From 48896b6f3b5a0721db254d8acc259941815168e3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Peter Eastman Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 08:38:31 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] Created README --- README.md | 170 +++++++ Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra/Readme.html | 544 ----------------------- 2 files changed, 170 insertions(+), 544 deletions(-) create mode 100644 README.md delete mode 100755 Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra/Readme.html diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab0b816 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,170 @@ +Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra +============================ + +Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra (SSO) is a free library of sampled orchestral instruments. The original version was +created by Mattias Westlund in 2011, and quickly earned a following for its excellent quality and wide selection of +instruments. This repository hosts the ongoing development of the library. Mattias is no longer directly involved +(although he has given his permission for continuing to develop it) and has not personally reviewed all of the changes. +In other words, don't email him with questions about it! + +[**Download SSO**](https://github.com/peastman/sso/releases) + +The instruments are packaged in SFZ format. They can be used with any compatible player, such as +[Linux Sampler](https://www.linuxsampler.org/), [Sforzando](https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando/), and +[ARIA Player](https://www.garritan.com/products/personal-orchestra-5/aria-player/). + +Instruments +----------- + +SSO includes the following instruments and articulations: + +**Strings** + +|Instrument|Articulations| +|----------|-------------| +|1st Violins|Sustain, Marcato, Staccato, Pizzicato, Tremolo| +|2nd Violins|Sustain, Marcato, Staccato, Pizzicato, Tremolo| +|Violas|Sustain, Marcato, Staccato, Pizzicato| +|Cellos|Sustain, Marcato, Staccato, Pizzicato| +|Basses|Sustain, Marcato, Staccato, Pizzicato| +|Solo Violin|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo Cello|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| + +**Brass** + +|Instrument|Articulations| +|----------|-------------| +|Trumpets|Sustain (looped, non-looped), Marcato (looped, non-looped), Staccato| +|French Horns|Sustain (looped, non-looped), Marcato (looped, non-looped), Staccato| +|Trombones|Sustain (looped, non-looped), Marcato (looped, non-looped), Staccato| +|Tuba|Sustain (looped, non-looped), Marcato (looped, non-looped), Staccato| +|Solo Trumpet|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo French Horn|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo Tenor Trombone|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo Bass Trombone|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| + +**Woodwinds** + +|Instrument|Articulations| +|----------|-------------| +|Flutes|Sustain (looped, non-looped), Marcato (looped, non-looped), Staccato| +|Oboes|Sustain (looped, non-looped)| +|Clarinets|Sustain (looped, non-looped)| +|Bassoons|Sustain (looped, non-looped)| +|Solo Piccolo|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo Flute|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo Alto Flute|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo Cor Anglais|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo Oboe|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo Clarinet|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo Bass Clarinet|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo Bassoon|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| +|Solo Contrabassoon|Sustain (non-looped, looped, decay)| + +**Pitched Percussion** + +|Instrument|Variations| +|----------|----------| +|Timpani|Right hand hits, Left hand hits, Rolls| +|Glockenspiel| - | +|Xylophone| - | +|Chimes| - | + +**Percussion** + +|Instrument|Variations| +|----------|----------| +|Bass Drum|Soft hit, Hard hit| +|Snare Drum|Left hand hit, Right hand hit, Roll| +|Cymbals|Hit, 4 Rolls| +|Conga|Muffled, Open, Slap| +|Bar Chimes|3 Variations| +|Tamtam|3 Variations| +|Triangle|Mute, Half-open, Open, Roll| +|Tambourine|Soft hit, Hard hit, Shake, Roll| +|Wood Blocks|High, Low| +|Cabasa|2 Variations| +|Shaker|3 Variations| +|Sleigh Bells|Soft hit, Hard hit| +|Castanets|2 Variations| +|Ratchet| - | +|Vibraslap| - | +|Bell Tree| - | + +**Miscellaneous** + +|Instrument|Articulations| +|----------|-------------| +|Grand Piano| - | +|Concert Harp| - | +|Chorus|Male (looped, non-looped), Female (looped, non-looped)| + +Instruments with multiple articulations are packaged in two ways. Use whichever one is more convenient for your +workflow. + +- As a separate SFZ instrument for each articulation. +- As a keyswitched instrument with all articulations in