The style of Hip-Hop we refer to as “Boom Bap” was built on digging in the crates and sampling old, dusty records. This process is what gives Boom Bap its distinctive sound. But 30 years after its heyday, is it possible to recreate the authentic essence of Boom Bap using today’s technology—without risking the wrath of copyright lawyers? In this post, we’ll explore some powerful techniques that prove it’s definitely possible

The Dusty Crate Sound

From the drums to the melodic elements, Boom Bap Hip-Hop is rooted in the music of the past—most notably, but not exclusively, funk, soul, and jazz recordings. The use of samples in hip-hop dates back to the 1970s when pioneering DJs like Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash would loop the breakbeat sections of funk and soul records to energize the crowds at early hip-hop jams.

As sampling technology became more affordable in the 1990s, producers had the power to take these classic breaks—the foundation of hip-hop—and craft entirely new beats. A digging culture re-emerged, with producers hunting for the hardest drum breaks and the dopest musical elements to sample. While funk and soul remained the backbone, as the 90s progressed producers increasingly explored other genres such as rock, exotica, and library music to find fresh sounds.

The samples producers sought generally fell into two main categories: drums and melodic samples. In this post, we’ll investigate both areas. Can modern technology and recording techniques truly capture the essence of the classic 90s Boom Bap sound?

First, let’s dig into the drums—because if your Boom Bap drums don’t hit hard, you’re going to struggle.

Boom Bap Drums

Boom Bap drums typically come in two main styles: looped and programmed.

Looped drums traditionally require a rolling, funky drum section lifted from an old vinyl record. Since Boom Bap beats generally sit in the 80-100 BPM range, producers would seek out drum breaks that naturally fit within this tempo.

Programmed drums, on the other hand, have become synonymous with Boom Bap production. This approach involves chopping individual kick, snare, and hi-hat sounds from old records and assigning them to drum pads, allowing producers to create entirely new rhythms. These one-shot samples are carefully trimmed and layered to form custom drum kits, giving producers full control over their groove.

Now, let’s explore some methods for creating Boom Bap-style drums that hit hard while remaining legally watertight.

Sampled Virtual Drum Kits

A fantastic way to recreate Boom Bap drum sounds using modern music tech is through virtual sampled drum kits. These tools offer the realism of a real drum kit, all within the confines of your DAW. They work by mapping multi-sampled drum sounds—kick, snare, hi-hats, toms, etc.—that have been recorded at various velocities, producing an organic and dynamic feel when played.

The key to nailing the Boom Bap sound with virtual drums is to choose vintage drum kits—classic drum kits from the 60s and 70s that have been carefully multi-sampled. Look for old kits from Vox, Ludwig, and Gretsch for that raw, organic feel.

But can virtual drum kits really capture the grit that defines Boom Bap? The short answer: yes—but heavy processing is key. Since processing plays a crucial role in achieving that dusty, vintage character, I’ll dive into that later in this guide.

While virtual drum kits are great for programmed one-shot styles, they truly shine when applied to the looped drum approach. You can program funky drum loops inspired by classic breakbeats, or even use tools like Ableton’s “Drum-to-MIDI” feature to extract MIDI data from a favorite drum break and apply it to a virtual kit.

Here’s a selection of great-sounding virtual drum software and kits featuring vintage drums that are perfect for crafting heavy-hitting Boom Bap beats:

• XLN Audio – Addicitve Drums 2
• Toontrack -Superior Drummer 3
• Drum Drops Vintage Folk Rock Kit
• Teletone Soulfi
• Native Instruments – Abbey Road vintage drum collection

Royalty Free Samples

Another fantastic way to get authentic Boom Bap drums is by using royalty-free sample packs. Whether you’re after phat drum loops or raw, punchy one-shots, there’s an endless selection of sample packs available. Searching sample libraries with terms like vintage drums is a good starting point, and for one-shot drums, try using Boom Bap as a search tag.

