How to make a virtual music instrument from a real one

[jhon2082009]

Hello,

I would like to make a virtual piano from my real piano by sampling it (I know I can by virtual instruments, but I really want to make my own virtual instruments from real musical instruments) . What are the specific steps to do that (I can use the ZOOM H4N for recording and have a Rhode M3 condenser) ?

 

 

[SHaka40]

This sounds like a question for our forumite learjeff. I believe he has done exactly this type of thing with Rhodes EPs.

 

But here's my very VERY limited understanding of the basic process. A dumbed-down in a nutshell version: You record a bunch of different notes of the piano. The longer you let each note sustain, the more different notes you sample, and the more different velocities you sample, the more natural the end result will be, but also the more size the instrument will take up and the harder it will be for the host computer system to handle. This is why romplers use short compressed samples that are then looped and ran through filters and envelopes and such.

 

Once you have the raw samples, then it comes down to synthesis. You'd need some type of host software, I'm thinking a sampler like Native Instrument's Kontakt. This will allow you the needed tools to turn the raw audio samples into something useful. The samples would need to be mapped across the keyboard (assigned to their appropriate note and velocity). For instance, if you record every 3rd note on the keyboard, you would assign those samples to every 3rd key on the virtual keyboard in the sampler, then the notes in between will need to be pitch shifted. Filters allow you to do a similar thing with velocities. When you strike a note harder on a piano, it not only gets louder, but the tone changes (most notably, it gets brighter). So for instance, if you record a note played soft and the same note played hard, a filter could be applied to the soft sample to make it get brighter and brighter until you reach a given MIDI velocity value which would trigger the hard sample. This makes the transition much smootherand more natural. Notes could possibly need to be looped too in order to have the proper sustain, depending on how long your samples are.

 

P.S. I've never done any REAL sampling like this, so this all should be taken with a grain of salt. But as you can see the process is very involve, especially for an instrument as complex as piano. I imagine it would be a bit simpler for something like a one-shot percussion instrument. There are some great resources on the sampling process on the net. Two of my favorites are the soundonsound.com "Lost Art of Sampling" series, and the Tweakheadz.com article on sampling.

[matted stump]

Good luck with that - you have picked the hardest possible instrument to sample realistically.

[SHaka40]

Good luck with that - you have picked the hardest possible instrument to sample realistically.

Yup! I mean think about it, huge companies who have been sampling pianos for decades and have seemingly limitless budgets have yet to master the art of sampling pianos in a realistic and natural manner. I'm talking world class pianos, mics, preamps, recording spaces, and most importantly engineers, and the result is still (more times than not) far from realistic. So if you plan to sample a piano with one mic and a pocket recorder, and actually end up with something playable? Good Luck indeed!

 

On the other hand, if you're just doing it for the enjoyment of it, and/or to learn about the technology and processes involved, have some fun with it!

[jhon2082009]

Thanks for your answers,

I want to do it for my enjoyment (and curiosity) and I also was wondering that if I find a nice sample of an instrument as a wav file (there are free ones on the internet), which I did, could I make a virtual instrument from that 1-note sample.

[kanker.]

The instrument would only sound realistic in the immediate pitch vicinity of the note. The father away from that note you get, the less realistic the sound will become. You maybe have a range of 3 or 4 tones to either side of the note that will work.