10 classic sample libraries that changed music

From jungle breaks to genre-defining club sounds, Computer Music celebrates some of the sample collections that shaped the 90s and beyond…

Despite being an essential staple for everyone from bedroom beatmakers to world-famous producers, sample libraries aren’t exactly considered high art.

This is something of a pity, because many of them have had a substantial impact on how contemporary music sounds, especially in the early days of affordable hardware samplers when soundware wasn’t so abundant.

Those old enough to remember making electronic music in the early 90s will recall that sample CDs cost upwards of £60 (a lot of money in those days, you whippersnapper!) and varied wildly in quality. Spend your budget on a dud and you’d have a much harder time making decent-sounding music. Pick the right one though, and you’d be rolling in inspirational (though often uncleared) sounds, making your hefty investment more than worthwhile.

As the world of music production has evolved, sample libraries are much less likely to feature copyright-infringing material, and are arguably less interesting as a result. In fact, many of the best and most popular libraries from the early days have been discontinued, which only goes to make them more mysterious and desirable.

That said, there are a number of soundware developers who continue to create innovative, gamechanging libraries. So, in tribute to these unsung heroes and as a celebration of this underappreciated artform, here are our pick of the 10 most influential sample libraries of all time…

01 ZERO-G DATAFILES 1-3

The Datafiles series was created by Zero-G founder Ed Stratton, who used sounds from his personal sample collection, many of which were likely taken from records.