Tavy
Sep-07-2013, 5:43am
I guess like many folks when I'm learning a new tune I like to convert the score (or abc or whatever) into something I play along with... but I got really fed up with frankly awful "mandolin" sounds from MIDI playback. So I thought.... how hard can it be to knock up my own soundfont? Well as it turns out, a lot harder than I thought, but the results have reached the point where I thought I should get some feedback.
I guess my questions are:
1) Is there any interest in a decent (freely available) soundfont for mandolin family instruments?
2) What do you think of this one (so far!) ?
3) Would you be interested in sampling your instrument(s) for inclusion?
4) On the off chance that lots of people respond positively to (3), would you be willing to help with the editing?
Here's an ensemble piece (from Vivaldi's concerto for two mandolins) rendered with the font I have so far:
https://soundcloud.com/john-maddock/vivaldi-test-soundfont
The actual soundfont itself is in my dropbox, you can download it from here (https://www.dropbox.com/s/4qce9ulwdgql97w/mandolins.7z).... but I need to find a better long term storage location. The soundfont uses one sample per note, so it's a big file. My goal was to have no pitch shifting at all, but in practice I have tweaked some of the "up the neck" samples for less painful intonation!
I also have some test solo pieces rendered with each instrument in the font, these are rendered "raw" with no VST-effects-plugin-goodness added. I don't think they don't stand up as well as the ensemble piece does, but at least they sound reasonably mandolin-like. Part of the problem is that my recording equipment isn't up to much, but you're also more aware of the lack of subtlety in MIDI playback in these. It's also really hard to play the single stokes required for the samples in a way that suites all pieces - you have to push through the strings quickly or the sample will be useless for faster pieces, but then it sounds overly mechanical on the slower ones...
Anyway here we go:
Gibson Oval hole mandolin:
https://soundcloud.com/john-maddock/gibson-mandolin-soundfont-test
My own "Tavy" oval hole mandolin (Flatwound strings)
https://soundcloud.com/john-maddock/tavy-mandolin-soundfont-test
My own "Tavy" mandola (also flatwound strings, though I actually prefer roundwound on this one, will likely resample when I next change strings).
https://soundcloud.com/john-maddock/mandola-soundfont-test
Lastly a vintage waldzither, tuned DGDAE:
https://soundcloud.com/john-maddock/waldzither-test-soundfont
I guess my questions are:
1) Is there any interest in a decent (freely available) soundfont for mandolin family instruments?
2) What do you think of this one (so far!) ?
3) Would you be interested in sampling your instrument(s) for inclusion?
4) On the off chance that lots of people respond positively to (3), would you be willing to help with the editing?
Here's an ensemble piece (from Vivaldi's concerto for two mandolins) rendered with the font I have so far:
https://soundcloud.com/john-maddock/vivaldi-test-soundfont
The actual soundfont itself is in my dropbox, you can download it from here (https://www.dropbox.com/s/4qce9ulwdgql97w/mandolins.7z).... but I need to find a better long term storage location. The soundfont uses one sample per note, so it's a big file. My goal was to have no pitch shifting at all, but in practice I have tweaked some of the "up the neck" samples for less painful intonation!
I also have some test solo pieces rendered with each instrument in the font, these are rendered "raw" with no VST-effects-plugin-goodness added. I don't think they don't stand up as well as the ensemble piece does, but at least they sound reasonably mandolin-like. Part of the problem is that my recording equipment isn't up to much, but you're also more aware of the lack of subtlety in MIDI playback in these. It's also really hard to play the single stokes required for the samples in a way that suites all pieces - you have to push through the strings quickly or the sample will be useless for faster pieces, but then it sounds overly mechanical on the slower ones...
Anyway here we go:
Gibson Oval hole mandolin:
https://soundcloud.com/john-maddock/gibson-mandolin-soundfont-test
My own "Tavy" oval hole mandolin (Flatwound strings)
https://soundcloud.com/john-maddock/tavy-mandolin-soundfont-test
My own "Tavy" mandola (also flatwound strings, though I actually prefer roundwound on this one, will likely resample when I next change strings).
https://soundcloud.com/john-maddock/mandola-soundfont-test
Lastly a vintage waldzither, tuned DGDAE:
https://soundcloud.com/john-maddock/waldzither-test-soundfont