Hands Make Sounds is a free clap sample pack featuring 158 samples of handclaps and finger snaps.
The free download link is located at the end of this article.
Free Clap Samples
The sounds were recorded in six different indoor locations. The idea was to capture the natural reverb characteristics of different spaces. The result is a comprehensive and diverse collection of natural-sounding handmade percussion sounds.
I have many electronic clap sounds on my computer, but good-sounding natural claps are a bit harder to find. This free collection should remedy the situation, packing over 150 different real-life snaps and claps.
The Claps
I recorded the clap samples in six different rooms, from a tiny toilet to a large empty hallway. Although you’re free to add your own reverb to these sounds, of course, it’s often helpful to have percussion samples that already capture the natural reverb characteristics of different rooms.
Although sitting alone in a toilet and clapping into a microphone isn’t precisely the best way to spend a day, I’m delighted with how those samples turned out. The claps, which were recorded in the empty hallway in front of my apartment, also sound nice, and they work great when layered on top of classic 808 snares.
The Snaps
The snap samples are sorted into four different groups. The samples labeled “snap-close” were recorded from close range, with almost zero reverb. The ones labeled “snap-far” have been recorded in my living room from various distances.
Most of the snaps have been recorded with both hands at the same time to achieve that classic musical finger snap sound. I’ve tried to keep my hands apart as much as possible, which resulted in an excellent stereo separation in the majority of the sounds.
By the way, you should also check out our Rain And Thunder sound library if you’re looking for free thunderstorm sound effects. It features more than 600 MB of high-quality loops of rainfall and thunder strikes.
Technical Details
All samples have been normalized to -0.1 dB and carefully trimmed to avoid any pops or clicks. My advice is to use several similar claps or snap samples in a round-robin fashion to achieve more natural results.
You can also make some great-sounding fat claps if you layer several different clap samples and trigger them simultaneously.
The samples come in stereo 24-bit WAV format with a 44.1 kHz sampling rate. The library contains 158 individual samples.
You’ll find 96 clap samples and 62 finger snaps. SFZ and Kontakt 5 mappings included. After unpacking, the library will occupy 19.6 MB of space on your hard drive.
84 Comments
Nice, I am liking them!
I clicked on the black download button. That downloaded a .zip file. Whem I unzipped it I got a .rar file.What do I do with the .rar file.
You can extract the RAR archive with WinRAR or 7ZIP. Feel free to let me know if you need any further help!
Thank you very much for these samples.
I’ve downloaded and unpacked the samples but am clueless about how to open them in my Kontact 5 player or ESX 24. Any help with that?
Well, now I’m able to open them in the standalone Kontact Player but not from within Logic.
What happens when you try to load them in Logic?
I just right clicked on the Kontact file and chose Open In – Kontact 5 and it opened in the standalone. I’m not sure what to do from within Logic to get to it. I tried loading it from the library tab in Kontact (within Logic) but it wouldn’t recognize anything in the folder with the samples and mapping file to open.
Never mind. Got it! Cool bunch of samples-thanks~!
Ah, cool! Cheers! :)
Oh, you should use the file browser in Kontakt (when you load it in Logic) and load the provided NKI file. Let me know if that works!
Thanks for sounds, will be useful.
Hi! Does this work with kontakt player? i’m getting the demo message and your wonderful snaps are muting after a few minutes. The factory select samples I have from NI still work in the player, so I’m pretty sure it’s not a licensing issue with K itself. Thoughts?
Hi Jack, most Kontakt libraries will time out after 15 minutes in Kontakt Player. You need the full version of Kontakt to use these libraries without any limitation. You can always use a free sampler such as Shortcircuit 1 and import the WAV files from this pack into it.
Awesome, thanks!!
You’re welcome!
Just what I needed, thank-you so much
Greetings, these are some crisp claps and snaps. Dry and wet, that was clever, and I can stack them in fours and get a whole new clap that no one has heard before. :-) No back ground noise or anything, great work.
Ra Da N.O.C. Music producer NYC.
Thanks for the kind words, enjoy using the samples! :)
Thank you very mutch ;)