Frequently Asked Questions

Drum loops are short, seamless audio recordings of drumming—typically between one and four bars—that are intended for repeated playback. Drum loops allow songwriters, DJs, and even live artists to use a drum pattern repeatedly, with the intention of simulating the live performance of a drummer. Loops also allow songwriters to build realistic drum tracks without a drum machine.

Initially, drum loops were often sampled from popular, commercial recordings, selecting “drums only” passages that could be isolated and reused in other musical compositions. Countless albums from the 60s, 70s, and 80s were scoured looking for such grooves. Famous examples include the “Amen Break” (which many consider the most sampled drum break ever) but other famous and heavily-used grooves by artists like Billy Squier (see “The Big Break” which has been sampled and found in songs by Jay-Z in “99 Problems”, A Tribe Called Quest in “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down”, “Girl on Fire” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and countless others), James Brown (“Funky Drummer”), Led Zeppelin (“When The Levee Breaks“), among countless others.

In short, drum loops provided songwriters countless ways to include previously-recorded drum tracks in new compositions as context, tempo, and pitch could all be altered and manipulated to taste. Besides commercial music as a source for drum breaks, drum recordings expressly intended for use as “drum loops” rose in popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s with product lines released by Sony (intended for use in Sony’s flagship loop DAW Sony ACID), Big Fish Audio, and Beta Monkey Music.

While drum loops remain the most popular type of loop given their transient, rhythmic, and non-melodic character, loops may contain melodic or rhythmic material. It’s not uncommon to find guitar, keyboard, or bass loops. But, due to inherent challenges found in melodic loops – namely musical keys and the sustaining nature of these instruments – drum loops are far more common. As a percussion instrument, drums have neither a defined musical note nor considerable sustain and, as such, are ideal for looping.

These small sections of repeated audio (the ‘loop’) are not to be confused with one-shot samples, however, as samples are not intended for repeated playback/performance but rather used as one single musical expression (although a sample can be repeated individually in the form of a musical expression composed of individual samples). Although the terms “loop” and “sample” are used interchangeably by many, we consider “samples” as single one-shot sounds and “loops” as seamless, repeated musical figures.

You don’t need to choose—we include ALL formats (WAV, Apple Loops, and REX2) with every purchase. WAV works in 99% of software (Pro Tools, Cubase, Ableton). Apple Loops are for Logic/GarageBand. REX2 is for Reason/Stylus RMX.

Sometimes it can be confusing to know which loop format is best. While many competitors charge you extra for different formats, we make it simple: You get everything. Whether you are on a Mac using Logic or a PC using Cubase, your download includes the correct files.

• WAV (ACIDized): The industry standard. Works in Pro Tools, Cubase, Studio One, Ableton, and nearly all others.

• Apple Loops (AIFF): Enhanced for Logic Pro and GarageBand with metadata for the Loop Browser.

• REX2: Sliced loops for Propellerhead Reason and Stylus RMX.

Yes. Beta Monkey loops are 100% royalty-free. You can use them in any commercial or private musical composition forever without paying us another cent.

There are no royalties to pay ever. You can use these loops in albums, YouTube videos, TV adverts, or film scores. The only thing you cannot do is re-sell the raw files themselves (e.g., “The Beta Monkey Collection”) or trade them on torrent sites.

Beta Monkey Music will always remain the sole copyright holder and owner of the drum loops, samples, and sounds – our license grants you the use of our work in your own recorded works, for home or commercial use with no royalty obligation to us whatsoever. We have caught people reselling our loops – not nice. Don’t do it.

Think of how you might feel if someone broke into your house and stole your guitar, bass, or keyboard. That is essentially what you are doing to us – drummers who sweat our nuts off so you can have some powerful grooves to write with – when you post our drums on various torrent sites or try to pawn them off on ebay after you have made copies for yourself (we catch folks pulling this routine quite often, sadly, but the vast majority of musicians out there do the right thing).

Think of it this way: You are buying a license to use the drummer in your band. You own your song; we own the recording of the our drums.

Respect the grooves. Respect our license. Respect music.

And go make some hits.

We provide demo audio for all products on individual product pages and also have a featured music page that demos all of our loops and samples. You’ll likely hear something in these demos that will match the sounds in your head. Product descriptions also indicate the appropriate musical styles for which our various sample libraries are best-suited.

So, have a listen and we’re confident you’ll find the sound, groove, or style you’re after. But, if neither is specific enough for your demands, feel free to write anytime to run questions like this by us. We’ll do our best to see if we can find a match.

