? Encanto, Hamilton
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be? Los Angeles
adam
on1. effected drum samples (from older drum machines)
2. Blade Runner!!
3. Detroit
Giampaolo Orrigo
on– Anything orchestral
– John Williams music, Star Wars and Superman (the d one)
– New York
Fabio
on1. Drum and ethnic percussion
2. Avatar
3. Rio de Janeiro
sang hoon kim
on1. I like sample packs from FUTURE BASS or DUBSTEP genre
2. Guardians of the Galaxy There were times when I thought of ideas for songs when I watched a movie full of emotions because there were a lot of old songs.
3. paris
Julen
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
1. I love to use synth one shots for floaty trap beats. I love to use drum loops to put texture in the background.
2. Interstellar honestly. i know boring answer
3. Maybe Toronto. i heard there was a big producer scene. Or maybe Berlin or Amsterdam
Dee
on1. Ethnic samples
2. Indiana Jones
3. Dharmasala
PsychoTomek
on1. One Shots (Drums, synths, FX etc.) is that what my Brain and my DAW Need.
2. Athena (Soundtrack was perfeckt in this Movie) #goosebumps
3. NEW YORK I think all the sounds in the world are there.
Andrew
onCongrats on your 500th article!
1. I use sample packs bundled with my daw, or else romplers. Usually the orchestral kind. In general sample packs give me the creeps.
2. Blade Runner because of those epic synth sounds.
3. It’s not a city, but the country of San Marino. The views and countryside look amazing.
Mikolaj Holowko
on1. Right now I want the most East West Hollywood, but Vienna Library would also do!
2. First thing that came to my mind was Jurassic Park, the original one.
3. Vienna!
SAI
on1.Vocal or cinematic type samples
2.Star Wars or Superman
3.Denmark for Scandinavia, Boston for the U.S.
With love from Japan!
Adam Zero
on1. I use Kontakt Instruments for realistic instruments a ton, but I don’t work with sample packs much, except one shots like modern kicks & snares.
2. Interstellar, the soundtrack added so much scale & emotion to the movie.
3. Lhasa, Tibet
Gabriel Ram
on1. Loops melódicos orquestal para incluir en el género trance
2. Soundtrack Pelicula El Gladiador
3. Machupicchu – Cusco Perú
machine
on1. drum machine sample packs
2. Lord of the Rings, very symphonic, epic, interesting tempos
3. Kyoto
Dave W
onCongrats on 500, James! :-)
1. Multi-sampled synths that I can’t afford / don’t have space for / don’t have time to learn.
2. Anything Kubrick because it opens up classical music to those who might not consider giving it a listen otherwise.
3. Paris.
Sanctum
on1. afro sound packs with melodies and lots of drumfills/drum rolls.
2. smallville scores nurtured me lol.
3. Lagos
Dan Fox Jr
on1. individual drum hits that I can alter myself.
2. Blade Runner (1982)
3. Tokyo
Frank
on1.Drumloops
2.Blade Runner
3.Japan
Thank you very much!
tom
onVintage drum loops
The good the bad and the ugly- the music is sublime and can be sampled in a million ways
London
Matt H
on1. I don’t use sample packs perse, but use a lot of sample-based virtual instruments. Spitfire LABS plugs are really fun .. and in my price range!. I used to use mostly percussion and drum stuff, but have started using more and more melodic and instrumental packages. NI’s Session Horns is a lot of fun for that. Mostly use them for background to my songs, to add atmosphere. Well, except the classical piece I somehow managed to compose (Spitfire’s BBC Orchestra free and Solo Cello libs).
2. 2001 A Space Odyssey is the first to pop to mind. The music is huge and expansive when needed, but then very sparse/close/intimate at the same time.
3. New Orleans. But not at Mardi Gras time. Ick! Too many people! Second choice would be somewhere outside ANY city, like the SW U.S. desert, or rain forest. Nature. That’s where all the sounds come from anyway.
Peter
onHi James, I’m glad you’re on board! Thank you very much for your interesting articles and comments!
As to your questions:
1) virtual instruments for reeds & brass (Big Band Jazz) and I love Rhodes E-pianos!
2) Lord of the Rings
3) Edinburgh in Scotland
triley37
on1 Foley sounds
2 Pirates of the Caribbean
3 Not a city, but maybe some island in the sun on the beach
Buckine
on1: We need more Industrial Sample Packs
2: Any movie by Wes Craven
3: Kyiv
Dmitry M
on1) Percussion, drums and experimental sounds.
2) Robocop 2 (1990) movie of my childhood.
3) Maybe China.
filip sellinger
on1. Oldschool samples, whether they be movie dialogue or spoken word, old recordings and the like.
2.Not a big movie watcher, so I’ll have to go with The Sound of Music. That was such a great film, with such great music. Escape from New York
3. The music capital of the world, frankfurt mainhattan baby. thx
Jake
onTechno, drums, percussion, vocals
Something scifi, with braams
Berlin, Germany
Aleksa Norovic
on1. Atmospheres and textures
2. Under the Skin (by Mica Levi) – it’s not epic in a sense like Hans Zimmers does for every single movie he’s credited for – it’s just ultimately powerful in the movie and without it.
3. Bristol
masak
onSample packs containing construction kits or MIDI files
Back to the Future
Venetia
Ryan O’Connor
on1. Drum breaks
2. Glory
3. NYC in the 80’s
JoMusic
on1. Ambient and drums
2. Lords of the Rings: the sound track is emphasizing every moment of the movie, covering every aspect, from sadness to full epic.
3. Venice
Jon Petersson
on1. I don’t use a lot of samples, but steel guitar is nice
2. The movie that comes to mind first is Jaws, and probably just because I met the celloist once
3. Nashville
Leighton Brown
onUltimate Cinematic Bundle
Lord Of The Rings
Royal Albert Hall – London, UK.
Brodie
onzu 1: ?
zu 2: Blade Runner
zu 3: Edinburgh (das erste Mal “Heart of Lothian” von Marillion gehört auf der Royal Mile)
JT
on1 Electric Guitar, Wurlitzer or Clavinet clean recordings
2 Birdman
3 London
bldee
on1. I love UK House and Dubstep but also the 2000s Rock. I often use some drum loops to put texture in the background
2. Eurotrip. It makes me emotional and gives me a kind of longing, especially the song scotty dosn’t know
3. Cesky Krumlov, cause Hostel was filmed there haha
Enej Johhem
on1. Drum Loops, One shot drums, synth, vocals etc, usually from EDM and Retro Synthwave Sample packs
2. Spiderman Spider verse
3 any city in Norway
Guy
on1: MIDI
2: Bladerunner
3: Leeds
Dmitry
on1. Female vocals
2. Interstellar, because Hans Zimmer is a genius!
3. Japan
Michael Vaden
on1. Ambient/atmospheric
2. Star Wars
3. A city in or near a tropical paradise (e.g., Wainiha, Hawaii)
Timm Demetry
on1) I like quality sounding acoustic drum sample packs because thats what I need most in my mixes.
2) Gladiator. I love how spheric, organic and epic it is. Especially ‘Now we are free”
3) Seattle !!!
Thanks for beeing part of this amazing community!
Peter
on1. I use Logic so I really like apple loops and wish there were more third party options
2. I think of Star Wars and then anything that John Williams has composed. Nothing like a well scored orchestra for an epic movie!
