Sampling allows you to take inspiration from a variety of sources and we want to help you take advantage of that. We’ve compiled this guide to show you how to find and sample audio from public domain films, to add that unique flavour to your tracks.
What is the public domain?
Simply put, the public domain refers to any creative works with no exclusive copyright or intellectual property rights attached to them. This includes works that were created before copyright existed, with expired copyright or works specifically created for the public domain. Anyone can sample audio from these works within their own work.
How to find public domain films
Luckily, the task of finding films that are in the public domain is made easy by Wikipedia, which has a full list of public domain films on one of its pages. The majority of these films will be available in their entirety on YouTube, making it easy to watch them and find what you’re looking for. Watch Mirek Stiles, head of audio products at Abbey Road Studios give an example in the video below.
How to sample audio using OMNIBUS
From here, you can sample the audio that you want directly to your DAW using our audio routing software OMNIBUS. Visit our article on sampling with OMNIBUS for more information.