Yes. Most of our libraries are “Single Session,” meaning they share the exact same drum kit, room, and mix. And, many of these recording sessions produced multiple libraries. Which means you can mix loops from multiple libraries and they will sound like one continuous performance. Please visit the Beta Monkey Drum Loop Compatibility Page resource to see which sample libraries may be used together (and more recording information such as studio locations and other relevant details.

The problem with many competitor libraries is that every folder sounds like a different drum kit, recorded by a different drummer in a different room with a different mix.  You know exactly what we’re talking about.

We pioneered the “Single Session” approach in 2002, an approach that has been copied by many other loop and sample companies ever since. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, our libraries are recorded in massive sessions, giving you thousands of compatible loops. This allows you to build a verse from one disc and a chorus from another without any jarring sonic changes.

This is an indexing issue. To fix it, simply drag the folder of Apple Loops directly onto the “Loop Browser” window in Logic or GarageBand. This forces the software to re-index the files.

One of the most common questions we get! GarageBand sometimes needs a “nudge” to see new files. By dragging the folder onto the browser, you tell the software, “Hey, look here!” Once indexed, they will appear permanently in your library search.

Both are accepted. You can check out quickly as a guest, but we highly recommend creating an account. An account gives you lifetime access to your order history for immediate re-downloads.

We allow guest checkout because we know sometimes you just want to grab your sounds and go. However, think about the future: Hard drives crash and computers get replaced.

• If you have an account: You simply log in, go to your dashboard, and re-download your loops instantly. It takes 30 seconds.

• If you check out as a guest: You have to email us, wait for us to search our records (which is harder if you’ve changed emails!), and manually regenerate your links.

We are always happy to help you either way, but creating an account puts the power in your hands and saves you time when disaster strikes.

All orders are instant digital downloads. You will receive a secure download link via email immediately after purchase, available 24/7.

As of 2018, we no longer ship physical CDs. This allows you to get your sounds instantly without waiting for shipping. You can download them immediately and start writing your next track in minutes.

Because these are digital downloads, we cannot offer cash refunds. However, we offer a “No Questions Asked” exchange policy. If a library doesn’t fit your needs, you can exchange it for any other product within 30 days.

We want you to be happy with your drums. If you bought a metal pack and realized you actually needed blues, just let us know. We will swap it out for you immediately. Your satisfaction is the most important thing to us.

No. We act as your ultimate backup. If you lose your hard drive, just email us with your order details, and we will re-issue your download links for free.

Again, unlike many of our competitors who up-sell you with additional charges, we do not charge you again to replace lost files (whatever the cause may be). We’ve even seen our competitors charge for “insurance” should you ever need to replace lost or damaged loops. We think such charges are petty and insulting, if not a little shady and disreputable.

We are always here for you and if you have purchased loops from Beta Monkey in the past, we will always be here for you to replace them. We recently just replaced a customers loops that he ordered in 2006! Sure, it took a little longer than usual to check out his order in the archives but, once we found proof of order, we issued download links immediately. Needless to say, the customer was thrilled to get back and running with his Beta Monkey loops.

You will always have us as the ultimate backup to re-issue download links should you need them next week or ten years from now. Just contact support, and we’ll get you back up and running.

If for any reason your download links are not received via email immediately after purchase, please check your spam or junk email folder as the automated download link emails will occasionally arrive there.

If not found there, please contact us and we will resolve the issue quickly and painlessly.

Please remember our downloadable drum loop packs are quite large (ranging anywhere from 400 MB to 1.2 GB). A good internet connection with plenty of bandwidth is recommended.

And, don’t forget, if you’re ordering multiple loop sets, you’re likely looking at several GB of data. So, please anticipate the time involved when ordering.

On average, customers are able to download loop sets (500-700 MB) in a minute or two tops. Your speeds obviously may vary, but that is typical.

It is not recommended that you try to download your purchases to your phone. With today’s download speeds, it’ll probably work but we wouldn’t recommend it.

We rely on word-of-mouth rather than expensive marketing. Instead, we spend to record in the same world-class studios as the big guys. By cutting out the fluff and hype, we pass the savings directly to you.

What to know more? Here are two answers, the short and the long, with the long one first.

You want to know why we charge less than everyone else? Because we think they charge too much. We have bought our fair share of loop libraries for $50 and up. Some were good, some were OK, and some were flat-out useless. But, in every case, we always felt the price tag was just way too stiff. Now, many will say, “Oh, but these are license-free loops!” or “It takes a lot of money to book studio time, buy equipment, and produce CDs.” And, sadly many people will buy it.

We didn’t.

And we still don’t.

