abacab Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) These are all great suggestions! I am going to put in a plug for Synth1 from Ichiro Toda, and the Synth1 Librarian from Neutrino Sky. You can customize the Synth1 color scheme and panel size if the stock version is not to your liking. https://www.kvraudio.com/product/synth1-by-ichiro-toda https://www.kvraudio.com/product/synth1-librarian-by-neutrino-sky Here is a zip bank with 14,000+ free presets for Synth1. You WILL need the Synth1 Librarian to manage and search these presets! And you can show/hide the Synth1 UI with one click, but it is not necessary to have it open to audition presets, as the librarian provides a wrapper for the synth. https://veryrandomstreams.blogspot.com/2012/03/over-10000-free-patchessounds-for-free.html Edited July 21, 2019 by abacab 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tezza Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 On 7/20/2019 at 1:38 PM, Starship Krupa said: We're talking about sforzando, but I don't think there's been a link to how to download it yet. For those who don't already know, it's a a sample player, specifically for the SFZ format. If there's anything else to explain, I'll leave it to the experts! What I know is that there are a lot of free sampled instruments in the SFZ format available for download and this VSTi plays them like a champ. This looks great, SFZ is not a format I have used though, I think I can play SFZ format in Kontakt. Is there a reason that Sforzando would be better at playing SFZ files than Kontakt? And if you were new to SFZ, is this the best one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmcleod Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 3 hours ago, Tezza said: This looks great, SFZ is not a format I have used though, I think I can play SFZ format in Kontakt. Is there a reason that Sforzando would be better at playing SFZ files than Kontakt? And if you were new to SFZ, is this the best one? Sforzando is free. AFAIK you need the full (paid) version of Kontakt to play your own SFZ files. Also, I've found Kontakt to be quite processor intensive compared to other players. This is fine if I'm already using Kontakt for other sounds, and just want to add another instrument. But it wouldn't be my go to player for a single track for this reason. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tezza Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Thanks Mark, I wasn't even aware that Kontakt could play these files, I have Komplete Ultimate 10 with the paid version of Kontakt. I'll give Kontakt a go first and if there is too much going on, I'll try the Sforzando. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 The SFZ instrument that got me to start using the format was Sforzatron, which is a sampled Mellotron. Being a fan of the Moody Blues going back to high school, I'm also a fan of the Mellotron, specifically the string sound as showcased on "Nights In White Satin" and "Watching And Waiting." 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Walton Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 Spitfire Audio LABS https://www.spitfireaudio.com/labs/ 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tezza Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 Piano in 162 is a sample library of a Steinway Model B grand piano, available in Kontakt, SFZ, and Korg Kronos formats. http://ivyaudio.com/Piano-in-162 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mánibranðr Studios Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 On 7/21/2019 at 2:55 AM, Variorum said: Quick updates: First, the VST3 version of sforzando seems to be working fine now after the first couple of crashes. No idea why. I blame quantum physics. Second, I'm a dummy. If an SFZ instrument has a GUI (there will be a GUI directory and an XML file in the root folder) you need to drag that XML file into sforzando to "register" it. The GUI will then show up in sforzando AND Aria Player. I'm getting old... forgot about that. Registering the instrument also makes it show up in the "presets" of both players. You can just select it rather than having to import it. Which SFZ libraries have a GUI? It would be interesting to see them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mánibranðr Studios Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 10 hours ago, Tezza said: Piano in 162 is a sample library of a Steinway Model B grand piano, available in Kontakt, SFZ, and Korg Kronos formats. http://ivyaudio.com/Piano-in-162 Hhhhh this is amazing! Thank you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIBI Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 2 hours ago, LadyFuzztail said: Which SFZ libraries have a GUI? It would be interesting to see them. Now, METAL-GTX has a GUI. It was updated on this month. (1912 also has a GUI now) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Check out some of these sforzando banks with GUIs: https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando-banks.html I thought the "Karoryfer Shinyguitar" sounds pretty good! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark skinner Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 more piano ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeGBradford Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 This is a great thread. Although not quite free I thought I'd mention the enormous collection of decent instruments and effects that come with Computer Music each month. Buying one copy for around £6 will give you lots of quality stuff to play with including cut down but still huge versions of Uhe Bazille, Thorn, XILS 3 etc List here https://www.musicradar.com/computermusic/cm-plugins-full-list-of-our-exclusive-free-vst-au-plugin-instruments-and-effects-571808 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 Unfortunately, it appears that Beatmaker, the company who originally made it, has gone under, but ATMOS is my favorite ambient piano, and one of my favorite instruments for ambient music period. The link is to the page at VST4Free, which is still hosting the download. I haven't mentioned VST4Free because it's just a repository and as such doesn't vet the plug-ins it hosts, but it is a hugely valuable resource if you're willing to be adventurous and try out what's there. They will host downloads when a company goes under. The page for each plug-in also includes a place for users to review the plug-in, so you can get a good idea whether it's buggy or worth the time to try out. (Many of the plug-ins hosted at VST4Free are 32-bit. I only use these on a legacy basis, meaning that I don't acquire 32-bit plug-ins. I think I'm down to 3 of them that I use occasionally when nothing else will do the job. One of them is the de la mancha dlm sixtyfive, which is an emulation of the dbx 165a compressor that so far, nothing else I've heard can touch.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 A few more quality free 64-bit instruments that I have not seen listed here yet are: Vember Audio Surge Synth (subtractive/wavtable hybrid): https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/ Dexed - FM plugin synth (closely modeled on the Yamaha DX7): https://asb2m10.github.io/dexed/ XLN Audio Addictive Keys - Studio Grand demo (4 octaves, 3 mic perspectives, no time limits): https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/addictive_keys/instrument/studio_grand PG-8X 2.0 - VST instrument plug-in, inspired by the Roland JX-8P: https://sites.google.com/site/mlvst0/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sping Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 (edited) This thread needs a bump. For those of us still using Soundfonts, .sf2 files, there are some nice free 64bit alternatives: BassMidi Vsti, https://www.kvraudio.com/product/bassmidi-vsti-by-falcosoft A multitimbral sf2 player, simple to use Juicysfplugin, https://github.com/Birch-san/juicysfplugin Not multitimbral .sf2 player, also simple to use TX16Wx, https://www.tx16wx.com reads .sf2 and many more formats. Rather complex to work with Plogue Sforzando, https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando.html convert .sf2 to .sfz Sobanth, https://www.kvraudio.com/product/sobanth-by-benjamin-rosseaux Had some crashes with this, but maybe just me Edited October 6, 2019 by sping 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mánibranðr Studios Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 (edited) Martinic Kee Bass is an emulation of a rare vintage bass synthesizer being offered for free : https://www.martinic.com/en/products/kee-bass FananTeam is also currently offering Monica and Stringya for free. The former is a monophonic dual-layered wavetable synth, and the latter is a 4-piece synth strings ensemble. Edited October 12, 2019 by Freyja Grimaude-Valens 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wibbles Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 A highly regarded VA synth: Charaltan. Banks/Patches at KVR: https://www.kvraudio.com/product/charlatan-by-blaukraut-engineering/downloads 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wibbles Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 There's a free mono version of Fathom Synth modular VST available here: https://www.fathomsynth.com/download. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wibbles Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 (edited) On 7/17/2019 at 2:38 AM, Variorum said: Big thumbs up for the Tyrell N6 from u-he... Great sound, quite a few free presets available, and it's skinnable. It's not quite as good as Zeta+2, but it's really close (and free!) It's a" must have" freebie. If you find a sound that seems a bit flat, just turn on the Chorus at the bottom and instant epic fatness ? If you want the above skin it can be downloaded from here: https://u-he.com/PatchLib/skins/Hoverland-GrayTech_Tyrell.zip Edited October 13, 2019 by Wibbles 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now