To get you started, here are three excellent sample packs loaded with gritty, hard-hitting Boom Bap drums:

J Zone Original Drum Breaks and Kits

Naptown Drum Breaks

Dr Rubberfunk: Drums of Joy Vol 1

Emani – Creative Breaks

Barrys Ultimate Fakes and Beats

Melodic Elements

So we have you covered on drums, but what about the melodic elements? This can be a slightly trickier challenge because it requires the right sounds, instruments, and compositional style. There is no clear-cut definition of what makes a great Boom Bap sample. Like the music it borrows from, it is wildly varied in nature. One Boom Bap beat could feature smooth jazzy loops, while another may chop up dark, dramatic stabs. The variation is too great to cover in this piece, but there are some universal themes.

The musical elements should have a vintage sound. Generally, Boom Bap samples come from the 60s or 70s. They also need to convey a strong vibe. It’s hard to define, but you are looking for melodic elements that carry weight. This can be anything from super groovy chords to menacing strings, deep emotive piano to spacey sci-fi synths. The beauty of Boom Bap is its wide scope of melodic inspiration.

Now, let’s explore some contemporary solutions to create a killer, crate-dug-style sample for your Boom Bap beats.

Virtual Instruments

Modern DAWs, along with advancements in sampling and modelling, have made it possible to recreate almost any instrument with an impressive level of realism. Many of the instruments found on old records are now available at the touch of a button. Boom Bap staples like the Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, and Hammond Organ can be loaded in seconds. Even brass and orchestral instruments, when programmed well, can sound indistinguishable from the real thing.

However, all of this power is only useful if you can harness it effectively. If you are musically trained and have some skill on the keys, this will certainly help. But if not, there’s no need to worry—many tools and techniques can assist you. The most important thing is a keen ear and an understanding of what makes a great Boom Bap melodic sample. Studying the work of producers like Pete Rock, DJ Premier, Alchemist, and J Dilla, as well as the original music they sampled, will give you a solid grounding.

The key to successful sample composition is to be inspired by the types of dusty grooves that were being sampled, breaking down the instrumentation and analyzing the sound of those records. Let these observations guide your compositions.

When starting out, first stick to simple arrangements using just a handful of instruments. A good Rhodes and Bass guitar formed the backbone of many classic Tribe Called Quest beats so maybe start with just these two elements.

Then, as you grow in confidence and experience, you can experiment with more sophisticated compositions and additional instrumentation. Remember, in hip-hop, it’s often about getting a solid loop or some chops in place—you’re not composing an entire song, just recreating the type of melodic elements that would have been sampled in a classic Boom Bap track.

Let’s look at a few techniques to get you composing:

• Jamming and Chopping: If you have some keyboard skills, load up a great VST sound and just start jamming with no expectations. Record your session and play it back. If there are some tasty moments, sample them directly into a sampler. The more pieces you collect, the better. Now that you’ve turned your jam into samples, trigger them over Boom Bap drums and see what happens. This is a favourite technique of producer Jonwayne.
• Audio to Midi Conversion: If you’re not confident on the keys, this is a great technique. MIDI conversion allows you to feed in an audio recording, and the software will convert it into MIDI notes. This works best when the source audio isn’t too complex. (uses stem extraction to remove non-melodic elements i.e drums) A good approach is to combine this with the previous method—use MIDI extraction on a jam session, then refine the notes. This technique isn’t perfect, and you’ll likely need to remove some incorrect notes, but it can be a powerful tool.
• MIDI Creation Tools and MIDI packs: If you want to take the hard work out of composition, MIDI packs are a great option. Many royalty-free sample kits include MIDI files that let you add your own sounds and customize them. You can also use software that generates chord progressions and melodies automatically. Tools like Captain Chords, Scaler 2, and ChordJam can create musical ideas in a range of styles.

