Can i also take part on it?

Of course, you're welcome to enter ... anyone can, as long as they don't have a signature bank (i.e. Luftrum, Bigtone, biomechanoid, JunkieXL, Himalaya).

Peace,
Andy.

I havn't a signature bank - till yet, but hopefully soon

Hi Guys (Camel Audio)!
Can you stick this topic please?
I almost lost it

I have a question regarding the definition of "copyright material" in sound design.

I have seen people releasing patches that are based on samples from existing synthesizers. For example, one of the latest sound banks for Alchemy "Viral Outbreak" includes lots of samples from the Access Virus synth. Did Camel Audio require a licence from Access to be allowed to do this?

I can see for an analogue synth that the answer is probably no, Access would own the circuit design that creates the sound, but not the sound that results.

However, what if the synth being sampled was a sample based synth itself? Now I am making a re-recording of a sample that is built-in to the synth, however it is not a verbatim copy because it is being processed by the synth engine with envelopes, filters and effects applied, etc. Is this now an infringement on the copyright of that sample?

I am asking because I am thinking of making a patch for this competition that starts with a sample from my Roland JV-880 hardware synth, and I would not want my entry to include copyright material that is not mine.

Note that I am not trying to make a "re-creation" the Roland patch, I am making a new patch that sounds different.

Typically, using any synthesiser to make a noise, sample it and then re-use the samples in a commercial sample based product is perfectly valid as long you the person or company releasing the bank does not call the product e.g. "Access Virus Sound Bank" or similar. In the case of Viral Outbreak, you'll see the name is suggestive of the Virus, and while everyone knows the intent behind the bank, there is no confusion with the actual Access Virus synth.

Sample based products and synths are treated differently, because someone owns the copyright of the original samples. The answer to your question depends on the licensing terms set out by the developer of the synth / samples. For example, it's not legal to purchase Soniccourture or Tonehammer sample libraries, create new sounds out of their (mangled) samples for use in Alchemy patches, no matter how "mangled" the "new" samples are. This would be in direct violation of the licensing terms under which the samples were purchased.

For the specific synth you've mentioned, I'm not familiar with the licensing terms so you would have to check yourself or contact the developer. Typically the kind of phrase to look for is "... must not be used in other sample based products.", which means it is OK to use the output (samples) in a song, but not OK to re-sample the output and then sell them as your own work e.g. a sample based product. I'd be very surprised if it is OK, but it's certainly worth double checking.

Does that make sense?

Peace,
Andy.

Thanks for the reply Andy, it does make sense.

I checked the manual and there is no legalese anywhere at all regarding the usage of the sounds made by the synthesizer.


There is the obligatory section on not hurting yourself while using it, a copyright notice regarding the actual manual, and a copyright notice regarding the demo songs that the unit can play, but nothing at all relating to the sounds or their constituent parts.

I guess that probably still means I can't use it because copyright is generally automatically "all rights reserved" unless stated otherwise.

Okay, this feels like an ignorant question, but where do we submit our presets exactly?

I quote Ben:


You can find the user library on the support page.

You can submit entries via the User Library page of your support account.

At the top of the page is a link to "upload a sound bank". Select "Alchemy" and mark the entry "Preset design competition" with your name. The files must be in ZIP format, but I'll get that changed to also accept RAR files ASAP.

Peace,
Andy.

Cool, Thanks.

OK - it is possible to submit RAR files using the "upload" link.

There's a limit of 60 MB, but this should be fine for 10 presets. If it's a problem, let us know. Be patient as no progress bar is displayed but there's a confirmation page once the upload is complete.

Peace,
Andy.

One more question:

I have some nice presets, based on samples from User Library. e.g. "Kawai K1 Oscillator & LFO Waves" (Alchemy\Libraries\WaveOsc\User K1LowFreq\065_Harmonica.raw and other).

It's allowed?

Hmm, this is a tricky question. I'll send an e-mail to KungKrille to find out, as he uploaded the files originally. We have to be careful about distribution of files we don't own, because the Factory library is commercial product (rather than "the user library").

Peace,
Andy.

OK, I understand! I will try to remake with using factory samples.