3. Rome
Terry Hornsby
on1. Oriental Instruments, Foley, Orchestral
2. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
3. Asia.
I’ve seen some amazing performances of modern music with traditional Asian instruments on YouTube, acapella bands like Maytree, who specialise in performances of famous TV tunes using just their voices, and Kpop tracks like Jisoo’s Flower and several Black Pink songs that combine clever sampling of classical music and really inventive sounds and effects, coupled with crystal clear mixing.
Morricone has to be the reigning master of soundtracks, and his recent death was a huge loss to the music industry. If I could name a dozen scores by Morricone, I would, including the excellent The Thing, but TGTB&TU is a treasure chest overflowing with fabulous themes, culminating in the aptly named Ecstasy of Gold, one of the most gleeful and glorious themes I’ve ever heard.
Ilia
on1. i like samples that were recorded to tape like pianos and drums.
2. Danny Elfman’s Spiderman is an absolute masterpiece.
3. New York
Wade
on1. Ethnic instruments
2. Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar
3. New York
Richard
on1. nonharmonic samples, tose are easier to use
2. Interstellar
2. Marrakesh
Richard
onHey everyone, I have won a price! :)
Thank you vey much, and congratulations for reaching 500 post!
Tomislav Zlatic
onCongrats again, and thank you for reading BPB! :)
Jeremy Cummins
on1. Snare sample pack. I know it’s so basic, but I can’t get enough.
2. Any Scorsese film or anything John Williams. I guess I’m thinking about Inception, interstellar, all 9 star wars.
3. Japan
Lucien
on1. Drums and foley samples.
2. Lord of the Rings soundtrack. I don’t think those films are particularly good, but the music is great enough that it keeps them engaging despite that, without being overbearing, so pretty impressive.
3. Somewhere where you can see the Northern Lights well (Norway, Finland etc.).
Sasha
on1. Pianos and orchestra
2. “Avatar” and other like this: picture of world and relevant music for it
3. Venice and other Europe, each has its own color
Tee
on1) old school soul samples
2) The Dark Knight (the music made you feel what’s going on in the movie)
3) NYC
Scott
on1. Drums ..one shots ..
2. Gladiator sound track …The big Lebowski..any thing from Hans Zimmer..
Dany Elfman
3. Norway..Painted Dessert ..Drenthe, The Netherlands
Mateo
on1. I use abstract samples the most, like melodies and drum samples
2. When I think of an epic soundtrack/score, Interstellar comes to mind first.
3. If I could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, I would go to Kanab, Utah.
Alexander
on1: vocals , live drums
2: semi pro ) – cool film and amazing soundtrack
3: London
Scoobs
onFemale Vocals
Twin Peaks fire walk with me
Capetown
Jeremiah Lyles
on1) What kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
I look for Cinematic sample packs. Those that contain Foley sounds for film or video.
2)When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
Lord of the Rings and Raiders of the Lost Ark. In my mind the two both function to carry their respective films but LOTR provides more ambiance for carrying the tone of the film while ROTLA, provides ambiance but much more energy for carrying the films action scenes.
3)If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
London England. That city and its surrounding provinces have produced great bands who to this day still can be found on the charts influencing the music world. London also has many great cinematic composers both living and dead. My favorite John Barry.
Ben Cotrulia
on1 All sort of musical instruments, found sounds, foley… from all around the world, I really like collecting them
2 Forest Gump
3 Amsterdam
Ben Cotrulia
on1 All sort of musical instruments from all around the world, I really like collecting them
2 Forest Gump
3 Amsterdam
Jaaba
on1) right now looking for guitar VIs
2)Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World. Lots of great songs supporting the movie theme
3) Nashville
Ad Wolf
on1-Afrobeat
2-Spartacus Blood and Sand
3-California
Al F
on1. Techno
2. Blade runner
3. Berlin
Mr Altered Waves
on1. IR’s from unique buildings
2. Labyrinth – Bowie wrote five of the tracks, case closed
3. Sofia
James
on1. I don’t use sample packs.
2. Chariots of Fire – pulsating, inspirational
3. I don’t need no steenkeen city to be inspired.
Greg Adams
on1. Unprocessed percussion
2. Gladiator
3. Otautahi
Charles B.
on1. Drum Samples
2. Batman
3. Philippines
Sam
onCertainly, here are your answers for the Bedroom Producers Blog giveaway:
1. I’m particularly fond of sample packs that cater to electronic and experimental music genres. Drum and percussion samples, synthesizer loops, and atmospheric soundscapes are always welcome. I also find unique instrument samples, especially those from world or vintage instruments, to be a great source of inspiration.
2. When I think of an epic soundtrack/score, the movie that comes to mind first is “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The music composed by Howard Shore for these films is both emotionally stirring and technically brilliant. It perfectly complements the epic, adventurous, and dramatic nature of the story, and it has left a lasting impact on how I perceive the connection between music and cinema.
3. If I could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, it would be Berlin, Germany. Berlin has a vibrant and diverse music scene, encompassing electronic music, classical, experimental, and more. The city’s rich history, art, and culture make it a melting pot of creative energy. It’s a place where innovation and tradition coexist, and it’s known for nurturing and inspiring musicians and producers across various genres.
Yifan
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most?
1. I have thousands of duplicates of drum samples, so I would say that vocal and ethnic sample packs are what I would want the most. Vocals to chop up for the future bass style I make, and ethnic samples to create some interesting organic breaks in my tracks.
2. I don’t watch movies, but search up Krale on soundcloud. He’s got some of my good compositions stuck in my head (such as “The Cryophoenix”)
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
3. Personally, France
Marco
on1. I am not using Sample Packs anymore
2. Blade Runner, a timeless Masterpiece
3. Buenos Aires, Argentinia
Lance
onI hate sample packs, I think they contribute to the same sounds being used over and over, which lacks creativity.
Mad Max Fury Road
Nashville
Francesco LM
on1. Drum samples
2. Vangelis – L’Apocalypse des Animaux
3. London
alex_noumi
on1. SFX
2. Star Wars
3. Tokyo
s
on1) Vocals and field recordings
2) How to train your dragon – emotions are captured very well in the music
3) Prague
Ivan Grigorov
on1. Drum loops
2. The Hobbit:The Battle of the Five Armies
3. Tokyo
blindingSlow
on1) Acoustic instruments, wind, brass…
2) I’m blind, so movie watching is not my strongest skill, sorry (;
3) New York (USA), Salvador (Brazil)
ER
on1._ EDM sample pack (specially the pads widely used in that genre).
2._ “300: The Rise of the Empire” (especially the “Marathon” theme) because the soundtrack sounds masterfully majestic
3._ India (it is not a city but it wolud be the city where Bollywood comes from).
ER
on“… it would… ” instead “… it wolud… “
fdc
on1 soul hiphop and rnb drums
2 skullgirls
3 berlin
Jordan
on1. Hard to synthesize sounds, Brass instruments being a prime example. Jazz-friendly (not just braaams)
2. Gladiator – Soundtrack is timeless.
Batman (1989) – Iconic melody/vibe.
Lord of the Rings – I have a penchant for the medieval epicness.
3. Very hard to chose just one.
Seoul
Rio de Janeiro
New Orleans
Cairo
Tokyo
I could go on… really any musically active city is gonna inspire me.
