Free sound samples
v.2 of the sound samples torrent is now available via Mininova. It includes all available 44kHz sound samples, including the ones missing from the original torrent. Note that while many of the links below will take you to the Internet Archive for direct downloads, a number of them are still broken, as they refer to the original download site; those files can be retrieved from the above torrent.
v.2 contains 8458 (!) samples, occupying an uncompressed total of over 8GiB (!!) of space, contained in nearly 6GiB of ZIP files.
Note that v.2 and v.1 of the torrent are completely compatible; you can copy over the files from the original torrent into the directory for the new one, eliminating the need to redownload files you already have (and helping the seeding process to all of the folks who didn't get the original one). The same can be done with the ZIP files downloaded from the links below.
Over 10GB of FREE Samples – for The Children of the World
Loops, Grooves, Licks, Stings, Hits, Pads, Melodic Motives/Themes/Phrases, Sound-Effects, City and Country Soundscapes, Motors, Machines, Toys, Guns, Explosions, Swords, Armor, Cars, Jets, Pot & Pans, Acoustic and Synthetic Noises, Acoustic and Electronic Drums, Voices, Western and World Instruments, Real and Human Animals, Industrial and Natural Ambiences, Film and Game Foley, and more, more, more! This huge collection of new and original samples have been donated to Dr. Richard Boulanger @ cSounds.com specifically to support the OLPC developers, students, XO users, and computer and electronic musicians everywhere. They are FREE and are offered under a CC-BY license for downloading and use in your teaching, your demos, your research, your music, your remixes, your songs, your games, your videos, your slideshows, your websites, and your XO activities. Each of the 7000+ samples is 16-bit, WAV, Mono, normalized to -3dB, and provided at 3 sample rates - 44.1K, 22.5K and 16K.
- from Open Path Music
The Open Path Music Custom Sample Library for OLPC
(OVER 350 SAMPLES! - 83 megabytes)
A collection of sounds that were recorded specifically for OLPC by some of San Jose's top studio musicians at Open Path Music for use in Tam Tam and other XO Activities.
- The Open Path Music Collection V1 (113 samples) – drumKits, drums, tablas, congas, timbale, cymbals, shakers
- 44.1K
- The Open Path Music Collection V2 (54 samples) – flute, altoFlute, clarinet, tenor & bari sax, trumpet, flugelhorn, shenai
- 44.1K
- The Open Path Music Collection V3 (66 samples) – acoustic & electric guitars and bass, banjo, mandolin, ukelele
- 44.1K
- The Open Path Music Collection V4 (30 samples) – acoustic and electric piano, harpsichord, clavinet, organ, toy piano
- 44.1K
- The Open Path Music Collection V5 (163 samples) – singing and speaking voices, laughter and other vocal sound effects
- 44.1K
- from Zenph Studios
The Zenph Studios Yamaha Disklavier Pro Piano Multisamples for OLPC
(OVER 1212 Multi-SAMPLES at different velocities both legato and staccato! - 865 megaBytes)
A collection of Grand Piano Multisamples performed by computer and specifically recorded for OLPC by Dr. Mikhail Krishtal Director of Music Research and Production and his team at Zenph Studios.
- from The Berklee College of Music
Selections from The Berklee College of Music Sampling Archive (1999-2007)
(OVER 2400 SAMPLES! - 1.5 gigabytes)
A collection of sounds that have been selected, organized and prepared for OLPC by Dr. Richard Boulanger (a.k.a. Dr.B.). From 1999 - 2007, these samples were recorded in The Berklee Studios and on location in and around Boston under the supervision of Associate Professor Michael Brigida by over 250 Music Synthesis majors taking his Advanced Sampling Class at The Berklee College of Music. Editing and trimming these original, long, and often meandering recordings into usable individual samples was done by Music Synthesis students - Diane Douglas and Colman O'Reilly.
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 1 - instruments - ethnic (169 samples) tabla, conga, didgeridoo, sitar, rattles, shakers, kalimba, khaen, gong, and more
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 2 - instruments - extended techniques (63 samples) bowing, blowing, tweeking, glisses, scrapes, etc.
