Indie Rock is a genre of Alternative Rock that originated in the 1980s. Fusing the sound of the Rock bands of the 70’s and commercial pop sounds has been a mainstay since the start.
With the resurgence of the Gallagher brothers, the rising popularity of the gritty Royal Blood and cinematic thumping of Imagine Dragons, having an extensive collection of stellar Indie Rock drums has never been more critical than it is today.
This article aims to explore the greatest drum sounds on the market today for crafting Indie Rock. Whether you need loops, multi-track sessions, one-shots or software sampler patches, there’s a pack in this article waiting for you.
Top 3 Indie Rock Drum Kits
Below is a short list of the indie rock drum samples we talk about in this article. Scroll down for more details or click for audio demos.
1. Modern Samples – Analog Snares
Analog Snares from Modern Samples is a collection of high-quality snare drum samples, recorded and mixed with analog gear. This pack provides 11 different snare drums, recorded in 3 different locations using a combination of microphone techniques. Each snare has been mixed and layered to provide a ton of color, texture and variation to your productions.
In total, Analog Snares is a collection of 440 samples separated into 7 different folders. The division of each folder depends upon the levels of processing utilized. These folders are clean, dirty, game over, layered, punch and click, rimshots and textures.
The clean folder samples comprise of top and bottom mic blends, with light processing. Perfect for the more natural sounding end of the Indie Rock spectrum.
The dirty folder samples were recorded using a vintage Neumann U67 mono overhead, processed with aggression through analog pre-amps and compression. The grit of dirty makes these samples perfect for blending in with your QOTSA styled bands. Aggressive, but nothing too extreme.
If you’re looking for that Royal Blood angle, the game over folder is the folder you want. Game over is a collection of samples comprising of different mic blends, drum machine blends, and processing. Game over in name and nature.
The layered folder will appeal to those making Indie Rock on the Pop spectrum. Think The Killers and Fun, and you’re in the layered folder. A blend of live samples and drum machines to give you the perfect, commercial snare sound.
Alike the layered folder, there is also a textures folder. If you’re happy with your snare sound, but just want a little more feel, this folder is ideal. A combination of room mics, overheads, tambourines, drum machines and processing to add a wonderful, floating layer to your snares.
There’s also a punch and click folder and a rimshots folder. These folders are ideal for blending transient heavy sounds to a wimpy sounding snare. The variety of tone in this collection makes Analog Snares the perfect sample pack for beefing up your Indie Rock snare drums. Drag, drop and add some serious attitude and style to your tracks.
2. Loopmasters – Cinematic Indie Rock Vol 2
Loopmasters’s Cinematic Indie Rock Vol 2 is the real deal for creating blistering Indie Rock with one pack. 10 inspiring song kits featuring drums, bass, guitars, keys and synths, allowing any songwriter or producer to create an Indie Rock smash with ease.
As you will have noticed so far, this article revolves specifically indie “drum” samples, and as such drums will be the focus of the discussion for this pack. Though the other sounds in this pack are great, we won’t be covering them in this article.
Cinematic Indie Rock Vol 2 finishes what Vol 1 started. Expanding upon Indie Rock’s vast soundscape to bring you the Shoegaze sound that has recently seen its popularity spike again. If you’re looking for punchy, Indie Rock drums that wouldn’t sound amiss with The Verve, Radiohead and Brian Jonestown Massacre, Indie Rock Vol 2 is the pack you’re looking for.
This indie drum kit contains 10 construction kits, to aid with songwriting inspiration. Ideal for the Indie Rock songwriter and producer who is stuck in a writing rut. As well as the construction kit there are 61 drum loops, 8 cymbal loops, 30 drum fills and 11 percussion loops, as well as one-shots and software sampler patches.
The drum loops are REX2 format and thus easy to edit to your track’s needs. There are also many musical stabs included in the collection. These musical stabs are marvelous for blending in with kicks and snares to add harmonic impact. This pack is ideal for the producer and songwriter looking for the whole Cinematic Indie Rock experience in one package.
3. Drum Drops – Indie Rock Drops
Indie Rock Drops from Drum Drops is a terrific collection of well-recorded live drum loops. These drum loops have been recorded using the best drummers, the best vintage microphones, and the best vintage analog equipment. This supreme combination ensures that you are presented with some of the best sounding Indie Rock drum grooves available today.
If you’re working with music that drifts between Pop, Rock, and Indie, you really ought to look no further than this collection when crafting your next hit’s drums!
This collection of acoustic drum loops includes 17 different rhythms, recorded at tempos between 64 and 172 beats per minute. Each loop has been captured multiple times, with subtle variations between each loop, adding instant realism. These subtle changes make sequencing a song out of drum loops a piece of cake.
The 17 different grooves are split into a total of 144 drum loops. Each of the 144 drum loops is REX2 formatted, so if there’s a groove you love, but need to alter the tempo or slice and sequence, it’s a doddle. The loops vary from the dry Indie Rock sounds of the early 00’s, to the high tuned drums of 80’s Indie Rock and even Mumford & Sons influenced Americana sounding drums. A great package for any producer looking for analog sounding Indie Rock drum loops.
It’s Indie Rock and Roll To Me
I hope you enjoyed your stay! Throughout this article, you’ve ducked and dived between loops, one-shots, software samplers and multi-track loops.
We’ve covered Indie Rock sub-styles from the likes of The White Stripes, The Hives, The Vines, The Strokes and more. I implore you to spend time browsing through each of the manufacturer’s sites, playing the samples available on the page to allow you to get to grips with what’s on offer.
Imagine the Indie Rock drum sound that you desire. Think about the drum samples that you’re missing. Do you lack high quality snare sample variations? There’s a pack above that can help with that. Are you looking at feeding a Beatles groove and sound into your productions? There’s a pack for that, too. Trust your ears and find your new best friends for Indie Rock.