Fotis
on1) Orchestral strings
2) Lord of the Rings
3) Copenhagen
Russ J
on1. Top loops and Breakbeats, Foley is good too.
2. I can’t think of one, this has inspired me to check out more soundtracks outside of the movie.
3. I’d like to visit Seattle.
Bohdan Shoshyn
on1 i dont need sample pack, kontakt library of real instruments is better than sample pack
2 Anime, Attack On Titan soundtrack
3 Brazilia
Dilan M
on1) The kind of sample that i would like is soul/RnB/Gospel and instruments would Acoustic Guitar for RnB, Piano for Soul and bass/Drum for Neo-Gospel
2) The epic soundtrack is pirates of the caribbean, the them song. I found it very majestic.
3) Philadephia, PN for the soul RnB music
Aleksei
on1. I most need and want foley recordings and fx/transitions packs. Any instrumental parties i prefer to do myself :)
2. The most epic soundtrack is Star Wars, because it is soo iconic, overthinked and sick! I mean 1-6 movies of course.
3. The city and fjords of Reykjavik
Dani GS
on1. I record my own samples
2. Star Wars without any doubt
3. Seattle
Richard Stockdale
on1 – cinematic effects (woshes, stabs, bass drops, etc)
2 – Danny Boyles “Sunshine”
3 – Bristol
Sohald & Spike
on1. The sounds I’m looking for and use the most in my productions are for movie scores. Most precisely heavy percussions and wicked/gritty bass lines
2. Batman. Much of what Hans Zimmer composed for it has such a heroic but dark feeling at the same time
3. Personally there’s no need for me to travel somewhere else. I can find the inspiration in my place
Mori Frik
on1. Drums and effects
2. Saw. Its main theme is so emotional
3. I dont know. I like night cities, but not big ones. It is so romantic atmosphere when you walking at night and there no cars and people around
Alejandro Arce
on1.- I prefer using my own sounds. Some sample packs come very processed unluckily
2.- Star Wars. First movie I see with my both parents was Episode 3. Loved the movie intro as a child
3.- Buenos Aires, Argentina. Just watch a bit of the AC-DC Concert to understand it. People really feels music there.
Chelo
on1) granular sounds, ambient sounds, jungle percussion and effects.
2) The Lord of the Rings. Without a doubt, since its soundtrack was established and configured for the different types or moments of scenes, to help establish a perfect harmony between what is heard and what is seen.
3) Geiranger a town located in front of the Geirangerfjord, west of Norway.
RayG
on1) Found sounds, field recordings, anything that is difficult to emulate with a synth/vst
2) Inception still comes to my mind first when the word “epic” is used, for the range of the score.
3) Not a city or crowd person – I find more inspiration in smaller or natural settings.
Rodger Reed
on1. Orchestra, strings.
2. The first Batman movie with Michael Keaton.
3. Prague, Budapest, Bucharest. The architecture and cityscapes are fascinating, haunting, and inspiring.
Osanan
on1. Percussion and drum loops, mostly, but foley and SFX samples as well.
2. Inception and Dune. Because Hans Zimmer is a genius and I kinda connect deeply with the movies when I hear the soundtrack he’s written for them.
3. Los Angeles, Vienna, Sevilla and Lisbon.
Peter
on1.Silence
2.Nothing
3.Delhi
Cody T
on1. Off the wall drums and percussion (anything that makes me say “haven’t heard that before!”)
2. The Leftovers Series on HBO. I remember the music and the mood far better than the actual show. Max Richter crushed it.
3. Depends on my mood but: Tokyo, Goblin Valley, Park City, Greece and Belize come to mind (even though the last 2 are countries rather than cities).
Thanks for all you do! Congrats on 500!
Andy Girotto
on1. I mainly use instruments packs, specially drums. I don’t use loops, though.
2. Corpse Bride, by Danny Elfman. It’s just brilliant.
3. Nashville.
Shingi
on1. Everything but sampling x especially has a place in my heart.
2. Transformers dark of the moon – I remember seeing it as a kid and wanting to be like Steve Jablonsky and Hans Zimmer.
3. Any place with record stores and a gym.
Shingi
on1. Everything but sampling foley especially has a place in my heart.
2. Transformers dark of the moon – I remember seeing it as a kid and wanting to be like Steve Jablonsky and Hans Zimmer.
3. Any place with record stores and a gym.
Nicolas
on1. I like drum/percussion samples, I also like presets to understand and learn about sound design from scratch for any genre, especially electronic and experimental music. For me, any sound from any source can be used as an instrument/sound to make music.
2. The main theme of Pirates of the Caribbean, is iconic and recognizable.
3. Inspiration could be drawn from any place and time in this life, but if I have to say something, I would say Los Angeles.
Christian
on1: Versatile drum samples in Jazz, Pop, Rock (in this order)
2: Sorry, probably not what you want to hear but it’s “Jacky Brown”… ;-) Very solid retrieval of forgotten gems
3: I’d go to Prague to listen to some local Jazz bands. Lots of fun to be had!
Derrick
on1. Me gustan cualquier tipo de muestras, pero tengo preferencias con EDM, Future Rave, Cinematográfico, sonidos en general, o sonidos atmosféricos.
2. La de Avengers de Marvel, o Caballeros del Zodiaco, porque los Caballeros del Zodiaco es un anime que estuvo en la infancia de muchos y sus bandas sonoras son únicas, cautivadoras, con mucho sentimiento y compactan totalmente con la escena donde entran, y de Avengers porque soy fan de Marvel.
3. Ibague – Tolima porque es la ciudad musical de mi pais, pero me gustaría ir a Suecia, Noruega por la historia de la música Escandinavia y también a Italia para aprender mas del canto que se usa allí.
David F
onCongrats James on this milestone, I discovered this blog a few years back and turn in any time I have the chance. I love coming in hear to check the freebies and deals. Its almost religious the way I come in everyday so I don’t kick myself later for missing a steal. Well thank you and the whole bob team, I really appreciate all you do here.
1. A percussion loops pack
2. If it has to be a movie then it’s inception – it’s just really emotional. But it shows are included then its Westworld main theme because anytime I hear it I feel like a cowboy and it’s the 1800s
3. Las Vegas
Eric Norman
on1. classic drum machine hits
2. Annihilation
3. Bodh Gaya, India
Jerry Yang
on1.Dropgun sample pack is really suit to EDM!
2.La La land(best vocal I think)
3.Scotts Valley, where the Universal Audio is come from.
jay jay
on1. ethnic sounds
2. See you again
3. Tokyo
Tony Thompson
on1.Funky Guitar; percussion of all kinds; soulful and/or quirky vocals.
2.Still the original Bladerunner theme by Vangelis – love that big CS80 sound – but there are lots of gentle acoustic themes on British TV I love, such as that for ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’
3. Lots of good vibes in my adopted home city of Auckland, New Zealand, but probably New York.
Frank
on1 – Loop Drums
2 – Interestellar
3 – Tokyo
Nuge
onanything native instruments
Blade runner
Berlin
Graceverb
on1. Drum one shot sample. (Vintage style)
2. Batman. It’s epic and hugh.
3. Nashville. NY
Robson H S Souza
onethnic samples, rhythms from different parts of the world.