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 3 - instruments - guitar (28 samples) feedback, scrapes
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 4 - instruments - piano (50 samples) traditional and prepared piano
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 5 - instruments - voice (113 samples) singing, synthetic, screams, vocal fx, mouth pops and noises, bubbles, and wolf whistles
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 6 - noises - animals (51 samples) real and human vocal imitations
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 7 - noises - mechanical and industrial (150 samples) fans, motors, machines, mechanical noises, sirens, subway trains, engines, blenders, buzzers, sprinkler, wind-up toys
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 8 - noises - rolling, rattling, squeeking and granular textures (563 samples) crumpling, dropping, grinding, squeeking, rolling, rain, beads, ball bearings, rattles
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 9 - noises - ruberbands and balloons (47 samples) bass, drum, blown, fx
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 10 - noises – foley, natural ambiences and sound effects (361 samples) wrenches, background noise, rain, swimming, opening and pouring beer, cheering and laughing crowd, old telephone ringers, swords, walking
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 11 - percussion - bells and cymbals (154 samples) alarms, metal plates, struck and bowed cymbals and glass
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 12 - percussion - slams, strikes and smashed (319 samples) metal, wood, glass, rubber, hits, bounces and doorslams
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 13 - synthesizer - fx (126 samples) spaceships, lasers, explosions, machineguns, glisses
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 14 - synthesizer - loops (56 samples) ostinatos and arpeggios
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 15 - synthesizer - pads (58 samples) animated drones and ambient textures
- 44.1K
- The Berklee Sampling Archive - Volume 16 - synthesizer - waves (84 samples) pedals, analog timbres, filtersweeps, stabs
- 44.1K
OLPC Samples from 31 Music Synthesis Alumni from Berklee
(OVER 1450 SAMPLES! - 2.39 gigabytes)
A collection of original samples and synthetic sounds recorded and created by current Music Synthesis Majors and Music Synthesis Alumni from The Berklee College of Music.
- BT (a.k.a. Brian Transeau) (25 samples) – from Breaks from the NU Skool at 100, 105, 110, 112, 120, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132 and 136 BPM
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Jonathan Bailey (67 samples) – upright bass
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Lee Barkovich (32 samples) – synthetic robots, acoustic gunshots, synthetic explosions
- 44.1K
- Jean-Luc Cohen (79 samples) – acoustic drumkit and organic textures – rainstick, didgeridoo, bubbles
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Matthew Davidson (33 samples) – synth, techno and electro loops at 100, 104, 112, 120 and 132 BPM
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Michael DiMattia (42 samples) – loops, pads, bass, percussion, ethnic, techno and more at 77 and 88 BPM
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Mark Dorflinger (31 samples) – drumloops, trombone, knives, scissors, bottles, fx
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Glen Forsyth (26 samples) – kalimba, drumkit, drumloops, breathy-bottle
- 44.1K
- Flavio Gaete (405 samples) – viola, string orchestra, guitarloops, bassloops, vibeloops, synthloops, drumloops, complete tracks from original songs – BNGA, HLC1-4, SIK and TFS1-2
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Flavio Gaete & Tony Diodore (121 samples) – drum, bass, guitars, vibes, synthpads, synth and percussion loops from original songs – Better and No Escape
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Jonathan Hakakian (16 samples) – drumloops, cellphone, printers, microwave oven, and other textures
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Jacob Joaquin (88 samples) – baby talk plus eurorack, serge and csound synth sounds
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Matt Lange (38 samples) – glitchy drum kit, synthetic laser sounds
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Lisa Lim (29 samples) – didgeridoo, tabla, koto, harp, oud, shakuhachi, framedrum, shekerra, hammered dulcimer
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Colman O'Reilly (85 samples) – squeeky dog toys, csound processed guitars, stutter edits, swells, assorted noises, distorted guitar progressions at 80 BPM
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Joo Won Park (22 samples) – fly, cricket, frogs, footstep, storm, mouthsounds, vocal drum
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Gabriel Pulido (14 samples) – beach, cat, celloloop, goovyseeds, windloop, piano and vibes
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Chen Sokolovsky (47 samples) – female background singing voice, vocal drum, beat box, assorted sound fx
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Andrew Sorkin (47 samples) – skateboarding, bubbles, speech, kickdrums, drones and synth fx
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Gregory Tripi (41 samples) – atmospheres, pads, cello loops, processed cello, harmonics
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Nils de Mol van Otterloo (63 samples) – bass clarinet, tabla, gamelan, musical glasses, gongs, world percussion loops, frogs, birds, oceanwaves, and synth textures
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Elaine Walker (1 samples) – desert rain
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Jeremy Zuckerman (9 samples) – funky guitar licks, loops, comping at 100 BPM
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
Sounds from 2 Music Synthesis Faculty at Berklee
An acoustic soundscape and a special collection of samples and synthetic transformations featuring the vocal talent of Oral Moses.
