SampleScience has introduced SampleScience Player, a freeware virtual sound module instrument in VST and AU plugin formats for digital audio workstations on PC and Mac.
SampleScience Player includes 200 playable instrument patches, making it the biggest freeware rompler instrument available today. The included samples come from various public domain sources and the license for each sound kit is shown on the GUI when its corresponding patch is loaded. In other words, you are free to use this virtual instrument in your commercial music projects without worrying about any hidden copyright issues.
UPDATE: SampleScience posted a comment with a bit more info about the included samples: “Only a part of the library is public domain. Some of the sounds have been designed by me (SampleScience) and are made to be used only in music production only while other sounds are CC 3.0 with attribution. To put it simply: you can use all the sound in your music production and the public domain sounds can also be used for sound design projects (commercial or not).”
With such a large amount of included sample content, it’s no surprise that SampleScience Player packs a whopping 2.99 GB of data when extracted. However, since the plugin itself is very easy on the CPU, the instrument performs very well even on lower-spec computers. Just make sure that you have enough free storage available on your hard drive to install the plugin. Speaking of installation, all you need to do is to extract the downloaded ZIP archive in your preferred VST or AU plugin folder and load the instrument in your DAW.
The user interface is centered around the preset browser which provides easy access to the instrument’s 200 presets. Positioned below it are the modulation and filter controls, along with the copyright info for every patch. The users can choose between two different filter types (low-pass and high-pass) and four LFO waveforms (triangle, sine, saw, square, and exponent). The velocity sensitivity and polyphony controls are also located in this section of the GUI. The lower half of the interface hosts the virtual keyboard and the volume ADSR, LFO, Cutoff, Reverb, Glide, and MIDI Panic controls. It’s also worth noting that every preset comes with a different background image, which is a nice touch.
As for the sound quality, SampleScience Player does a great job considering that all the sounds come from free and public domain sources. It won’t beat a pricey rompler like Kontakt in a head to head comparison, but the included presets are so nicely organized and polished that it’s really hard to tell that you’re using a freeware instrument. For a beginning producer, the SampleScience Player is a definite must-download. By the way, SampleScience is inviting everyone to send them your music made with the Player. The idea is to create a compilation of original music made with this wonderful freeware instrument.
SampleScience Player is available for free download via SampleScience (2.0 GB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU plugin format for Windows & macOS).