Soundtrack for the film “Ganga Zumba”, (Carlos Diegues, 1964) Brazil, with a score made by the brilliant maestro Moacir Santos (Flores/PE, 1926-Passadena/California, 2006)
I would travel to Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Rayner Carballo
on1) I always want to get some folk instruments and combine with more orchestral libraries and do something very unique. Try even to incorporate some electrical instruments and drums to do some medieva-orchestral rock/metal.
2) I dont know if this awnser is valid, but i am a big fan of videogame soundtrack, specialy the Dark Souls III soundtrack. It’s for me one of the best. Every time i listen to the songs i remember exacly each zone of the game. The the sound of peace and calm of a bonfire or the adrenaline of the music in a bossfight, really transport me to that place. its really a good fealling.
3) Kioto, Japan. The folk music of japan it’s really intersting and their instruments too. The culture and the history of the city alongside with the music make a perfect combination to get inspire.
James Corbett
on1. Tuned drum one shots
2. Hackers (1995)
3. Berlin
David
on1. Disciple – Ace Aura & Chimes Sample Pack (Future Riddim & Color Bass)
2. Your Name
3. Tokyo
MultipliedCow
onWhat kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
1. Percussion one shots- drums, cymbals, accessories, found percussion, street percussion, foley, etc: if it is struck, I want it. Also chaotic sounds (screeches, heavily distorted sounds… dark and heavy) and machinery.
2. I don’t watch many movies, but the music in the 1989 Batman has always stuck out. Danny Elfman is REALLY good at what he does. I like when someone can capture darkness with a sense of urgency to prevail. Honestly, the theme to Batman: the Animated Series is perfection. Very powerful.
3. This last question is tough. I’d probably have to say somewhere in Brazil like São Paulo, Belo Horizonte (especially if I can meet Sepultura), or Salvador. The music is mesmerizing.
MultipliedCow
onSorry about the questions at the top. I used them for reference and forgot to delete. 😔
Laodawei
on1. Sample packs with construction kits, mostly Psytrance, but also House, Techno and Trance,
2. Navras from The Matrix
3. Geneva
Bernard Clarke
on1. I usually buy real world sounds – location recordings, movements, even voices (wallas)
2. Blade Runner. Somewhere between music and sound design and for me perfect in both in every way.
3. Paris. Whether its the ancient sounds, psychogeographic locations of say the Palais Royal or Notre Dame (before the fire); or the real-world sounds of its Metro stations and under the bridges of the Seine; or at its internationally most advanced through the GRM or IRCAM.
Tianzii
on1. Drum Loops, Top Loops, One shots, FX, FL and Ableton Templates to learn new stuff
2. Interstellar. Epic pads and arps.
3. On a beach, probably where surf happens: Coxos, Ericeira. Because I’ve always dreamed to surf, and the sound of the waves are pure randomness, bringing new ideas. Watching the beach at night you get different feelings from when you are watching a sunrise or sunset. You can get a state of flowing memories.
Jonny Mac
on1. I generally prefer one shot samples where creating my music is concerned, but I am trying to break into scoring so collecting a serious amount of foley and sfx where I can also.
2. The Social Network – it was the first time I had heard a scoring by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and it’s still one of my favourites to this day.
3. A lot of people would probably answer New York or LA to this straight away, but I would say Germany, possibly Berlin, it’s a source of inspiration for so many people, not just musically, and now that I’m pushing forty, I think the difference in pace would probably suit me better also!
Simon
on1. Free to use Sounds: All in one Bundle – 2 TB of sounds from around the globe
2. Lord of the Rings Soundtrack
3. Queenstown – New Zealand
Jeff
on1. Most interested in drum loops, stuff that drives
2. Bladerunner 2049 – references the original and then goes off the hook with original sound design
3. Barcelona – would love to go to Sonar
Jens
on1. Vocals
2. Pirates of the Caribbean
3. Reykjavik
Frank S.
on1. I need more funky Guitar Samples
2. Terminator
3. New York
Jevzor
onVocals and vocal improvs
Blade Runner
Tokyo
Tim
on1. I really like guitar riffs and intricate drum patterns. Those two for me.
2. Literally any work of Hayao Miyazaki and Joe Hisaishi. Also, Gladiator, Armageddon.
3. Close call between NYC and LA. So, probably, both. :)
Spanky
on1. Drum Samples
2. Vanilla Sky
3. Rotterdam
Jani
on1. Melodic weird sounds (foley etc)
2. Aliens, dune
3. Ivalo
Juuso
on1. Vocal samples, mostly adlibs.
2. Interstellar. Absolutely beautiful score. Gotta see the movie someday. :D
3. Probably to Berlin or Amsterdam, because of the EDM scene.
Kevin
on1. Experimental, unusual, ambient
2. Tron Legacy
3. In an isolated cabin surrounded by nature
Mauro
on1) indie and new wave
2) Lord of Rings
3) London
Charles van Kampen
on1. Oriental
2. Indiana Jones; it opens you up and propels you
3. Tokyo; to learn about shakuhachi (making)
Mr.Pablo
on1. I make my own samplers playing instruments and percussions . I also steal from records
2. “There Will Be Blood” of Jonny Greenwood, unique
3. I would like to come back to L.A. MY LADY
Brin
on1. rain/nature sounds
2. 28 Days Later or Amelie
3. Istanbul
Congratulations!
arnaud
on1/ Bass (any genre, they’re gonna be cut&chopped) and vocals.
2/ Blade runner came first to my mind. Jason Bourne in a closer era.
3/ My music muscle memory would probably leads me to London
Gregory Grant
on1.drum breaks,percussion and foley
2.Oblivion
3.Sao Paulo,Brazil
Junior Anthony
on(1) Cinematic Samples and Afropop Samples, hip hop drum loop samples
(2) BBC documentaries,
(3) The best city is where I am now, a cool environment in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia where inspiration flows, cities don’t write music but me.
Sviataslau
on1) Sonic Academy Drums for EDM
2)Blade Runner 2049
3)Edinburgh Scotland
Azul
on1. with great percussion sounds in high quality or nice acoustic instrument samples
2. Tenet
3. some South-African place probably. I admire the feeling for rhythm of many people there.
Darin Paterson
onDrum n bass
A fist full of dollars
Prague
Sound
on1. I recently been using this Kontakt bank I got on sale called “8dio Studio Series – Deep Solo Violin.” I like using it when I make samples, the expressiveness & articulations in that bank sound fire, I’d encourage anyone who likes strings to give them a listen
2. Interstellar, that movie was epic. It put me on to who Hans Zimmer is. Lately I’ve been going back & listening to soundtracks from movies I like & seeing that he’s the reason why they sound so good. Had no idea he did the soundtracks for the Lion King, Prince of Egypt & The Road to El Dorado. I see why I liked those movies so much growing up
3. I think Lagos & somewhere in South America would be dope places to visit. I think it’d be nice to blend guitars & melodies from South America with drums & rhythms from Africa
Arthur Battram
on1.
obscure or entirely new istriments like the Pikasso geetar – sample packs like this
Lawrence of Arabia
Granada – The Guitarrería Bitar de Granada is located on a corner of the emblematic Cuesta de Gomérez, a street with a tradition of craftsmanship and guitar building since the 19th century, a must on the way to the Alhambra.
