8-Bit Drum Kits



The audio demo above only uses drum kits from this pack. No MIDI patterns are included, and no games were sampled.

8-Bit Drum Kits

$29.95
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8-Bit Drum Kits is an extensive collection of authentic sample drum kits, designed to replicate the iconic 8-bit drum sounds of classic video game soundtracks. This pack includes a wide range of 8-bit kicks, snares, hi-hats, toms, cymbals, and percussion, making it ideal for creating chiptune, 8-bit music, or retro-inspired tracks.

The drum samples focus on the classic triangle wave and noise combination, a technique used on the original console sound chip to emulate real drums. Some kits are inspired by the drum sounds from well-known retro games, while others are custom-designed kits with the same sonic qualities.

This pack contains:

  • 94 8-Bit Drum Kits (72 Main Kits + 22 Bonus Alternate Kits)
  • 1504 8-Bit Drum Samples (Kick, Snare, Hihat, Tom, Cymbal, Shaker & Percussion)
  • 94 Drum Kit Patches for Native Instruments Maschine, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Battery, Kontakt, MPC Software, Logic Pro EXS24/Sampler, and TAL-Sampler
  • 24-bit, 44.1 kHz WAV files
  • 90 MB

For the sister drum kit pack, check out: 8-Bit Drum Kits 2

Get the bundle with both drum kit products here: 8-Bit Drum Kits Bundle



The audio demo above only uses drum kits from this pack. No MIDI patterns are included, and no games were sampled.

The kits in this pack replicate one of the key techniques used by sound designers to emulate acoustic drums on the original sound chip. By combining a triangle wave (for the tonal component) with noise (for the transient and high-frequency elements), designers created drum sounds that closely mimicked the character of real acoustic drums. Typically, a short triangle wave was pitch-bent downward—by a couple of semitones for kicks and snares, and by as much as an octave for toms—while noise added texture and a fading tail with decreasing volume steps. This method became more prevalent in later games as designers grew more adept with the chip's capabilities.

All drum kits in this pack share a consistent drum mapping. Each kit includes at least two kick drums, three snare drums, four toms, closed and open hi-hats, one crash cymbal, and other sounds, forming a complete 16-sample drum kit. The Ableton Live kits follow the General MIDI drum mapping to match Ableton's other drum instruments, while kits for other formats adhere to the standard "finger drumming" layout used by 16-pad interfaces.

Several primary drum kits in the collection come with one or more bonus alternate kits. These alternates feature similar kick and snare sounds but vary in their toms, cymbals, and other elements. Kits and their alternates are labeled with "A", "B", etc.

Drum kit formatting provided by Uppercussion.

Instrument Patches:

  • 94 8-Bit Drum Kit Patches

Sample List:

  • 274 Kick Drums
  • 411 Snare Drums
  • 290 Closed & Open Hihats
  • 378 Toms
  • 102 Crash Cymbals
  • 16 Ride Cymbals
  • 20 Shakers
  • 13 Percussion

Instrument Formats & Required Software:

  • Maschine Expansion Pack (.mxsnd), Maschine 2+
  • Ableton Live Pack (.adv), Live 9+
  • FL Studio FPC Patches (.fst), FL Studio 20+
  • MPC Expansion Pack (.xpn), MPC Software or MPC Beats
  • Battery Kit Patches (.kt3 & .nbkt), Battery 3+
  • Kontakt Library (Kontakt Instruments, .nki), Kontakt 4+
  • EXS24/Sampler Instrument Patches (.exs), Logic Pro 9+
  • TAL Instrument Patches (.talsmpl), TAL Sampler 3+
  • Single WAV files (.wav), usable in any DAW or audio software

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