2019 FROM MARS

Get Everything we Sampled This Year

2019 From Mars is a collection of everything we've sampled this year - it's a collection of our most recent and best sounding sample packs. From super rare drum machines like the Bohm and MPC1, to sculpting custom drum hits on a Jupiter 4 synthesizer and sampling our 909 through the SP, we were able to add a nice collection of analog drums that the library was missing. We also finally got our hands on an amazing Oberheim synth (our cleanest synth sampling to date), and re-sampled the Lindrum (our first product ever) from scratch. 

The Dr Bohm From Mars

The Dr Bohm Digital Drums is a 13 bit, EPROM based drum machine produced in 1982 - '83. It features 25 different (you guessed it!) digital drum samples that pass through an excellent sounding filter. The sounds can be punched into the Bohm's "humanized" internal sequencer, which is groovy beyond belief and makes the Bohm capable of more complex and dynamic drum patterns than other machines of its time (note: the vinyl used here is for demonstration purposes only and is not included in the pack): 

What You Get

In total, the Dr Bohm From Mars will give you 160 Dr Bohm loops, 55 one-shot samples, and 40 midi grooves. The loops include factory, custom, fills, and stripped patterns from the Dr. Bohm, while one-hits have been sampled from both the Dr Bohm and Mini Bohm. You can read more here.

 

The OB From Mars

The OB-SX is an all-analog, six voice poly synth from the early 80s, whose sound lies somewhere between the more well known OBX and OBXa. A transitionary model between the two synths, the SX captures the funk of the OBXa and the grain and aggression of the OBX, while somehow sounding a bit different than both. For this reason, it seemed the perfect synth to sample for the OB From Mars. 

Oberheims are some of the most organic, punchy, and "pro" sounding synths out there. They excel at everything from pads, strings, trumpets and organs, to bass, leads and crazy FX. We sampled factory and custom patches, grabbing everything from plastic chords, to silky strings, smokey pads, organs, clav, trumpet and rhodes sounds, rubbery basses, vintage leads, evolving FX and more. 

The OB From Mars includes 42 multi-sampled OB-SX patches, 23 of which are factory presets and the remaining are custom, Samples From Mars presets. It was our most popular pack this year. Read in depth about the OB From Mars here. 

The MPC1 From Mars

The MPC1 is a rare drum synth and sequencer developed in 1982 by MPC Electronics, sporting big, yellow pads and a vintage, brown panel filled with analog controls:

In contrast to Akai's more famous line of digital MPC samplers, this MPC is a short-lived, 100% analog drum synthesizer that sounds something like an 808 crossed with a 606 and a Simmons. 

 

The MPC1 From Mars was multi-sampled at different parameter settings, both cleanly through our API console, and with a plethora of outboard processing. A full Ableton rack allows control of the MPC1's parameters, and clean or color versions, and 10 16x Hit kits have been carefully chosen and mapped out in your favorite drum samplers, to get started easily with this lesser known, vintage analog drum synth. Read more about the process here. 

Jupiter Drums From Mars

To embark further on our analog drum journey in 2019, we created Jupiter Drums From Mars - a collection of raw, analog drum hits synthesized from scratch using the Jupiter 4 synthesizer, and captured cleanly through an API 1608 console with no processing or layering whatsoever. 

Using a combination of self-resonance, filtering, noise, and creative use of ADSRs, chorus, VCA overdrive, audio rate LFOs and more, we were able to use one of the most powerful synthesizers of all time to create almost drum machine-like sounds. The CR78, 808, and 909 come to mind immediately, but with so many more controls (a full synthesizer!) we could create all types of sounds in between: 

After a thorough multi-sampling of the Jupiter, everything was extensively organized into 16x Hit kits and anything that didn't fit was discarded. You'll get: Roland Bass Drums, Analog Snares, Cutting Claps, White Noise Hats, Cosmic Toms, Crashes, Percussion, Maracas, and Wonky FX. Fully analog white noise snaps, zaps and pops, sub bass kicks, distorted bells, whistles, lasers and more.

Read more about Jupiter Drums here. 

The 909 Sampled into the SP1200

The 909 is one of SFM's most popular drum packs, and we wanted a way to have an alternate sounding, stand alone 909 pack - something that took the 909 into 12 bit territory - and what better than my favorite sampler - the SP1200. 

The SP is one of the only samplers that can actually make what you put into it sound better - or at least, different, in a way that may suit your production better. There's something magical about analog drums hitting those gritty converters, getting aliased by pitching, and finally covered in analog warmth again by smooth Curtis filters: 

There's a reason the 909 has been sampled so many times - it sounds organic and alive, and its iconic sounds have defined dance music for decades. But the 909 on its own can require a lot of processing, and sound a bit too familiar for many of us. Sampling into the SP, the 909 assumes a grimier character that requires less processing, and, thanks to the strangest tuning algorithm I've ever hard, suddenly becomes capable of more left-field 909 sounds. 

The end result is an extensive sample pack of what a 909 sounds like at every possible pitch in an SP1200. Read more about it here. 

The Lindrum Update

The Lindrum is a classic 80s drum machine known for its unique crunch, saturated acoustic drum hits, warm filters, and unbeatable groove. 

It was also our first product, and it told the story of this company in a lot of ways. But, being an old product, it was in need of a major update.

After 6 years of sampling, our team has gotten so much better at our job -  not just gear, but listening, processing, sorting, racking, you name it. The Lindrum was a chance to prove how much better we'd gotten at sampling - but we included the old version too, because of its inimitable charm. 

2019 - A Recap

2019 was an excellent year for Samples From Mars - we were able to add a nice collection of analog drums to the library, plus an amazing and obscure early digital drum machine, we released our most popular synth pack to date, and we re-built the product that started it all for Samples From Mars from scratch. So if you want to hear our most recent and best sounding work, this is the bundle to grab!