Doug
on1- I use a lot of melody loops that come in 3 parts: loop, stems, and MIDI. The flexibility you get from that kind of sample is second to none. I can use the loop as is, use a couple of stems and replace others using MIDI, or just recreate the whole thing with my own sounds in a new key using the MIDI.
2- Soundtrack- Forrest Gump. Every song fit the moment precisely and enhanced it. Score- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Every not added magic to the movie.
3- Ibiza
Vad
on1. Mdi drums
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Los Angeles
pacmusik
on1- drums
2- Star Wars. Épico
3- Bangladesh
Ian / Nihil Quest
on1. choral samples
2. Indiana Jones. It’s hard not to get pumped up by that music.
3. New Orleans
DanC
on1. Anything Ambient or Granular
2. Blade Runner & Blade Runner 2049..the two scores compliment eachother perfectly..with the later movie being perhaps the best sequel ever made.
3. The Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Vinícius Lessa (LessLax)
on1. Electronic DRUM OneShots/Loops – that’s because I’m so into EDM lately, so is very fun to get inpiration!
2. MOVIE: Pirates of The Caribean – But can I tell about a VideoGame? I remember being 10yo playing Medal Of Honor: European Assault, and everytime the Theme song was played I was like “OMG that’s so EPIC journey!”
3. LONDON would be great, so many classics that I LOVE were created or performed there!
Kidsonic
on1. I’ve been using Ghost Syndicate’s packs loads. Their sounds are wicked for underground bass music; a niche that hardly any sample pack labels draw from.
2. It’s difficult to say, but you can’t beat Vangelis’ score from Bladerunner, as it’s not only classic, but has a richness that most scores seem to lack with the advent of modern technology.
3. I’d either go to Vienna, Basel or Rotterdam, as a lot of sick deep minimal DnB artists have come from these cities (including QZB, Nymfo, Swift, Division, etc.)
Nils Åkesson
on1. I would love to get a Vi that can produce ethereal guitar sounds, think Emma Anderson of Lush and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau twins. I would try to play the guitar myself, but my left hand is paralyzed after a stroke, so it kind of limits my creativity :-(
2. Solaris (Soderbergh 2002, with George Clooney and the lovely Natasha McElhone) – absolutely mesmerizing soundtrack and that way the singing bowl is used. Goes perfectly with the vibe of the movie.
3. I’ve been @ SxSW in Austin a couple of times and would like to go again. I just love the vibe during those days. A little closer to home I find my old workplace VoxHall in Aarhus, Denmark. I hope someone here have heard of it (?). It holds the highest standards for live-music, a state-of-the-art venue, and a program to match it. A lot of US bands probably have some fond memories from VoxHall. Not endorsing, just a fact.
Shane
on1.I love me some drum fill recordings
2. Get Rich or Die Tryin’
3. I’d love to go to Nigeria for the music culture there.
Luke
on1.What kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
Splice Samples – Lofi
2.When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
Saving Private Ryan
3.If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
Cuba
Joshua Veldman
on1. Found sounds, Foley, homemade percussion, cinematic synthwave
2. For me, it’s Trons soundtrack with Daft Punk
3. Berlin, just so much techno
Sheben
on1/ Brass samples, solo sax and trumpets
2/ Bladerunner by Vangelis, for its incredible atmosphere and the warm analog sounds.
3/ Bangkok, a very inspiring city for hmm… many reasons.
JD
on1. Weird little percussion one-shots
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (The Ecstasy of Gold in particular)
3. Tokyo, it’s so different from the western world, I think I would find inspiration from the vastly different culture
James
on1. Vocal Samples
2. Dune Part 2 because the part 1 score was incredible and Im super stoked for the next one!
3. (Not technically a city) but McMurdo Station in Antarctica because it’s probably like the most quiet place ever and ice sounds really cool.
Adrian
onFoley/Blade Runner/Tokyo.
Regards, A.
Lee Morgan
on1. Foley
2. Star War
3. LA
Johannes
on1. I do not use loops at all and almost none of what is called sample packs. But sample libraries (Kontakt) are huge packs, right? I use them quite a lot, mainly for Drums, Brass, Strings and Keys. Wha I enjoy from sample packs sometimes are drum/instrumental packs of everyday objects, Pianobook has some.
2. Blade Runner
3. New Orleans (went to Dublin this year for the music)
Toivo
on1. I rarely use samples, but when I do I use some one-shot percussion stuff I make myself.
2. Waterworld. Nice dynamic orchestrations and big melodies.
3. New Orleans or Tokyo
Ho Shui Wing
on1. Field recording
2. Star Wars
3. Tokyo
Hagen
on1. EBM / Industrial – Basslines, Noise, Drums
2. Highlander
3. Berlin
Davor
on1. Exotic and ethnic instruments
2. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
3. Prague
Felix
on1) Love the Vengeance sample packs for EDM, esp. the Electro Essentials ones.
2) Illuminati by Hans Zimmer. The choral elements are just amazing in my opinion.
3) Miami – Ultra Music Festival takes place there and lots of new tracks are dropped, which can be pretty good for inspiration.
Umang Raj Shrestha
onMy most used samples are hiphop and R&B style drum samples. I also love using samples for adding ambience in my tracks, which I mostly record myself using my phone.
When thinking of an epic soundtrack, the first movie that comes to mind is Lord of the Rings. The Shire is such a melodic masterpiece that carries you to another world. Just listening to it can make you feel like you’re really in the Shire. It’s one of those ‘close your eyes and let the magic happen’ tracks.
For musical inspiration, I’d definitely opt for Paris. The street music scene alone would provide enough inspiration.
Acrolus
onThe sample packs I prefer usually have a hip, soulful, and sensual feeling to them. The sound of LOVE just draws me in.
The Dark Knight trilogy. I’ve been studying and trying to understand the thought process of the one and only Hans Zimmer. I love the deep richness of the bass and his choice of sonic pallets is amazing to hear.
Venice would be my city of choice because of its overwhelming beauty that I’ve seen in photos in the web. I want to hear that kind of beauty.
creed3
on1. Acoustic drums or percussion
2. Toss up: Gettysburg or Jesus Of Nazareth
3. Where ever I am I find inspiration
Jeff
on1. Not a big user of sample packs, but when I do, it is usually ambient sounds from real life (field recordings).
2. The Last Emperor
3. Springdale Utah, just outside Zion National Park
Weather
on1. Electric guitar
2. Mobile Suit Gundam UC(Hiroyuki Sawano is an epic musician.)
3. Germany
Dotrare
on1. I mostly use and enjoy good drumkits that can be used over multiple generes.
2. Star Wars
3. Lagos or Tokyo
Thomas Lindkvist
on1. Right now I’m looking for sample packs with dry dead drums. I’m recording a lot of acoustic music and I want that vintage dry 70’s drum sound… like the eagles or fleetwood Mac …..
I also want to extend my library of my Refx nexus synth. Amazing sounds there.
2. Rocky IV. Such a great soundtrack. James Brown and Gladys Knight appears… amongst others.
3. Nashville. For sure!
Andrew
on1. Anything I can resynthesize.