We offer our sample libraries, which pound for pound put other commercial releases to shame, at FAIR prices. We’ve found through experience that people truly appreciate rock solid, no-nonsense, 100% acoustic drum grooves and fills at the prices we offer them for. Proof enough is the amount of repeat business we do.

Unlike most of the others out there, we aren’t out for the quick “one hit” purchase. We have over forty releases now and plan to release even more. We want you back. And, we can only do that if you feel you got what you paid for (and we prefer you feel you got MORE than what you paid for). “But, you get what you pay for!” is what some will counter. Well, this is true with a lot of things in life (like cheap microphones or cheap instruments), but we can assure you it’s not true with Beta Monkey. Plus, for our prices, you can actually try us out and still not be out a bundle. Think you would take the same risks with a $100+ sample library? Not nearly as likely.

The bottom line is our price is a major selling point. If we felt like screwing people, we would charge $49.99 like everyone else. We don’t. We won’t. We can’t. It’s just not what we believe in. But, hey, if you want to spend more and get less, email us. We know of more than a few places who will gladly stiff you for more and deliver a tiny sample pack packed with even stiffer loops. Or, better yet, some sample companies will over-inflate their prices and every weekend have a 90% off sale (Originally $4,999.00USD but only $39.99 this week!) Ridiculous.

But, what about that short answer we mentioned?

We’re just not greedy like our competitors. We want to offer great products at a price ALL musicians can afford, from working pro musicians with an unlimited spending budget to the project studio artists with more limited means. We know – we have been both.

100% Real Acoustic Drums. We do not use MIDI, V-Drums, or programmed beats. Every loop is played by a professional session drummer on a high-end kit in a real studio.

If you want MIDI patterns recorded on V-Drums, go to the competition. A Roland V-Drum kit will never be found at Beta Monkey. We believe the nuance, air, and “grease” of a real drummer hitting real skins cannot be replicated by a computer. We capture the sound of the room, the bleed of the mics, and the energy of a human being.

No. We leave the human feel intact. We do not use “Beat Detective” to lock every hit to a grid. If you want drums that sound like a machine, these aren’t for you.

The competition is cranking out lifeless, robotic loops that have been snapped to a grid until all the soul is gone. We don’t do that. Our drummers have impeccable time, but they also have “pocket.” We leave the human factor in because that is what makes music feel good. If you have no soul, use a drum machine. If you want music that breathes, use Beta Monkey. 

We’ll leave the locked-to-the-grid drum machine parts to the other loop and sample sellers out there. They know who they are!

We’d like to think we produce some of the best-sounding drum loop and sample products anywhere. And, what we have always attempted to achieve was a wide variety of professional grade drum recordings at the same studios where some of our favorite albums have been recorded.

This means we have been to some of the best drum rooms in the US. Whether it’s in New York City, Nashville, Los Angeles, or San Francisco (and a bunch of places in-between), we go to the great rooms to get the great sounds.

So, while the competition is putting out the same over-processed, over-compressed, sample-replaced schlock that is coming from the same room year after year, we can offer you the beautiful variety of the top studios in the nation (more session recording details here).

And, while recording in your backyard garage might be cool for some things, we prefer to go to the rooms that have produced platinum-selling records. While we might be wrong, but there just might be some difference between The Record Plant in Sausalito, CA and some Pro Tools rig you have in your backyard tool shed.

It’s just part of what we do to give you better-sounding drums, ones that are unique and distinct from anything else you’ll find anywhere. There’s no shortcut to great sounding drums and sometimes you have to go to the studios that can deliver the sounds you want. That’s what we do and enthusiastically bring to you on each and every Beta Monkey release.

We get asked this all the time and our answer is always the same: We can’t say. Just know, you are in very good musical company. Platinum-level company.

Well, we could tell you of course, but that’s just not part of our ethos or style. We’ve never believed in the whole name-dropping approach.

What we have done for all of our drum loop products is seek out the best players for the genre. Through various connections, both personal and professional, we have been fortunate enough to get some amazing players, players who have been on countless platinum albums, toured the world’s venues, and celebrated in the music press. Put simply, some of the best players you could imagine.

While we’d love sometimes to share with you all who is playing behind you as you write your latest song with Beta Monkey loops, we can’t.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, then we don’t think you will ever get it.

But, one simple way to remedy this would be to email us. Get to know us, ask questions, see who and what you’re dealing with. That will probably distinguish us from the competition even more than the quality of our grooves.

So, if you’re still reading this page, we think it’s time for you to hear for yourself – head over to our drum loop download shop and start hearing for yourself what our drums can do for your music.