Free harpsichord VST

dore_m

Great job @CyberGene . Once you know how to tweak things in the sampler it becomes fun to try to get the instrument to be playable and realistic. Good thing you already knew the basics of asdr and such.

HZPiano

Hello,

Here's a Well Done! to all who contributed to the very nice teamwork here in this thread.

🎶 👏 🎶

Cheers and happy playing!

P.S. .sfz is fun, isn't it?

CyberGene

For completeness here's a ZIP file with all three SFZ files, one for each of the harpsichord stops: 1, 2, Lute.

blanchet1720-cybergene-sfz.zip

6kB

For those that have missed it, you should download the Kontakt version of the Blanchet harpsichord from:
http://sonimusicae.free.fr/blanchet1-en.html

Extract it somewhere. Download the above ZIP file with the three SFZ files and copy them to the location where you put the harpsichord samples. The three SFZ files should be in the folder that contains the NKM and NKI files (it's also the folder that contains three sub-folders, each having the actual WAV samples).

Download the free Sforzando player from:
https://www.plogue.com/downloads.html#sforzando

Open Sforzando, click where it says "INSTRUMENT: empty" and choose import and then browse to the location above and select one of the SFZ files.

CyberGene

And here's the Purcell recording exported with all three stops (includes an IR reverb from the default ones in Logic Pro X - Space Designer, preset "1.7s Small Guitar Hall")

purcell-suite-in-dm-z668-cybergene-blanchet-1.mp3
purcell-suite-in-dm-z668-cybergene-blanchet-2.mp3
purcell-suite-in-dm-z668-cybergene-blanchet-lute.mp3

[deleted]

CyberGene This is so fantastic what you have done, this thread should end with your two last posts. But I still have a question about the reverb. Where does that come from? I cannot find it in the source code of the sfz files. Alternatively, I can play the dry samples and select 30% church reverb in the Sforzando Player.

CyberGene

[deleted] But I still have a question about the reverb. Where does that come from? I cannot find it in the source code of the sfz files.

Sorry, yeah, I probably shouldn’t have recorded with the reverb and mention it… I use Logic Pro X as DAW where the Sforzando player is hosted and where I recorded the piece as MIDI. And Logic Pro X has a great set of effects included. The IR reverb is one of them. I probably should have recorded the dry samples with no external effects but I wanted to demonstrate how adding a bit of reverb would make it sound like a production quality harpsichord recording. I believe any reverb (according to taste and preference) would work. I just discovered Sforzando comes with that Church reverb, so it should work too.

vagfilm

Just for comparison purposes... I can render your midi file using the OT Berlin Harpsichords, in case you are interested...

CyberGene

vagfilm Sure! Here it is:

purcell-suite-in-dm-z668-cybergene.mid

5kB

vagfilm

CG: here are the rendered files. I don't understand harpsichords in depth, and so I have no idea if the "almand" should use the back, front, or both manuals... In addition, the OT Berlin Harpsichords have several sets of samples. I ended up using the 2x8 and the 2x8 + 1x4 configurations in the French Harpsichord, and the 2x8 in the Italian Harpsichord (no 1x4). Both have 4 mics (close A, close B, tree and surround), and I mixed all (close at +2dB and ambient at 0dB). No reverb was added. At the end they were normalized with Audacity.

For some reason the second half of the piece was rendered without the close mics. I haven't checked the midi file, but maybe you hit a note that activated a keyswitch that changed the mic configuration...

purcell-cybergene-ot-italian-harpsichord-2x8-all-mics-normalized.mp3
purcell-cybergene-ot-french-harpsichord-2x8-1x4-all-mics-normalized.mp3
purcell-cybergene-ot-french-harpsichord-2x8-all-mics-normalized.mp3

jdg78

The OT Berlin Harpsichords really sound great - particularly the Italian. I’ve been wanting to get this set for quite a while, but I’ve been waiting for them to release it for their free SINE player, as I don’t have the full version of Kontakt.

