80s Synth Sample Pack

Thank you for expressing enough interest to open this document. For those unfamiliar, a sample pack is a collection of audio files sound producers use for purposes ranging from music making to video game accompaniment. This pack contains a collection of sounds I recorded, all of which emanate from a Korg M1 synthesizer.

All of these samples, loops, and stems have passed through an array of guitar pedals and/or DAWs before arriving in this pack, but they share emergence from the one synth. In the title of this pack, it says “80s Synth” instead of “Korg M1” to avoid potential issues with KORG Inc.

I rendered all of the files as WAVs at 44100 Hz and 16 bits. They all peak at about -6 dB, except for 2 of the “Song” files.

If you would like, you can see more about my practice at https://takashishallow.com/

File Types: Loop, Sample, Song, and Stem

Loop: These sounds can repeat seamlessly within an environment that manages loops, like a DAW.

Sample: Unlike loops, these sounds generally play through once. Their BPMs are not labeled, because they are not bound by tempo. Most of the samples in this pack are “Percussive” with the exception of one “Pad”. Percussive sounds emerge immediately as opposed to pad sounds which fade in.
Song: These files are complete songs. “Sample Pack Demo” presents strictly M1 sounds while the other 2 songs also feature an array of other sounds. “Sample Pack Demo” is a premaster, so it peaks at -6 dB. The other 2 songs are mastered, thus peaking closer to 0 dB.
“1988” is a song that could have been made in 1988 even though I recorded it in 2023. It utilizes the M1, which debuted during my birth year 1988, and FM synthesis which Yamaha patented during the 70s.
I produced “The Beat Wants You” with opera singer Jenne Carey who goes by Jenne C when she sings pop. The entire Jenne C project is a bit of an homage to the M1 because her pop name mimics Robin S whose hit “Show Me Love” famously features the M1. Carey and I were also fascinated by the relationship between opera and disco, as Donna Summer shares this transition.
Stem: These files gather layers from songs. All of the stems are present for “Sample Pack Demo”. For the other 2 songs, only their M1 layers are in this pack.