What else is there to see here?īesides the Virtual Playing Orchestra sample library, you will find music composed mostly using the Virtual Playing Orchestra sounds (used exclusively since Oct 2016), some before and after samples of collaborations with song writers, as well as blog posts, videos, links to tools and resources that may be useful to those that use orchestral sounds in their music. See the Virtual Playing Orchestra download page to learn more. This free orchestral sample library was built by taking the best parts of the Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra sample library, blending it with the best free orchestra sounds that became available after Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra was created, adding missing articulations and looping all the samples so that each sound will play for as long as you hold the note. Virtual Playing Orchestra is a free orchestral sample library (sometimes incorrectly called a Soundfont, VST or VSTi) that provides the sounds of all the instruments of an orchestra designed to be played back via a MIDI interface and a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). (In technical terms, playing a MIDI controller and recording the notes through VST plugins using a computer in place of a multi-track recording studio) What is Virtual Playing Orchestra?
The instrument is accessible through Orchestral Tools free SINE player.Virtual playing is my term for playing the simulated sound of a real instrument by using a piano keyboard and software based virtual instruments.
It’s packed with woodwind, brass and string sections, plus the ability to layer sections up into one sound (hence the name), and assign full major, minor and suspended chords to one note for swift creative possibilities. Where else to find an excellent virtual orchestral library than from a company called Orchestral Tools? The Berlin-based developer has recently wowed us with Junkie XL Brass and Time Micro, and now returns with Layers – a completely free orchestral plug-in instrument. You get over 250MB of sounds, a very decent manual, envelope and basic reverb options.
Upright Piano, though, is worth a download on its own, as it is possibly the finest free piano out there as it features samples from a Yamaha at Berklee College of Music. We have also included pianos in this section and some come in the orchestral options with several other titles here (in Spitfire’s case, you can download two piano packs).
You’ll need to download several of the packs for a fuller orchestral effect, but it’s a great, pro experience – so good, in fact, that we have a dedicated tutorial on how to get Labs up and running to create some free classical sounds. Here, you simply download the Spitfire Audio app and can choose from all sorts of packs – some 17 at the time of writing – that include many an orchestral tool, synth pads and atmospheres. Spitfire Audio is one of the most respected producers of orchestral instruments in the world and has an amazing set of freebies via its Labs platform. You can get very decent results from it – considering it’s free – but it’s a shame it’s PC only. If you’re into classical or hip hop music than this is just for you. All sounds are free to use in both personal and commercial releases. It features more than 50 instruments and combinations, four layer sounds at any one time and a very decent set of envelope controls for extra nuance. Saint James Orchestral Soundfonts contains 48 orchestral soundfonts with a total size of 47.3 megabytes. DSK is a fantastic developer of freeware and paid-for apps, with a mountain of titles to try and this is perhaps its largest in scope.