2. Blade Runner
3.London
rob
on1. drum loops
2. once upon a time in the west, from the great Ennio Morricone
3. Berlin
Mister Jay
on1. Vocals
2. Star Wars
3. London
Konstantin
on1. Ethnic drum loops
2. Cloud atlas
3. Baku
Synthie Lauper
on1 Drums, Percussions & Noises
2 John Carpenter Soundtracks (maybe epic in another way)
3 Berlin in 1980
Milton Grimshaw
on1. What kind of sample packs do you like, use, or want most? (Feel free to name genres, instruments, or anything else you feel relevant.)
Glitchmachines Plexus, I love almost all Glitchmachine packs and plugins, this sound pack I use for percussive effects, usually pushing it out of Quanta 2 for more glitch or through Infiltrator to give it more randomness
2. When you think of an epic soundtrack/score, which movie comes to mind first, and why?
2001 A Space Odyssey, it’s really odd that music composed mostly in the mid-19th to mid-20th century feels very modern, the whole Orchestra’s warmth and power sets a scene which is futuristic.
3, If you could go to any city in the world to be musically inspired, where would it be?
Kingston upon Hull in England, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall seeing COUM Transmissions and later Throbbing Gristle developing Industrial music, seeing the creativity and madness of 5 young people making a whole new art form, today they are regarded as the first in the field and cited as a major influence of many artist.
gabriele conti
on1) Foley
2) Marry Christmas mr Lawrence
3) London
L
on1. Old drum machines packs.
2. Any Sergio Leone film OST by Ennio Morricone, as epic as it gets!
3. Tokyo
sn
on1-drumsamples
2- 2001 space odyssey
3-New Dehli
Thomas
on1. World instruments and vocals
2. Star Wars – John Williams. It was my first entry into an alternate reality.
3. Los Angeles
Jonas B.
on1) drum packs, monte booker sounds to the moon
2) last black man in san francisco, best orchestrations in any contemporary soundtrack
3) london
Fadi yafi
on1. Cinematic & Soundtrack samples for scoring.
2. The Godfather, epic music that is recognizable.
3. Spain.
Jiri aka Rivermint
on1. Synthwave
2. Blade Runner
3. Miami
Brian Kooshian
on1. Orchestral
2. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns – because I’m a sucker for dark orchestral music
3. Vienna, Austria
Jonathan George
on1. I generally do not use too many sample packs unless of course they are percussion/drum used same packs. The reason being that, it tends to limit what I can do, but on the contrary you can also use them for inspiration as well. So as far as sample packs go, I would go for once that are more percussion/drum focused especially world instruments and maybe even FX based percussion.
2. Inception – the score by Hans Zimmer. The orchestration captures the essence of the story.
3. Varanasi, India
Irion Da Ronin
on1, Drumloops (specially tops and hihats)
2. Dune (The newest one)
3. Kyoto, Japan.
AlvaMar
on1-Violão
2-Titanic
3-Berlim
Gillam
on! i like foley samples and IRs for convolution reverbs more than anything
2 blade runner. just first thing that came to mind, but i prefer synth to exclusively orchestral ones
3 tough one. maybe yakutsk? i like cities with unique weather or nature around them and i lean towards it being hostile as well
vasya
onsamples
Gustavo Koshikumo
on1) I really like sample packs that have organic elements, like percussion loops, textures, foley, etc.
2) Brad Fiedel´s Terminator 2 Original Soundtrack . It´s tense, percussive, noisy, electronic. A gem.
3) New Orleans – Louisiana – USA . jazz, blues, rock, funk, soul, disco, house, techno. Huge respect for Black culture, they created it all. I would love to meet this city that breathes music.
Chris Dunnett
on1. Middle Eastern Percussion and Ethnic samples
2. Last of the Mohicans…simply majestic!
3. Japan
Carlos
on1 Drum loops bass Loops
2 Terminator 2
3 Kingston , Jamaika
TDOL
on1. Organic textures
2. Top Gun Maverick?
3. Sheffield, England
Damianos
on1. Nu-disco drums
2. Not-so-epic and sometimes cheesy 80’s soundtracks, like Miami Vice. They bring a lot of memories from childhood.
3. Miami
Cody
on1.Kshmr Vol 3
2.《Interstellar》
3.Japan
Jordan
on1.lofi and RnB
2.Fight club
3.Scotland(I really like those, lady singing in the bar songs)
Titouan
on1. I’d say I enjoy raw samples of instruments that are not used to being processed through fx. The very utility of sample packs for me is that it makes you want to include “different” sounds to your music, therefore increasing your range of creativity. That’s how I wanna feel when I’m downloading a sample pack, not look for hours and hours for a better snare or guitar.
2. Wouldn’t call it epic but lately Phamtom thread by PTA, score by Jonny Greenwood blew my mind. There will Be blood would be more epic I suppose. same people.
Otherwise Lawrence of Arabia
3. London
Ziggy
on1. IR Samples/ Acoustic Drums Samples
2. Gladiator. It’s epic.
3. L.A.
Figrro
on1. Snare and Kick Samples
2. Blade Runner because of the epicness and the mood is so perfect.
3. Lima, Peru
Serj
on1. Splice lofi packs, one shot drums of any genre, fx
2. Interstellar
3. new york
Rohan
on1.Drum kits and percussion samples
2.The Lord of the Rings trilogy
3.Vienna.
Jake
on1. Drum samples, mostly one shots of acoustic drums
2. Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (Hans Zimmer)
3. Gibraltar. Technically a city, it’s a place I want to visit, and I like the ocean. Always found it inspiring.
Jonas
on1. Foley-based percussive instruments and loops
2. Johann Johannssons score for Sicario
3. Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway
Avner
on1. Any vocals samples, they add a lot to the any project.
2. Star Wars
3. Tel Aviv, crazy mixture of Middle East and West tunes
KD
on1. Old 60/70s soul samples (could be drum breaks or whole samples)
2. Amazing Spiderman Man Soundtrack
3. London UK
Mike
on1. sample packs: Big Fish audio……. lops and instruments
2. Game of Thrones
3. Vancouver, Canada
Thomas S
on1. Percussion loops, one shot drums and FX
2. The Rock
3. New Orleans
Ignacio
on1.- ambient recordings // one shots files of drums for metal
2.- Interstellar / Lord of the rings
3.- Los Angeles
Sam C
on1. Well recorded, dry, ethnic instruments and found sound/field recordings
2. Vangelis’ work on the original Blade Runner is pretty hard to beat.
3. Istanbul, Turkey.
Sam C
onI neglected to say why I would choose Blade Runner: Quite simply, it’s the highest level of synergy between a film’s visual aesthetic and its soundtrack that I’ve ever seen.
Strawberry Mansion
on1. Vocal/RnB samples
2. Oppenheimer
3. Japan
Sam C
onI neglected to say why I would choose Blade Runner: Quite simply, it’s the highest level of synergy between a film’s visual aesthetic and its soundtrack that I’ve ever seen.
Denys
on1. Vocal and live instruments. And also I love foley and environmental sounds.
2. The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky. Because Clint Mansell, Kronos Quartet and Mogwai is incredible combination and they did incredible job. Hey, this is the first thing that comes to my mind after all these years, I think that says a lot!
3. Ukraine. Kyiv or Lviv. That would definitely be awesome.
Attila
onAnything orchestral
Hans Zimmer – The Da Vinci Code,obviously The Da Vinci Code,it’s just pure joy to listen.it make you sad and happy altogether.
