The Other List of Sampled Instrument Libraries

Good instruments with acceptable license restrictions.

Last update: 2022-03-05

This is an addition to the main list. These are good instruments, that do not fulfil all requirements of the main list, but which can still be used with small restrictions. We would like to present these here, with a note on what to be aware of as a user.

The reason the main curated list exists is that musicians should not read license fine prints for each sample library to figure out what must be done, however fair and understandable each individual case might be. For these extra instruments that is not the case anymore. Please read carefully what you can and cannot do, and under what conditions.

The Other List

DrumGizmo Drum Kits (various)

  • Source: https://drumgizmo.org/wiki/doku.php?id=kits link visited: 2021-05-22
  • Credits: See each kit.
  • License: CC-By 4.0.
  • Format: DrumGizmo Format (xml and sound files)
  • Our description: A collection of excellent drum kits, from jazz to metal. The files need to be loaded in the DrumGizmo plugin or standalone software (GPL). All kits are unprocessed: " It is comparable to that of mixing a real drumkit that has been recorded with a multimic setup." Other drumkits, besides the ones hosted on the official DG site, may exist. They can be licensed as the authors like. DG itself does not impose any license on 3rd party kits.
  • Why not on the main list? If you use the drumkits either in any kind or form of music or create a derivative version of the sample library you must attribute the original authors. The original list does not include any license demands on the resulting music. We think that attribution on a derivative version of the sampled instrument itself is very fair and well. It could even be CC-by-sa. If one day a written exception for music is added to the license this entry can move to the main list.
  • Quote: The [name] drumkit is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. When the samples are used in a composition, any context in which other credits (e.g. to performers) are presented must include an attribution.

Etheralwinds Harp II: Community Edition

  • Source: https://vis.versilstudios.com/etherealwinds-harp.html link visited: 2021-05-22
  • Credits: Versilian Studios with Jordi Francis ("Etherealwinds")
  • License: CC-By 4.0
  • Format: sfz
  • A celtic harp (not the orchestral variant). Sounds very warm and mild. Reduced version of the commercial library of the same name, which does not exists as sfz format.
  • Why not on the main list? If you use the harp either in any kind or form of music or create a derivative version of the sample library you must attribute the original authors. The original list does not include any license demands on the resulting music. We think that attribution on a derivative version of the sampled instrument itself is very fair and well. It could even be CC-by-sa. If one day a written exception for music is added to the license this entry can move to the main list.
  • Quote: When Etherealwinds told us he was willing to make a sequel to the now-classic Etherealwinds Harp freeware library, we were all too happy to oblige. Recorded completely from the ground up in an eight-hour session, we've assembled quite possibly the most complete lever harp library in existence, Etherealwinds Harp II. Because we wanted to keep the spirit of the original freeware alive (and we knew you'd never let us get away without it), we put together this reduced version of the new library under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.