Live Instrumentation

You just have to look at a group like The Roots to know that live instrumentation can easily replace the need for old samples. If you play an instrument such as a guitar why not try to recreate some original sample material and use this as a basis to construct melodic content.

Or if you have friends that are musicians then tempt them round to your studio with some cake and biscuits. Play some killer old grooves to inspire them and see where that takes them. Once they are in the zone record a jam session. You can then plunder this recording at your leisure for tasty sample nuggets to chop up and repurpose over some beats.

And if neither you nor your friends play instruments, don’t worry—there’s another option. You can hire musicians remotely through platforms like Fiverr or Upwork, or use musician-specific services like SoundBetter and AirGigs. Once you have found an instrumentalist that fits your budget and needs, send them a killer old sample that you would like interpellated as a reference track. You can ask them to replicate it closely or use it as inspiration for something fresh. This is a great hack, as you get something brand new and original in the style and instrumentation of a golden sample nugget.

AI solutions

With rapid advancements in AI technology, there is now an exciting new way to create original samples. Platforms like Udio and Suno can generate vintage-style sounds in seconds. Simply type in a prompt—for example, “deep emotive 60s soul in a minor key at 90 BPM”—and let the AI do the rest.

AI-generated music is hit or miss, much like digging through a crate of random records at a flea market. Some results will be great, others will be duds. The advantage is that you can generate an endless number of samples until something hits the spot. Many AI platforms also allow you to edit your results or even export stems for greater control.

This is a whole new frontier for music creation. A few years ago, this technology would have seemed like science fiction. However, because AI-generated content is still new, there are legal gray areas regarding its copyright status. While some streaming platforms, like Deezer, are moving to limit AI-generated content, using AI as a source for sample material in beats should remain unaffected for now.

Royalty Free Sample Loops

One of the simplest alternatives to sampling old vinyl records is using royalty-free loops. The world of royalty-free samples is massive, with every niche style covered. When searching for Boom Bap-style samples, look for those created with an old-school, vintage aesthetic. Research sample companies and composers that specialize in this type of material.

While mainstream sites like Splice, LANDR, and of course RouteNote Create have plenty of options, some platforms specialize in a more authentic, crate-dug sound. DrumBroker and WhoSampled Crates are two excellent sources for raw, vintage-sounding samples that feel just like their vinyl counterparts.

Hybrid Combinations

The best approach is often a combination of techniques. For example, you could record live guitar chords and then send them to an online musician for an accompaniment using different instrumentation. Or start with a Fiverr session and build upon it using VST instruments. Another option is to use a tool like Scaler 2 to generate a chord progression and then feed it into Udio or Suno for AI variations.

There are endless possibilities, much like the variety of sounds used in Boom Bap itself. There’s no single right way to create these melodic elements—it’s up to you to experiment with these methods and develop your own unique approach to crafting Boom Bap bangers.

Processing

We mentioned processing briefly, but this is truly the other half of the puzzle. You need to take your musical ideas and drums and firmly root them in the sound of yesteryear. Recording technology in the ’60s and ’70s was vastly different from today. Everything was recorded to tape through analog circuitry, often using vacuum tubes, which gave recordings a warm, saturated feel. Fortunately, modern DAWs provide ways to emulate the classic recording and processing equipment of the past. Below is a list of processing techniques you should consider applying to both your melodic and drum tracks.

