This project began as a quest to find a really good software piano. Not even the expensive commercial versions were satisfying to my ears. Most had velocity switching problems and unpleasant tones. I came across the University of Iowa Steinway piano samples which were great but there was room for improvement in the way they were presented. My goal was to have a selection of piano and other instruments that were pleasant to play and to keep them available for free. Using SoundFont editing programs Polyphone and Viena I have done some editing to allow for expression to give a more enjoyable and realistic playing experience where timbre changes gradually with velocity where possible and without that annoying jump that is commonly found. This was applied to many of the other instruments as well.
The Earliest Instruments Vol. A selection of eight of what might be the earliest instruments used by man. SoundFont craeted by Markus Dimdal. Includes: Rattle, Bone scraper, Percussion stones, Bull-roarer, Horn, Bronze lur, Flint flute, Willow flute. Download lo-fi trial version: Earliest-v1.sf2. Free SoundFonts - Free Quality SoundFonts (sf2) - bs-16i SoundFonts This aim of this site is to provide high quality SoundFonts (virtual musical instruments in sf2 format) that can be played using a midi keyboard connected to a computer, tablet or smart phone.
Polyphone does an excellent job where necessary at auto looping and reducing sample sizes without compromising sound quality.
![Sf2 soundfonts free Sf2 soundfonts free](http://www.arachnosoft.com/data/contents/common/links/software/soundfont/aimp.png)
The Salamander Grand (Yamaha C5) has by nature so many velocity samples that it already has a great expressive sound. I have normalised the samples and re-attenuated them to suit sf2 format and simplified it by leaving out some pedal noises and other non-critical sounds. Cut-off frequencies have been adjusted for extra expression and using Wavosaur I have removed the gaps at the front of the samples to greatly reduce latency.