The free orchestral VST instrument contains the Sonatina Orchestra in a single 1GB module. It offers all 20 instruments and 50+ articulations from the original library. Bigcat Instruments told us that that the piccolo is tucked into the flute instrument and a few other instruments are also combined. Free Full Orchestral Sample Library. The Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra Module contains the full SSO by Mattias Westlund, nicely wrapped up into one simple VST plugin (32 & 64bit). The SSO samples are stereo, 16 bit, 44kHz. Melodic instruments and chromatic percussion are sampled in minor 3rds. Finding good plugins, especially free ones that sound great, can be quite a challenge. This is why I put together this extensive list of free Plugins; from Synth, to Piano, Orchestra.
Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra (SSO) is a free library of sampled orchestral instruments. The original version wascreated by Mattias Westlund in 2011, and quickly earned a following for its excellent quality and wide selection ofinstruments. 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!
The instruments are packaged in SFZ format. They can be used with any compatible player, such asLinux Sampler, Sforzando, andARIA 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 Violin 2 | Sustain, Sustain non-vibrato, Marcato, Marcato non-vibrato, Spiccato, Pizzicato, Tremolo |
| 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 yourworkflow.
- 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 pressingkeys 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 limiton 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 thesimple looped version, but still not place a strict limit on how long notes can be held.
There are two different solo violin instruments. One has the standard three versions listed above. The other has manymore articulations, but does not offer a looped version. The sustained notes are held long enough that the lack oflooping is usually not a problem.
Marcato articulations use the mod wheel (MIDI control channel 1) to adjust the strength of the initial attack. Thislets 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 pizzicatoarticulations use 2x round robin.
Sonatina Choir Vst
Most samples have only a small amount of reverb baked into them, so adding a realistic reverb is important for producinga good overall sound. Given that the samples came from a variety of different sources, this is also important formaking them sound like a unified orchestra.
License
SSO may be used and distributed under the terms of theCreative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 license.
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,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, andEthan Winer.
Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra Vst Plugin
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 soundfontcompilations over the last decade, I'm assuming that they are to be considered public domain or at least free to usefor sampling projects.
I have done my very best to avoid samples of questionable legality, but as it is impossible for me to know the exactorigin of everything (i.e. I have no way of knowing if a soundfont labeled as 'public domain' isn't actually sampledfrom 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 onehas its own sound, so try them all out.
'Sonatina Orchestra is a single 1 gig VST module (650 meg zip) with 20 instruments and over 50 articulations. Note that the piccolo is tucked into the flute instrument and a few other instruments are tucked around. This is based on the idea of a free Rompler by the great Sample Science who created the Orion Sound Module. While they may not be Sampletank 3 and Miroslav 2, they cost a lot less. Hopefully there is some fun to be had here.
2 windows versions, in 32 & 64 bits
1 mac vst version'
Source : bigcatinstruments.blogspot.fr