a single file. You can switch between articulations by pressing + keys outside the range of the instrument. + +Most solo instruments have three versions: + +- A non-looped version that simply plays each sample once. This gives the most natural sound, but sets a strict limit + on how long any note can be held. +- A looped version that can be held indefinitely, but sounds less natural than the non-looped version. +- A looped version that adds a gradual decay and gentle modulation. This tries to give a more natural sound than the + simple looped version, but still not place a strict limit on how long notes can be held. + +Marcato articulations use the mod wheel (MIDI control channel 1) to adjust the strength of the initial attack. This +lets you smoothly blend between a gentle sustain and a strong marcato. + +Technical Details +----------------- + +All samples are stereo, 16 bit, 44 kHz. Most instruments are sampled in minor 3rds. Staccato and pizzicato +articulations use 2x round robin. + +Most samples have only a small amount of reverb baked into them, so adding a realistic reverb is important for producing +a good overall sound. Given that the samples came from a variety of different sources, this is also important for +making them sound like a unified orchestra. + +License +------- + +SSO may be used and distributed under the terms of the +[Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 license](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/sampling+/1.0/). + +Mattias Westlund included the following statement with SSO 1.0 regarding the sources and licensing of the samples: + +> SSO was created from the following free/CC-licensed/public domain instrument samples: +> [The University of Iowa MIS](http://theremin.music.uiowa.edu/MIS.html), +> [MSLP](http://www.mediafire.com/?zqff4hkyeec22), +> [Philharmonia samples](http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/thesoundexchange/make_music/samples/library/), +> [OLPC project](http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Free_sound_samples), +> [The Complete K2000](http://www.sweetwater.com/k2000/sounds.html), +> [ldk1609 violin](http://www.freesound.org/usersViewSingle.php?id=692375), +> [stamperadam Kelon Xylophone](http://www.freesound.org/packsViewSingle.php?id=6168), +> [Corsica_S Cello Pizzicato](http://www.freesound.org/packsViewSingle.php?id=2680), +> [davidjwoll cymbal rolls](http://www.freesound.org/packsViewSingle.php?id=5577), +> [Satoration Castanets](http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=57299), +> Thores Triangle, Mystified timpani, Eddie's English Horn and a variety of classic soundfonts by Campbell Barton, +> [Nando Florestan](http://oui.com.br/n/download.php?list.2), and +> [Ethan Winer](http://www.ethanwiner.com/ewsf2.html). +> +> In the case of a few very old soundfonts I have no idea who the original authors were or what licensing might apply. +> But as these files have been modified by different people and included in countless GM banks and other soundfont +> compilations over the last decade, I'm assuming that they are to be considered public domain or at least free to use +> for sampling projects. +> +> I have done my very best to avoid samples of questionable legality, but as it is impossible for me to know the exact +> origin of everything (i.e. I have no way of knowing if a soundfont labeled as "public domain" isn't actually sampled +> from a proprietary source), I would appreciate if you let me know if you find anything fishy. + +Related Projects +---------------- + +SSO was the first high quality, free orchestral library. More recently, a few others have become available. Each one +has its own sound, so try them all out. + +- [Virtual Playing Orchestra](http://virtualplaying.com/virtual-playing-orchestra/) +- [Versilian Studios Chamber Orchestra Community Edition](http://vis.versilstudios.net/vsco-community.html) +- [No Budget Orchestra](https://nbo.libreorchestra.net/download/) diff --git a/Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra/Readme.html b/Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra/Readme.html deleted file mode 100755 index c584e0f..0000000 --- a/Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra/Readme.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,544 +0,0 @@ - - -Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra - - - -
-
-

-a creative commons-licensed -orchestral sample library
-download -| user -forum | mp3 demo
-
-
-about
-Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra is a free orchestral sample -library. While not as advanced or ambitious in scope as commercial -offerings, SSO contains all the basic building blocks for creating real -virtual orchestrations. It's primarily aimed at beginners, but also -more experienced composers looking for something lightweight and/or -portable might find it useful.
