Free custom waveforms for use in synths?

[sagetone]

Hi Andrew,

I have been trying some of your demo packs, having just now learned about Galbanum.

I've been able to get Absynth to load *.wav waveforms. In the waveform window, from the Transform drop-down, select Import from audio file, and then select the desired *.wav file.

[Shabdahbriah]

in the product section of my site, you'll find the "CyclePack.zip" - it's at the bottom of the straightliner product info (because i created it mainly as a supplement to the synth). however, the files can be used with any synth that supports import of single cycle files.

Hey Robin. I took the liberty of converting the entire "CyclePack" to 32-bit (float) 44,100 wav format (amongst other things).

I know you advocate/promote the flac format, but if you would like these for distribution from your page (all text files are included as well) just say so, and I'll put them on my server and send you a link.

Thank you for doing these... really cool stuff!!!

~S~

[dsp music]

Thanks all for sharing these.

I'll ask probably a stupid question (I was just thinking about), but is there kind of a root key to these?
For example one can open these waveforms with a sampler, loop the cycle and play the keyboard, but if the cycle is at a specific frequency, it should correspond to a certain note, with I should set a the root key in my sampler for it to be tuned properly ...

Or I'm just being too brainy here and just shouldn't care ...

I know I could just try and put a tuner after the sampler but I'm not in my music computer now ...

[Music Engineer]

if you would like these for distribution from your page (all text files are included as well) just say so, and I'll put them on my server and send you a link.

thanks, but should i need them as .wavs, i can easily convert them myself. actually, when originally created (via some octave scripts), the files all were in the .wav format and i specifically converted them to .flac for distribution.

btw.: i just put a converter tool on my server which i wrote for personal use:

[EDIT2: link withdrawn due to potentially destructive bug]

...might be useful to some.
EDIT: WARNING - it was never meant for release and i just discovered that it apparently has problems with writing into float format - don't use this option - and especially not together with the "delete original files" checkbox active...

Thank you for doing these... really cool stuff!!!

THX.

[dsp music]

Thanks all for sharing these.

I'll ask probably a stupid question (I was just thinking about), but is there kind of a root key to these?
For example one can open these waveforms with a sampler, loop the cycle and play the keyboard, but if the cycle is at a specific frequency, it should correspond to a certain note, with I should set a the root key in my sampler for it to be tuned properly ...
I know I could just try and put a tuner after the sampler but I'm not in my music computer now ...

Ok so I just gave it a try inside Logic's own EXS24, and as the root note is by default a C3, all the cycled waves I tred were in a different tuning.

Just thaught I'll let you know.
Maybe in synth it's gonna sound different I don't know.

[Music Engineer]

Ok so I just gave it a try inside Logic's own EXS24, and as the root note is by default a C3, all the cycled waves I tred were in a different tuning.

Just thaught I'll let you know.
Maybe in synth it's gonna sound different I don't know.

the fundamental frequency of a single cycle waveform when played back without any transposition is given by the samplerate divided by length of the wavefile (in samples). for example, most files in my cyclepack are 2048 samples long, so their (natural) fundamental frequency, when running at a samplerate of 44.1 kHz would be 44100 Hz / 2048 = 21.53... Hz

samplers typically make no assumption whether or not a loop contains a single cycle, so they typically do not use this formula to auto-tune themselves according to the cycle-length. i guess, most synths that import single-cycle waves do just that - at least, i think they should. mine does.

[dsp music]

Thanks for the explanation Robin.

[Andrew Souter]

Ok so I just gave it a try inside Logic's own EXS24, and as the root note is by default a C3, all the cycled waves I tred were in a different tuning.

Just thaught I'll let you know.
Maybe in synth it's gonna sound different I don't know.

the fundamental frequency of a single cycle waveform when played back without any transposition is given by the samplerate divided by length of the wavefile (in samples). for example, most files in my cyclepack are 2048 samples long, so their (natural) fundamental frequency, when running at a samplerate of 44.1 kHz would be 44100 Hz / 2048 = 21.53... Hz

samplers typically make no assumption whether or not a loop contains a single cycle, so they typically do not use this formula to auto-tune themselves according to the cycle-length. i guess, most synths that import single-cycle waves do just that - at least, i think they should. mine does.

Robin is correct.

Check this doc:

http://www.galbanum.com/products/archit ... nstUni.pdf


The actual "pitch" of the Galbanum waveforms ( wav24 bit 44.1 SR header) when played back with no transposition is F -1 + ~23 cents. The wav32 and wav 64bit have 96K headers and therefore the pitch is slightly different. Thi

This info is only important when using with traditional samplers that do not have proper "wavetable synthesis engines"...

I am out of office this weekend. I will write more about this on Monday...

[strav101]

I recall a discussion I had over the NI forums......Kontakt is not suitable for playing back single cycle waveforms.

Is it OK to use the 2010 waveforms in Kontakt (3.5)....or as I have Alchemy it will probably be at lot easier to use them there (no tuning probs)?

[dsp music]

Thank you Andrew very much for the info. I confess now it makes thing a little bit clearer.

I remember now that all the cycles I tried from your demo pack, were all around F, but didn't realize they had the same tuning.

Is it OK to use the 2010 waveforms in Kontakt (3.5)....or as I have Alchemy it will probably be at lot easier to use them there (no tuning probs)?

Same here, by retuning the samples on the sampler, will they sound the same as when used on wavetable synth?? Just to be sure.

[Andrew Souter]

Thank you Andrew very much for the info. I confess now it makes thing a little bit clearer.

I remember now that all the cycles I tried from your demo pack, were all around F, but didn't realize they had the same tuning.

Yes, the playback pitch for the waveforms is [length of waveform in samples]/[sample rate] as Robin mentioned.

This can become a manner of semantics/philosophy in some cases though: for example, let's say the waveform is simple two repetitions of a 1024 sample sine wave. By itself this would be perceived to be an octave higher. Or if it was 3 sine waves, then it would be an octave + a fifth.

Some more exotic waveforms do not always guarantee that the "pitch" is the fundamental. However, the way I think about this is that generally synth patches that are designed with these waveforms are going to be playing along with other instruments playing the same or similar notes, and often a complete synth patch will use more than a single waveform. Therefore usually pitch perception blends into timbre and harmony, and the harmonics of more exotic waveforms can be thought of timbral accents, or "spices" if you will, which will blend with more common timbres to provide more exotic tone colors.

The waveforms are best and most easily used in proper wavetable synths instead of traditional samplers. Use in traditional samplers is possible and many people do it, but it is more tedious and does not always provide the same level of fidelity. This is b/c most samplers are not designed to transpose samples over huge ranges as is needed with single-cycle waveforms. (i.e. consider transposing a sample from MIDI F-1 to F4 -- 5 octaves).

[dsp music]

Thnaks for the explanation again Andy. Really appreciated.

Now I'll go get myself a proper wavetable synth. I see lots of them don't allow for loading your own ...

[D N A]

There's a plugin which let's you random generate waveforms and save them. It's actually pretty fun: you click button and random waveform shows

http://www.vstcafe.com/2010/01/sonic-as ... shape.html

[Shabdahbriah]

Now I'll go get myself a proper wavetable synth. I see lots of them don't allow for loading your own ...

While you're exploring your options, "Robin's" Straightliner is an amazingly versatile/flexible synth.

[dsp music]

Thanks for the suggestion mate, had a quick look at it when grabbibg his wavetables, though it's been quickly disqualified as I'm on Mac.

So far, Rapture seems the best option on audio unit ... and the more expensive as well :p