MS-20 mini Drums: 483 Free Analogue Drum Samples by Wave Alchemy
Raw Korg MS-20 percussion, analogue-processed drums and sampler-ready kits in a substantial free collection.
MS-20 mini Drums by Wave Alchemy is a free collection of drum and percussion sounds created entirely with the legendary Korg MS-20 mini synthesizer.
Instead of sampling another vintage drum machine, Wave Alchemy used analogue synthesis to design kicks, snares, cymbals, percussion, toms and congas from scratch.
The collection provides 483 samples in total, combining processed analogue sounds with raw recordings directly from the MS-20 mini.
483 Analogue Drum and Percussion Samples
MS-20 mini Drums is divided into two complementary collections.
The first contains 268 processed drum and percussion hits. These sounds were individually shaped using high-end analogue outboard equipment to give them additional weight, character and colour.
A second collection provides 215 raw 24-bit samples captured directly from the MS-20 mini, giving producers cleaner source material for their own processing chains.
This combination makes the pack equally useful for producers who want production-ready drums and sound designers who prefer starting with relatively untreated analogue material.
Synthesized From a Korg MS-20 mini
The MS-20 is famous for its aggressive filters, flexible patching and raw analogue character. Wave Alchemy uses those characteristics here to turn the synthesizer into a complete percussion sound source.
The library covers:
- Kick drums
- Snares
- Closed and open hi-hats
- Ride and crash-style cymbals
- Rim shots
- Blocks and claves
- Cowbells and percussion
- Toms
- Congas
The result is a versatile collection suited to House, Techno, Electro, Synthwave, Hip-Hop and other styles where synthetic drums can bring more personality than conventional acoustic samples.
Processed Sounds and Raw Samples
Having both processed and raw versions is one of the strongest aspects of the collection.
The processed folder provides sounds that can quickly be dropped into an arrangement, while the raw MS-20 recordings are ideal for distortion, saturation, compression, transient shaping, layering and more experimental processing.
For producers building their own drum racks, the raw section also provides useful analogue source material that can be shaped differently for each production.
Ready-to-Play Drum Kits Included
Wave Alchemy also provides eight pre-mapped drum kits to make the collection faster to use inside popular software samplers.
Mappings are supplied for:
- Native Instruments Battery
- Steinberg HALion
- Native Instruments Kontakt
- Reason NN-XT
- SFZ-compatible samplers
You can therefore browse the individual samples manually or start immediately with one of the supplied kits and customize it for your production.
Learn How to Synthesize Your Own Drums
Wave Alchemy has also created a complete tutorial series showing how analogue drum sounds can be synthesized using the MS-20.
The five-part series covers the creation of kick drums, snares, cymbals, toms and congas. This adds genuine educational value to the download, especially for producers interested in understanding drum synthesis rather than simply collecting more samples.
MS-20 mini Drums at a Glance
Developer: Wave Alchemy
Sound source: Korg MS-20 mini
Processed samples: 268
Raw samples: 215
Total: 483 samples
Raw sample resolution: 24-bit
Included sounds: Kicks, snares, cymbals, percussion, toms and congas
Sampler mappings: Battery, HALion, Kontakt, NN-XT and SFZ
Included kits: 8
License: Royalty-free for commercial music productions
Price: Free
100% Royalty-Free
Wave Alchemy states that its free sample packs can be used royalty-free in original commercial music productions.
This means the sounds can be incorporated into released tracks without additional royalty payments. As usual with sample libraries, the original samples cannot simply be redistributed or repackaged as another standalone sound library.
Download MS-20 mini Drums for Free
The complete collection is available directly from Wave Alchemy.
Final Thoughts
MS-20 mini Drums is far more interesting than another folder of familiar drum-machine samples. Wave Alchemy turns the MS-20 mini into an analogue percussion synthesizer and provides both polished sounds and raw material for further experimentation. With 483 samples, ready-to-play sampler mappings and an excellent accompanying tutorial series, this free collection remains a valuable addition to any producer’s drum library.