-
-format
-SSO comes in sfz -format, which is a powerful, open, non-monolithic -sample format. It consists of a plain text file with an sfz extension -that holds all sample playback parameters, and a set of sound -samples in wave format which are referenced by the sfz file. This means -that sfz files can be edited with any plain text editor, and the -samples can be edited with any audio editor that loads wave files.
-
-compatibility
-Many samplers allow you to -load sfz files, but few support all the format's features. SSO works -properly on Cakewalk -Dimension Pro/LE, -ARIA Engine, -and the free SFZ -Player. The library has also been tested on -Shorcircuit 1, -discoDSP HighLife and WusikStation 6, all of which appear to have very -poor sfz support and are not recommended.
-
-samples
-The SSO samples are stereo, 16 bit, 44kHz. Melodic instruments and -chromatic percussion are -sampled in minor 3rds. Staccato/pizzicato patches have 2x round-robin. -All samples have varying amounts of stage ambience, depending -on their front-to-back placement, but in addition to that a good hall -reverb is a must.
-
-licensing
-SSO is a free (as in speech, and beer) library released under the -Creative -Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 license.
-
-sections and instruments
-Below is the instrument selection in SSO 1.0. Samples -marked with an * are considered sub-par and will be -replaced in future revisions (if possible).
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
stringsarticulations
16 violins (1st)sustain, staccato, pizzicato
12 violins (2nd)sustain, staccato, pizzicato
11 violassustain*, pizzicato
10 cellisustain, staccato, pizzicato
8 bassessustain, staccato, pizzicato
1 concert harppluck
1 solo violinsustain
1 solo cellosustain*
brassarticulations
3 trumpetssustain, staccato
4 hornssustain, staccato
3 trombonessustain, staccato
1 tubasustain, staccato
1 solo trumpetsustain
1 solo hornsustain
1 solo tenor trombonesustain
1 solo bass trombonesustain
woodwindsarticulations
3 flutessustain, staccato
3 clarinetssustain
3 oboessustain
3 bassoonssustain
1 piccolo flutesustain*
1 solo flutesustain
1 solo alto flutesustain
1 solo clarinetsustain
1 solo bass clarinetsustain
1 solo oboesustain
1 solo cor anglaissustain
1 solo bassoonsustain
1 solo contrabassoonsustain
keysarticulations
grand piano-
chorusarticulations
male chorussustain
female chorussustain
chromatic -percussionarticulations
timpanileft hand/right hand hits, rolls
glockenspiel-
xylophone-
chimes-
percussionarticulations
bass drumsoft/hard hit
snare drumleft hand/right hand hits, roll
cymbals4 rolls, 1 hit
congamuffled, open, slap
bar chimes3 variations
tamtam3 variations
trianglemute, half-open, open, roll
tambourinesoft/hard hit, shake, roll
wood blockshigh, low
cabasa2 variations
shaker3 variations
sleigh bellssoft/hard hit
castanets2 variations
ratchet-
vibraslap-
bell tree-
-
-
-sources
-SSO was created from the following free/CC-licensed/public domain -instrument -samples: The -University of Iowa MIS, MSLP, -Philharmonia -samples, OLPC -project, The -Complete K2000, ldk1609 -violin, stamperadam -Kelon Xylophone, Corsica_S -Cello Pizzicato, davidjwoll -cymbal rolls, Satoration -Castanets, Thores Triangle, Mystified timpani, Eddie's -English Horn and a variety of classic soundfonts by Campbell Barton, Nando -Florestan and Ethan Winer.
-
-In the case of a few very old soundfonts I -have no idea who the original authors were or what licensing might -apply. But as these files have been modified by different people and -included in countless GM banks and other soundfont compilations over -the last decade, I'm assuming that they are to be considered public -domain or at least free to use for sampling projects.