Unfortunately, it appears that it’s going to be one of the last of their instrument collections to be transferred over to the new format, and they certainly don’t seem to be in any hurry to do so.

vagfilm

The last portion of the files are definitely corrupt, and this is caused by my laptop. There is something wrong with the realtek drivers in my asus laptop, and I was never able to get it to work correctly using ASIO or WASAPI. Usually it does not affect the renderings, but for some reason it did affect today.

MacMacMac

CyberGene For completeness here's a ZIP file with all three SFZ files, one for each of the harpsichord stops: 1, 2, Lute.

Is there a Kontakt version of your files??

[deleted]

jdg78 I cannot say the OT Berlin is in any way better than the Blanchet, in contrary, I find the Blanchet recording more clear.

vagfilm Interestingly, your renderings are a semi-tone higher than Cybergene's recordings. I raised that issue above, dunno why that happens.

MacMacMac The Kontakt version is on the original website and free to use as well, but you need Kontakt full, otherwise you can only play in demo mode for 15 minutes. I am sure you are aware of that. In this thread, Dore helped us to make the samples work in the free Sforzando Player (see above).

CyberGene

vagfilm thanks, very nice. I think I prefer the French one with all mics. Frankly though, the Blanchet is on par with the Berlin one which is a surprise to me, taking in mind it’s a free library.

[deleted] Interestingly, your renderings are a semi-tone higher than Cybergene's recordings. I raised that issue above, dunno why that happens.

The Blanchet has been tuned to historical tuning of A=415 Hz. That’s almost exactly a semitone lower (actually a semitone and 1 cent lower) compared to the modern concert pitch of A=440Hz. And the Berlin one is in the modern concert pitch. I can edit the SFZ files to shift samples right to approximate concert pitch instead but I believe an easier option would be to keep the original pitch, so that it’s historically correct. If one wishes to be in modern pitch, he can just transpose his controller (or DAW track settings) a semitone up.

vagfilm

CyberGene Frankly though, the Blanchet is on par with the Berlin one which is a surprise to me, taking in mind it’s a free library.

Good... I offered to render because I was quite surprised by the quality of the Blanchet, and thought it was important for you to "benchmark" it against a very good commercial VST. Now you and your wallet can have peace of mind 😊

MacMacMac

[deleted] MacMacMac The Kontakt version is on the original website and free to use as well, but you need Kontakt full, otherwise you can only play in demo mode for 15 minutes. I am sure you are aware of that. In this thread, Dore helped us to make the samples work in the free Sforzando Player (see above).

Yes, and I have the full version of Kontakt.
The Blanchet could certainly use some sonic improviement ...
and I was under the impression that you had modifications/tweaks that did so.

Is that true, or am I misinformed?

CyberGene

MacMacMac all the mods we offered here are for Sforzando. I don’t even have Kontakt to experiment. We’ve described what needs to be done, so if you feel geeky you may try fixing it 🙂

MacMacMac

CyberGene so if you feel geeky you may try fixing it

I don't think Kontakt has "settings files" in the manner that Sforzando does. So no joy there.
Thanks anyway.

BTW ... I'm retired ... so my geeky days are over. 🙂

jdg78

[deleted] I cannot say the OT Berlin is in any way better than the Blanchet, in contrary, I find the Blanchet recording more clear.

They both sound nice, but I think I prefer the somewhat mellower tone of the OT Italian as well as the slightly more atmospheric recording. I'm less enthusiastic about the OT French.

In any case I downloaded the Blanchet files in sfz and it's quite good, especially considering it's free. The Lute stops in particular sound very nice. Maybe I'll try to record something with it later.

I usually use the free Pianoteq harpsichords when I have the urge, but I've never been too wild about them.

dore_m

MacMacMac I don't think Kontakt has "settings files" in the manner that Sforzando does. So no joy there.
Thanks anyway.

Oh, but the options for tweaking in Kontakt are much more comprehensive than Sforzando. Much easier to change ADSR, adjust volumes and pedals and tuning and just about everything. Difference is SFZ is ALL script and Kontakt is mostly graphs and knobs.

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