KVR Audio

Erki · Post by **Erki** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 1:28 pm

I guess it's a violin (?), or maybe some asian string intrument of some sort, anyway it has a very unique sound to it, and i can't reproduce it with any of my current violin samples. I have two audio examples below, two 20 seconds clip taken from the videogame Shenmue (i hope it's not illegal since it's only two short clips). But you can hear this particular string sound in alot of asian songs.

I know there is quite a few articulations involved, but still a good programmed multisample could cover some of it. Any ideas where i could get hold of something like that? The long and flat violin samples i've got does'nt work.

Important, rename the file extension from *.gif to *.mp3 (the host wont allow mp3). Or just open directly in winamp since winamp does'nt care about file extensions.

http://upl.silentwhisper.net/uplfolders ... /clip1.gif

http://upl.silentwhisper.net/uplfolders ... /clip2.gif

Shane Sanders · Post by **Shane Sanders** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 1:34 pm

Easy one...

http://www.melodyofchina.com/06instruments/zhonghu.html

You can get a reasonably useful soundfont version here. It is part of a larger collection that is well worth $39. I've had it for a long time.

http://www.soundfont.com/downloads/oldworld.asp

-Shane

Erki · Post by **Erki** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 1:45 pm

Sh@ne: Thanks

Knowing the name of the instrument really helps alot. I'll check the other link with the soundfonts aswell.

But any other tips regarding "Zhonghu" viola samples will also be very helpful.

Erki · Post by **Erki** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 2:03 pm

Sh@ne: Are there any articulations in the samples? Or is it just simple straight/flat sampled loops?

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 2:38 pm

The zhonghu is a modern deep-toned Chinese fiddle, a member of the erhu (which I've heard pronounced "AR-hoo") family. Note that the erhu's bow is threaded between the two strings, unlike those of a Western violin -- that is, you can't take the bow away from the erhu without unstringing something.

Kongaudio made a MiniErhu VSTi you might enjoy, including five kinds of notes (staccato, long with and without gradual tremolo, bend up, bend down):

http://www.kvr-vst.com/forum/viewtopic. ... light=erhu

Here's a good website for information on traditional and modernized Chinese instruments:

http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Music/Chi ... ments.html

Have fun!

Meffy

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 2:47 pm

Ought to mention this -- spellings of Chinese and other Asian instrument names can vary wildly. For example, the yuqin ("moon guitar") samples in Akai's free sample sets were labeled "YOOKIN." Likewise, Akai's "SONA" is what I know as the "souna," and so forth.

This is no more than a minor annoyance when figuring out what samples are on a disk, etc., but it's a major obstacle to searching for samples. A search for "yuqin" will certainly never find "yookin"! The infinite number of ways to mangle phonetic Chinese into Roman letters make it likely that any Internet search for these exciting Asian instrument sounds will miss as much as it finds.

Added to this, the same instrument often occurs in different nations with different names. For example, the Japanese samisen is derived from the Chinese sanxian (in this case the similarity between names clearly shows the affinity, but that's not always the case).

Confusion and messiness -- ah well, that's life! :-}

Meffy

TheWall · Post by **TheWall** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 2:56 pm

Akai's spelling is totally wrong. It seems to be based on the Japanese translation of these Chinese instruments, then they translate the Japanese into English.

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 3:03 pm

TheWall wrote:Akai's spelling is totally wrong. It seems to be based on the Japanese translation of these Chinese instruments, then they translate the Japanese into English.

That's my suspicion too. My favorite misspelling is probably a typo -- in the Roland Sound Canvas there's a "croaking" effect called FROG VPOCE. What the heck is a VPOCE?

My guess: if you move your right hand one key too far to the right, then try to type VOICE, you get VPOCE. :-D

Meffy

Armadillo · Post by **Armadillo** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 3:36 pm

I've just been looking through the whole thread for the Mini Erhu where the author says the Erhu samples originated from a soundfont he got from a CD, but couldn't remember where.

Now Shane Sanders has provided a link to a soundfont from Emu with a Erhu, I can't stop thinking : could this be the same soundfont

or am I just being paranoid??

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 3:40 pm

Armadillo wrote:I've just been looking through the whole thread for the Mini Erhu where the author says the Erhu samples originated from a soundfont he got from a CD, but couldn't remember where.

Now Shane Sanders has provided a link to a soundfont from Emu with a Erhu, I can't stop thinking : could this be the same soundfont :?

or am I just being paranoid??

Hm, dunno, I missed that part of the thread and haven't tried the SF. Hope everything is legit. :-S I'm rather fond of MiniErhu.

Meffy

Armadillo · Post by **Armadillo** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 4:00 pm

Anthro_mephitis wrote: Hm, dunno, I missed that part of the thread and haven't tried the SF. Hope everything is legit. :-S I'm rather fond of MiniErhu.

Meffy

Last page, 4th from the top.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 4:06 pm

so its emus erhu

Armadillo · Post by **Armadillo** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 4:09 pm

dunno.
Actually, thinking about it. He's just done a VSTi and he can't remember where he got the soundfont from?

Bad memory eh!

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 4:11 pm

i just always wanted to say "emus erhu" somewhere
thanks for the oppurtunity

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 4:22 pm

vurt wrote:i just always wanted to say "emus erhu" somewhere
thanks for the oppurtunity :D

Heh -- sometimes you have to grab the chance when it comes around!

Guess I'll delete MiniErhu and buy the CD of sounds.

Sh@ne, THANKS. That CD has whole ranges of instruments; I've just got odd ones here and there. You've sold at least one copy for sondfont.com. :-)

Meffy

How do i get that 'asian' string sound? (Audio examples).