Toms in a production
Toms are the pitched drums between the snare and the kick. A kit usually has one or two rack toms above the kick drum and a floor tom on legs. In pop and rock they mostly play fills; in afrobeat, tribal house and film music they can carry the whole groove.
Because toms have a clear pitch, they react to the key of your track. Tune each one to a note of your scale and fills will sound intentional rather than random. Acoustic tom samples often include the resonance of the head, which rings into the next beat: shorten it with the amp envelope, or keep it for a big, open sound.
Acoustic or electronic
Recorded toms from free kits sound natural and dynamic and work best with velocity layers. Drum machine toms, from the 808’s soft boops to the punchy LinnDrum toms, are cleaner and easier to tune, which suits electronic music. Check each card’s verdict: drum machine samples shared in community banks vary in licence.