How do I make a violin sample?

[JimboKudo]

I need someones help.  I don't know how to make a good violin instrument, and I need it for my video game that I'm making.  If one of you guys could please help me out that would be awesome.  Thanks!

Edit by Mod: Changed topic title. PLEASE HELP ME is not a title that will get much attention.

[Sam_Zen]

A bit less using of capitals in your messages would be nice, because not necessary.
First in this : if you haven't got the proper sample, make one yourself.
So, for example, play some Cd with classical music and search for a moment in the track with a single violin-part.
It's often to be found in the intro or the outro of some piece.
If it could be of any help, I've got some violin-samples, meant to be for the Casio SK-1, here :
http://www.louigiverona.com/webarchive/samzen/samps/sample.html

[LPChip]

The best and perhaps only way to make a good violin sample, is by having a violin, and record its sound using a microphone.

If that option is outside of your reach, then your second best option would be to buy a Sample CD with a violin on it.

You could look for a Violin VSTi but I doubt that there are good Violin VSTi's.

[KrazyKatz]

When you say violin do you mean solo violin? Or do you want a full ensemble? Also are you looking for only violin or also viola, cello and contrabass? I have some fairly good instruments I've converted. What game incidentally?

[JimboKudo]

I just need a good instrument, i'm sure you all know how annoying the instruments that come with modplug are.  I do have a lot of Cds with violin solos but i don't know how to rip the sound.  If anyone could tell me how to rip that, it would be awesome.  Sorry guys, i'm really innexperienced.

[Sam_Zen]

i'm sure you all know how annoying the instruments that come with modplug are.

Maybe I'm an exeption, but I don't know about any annoying thing. Afaik no instruments are 'coming' with modplug.

To get a sound from an audio cd you can do two things :
1) play the track of the cd on the system, while having some soundrecording program activated.
2) Use a ripper program to transfer a full track from the cd onto your harddisk.
There are many rippers available, I use JetAudio Basic for the job.
This is still rough material, so in both ways you'll need a wav-editor, to select (crop) and save the sample you want to use.
One can also choose to make a phrase of the solo a single sample, instead of just the sound of one note.
Because MPT has a code to set the offset from the start of the sample, to begin with the second note of the phrase.

2 KrazyKatz
Technically speaking, because MPT has a 7 octave range, the size of the instrument of the sample doesn't matter.
So if you have a violin-sample, it could work as well as a contrabass. (Apart from the specific sound differences in physical
details of course)

[KrazyKatz]

(Apart from the specific sound differences in physical
details of course)

Thats the whole point. If a violin were stretched to the range of a contrabass it would sound horrific. The timbres are all vastly different amongst the different string sections, so even if say a cello plays the same note as a viola or bass, the character will be way different.

[rncekel]

It all depends on what you want. If you want to sound similar to a real violin, then you are in real trouble. Violin is one of the hardest instrument to emulate. There are so many different sounds a violin can have just playing one single note... I suppose you want just a solo violin, and bowed (not pizzicato). Still them, there is the problem with vibrato. Almost any sample you can get from a record will have vibrato, and it will sound terrible if you change the pitch for more than 2 or 3 semitones.
I have been working precisely on a string quartet during the last year (I haven't finished yet), and the only way for me it seems to be:
-getting samples free of vibrato, one for each note, and then clean them from background noise
-adjust pitch to the desired precission (a few percent deviation sounds right), extend the time of the sample to about 4 seconds (the longest note  for a single bow movement), and compress the sample a little bit
-make the instrument joining all samples, without any loop, set NA to a quick fade (for legato) and put vibrato as you desired it, with MPT effects.
Even so, the violin it's quite frustrating (bass and cello sound nice easily).

[cubaxd]

Hi JimboKudo

Although i've already "flooded" the forum with this URL , i can only repeat that it's a great resource of orchestra samples:
http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/thesoundexchange/sound_samples/

[KrazyKatz]

rncekel

It all depends on what you want. If you want to sound similar to a real violin, then you are in real trouble.

Its true, but I was astounded when I heard this:

http://www.garritan.com/stradivari.html

BY the way, Cubaxd... BIG THANKS for the outstanding site!

[JimboKudo]

Hi JimboKudo

Although i've already "flooded" the forum with this URL , i can only repeat that it's a great resource of orchestra samples:
http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/thesoundexchange/sound_samples/

Thanks a ton man! This is a really useful site.  And also, thanks to everybody for giving me all this advice.  It shows what a helpful forum this is.

[Sam_Zen]

2 rncekel
You're absolutely right. Trying to imitate a real instrument is not the right approach imo. I think it's more a search for the right suggestion.

I remembered having a collection of 47 cello-samples from a2 upto Gb5. They're just copies, I didn't check them for possible editing.
To keep it small, I converted the wavs to the flac-format.
http://www.louigiverona.com/webarchive/samzen/samps/zipz/cello.zip

[HvitRavn]

I just want to note that the Edirol orchestra VSTi is a superb orchestra synthesizer. And it only needs a rough hundred megs of disk space (compared to some VSTi orchestra samplers that need 40GB+)

[KrazyKatz]

Hey, HvitRavn. You can review the VST instruments in the sticky dedicated to it. On my P.C Its a 150mb and it is quite unbelievable how they squeezed so much into it at that size.