• Tape Saturation:Tape saturation is arguably the most crucial type of processing. Every track should go through some form of tape saturation emulation to recreate the warm, slightly compressed sound of analog recordings.
• EQ: Recordings from the ’60s and ’70s typically lacked the full-frequency response of modern digital recordings. To replicate this, roll off the extreme high end as well as the sub frequencies. Tools like FabFilter’s Pro-Q 2 offer an EQ matching feature—feed it a reference track from a vintage recording, and it will analyze and generate a custom EQ curve to help achieve an aged sound. This technique is particularly effective on drums.
• Vintage Compression: Compression plays a key role in gluing together various elements and controlling overall dynamics. It also enhances the punch and tightness of drums. Seek out emulations of classic compressors such as the Teletronix LA-2A, Fairchild 670, and Urei 1176 to capture that vintage warmth.
• Distortion: A slight amount of distortion can remove the pristine quality of digital recordings. However, unless you’re going for an intentionally gritty sound (as with electric guitar or Clavinet), use distortion subtly—just enough to take off the digital sheen.
• Guitar Amp Simulators: Guitar amp and speaker cabinet emulations can further shape your sound, providing a similar effect to distortion and saturation. Software like Guitar Rig by Native Instruments allows you to browse through various amp models and presets until you catch the right vibe.
• Spring Reverb: Reverb helps to place your music in a space, and nothing sounds quite as raw and authentically aged as spring reverb. It works particularly well on snare drums, guitars, and organs but can be used on other elements as well.
• Plate Reverb: Plate reverb, another staple of the era, has a smoother sound with a metallic sheen. It’s suitable for most signals and can be combined with a touch of spring reverb for the best of both vintage worlds.
• Tape Echo: We can’t mention reverb with out delay or echo. And during the era of the dusty break most delay devices were tape based such as the iconic Roland Space Echo series. Tape echo creates an organic and deteriorating delay effect where no one repeat sounds like the last. This is of course perfect for giving your digital tracks an organic twist.
• Vintage guitar effects: Here’s where you can really get wild and add unique character to your melodic elements. The joy of creating your own samples is you can really go to town making tones that are interested and original. Adding effects such as wha-wha, chorus, filters, phasers, ring modulation, tremelo and flangers can really give your boom bap beats the eff X Factor.
• Vinyl Wobble effect: Now I may sound slightly controversial on this particular type of processing as it has become synonymous in recent years, especially in lo-fi music. It is often the go-to effect to add an old vintage vinyl feel. The only problem is unless you happened to have a faulty record player the samples that were used in old boom bap records didn’t have any noticeable wobble! This seems to have grown more as a modern trend, an aesthetic and trademark of the influence of lofi music. Thats not to say I wouldn’t suggest using it. A subtle amount applied to each instrument track—just enough to be imperceptible—can help remove the clinical perfection of digital recordings and create the illusion of aged, tape-worn instruments.
• Vinyl texture: Another classic technique that gets used a lot in vintage emulated music is to layer vinyl static and crackle over tracks. This certainly has its place BUT there are a couple of things you MUST avoid. Firstly, never apply reverb to the static…Just don’t! And secondly, only apply one track of vinyl static texture to your beat. Don’t be tempted to stack a layer of vinyl texture on each channel. This will create a build-up of static, crackles and pops. Before you know it your boom-bap beat will sound like a soundtrack to a marathon Rice Crispies eating session. One nice layer of vinyl texture is just enough to give your production an authentic crate-dug veneer.

The Importance of Aggressive Processing

While some producers advocate for subtle processing, Boom Bap requires a more aggressive approach—especially when it comes to saturation. Digital recordings are inherently clean and precise, so to achieve the illusion of age, don’t be afraid to push the processing harder than you might with other genres. Apply noticeable amounts of saturation and color to really embed your tracks in the vintage aesthetic.

By carefully selecting and applying these processing techniques, you can transform sterile digital recordings into warm, organic, and truly nostalgic Boom Bap masterpieces.

Summary

Hopefully, this post has inspired you to step away from the bargain record bins and experiment with creating your own authentic-sounding boom-bap samples and production. It is certainly a challenge but like most things, the more you experiment and have fun with it, the easier it will become. Besides, overcoming challenges and pioneering new sounds and styles is hugely rewarding.

By stepping away from uncleared samples you put yourself at a unique advantage in the beat-selling arena. While the majority of your competing boom bap beats will include problematic samples you can offer a clean conscience free of any potential sticky situations.

So give it a go. Get dirty and bring the essence of the boom-bap past to the tools of the present.

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