Free Sample Libraries

[ct_jazzmaster]

Im just wondering if any of the musicians here know of free orchestral samples on the web??
As im stuck with midi and software synths atm.

[-Sulan-]

I don?t know of any :/ But I?d be very interested to find out too!!

[Axen]

I wonder how much really high quality samples cost anyway?

[-Sulan-]

Originally posted by Arklon
I wonder how much really high quality samples cost anyway?

They cost ALOT!!!

[efin]

Well, it depends on your expectations, really. As far as free samples go (in the form of soundfonts, anyway), the base I turn to is The Titanic Soundfont. It's fairly high quality in some instruments, but I definitely needed to search around for instruments that I didn't care for. The guy loses his bandwidth fairly quickly each month, so starting Monday make a grab for it if you want it. It's huge, though.

It really doesn't stand up against today's high-quality-but-not-free samples, but it's good for what it is. It sounds a bit synthesized. Check out my music to hear what you'll be getting - just remember that I changed a few instruments here and there. I just can't remember which.

The one I'll be using when I get around to efin's Music for Oblivion? ( ) will be Garritan Personal Orchestra, which packs a whole lot into a $200 package. Especially if you have a MIDI keyboard.

[ct_jazzmaster]

Thanks for your replies as soon as my exams are out the way. I will start composing and get some ideas up.

[bobbyhood]

The Titanic Soundfont looks like it could be promising but I've never tried it. Before I bought my libraries I used Squidfont's Orchestral (download here). It's about 26MB and the best free orchestral sounds I've found.

To buy, it'll cost you hundreds. My libraries have cost me over $2500 all together - and only that cheap because I got in on some great deals. It all depends on how much you're willing to spend. The Garritan Personal Orchestra mentioned by efin is a good deal for what you get, but there are better, more expensive ones out there if you have the cash. GPO is a good place to start, though. And of course make sure you have a sequencer that will support it!

[efin]

Very true - GPO isn't going to give you the same quality as Gigastudio or similar sample libraries. But it's a closer step to free than $thousands$. Plus, it does come with an older sequencer that's pretty okay. No Sonar Producer, but decent for the money.