On 01/01/2011 01:11 AM, Q wrote: Nothing beats a real drummer ;) Anyway, I should have looked better. I thought that the ns_kit7free was the same as the NDK. For the ns_kit there is a SFZ file available, so I thought that would fit. But it seems that the free kit is re-released in 2009, I missed that. Hmm \r

On 01/01/2011 01:57 PM, Leigh Dyer wrote: Thanks. Demo limitations: 1. A short noise burst every few seconds added Hmmm not sure if that will be ok then!? \r

On Sat, 2011-01-01 at 14:01 +0100, rosea.grammostola wrote: This might be an alternative: http://www.chickensys.com/products/sw_iteminfo.php?sw_name=Translator +Free It doesn't seem as nice, and there are a number of limitations, but it's free! I just tested it here by converting a Kontakt file to SFZ format, and while I haven't tested the result, the conversion seemed to work fine. Thanks Leigh

On 01/01/2011 01:57 PM, Leigh Dyer wrote: Hmm maybe not even a bad plan to have such a converter as Linuxaudio user. All though Kontakt seems to be at version 4 (http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/?category=1342), which isn't supported by extreme sample converter. It says it converts also VSTi, dunno if it's possible to convert VSTi to gigasampler for example... Maybe you can even use it as VSThost on Linux (?). It also supports Renoise, might be a plus for a Linuxaudio user. Which sample type is supported best by Linuxsampler, gigasampler, gigastudio 1, 2 or 3? \r _VSTi Converter_ Converting virtual synth to different formats. Support for plug-ins without their own gui. Choosing a patch or bank also possible. _Patch to Patch Conversions_ Yamaha TYROS 2 Custom Normal Import and Export Renoise XRNI instrument and XRNS song Import, XRNI instrument Export Dash Signature Import and Export VSTi Sampling using VSTi Converter Hardware Sampling using Hardware Converter SoundFont Import and Export GigaSampler Import and Export GigaStudio 1.0/2.0 Import GigaStudio 3.0 Import and Export, full support for accelerated 16-bit and 24-bit files and splitted giga files *.gx01 Solton MS-40/50/60 Import and Export (special editor included) Sampletank 1.0 Import and Export DLS Downloadable Sounds Level 1 Import DLS Downloadable Sounds Level 2 Import and Export SampleFarm Import DS-404 Import and Export Creamware Pulsar STS Import and Export Akai S5000/S6000/Z4/Z8 Import and Export Halion 1 Import Halion 2 Import and Export Halion 3* Import (Steinberg Dongle required) Kontakt 1/2/3* Import and Export Wusikstation 1/2/3/4 Import and Export Sfz Import and Export EmulatorX* Import and Export ProteusX* Import and Export Samplelord Import and Export * Factory Sound Banks, monolith HSB files, NKS files and derivative files are not supported.

On Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 5:29 AM, rosea.grammostola <rosea.grammostola(a)gmail.com> wrote: there is some significant confusion here. the previous email mentioned a program that is an example of a sample file format converter. what the program mentioned above does is something to handle loading of instrument plugins by programs that don't support a particular plugin API (in this case, VSTi). VSTi is not a sample file format like GIG or SFZ - its a plugin API. the two are not in any possible sense equivalent to each other.

On Sunday 02 January 2011 19:36:51 rosea.grammostola wrote: Well, according to its manual, Extreme Sample Converter can "convert" VSTi to GIG and other sample formats. But this works simply by recording the plugin's audio output for a certain number of notes, velocities, etc. This kind of conversion works reasonably well for some instruments, but many will suffer significantly from the limitations of sampled formats. There's no way to change a synth's settings in a sampled instrument, and a lot of detail and nuances of the original sound will be lost. That said, you can do basically the same thing on Linux using Synthclone (http://code.google.com/p/synthclone/). Dominic

Mark Knecht wrote: wrote: With the Solina, Sampletekk sampled every single basic sound that's possible on the instrument. The only things you lose control over are the volume of the bass and the attack and release ("crescendo" and "sustain length") settings, you're stuck with the ones programmed in. Oh, and it's all sampled with the modulation turned on, but then they don't sound great with it off. As for Trons, the only controls really are the tone, which can be mimicked with the included lowpass filter, and pitchbend. Sampling does lose all the "performance controls" that Trons aren't supposed to have but do ;-) like downward pitchbend the more notes you press, decreasing tape speed the harder you press the keys (potentially useful for vibrato), or the tendency for notes to never quite sound the same twice, which is part of the charm. The Sampletekk Prophet on the other hand, I really can't see the point of (not that I own it or have listened to the demos), as you're only ever going to capture a few tiny snapshots of what the original synth is capable of, as Dominic said, and there are software emulations out there that have the potential to come much closer to the sound whilst retaining all of the programmability. As for converting VSTi's, whilst what Paul says about it being an API is true, it depends on the VSTi as there are many which are basically just sample players with a few filter effects added on. There are a few Mellotron ones which spring to mind. Hell, that's what the GForce M-Tron, M-Tron Pro and Virtual String Machine (ARP Solina et al) are, with huge great sample libraries attached. Q

Mark Knecht wrote: Well, maybe less hassle in producing a gigfile in that way, but a whole world of pain when the lawyers come knocking on your door for having ripped off someone else's samples and repackaging them :-) I suppose if you do it for yourself and don't ever redistribute no-one would be any the wiser. But seriously, having recently created umpteen simple gigfiles from scratch (with limited range of notes and no velocity layers), I can see your point -- creating those things takes a lot of hard work and skill. Which makes me even more incredulous at the cheapness at which some are sold in sales. If/when Giga finally dies, it would be a shame for all that work to go down the pan when such effort has gone into skillfully sampling those instruments and conversion is a way that those sampled instruments (for I think they have a character in their own right) might live on, even if only privately for one user. Q

On Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 1:14 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht(a)gmail.com> wrote: `synthclone` does run unassisted, but it doesn't create .gig files (yet). It is capable of creating .sfz files, which are supported by LinuxSampler to a certain extent. -- Devin Anderson devin (at) charityfinders (dot) com CharityFinders - http://www.charityfinders.com/ synthclone - http://synthclone.googlecode.com/