Ableton Liveschool and Studios 301 have been busy recording classic drum machines again. This time they’ve taken the 1982 LinnDrum and processed it through a powered by Neve mixing console – and in case you missed the headline, they’re giving away all of the samples (including an Ableton Drum Rack version) for free!

Read on for some details on the recording process and equipment, or jump below to download the free drum samples & Ableton Live Drum Rack.

The LinnDrum

The 1982 LinnDrum Drum Machine became an instant classic upon it’s release, not only because of it’s awesome sound, but also it was the first Drum Machine to use recorded samples from an acoustic drum kit , rather than synthesized drums. At the time, this made it the drum machine for anyone that found the sounds of machines like the Roland TR-909 and TR-808 to be too unrealistic and synthetic…but wait up…that’s not to say the LinnDrum isn’t great for electronic music – it’s a go-to staple for classic punchy sounds that have been used by producer’s across all electronic genres, with Daft Punk noticeably using the kicks and snares throughout much of their Discovery album.

The Neve Console

The LinnDrum was recorded through a Powered by Neve Custom Series 75 console – a $70,000 pro mixing desk which includes the best parts from Neve’s famous 1073 Mic-Pre, 1081 EQ and 2254 compressors respectively. Once the samples were all recorded, they were then overdriven into a channel of the Neve to induce analog distortion. Both the distorted and non-distorted samples are included in the download, plus the Ableton Live Drum Rack has a macro control to easily mix between dry (non-distorted) and wet (distorted) for each drum sound.

All of the samples were recorded in Studio 6 at Studios 301, which is also where much of Liveschool’s Mixing & Mastering course happens.

The Downloads

Included in the download is both the Ableton Live Drum Rack (picture above – it makes the samples a breeze to work with), as well as the raw samples in WAV format for those of you not using Ableton Live.

Help yourself a download of the >>>(Free) LinnDrum samples & Drum Rack here<<<, happy music making!

Like free drum samples? Check out Liveschool & Studios 301’s samples of the Roland TR-808 recorded through a $30,000 compressor here