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Was there ever a Medieval instruments sound module/rompler released?


Peekaboo Fuzzy

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I know that there were two sampling CD's "Early Patches" and another called "Banchetto Muicale" from Germany (Dausenkunz). Now, there are VST plug in versions of these available. Originally "Early Patches" was formatted for the Akai S-2000 series samplers, but is now also available in sound font.

 

I have been thinking about getting these and a used older S-series Akai sampler to load them into, but I'd thought I'd ask of there were ever any sound modules/romplers that came out either dedicated to Medieval instruments or had a full bank of plucked, wind, brass and percussion Medieval sounds.

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A used Akai S-2000 can be found for like $50, if i'm lucky, and I would only be using it for that CD sample set most likely. So it might not be a bad idea, but still it would be cool to have some kind of sound module that has a 100+ medieval sounds.

 

I have to look into that SRJV super sound set groove, thanks. The only thing is that now I would need a Roland JV synth.

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Actually, I am not interested in reproducing medieval music in the traditonal sense at all. I could care less about performing it from a historically accurate standpoint. I am looking for an antiquated, melancholic flavor that I can used with some effects to create an interesting mood to match with other sounds.

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For that mysterious antiquated flavour, you might also look at some "world" instruments. Those, I think, are more easily found.

 

I studied the viola da gamba briefly in university. If pressed, I would pay you well to ensure I never hear one again. Especially not if it sounded like my playing.

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Are there specific instruments you are looking for, and are you certain that they are Medieval and not Renaissance? The Renaissance was like a Cambrian explosion for musical instruments, and all sorts of crazy things were introduced at the time.

 

The reason I ask is that MOTU's Symphonic Instrument has a historical instruments collection of sound samples. It is the only orchestral virtual instrument I've found that has this. The included instruments are shawm, crumhorm, lute, cornett, recorder, and viol (aka the viola da gamba, much derided on this forum for whatever reason). Also included are truly exceptional harpsichord and baroque organ samples.

 

With the exception of the shawm, those instruments are all Renaissance, so they might not fit your needs. MOTU decided to skip over the Baroque for some reason. :mad:

 

I should note that you can't directly use MOTU's samples in a different sampler program (they are contained in a single 8.5GB DAT file).

 

While the samples are great MOTU did sort of half-ass one very important part. As Umbra mentioned above, if you are looking for a Medieval sound, temperament is as important as the instruments themselves. For Medieval music you will want to use a Pythagorean temperament modified to suit your needs. Unfortunately MSI has no scale tuning feature. :facepalm:

 

There is a free program called Scala which handles unequal temperaments for MIDI data. It is incredibly powerful - I have barely scratched the surface of its features. I haven't had time to figure out whether it works for MSI, but I have a feeling it doesn't.

 

BOLDER sounds has an early instruments sample disc, but it is limited to stringed instruments and keyboards.

 

Sound Bytes sells a sample CD with an interesting collection of Medieval and Renaissance instruments.

 

I haven't tried the sample CDs, so I can't speak to the quality, but there are audio clips posted at both websites.

 

That's about all I know of. There isn't much out there in this area, and I think it's a huge shortcoming. Oddly what's available in historical samples is Renaissance. There are no collections that I know of containing any of the distinctive signature Baroque instruments.

 

Of course you're not into the historical stuff per se, so I guess I'm just taking the opportunity to rant. :freak:

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Actually, I am not interested in reproducing medieval music in the traditonal sense at all. I could care less about performing it from a historically accurate standpoint. I am looking for an antiquated, melancholic flavor that I can used with some effects to create an interesting mood to match with other sounds.

 

 

After searching, it looks like your best option is probably MOTU's Symphonic Instrument, which contains a historical instrument bank. The instruments listed are Crumhorn, Harpsichord, Lute, Recorder, Treble Cornett, and Viol. I don't know what the quality is, but this is actually a good "stereotypical Renaissance Festival" instrument list IMHO. Huzzah!

 

For a more exotic feel, Quantum Leap's Ra is always nice.

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USB Soundscan vol.53 - Mediteranean Traditions

Sound Bytes - Early Patches

Bolder - Ecletic (a great disc, overall!)

 

A lot of softsamplers can read the Akai disc format (which all three of these collections are available in) so if you have one of those, you might not even need to buy the Akai box.

 

The most recent melancholic-sounding twangy patch I heard was on a Waldorf PPG V.2 softsynth, I believe. Of course, there are loads of such melancholic patches out.

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Thanks for all your suggestions. Some of those mentioned-especially the software sampler options like RA I knew about. I did not know that MOTU's Symphonic Instrument had a bank of historical instruments.

 

hogberto, don't knock Romplers. Before soft samplers, there was the Kurzweil K2000, which still can hold it's own. Even though it was a synth/sampler-its onboard sounds and available ROMS are still great. Most of the suggestions are for soft samplers, and there are some exceptional ones, however, I was looking for something I could pick up for a $150-$200 on the used market. But I guess a module for Medieval instruments would have been a marketing flop. Who would have known? Wasn't it a genre right up there with house and techno back in the 90's?

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I went to a concert in about 1974. They were the opening band and it was pretty fun with lots of notes bouncing around the Maple Leaf Gardens. The next act was J Geils Band, who (of course) utterly blew them away. I feared that the final act would be a let-down. But the Jefferson Starship came on and absolutely ruled the place.

 

One of my best concerts ever.

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Wasn't the SRJV Super Sound Set meant to have Medieval sounds?

 

 

Yes. Actually, it contained waveforms from "Baroque" PCM Card for JV series of synthesizers. The last one that has such PCM slot fitted was the 90's standard, JV-1080.

Baroque by definition is, of course, not medieval, yet, that's as close as you can get. It contained waveforms of some Pipe Organs, loads of Harpsichords and a Recorder.

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Then of course there was the "Devonshire JOUST" with sounds ranging from galloping horses, up and down drawbridges, blacksmiths, clashing mugs, here ye, here ye calls, gallows screams, with classic presets including "Fire Arrows", "The Rack", "Cantilever", Steak on a Stake" and

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Yes. Actually, it contained waveforms from "Baroque" PCM Card for JV series of synthesizers. The last one that has such PCM slot fitted was the 90's standard, JV-1080.

Baroque by definition is, of course, not medieval, yet, that's as close as you can get. It contained waveforms of some Pipe Organs, loads of Harpsichords and a Recorder.

 

 

 

and they are pretty good:

 

Harpsichord

 

Medieval Ensemble

 

Baroque Ensemble

 

Organ (flutes setting)

 

Organ 2 (flutes setting)

 

Middle-Eastern

 

Mandolins

 

Recorder

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hogberto, don't knock Romplers. Before soft samplers, there was the Kurzweil K2000, which still can hold it's own. Even though it was a synth/sampler-its onboard sounds and available ROMS are still great.

 

 

 

Funny you should mention the K2k -- several years ago I did original incidental music for a production of the play "Lion in Winter" (set in medieval England) and I used the K2000 (orchestral ROM included) to great effect for 90 per cent of the sounds.

 

(...and I wouldn't hesitate to use it today)

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No.

Because it would have been shit and no-one would have bought one.
:)

 

Honestly, given all the "medieval" based video games out there, as well as other scoring needs where I can imagine some guy saying "give me Ren Faire music", I was really surprised not to see more options out there. The results I found were obtained by searching for lute VSTis, which really seem surprisingly rare.

 

I did find a second option, Early Patches, that also might be up the OP's alley. Lots more rare instruments in this one. It's in Akai S2000 or Soundfont format, and will require conversion with many of today's samplers. Not a big deal, though.

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