Every beat here is a set of files you download and keep. This page explains what each format is, who it is for, and which membership includes it.
The formats
MP3
320 kbps
The full beat as a 320 kbps stereo mix at 44.1kHz. The quickest way to drop a beat into a track, and small enough to send to a bandmate. Everything below is higher quality, but MP3 is the one that works everywhere.
WAV
Full length, 16 bit 44.1kHz
The whole beat as one uncompressed stereo WAV, inside a zip. CD quality, and the safe choice for most projects. If you are not sure which to take, take this one.
WAV
Full length, 24 bit
The same thing with more headroom, which matters if you are going to process the drums hard or sit them inside a busy mix. Most are 44.1kHz and a few of the newer ones are 96kHz. If your session runs at 24 bit, take this one.
LOOPS
16 bit 44.1kHz
Loops of one or more bars, meant to repeat for as long as you need them. Most are a single bar, plenty are two, a few are four, and the odd one runs to eight. A zip usually holds around forty, and some hold a couple of hundred: beats, variations and fills, each named for what it is, like closed hat beat, crash beat, short fill, open hat on the one. Drop them into your DAW and arrange the song however you want, rather than taking the beat as it was played.
LOOPS
24 bit
The same loops with the extra headroom, for the same reason as the 24 bit full length file.
STEMS
Multitrack zip
The multitrack: the individual microphones from the kit at 24 bit, so you can mix the drums yourself instead of taking my mix. Kick, snare, hi hat, overheads, toms and a room mic are the usual ones, though the exact set varies from beat to beat. Ride the kick, gate the toms, replace the snare, pull the room back. This is the one to take if you want the drums to sit in your mix rather than on top of it.
MIDI
Type 1 .mid
The performance as note data, with its tempo, so you can play it through your own drum sampler and keep the timing and the feel while using completely different sounds.
Not every beat has every format
These were recorded over a lot of years, and what exists for one beat is not always what exists for another. Most have MP3, WAV and loops. Stems exist for a smaller number of them. MIDI exists for only a few.
You never have to guess. Every beat page lists exactly what that beat includes, and shows at a glance which of those files your membership already covers.
What each membership includes
The levels build on each other, so a Full Membership includes everything an MP3 Membership includes.
- Free account. The files marked free on individual beats. A few beats offer a format free as a sample.
- MP3 Membership. Every MP3 on the site.
- Full Membership. Everything: WAV, loops, stems and MIDI, in every bit depth offered, on every beat that has them.