Vienna just to attend on a Vienna Philharmonic show
Ulloo Drone
on1. I most often use vocal sample packs
2. Tommy (The Who)
3. New Orleans
Thomas Collison
onCongratulations and many thanks James!
1. World instruments and esoteric instruments
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s pure adventure!
3. Trømso, Norway
FEYET
on1. Afrobeats/Reggae
2. Conan the Barbarian – Basil Poledouris…
3. Pyramids of Giza
Moise
on1- Percussions / Gimmik guitar
2- Lord of the rings
3- Irlande
IVAN
on1 Vocals, good vocals and excellent vocals
2 Dune
3 Lisboa (Potugal)
sir isO
on1. I kinda used to like good soundfonts (I can rant about this, particularly when I use FL studio).
2. Randomly? Braveheart (seriously I don’t even remember). I would say Terminator 2 simply because I’ve watched it more than any other movie, but I didn’t really sit and “judge” movie scores and I haven’t watched movies in a long time.
3. I’m in Africa, I’d probably stay in Africa. We could use more metal though. I do like a rather large variety of music and have a bit of an affinity for some Persian music I guess. So, maybe Istanbul. Maybe France. Maybe Norway. Maybe China. Too difficult for me too prioritize that tbh.
Konstantin K
on1. Ethnic vocals, rare ethnic instrumets | Unusual or wierd industrial ambient, noise
2. Blade Runner | most of Ramin Djawadi music from “Person of Interest”
3. Kadykchan
Joshua Blackwood
on1. anything synthwave or retro.
2. Original Fantasia
3. Norway
Jay K
on1. Usually one-shots, fx and drones / background textures.
2. Hard to pick one, but LOTR trilogy OST is absolutely epic and immersive.
3. Somewhere in Japan.
Martin
on1. Native instruments komplette ultimate
2. Psycho
3. Berlin
Congratulations on the anniversary!
Vlaad T
on1. Field sounds
2. Blade Runner (Greek drama epic)
3. Kingston Jamaica
Dave
on1. I use a lot of drums as place holders until I program my own, or record a buddy on the kit. I also like found sounds (field recordings).
2. Joe Hisaishi’s “Princess Mononoke”
Max Steiner “Gone with the Wind’
John Williams “Jurassic Park”
My 3 favorite scores from my 3 favorite film composers.
3. New Orleans for sure, Followed by Tokyo, then Paris.
Bob8
on1. Drum samples, and my rec folder.
2. “Interstellar” and in a other kind “Natural born killer”
3. New Orleans
Nathan
on1. Here are 3 examples that I think would be cool:
Hi-Hat Loops that fit well with Pop & EDM (no trap!!) that are not too complex but groovy. Organic sounds that are not overly processed, so you can use them well as layers for your existing drums. Good Kicks, it’s so hard to find good kicks!!
2. Without a doubt Interstellar because of the gorgeous Organ
3. Cuba!
Adam
on1. Drum samples and breaks, lo-fi samples
2. Star Wars
3. Naples, Italy
Tobbe
on1. Drum samples. Preferably for Trigger 2. Iwantthatsound is pretty cool.
2. The Good, the bad and the Ugly
3. New Orleans
Dennis
on1. Orchestral Sample Packs
2. Interstellar
3. New York
ELZURIX
on1. Acoustic Drums Sample Packs – You can’t recreate shakers, realistic hi hats and crashes with synths, it’s only the sound you get with recordings
2. Dune, definitely, Hanz Zimmer is crazy with atmospheric soundscape like scores.
3. New York probably, many events happen there
Skillowski
on1. My own created drum pack and sounds
2 After I saw a documentary about the creation of the sounds for the film Star Wars, I was very impressed, and even now I think that it is definitely one of the best works that has ever been done for a film. Therefore, I think that Star Wars is definitely beyond competition.
3. New-York or LA
Tripp D Jemeyson
on1 industrial machines and hits
2 Apocalypse Now
3 Glasgow
aClub soul
on1.Guitar /Drum loop
2 When You Believe soundtrack
The Prince of Egypt movie ( It is a beautiful and impressive singing.)
3.England
Lou
on1. I want orchestral swells Ala Jamiroquai’s Virtual Insanity intro.
2. Conan the Barbarian– it transports me to another time and place, it’s an incredible soundtrack…
3. Kyoto, Japan. Otherworldly.
Alex
on1. Ethnic instruments / Guitars
2. Batman (from 1989)
3. Los Angeles
Tony
on1. I like funky, break and ethnic drum loops, but I also like saxophones that I can twist and reverse somehow.
2. Una Mattina – Ludovico Einaudi (Quasi Amici / The Intouchables)
3. Athens (Greece)
Carl
on1. Drum n bass/trap/drill samples. Plenty around, but plenty are missing
2. The Matrix. Groundbreaking and under rated soundtrack.
3. Vatican City
Quetzal
on1. Strange + organic sounds
2. Lord of the Rings
3. New York
tbow
on1. Vocal samples and loops
2. Lord of the Rings
3. Indonesia
David
on1. Vocal samples as I am an EDM producer with no vocal talent of my own
2. Jurassic Park as it is truly epic and I love dinosaurs.
3. Miami as who wouldn’t want a dance festival in the sun, also I’ve been a lot of locations but never been to America
Stan
on1. Loops of guitars, drum kits.
2. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. A very epic and inspiring soundtrack.
3. Havana.
PHOO3Y
onCongrats on your 500th post for BPB.
1. I like sample packs that are focused around top artists within a specify genre, that includes drum sounds/loops, midi files and most importantly, synth presets. I find re-creating songs fun and very educational.
2. My first thoughts are Star Wars soundtracks as they used to light me up with excitement, but the movies no longer appeal. That leaves James Bond and Lord of the Rings soundtracks fighting for my first choice, and a quick toss of a coin concludes my choice is James Bond.
3. Belgium, to attend Tomorrowland
Jens
on1. Tea towel drums. Vintage Ludwig drum kit recorded bone dry with loads of damping on the heads, Ringo Starr style.
2. Yojimbo soundtrack by Masaru Satoh. I could have picked any number of Japanese movie composers from the 60s on, but this one stands out because its boldness becomes inseparable from the main character.
3. Reykjavik.
Angie
on1. boom bap drums
2. the good, the bad and the ugly
3. new york city
Vik
on1. None
2. Fountain or Stalker. The musical part immerses you in the atmosphere.
3. Saint-Petersburg
Osidas
on1. Foley, Field Recordings
2. Vangelis’ Blade Runner Score
3. Vienna
sadam
on1. Drums and percs. “THE RIGHT KICK” is always the thing. Percs are also needed to make the rhythm live and move. It is always hard to find the perfect fitting samples.
2. Interstellar. With repetition, it made tremendous amount of tension and suspense.
3. NYC. The vibe of the city is awesome.
Rob
on1. Sounds in HD drum packs. Or a LucasArts Foley sfx sound pack.
2. Charlie and rhe Chocolate Factory Soundtrack.
3. Some old time saloon and learn from rhe players there and take in all the experience of being there.
Davias
on1. Drum Samples – I’d like to use Vengeance packs or something alike in order to have good drums for heavy genres
2. Either Mystic Quest or Nier Automata soundtracks, they really really are epic. Older I could mention Saint Seiya or Final Fantasy series.