-
-I have done my very best to avoid samples of questionable legality, but -as it is impossible for me to know the exact origin of everything (i.e. -I have no way of knowing if a soundfont labeled as "public domain" -isn't actually sampled from a proprietary source), I would appreciate -if you let me know if you find anything fishy.
-
-faq (fully anticipated questions)
-
-How -was the library created?
-
-As I don't have a real orchestra to sample, I settled for building -virtual sections from solo instruments. For this I used the sfz+ -soundfont player. Some sections were subtly layered with -synths (ZebraCM, Synth1) for added lushness. The sections were then -placed in an -artificial space using LiquidSonics -Reverberate and a scoring stage IR -from Samplicity's -Bricasti M7 library. The instrument ranges were -rendered at highest possible quality, split up into individual notes, -normalized and then mapped as sfz files. The programs used were Cockos -REAPER, Steinberg Wavelab 4, sfZed -and Metapad.
-
-Why -no chromatic multisamples?
-
-While it would certainly be possible to render and map all -sections -chromatically, it would mean a marginal increase in quality at the -price of a tripled file size. I simply didn't think it was worth it, as -any good sampler will be able to stretch a sample one semitone up and -down without any significant sound degradation. Also, many of the -instruments were not chromatically sampled to begin with.
-
-Why -no velocity layers/additional articulations?
-
-Very few free samples come in different velocities, and I deemed it -better to forego velocity -layers completely than to have it on a few sections and not the others. -As -for articulations, I have done what I could with the samples I had to -work with. Some section staccatos were possible to fake with truncated -sustain samples and some layering/doubling voodoo, others were not.
-
-Why -16 bit and not 24?
-
-First -of all, SSO has no ultra-soft velocity layers that might require a -lower noise floor so the benefits of distributing the samples as 24 -bits are debatable. Secondly, SFZ Player doesn't like 24 bit samples so -it's a question of compatibility as well. Having said that, all samples -were of course rendered and edited in 24 bits and if there's interest I -might release a 24 bit version later on.
-
-Why -loops on some sections and not others?
-
-Only sections that can sustain indefinitely have loops, i.e. -strings. Sustained brass and winds have a a set duration, just like in -reality.
-
-Why -are some solo samples so short?
-
-An -aesthetic choice, plain and simple. In my opinion, nothing ruins the -expressiveness and realism of a solo instrument more than a looped -vibrato. A short note with a natural decay is much preferable to a -looped one, even though it does limit the usefulness of the solo -instruments somewhat.
-
-Why -are some solo instruments missing?
-
-Because I have not been able to find any samples of good enough quality -in the free realm.
-
-What -about different sample formats?
-
-Other formats (e.g. Kontakt, Gigastudio) might be made available later -on, provided that someone offers to convert/test/tweak -everything, as I have no way of doing this myself.
-
-contributing
-If -you would like to contribute to this project, there are several things -you could do. 1) Make sure to report any bugs you may find so that they -can be fixed. 2) Http mirrors of the download would be very -welcome, so that's something to consider if you have web space and -bandwidth to spare. 3) If you make any cool custom patches, please -submit them! 4) More demos for showcasing the library are needed, so if -you compose something nice with SSO I'd love to hear it. 5)
-
-If -you have any samples that you think would be a good addition to the -project, please bear in mind that I can only accept material released -under a compatible license, i.e. free for -reuse/modification/distribution. So, "I found these files on the net" -isn't going to cut it. I will need some hard facts on where the samples -are from and how they may be used.
-
-bug reports and feedback
-If you want to report bugs, ask questions or simply discuss -the project in general, please join the SSO User Forum. -
-
-credits
-A -big thanks to Lender, crisis-at-music, Sheppola, MusicMan74, -Third -Son, keys, bystrano, Serenitynow, chip mcdonald, rosleck and  -richie43 for beta testing. Thanks also to marce and Matthias King for -providing samples and valuable feedback. Finally a tip of the hat to -zakk for looping the section strings and saving me some gray hairs.
-
-
***
-
-
- \ No newline at end of file