In X2 there are over 100 loops and 25 one shots of claps. I imagine most if not all the loops came from the Beatscape library included in X1.

Jlien X

pianodano
Hand claps only sound convincing when you record two or three people several times and ...

This is exactly what Native Instruments did for their Studio/Abbey Road Drummer libraries and they did it in a VERY expensive studio using a VERY expensive microphone. But I wonder why the resulted claps in most of the kits included sound rather weak... 

if you're listening to them in isolation, could that be some pre-processing so they sit in the mix better? (me i just recorded my hands)

lawp

Jlien X

pianodano
Hand claps only sound convincing when you record two or three people several times and ...

This is exactly what Native Instruments did for their Studio/Abbey Road Drummer libraries and they did it in a VERY expensive studio using a VERY expensive microphone. But I wonder why the resulted claps in most of the kits included sound rather weak... 

if you're listening to them in isolation, could that be some pre-processing so they sit in the mix better? (me i just recorded my hands)

That's possible. Or maybe their hands are very small...

i like the idea of tiny hands clapping

the claps and stacks sample pack from wave alchemy is, as with all their offerings, truly stellar, and quite affordable. worth a look.

mattplaysguitar
Hands.

DOH!!!

Anderton

konradh
Thanks, Matt, but setting up the mic and room and recording claps throughout a song every time is not very practical or flexible.  I would like a sample for the same reason people here want samples of snares and kicks.
 
Anyone have an idea?

Seriously...record a bunch of hand claps, and create your own samples. I found that sampled handclaps never really gave me what I want, so I just ended up recording samples I liked. The other advantage of recording your own samples is you can get exactly what you want. For example, try recording five tracks of claps, mixed them together, then crop the mixed track to create four clap samples. Assign them to percussion pads, and then you can get some variety compared to just having a clap sample. If you want to get heavy-duty, record several more and assign them to a sampler with velocity-switching so you can choose different claps by how hard you hit the key. It will take you maybe an hour to do your clap samples, and then you'll have them for whenever you want them.
 

Yup, the best clap results come from doing it yourself.  It really doesn't take that long and the results are better (IMO) than using sampled ones.  Personally, I like them to be panned apart and a little on the sloppy side.  Here's an example of 5 or 6 claps panned around and compressed/EQ'ed together:
 
https://soundcloud.com/cryophonik/fever-feat-aliciya-angel-radio

My method is to set up a mic (one or two) in the chosen room. Set to record a loop of a number of bars (sometimes an odd number). Clap at a fixed position for each recording of the loop - move (not too far) at the end of loop to a new position and keep clapping. Then change position each time.
 
Maybe I'm wrong but it seems to give a variety of sounds from different parts of the room. Repeat for many iterations of the loop until I have the desired numbers of clappers. By pasting odd numbers of bars in my blocks for 4 and 8 bars music the different claps appear at different parts of the music - especially for repetitive type music.
 
Just seems to give a bit more variety. I suppose it depends on how tight you want it.

Craig's answer is dead on.

How's this for old school. One of my few and only experiences with tape years ago was on a song that included hand clap sections. 3 of us stood around a microphone and clapped on que while the tape rolled. It took a bit of practicing and a few runs at it until we all got sinc'd up in unison.

Many excellent ideas here, thanks.  I will try Craig's along with the others.
 
By the way, I stupidly forgot about Dim Pro and the one shots.