3. Some cities of Asia, where you have neon lights at night and you can make some noise at night while having cheap booze
Michael
on1. Vocal Samples
2. Terminator
3. Budapest
diwahar
on1. authentic drum samples , weird drum samples , ambience
2. Dune ( mostly everthing by hans zimmer)
3. India
Black
on1. Vocals/Sound design
2. Star War
3. Thailand
Michael Curry
onSamples-Scary horror film type piano/synth echo reverb samples, real drum one shots, hi-hats, snares, kicks for metal, cello, violin melodies.
soundtrack- The Red Violin, because I really enjoy Violin. John Corigliano did a fantastic job on that score.
City- Rome, Italy
au child
on1 . piano and guitar melodies
2 . Blade 2
3 .Saudi Arabia
Al
on1. Drums and ‘unusual’ Percussion
2. Inception – Hans Zimmer. Especially ‘Dream is Collapsing’
3. Austin Texas
Estav Riz
onThank you guys!
My answers for the giveaway:
1. Orchestral one-hits, EDM synth and midi packs, Soft vocal choir and phrases.
2. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).
3. Berlin.
Peter
on1. I’m pretty new to the game so right now I’m pretty open to all kinds of Plugins, especially looking (cinematic) instruments
2. I think Hans Zimmer always does an amazing job scoring films, same with John Williams and the Star Wars Movies.
3. Venice or (totally different world) Nashville
Gyuri
on1. SFX
2. Chariots of Fire
3. Istanbul
Johnny Yesno
on1. all sound effects from Doom 64 and Quake 64
2. The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. Yello. enough said
3. Encinitas CA
Ivan Mattheus
on1.Well, I like packages in the style of slow and calm music, like Lo-Fi, but something orchestral or maybe something stronger, maybe something more in nature.
2.Lord of the Rings
3. Vienna, I had no idea which city it was, but it caught my attention because of its past.
And I would like to thank you and Tomislav very much, for the newsletters, I don’t remember how I found BPB, but I know that without it I wouldn’t have this dozen of plugins and many more that sometimes I even forget exist, thank you very much, always the most grateful emails in my inbox!
Mike
on1. anything that I’m not able to record myself in my bedroom studio, whether it’s brass because I can’t play any of those instruments, to orchestras, to a kick-ass street busker playing the bagpipes
2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I played that vinyl record over and over. The combination of analog synth sounds with thrilling orchestra is unique. Plus there was a disco version.
3. Kingston, Jamaica. The expansive experiments that developed in the ska, reggae, dub, and dancehall studios was amazing.
Jacques SS
on1- EDM. Techno. Alternative Rock. Hip Hop.
Mainly drum loops. Exotic percussions. Ethnic instruments. SFX.
2-Star Wars
3.Saint Tropez, France
richei
on1. sample packs chock full of dub reggae, delta blues guitar, didgeridoo & sitar one shots and combos, and Tuareg music their rhythms (percussion) and guitar
2. gladiator: because of Lisa Gerrard’s angelic voice and Hans Zimmer’s excellent pacing
3. wherever the Tuareg are
Clarrie Macklin
on1. I mainly use studio drum sample packs, especially packs with decent cymbals, snares, and kicks I can use to beef up my drum recordings
2. The Hans Zimmer score for Dune. As well as being a big Dune fan, this was the first movie score I heard with an Atmos sound system. God damn it was epic. The soundtrack for the original Dune by Toto is pretty lit too, I have to say.
3. London! Honestly, I’m from a small city in New Zealand and while the scene here is great, it’s pretty limited. There’s just no comparison to big cities in Europe where there’s something happening every night and sub-cultures of all genres popping up
Adrian
onCongratulations on reaching such a significant milestone, James!
As for your questions:
Sample Packs: I’m a big fan of sample packs that focus on organic instruments, particularly strings and woodwinds. They add a layer of depth and authenticity to digital compositions. Genre-wise, I’d love to see more packs dedicated to Lo-Fi and Chillhop. These genres have been gaining traction, and quality samples can make a big difference.
Epic Soundtrack/Score: The first movie that comes to mind is “Inception”. Hans Zimmer’s score for that film is nothing short of iconic. The way the music builds tension and emotion is unparalleled, and it plays a significant role in the storytelling. The use of the “Shepard tone” to create an auditory illusion of a never-ending ascent is genius.
Musically Inspiring City: I would choose Vienna, Austria. Known as the “City of Music,” Vienna has a rich musical history that includes composers like Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. The city’s classical architecture and vibrant cultural scene would undoubtedly provide endless inspiration.
Scott
on1. Vocal packs, drum packs, bass packs
2. Shawshank Redemption for its creativity and absolute capturing of the mood of the movie.
3. Nashville
Gresh
on1. Usually oneshot drums and synths. I use them in electronic music and techno-metal.
2. Star Wars. Big, bombastic orchestras with clear emotions, and songs that are remembered by pretty much everyone.
3. San Francisco. Love me some thrash.
Michael Anthony Noel
on1. Piano Samples. I’m crazy for them. Always on the lookout.
2. Vince Guiraldi’s supreme Autumnal Score to The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. My favorite movie of all time. The Great Pumpkin Waltz is my favorite song of all time.
3. Any sincere Pumpkin Patch will do.
Thank you for asking.
And you?
Philip
on1. (Sample packs) City scape sounds
2. (Epic soundtrack) Empire Strikes Back
3. (Place to go) Seville, Spain
PATRIC
on1) I love dark drones samples and urban metallic sounds percussion.
2) The film “Inception” drones and orchestra strings stand out to me. Excellent driving power and emotion to the film.
3) Paris in nighttime!
Jankomponist
on1. Hans Zimmer Drums
2. Hans Zimmer – Leaving Wallbrook-On the Road – from Rain Man. For me this theme is about escaping and freedom
3. Los Angeles
Luca
on1 Classic Drum Breakbeats
2 Gladiator
3 London
Chris
on1. Drum samples or soul samples for chopping up
2. Star Wars
3. Greenland
Тимур
on1. Natural Instruments, Drum Sample library, VST.
2. Luck
3. Abhazia.
DIYFuzz
on1. Sound design, drum samples, phrases played by an orchestra
2. The Matrix (I just think that Don Davis perfectly blends minimalism with avant-garde to create a creepy but still epic soundtrack for the first movie)
3. London
MusicBy Ian
on1) Drum Samples of Live Drums
2) Dune
3) Buenos Aires
chulang
on1# HipHop loops
2# Matrix
3# Spain (Cádiz)
Artur
on1. Hip-hop drum samples
2. ET – beautiful soundtracks gives all needed to creates the beauti atmosphere of this movie
3. Lhasa (Tibet) to get inspired in meditation music
Leo
on1. Vocals.
2. Star wars
2. Vancouver
Marcelo Gonçalves
on1. Vocals or Cinematic Percussion (taikos etc)
2. Star Wars, John Williams
3. Venice (Vivaldi, you know)
JLB
on1. DnB breaks including new Amen style breaks
2. Bladerunner
3. Berlin
da
on1. Drum Breaks || Atmospheric pads
2. Ennio Morricone the good, the bad and the ugly and C’era Una Volta Il West
3. London
da
on1. Atmospheric pads
2. Bladerunner
3. icelenad