- Michael Bierylo (106 samples) – Gamelon, Electric Sitar, Bass-Baritone "Oral Moses" Vocal Samples, assorted SFX
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Stephen MacLean (2 samples) – An Acoustic Soundscape - Frogs on a California Coast
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
Berklee Shares lessons come from Berklee Press books and DVDs, online music courses and online college-level accredited certificate programs at Berkleemusic.com, the online extension school of Berklee College of Music. Here you will find free music lessons that you can download, share and trade with your friends and fellow musicians.
- from Csounders Around the World
Samples From the Worldwide Community of Csound Developers, Teachers and Users
(OVER 1200 SAMPLES! - 1.64 gigabyte)
- Oeyvind Brandtsegg (56 samples) - vibes, piano, processed vocals, synths, and fx
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- John ffitch (37 samples) – selected soundscapes from India, Cuba, France, Spain, Sweden, Singapore, England
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Risto Holopainen (18 samples) - seagull, moped, prepared piano, teacups, and synth fx
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Eshan Khadaroo (126 samples) – beatkitchen - synthloops, drumloops, drumNsynthloops at 56, 80, 84, 87, 100,110, 111, 120 BPM
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Peiman Khosravi (139 samples) – African string instrument, Venezuelan calling horn, bells, harpsichord, double_bass, kitchen_sounds, and vocal noises
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Anthony Kozar (28 samples) – speech phonemes, time-stretched vocals, chimes
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Jay Leboeuf (34 samples) – rock and jazz drumkits
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Keith McMillen (282 samples) – Zeta electric bass and violin
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Tim Mortimer (143 samples) – guitar, bass, glitch, blips, synth textures, pads, fx, and assorted acoustic and electric noises
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Dave Phillips (13 samples) – physical models
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Prent Rodgers (111 samples) – fingerpiano, spring drums, bass, fx
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Mihir Sarkar (10 samples) – tabla
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Akito Van Troyer (47 samples) – balinese gamelan
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- from Dr.B. - over 2.25 GigaBytes!
Dr.B.'s Selected Samples from 8 of his Compositions & Remixes
- Behind the Green Door - Csound & Cecilia Processing and Transformations of ICMC Berlin Door Squeeks (86 samples)
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Conversations 4 Piano and Radio Baton - Csound & Cecilia Processing and Transformations of Slawomir Zubrzycki Piano Samples (121 samples)
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Conversations 4 Percussion and P5 MIDI DataGlove - Csound & Cecilia Processing and Transformations of Tomek Choloniewski Percussion Samples (147 samples)
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- For Gomi's Peace Piece - Csound & Cecilia Processing and Transformations of 2 Female Voices speaking about peace (121 samples)
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Moving Into the Light - Cello Source Recordings by Philip Boulanger and Csound & Cecilia Processing and Transformations of the Acoustic Cello (53 samples)
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
- Trapped in Convert - Radio Baton Remix - Csound Synthesis, Resynthesis and Processing & Cecilia Processing and Transformations of Trapped in Convert Instruments and Synthetic Sounds (59 samples)
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
Dr.B.'s Selected Samples from The Csound Book
- Some Csound Book Samples (26 samples)
- 44.1K
Dr.B.'s Selected Samples from Dr. Boulanger's Doctoral Dissertation Research on Soundfile Convolution
- Dynamic Spectral Intersection (DSI) Research - Source Recordings and CARL/Cmusic Soundfile Convolutions and Phase Vocoder Transformations (36 samples)
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
Dr.B.'s OLPCsound Collection
A collection of synthetic sounds that were created by Dr.B. specifically for the OLPC XO using Csound.
- System Sounds and Machine Noises (22 samples)
- 44.1K
- Dr. Boulanger's Original XO Startup Sound featuring "The OLPC Motive - A B E C# = the letters O L P C" (3 versions)
- 44.1K
Dr.B.'s Personally Selected and Edited Favorites from The Berklee Collection
A huge collection of sampled and synthetic sounds that were collected, edited, sampled, designed, synthesized as alternative source material for the TamTam activities by Dr.B.
- Selected Sound Effects for TamTam (87 samples)
- 44.1K
Some of Dr.B.'s Selected Samples from Home
- Philip Boulanger's Solo Cello Sources for Moving Into the Light - themes, arpeggios, harmonics, fx (8 samples)
- 44.1K, 22.5K, 16K
A Few of Dr.B.'s Fun Sounds
- from Tam Tam - 19 megabytes
The Original Samples, Percussion Sounds and Drumkits from TamTam
A huge collection of sampled and synthetic sounds that were specially designed, compressed, EQ'd and edited for the XO Csound Masterpiece - Tam Tam by the activity developers: Eric Lamothe, Jean Piché, Olivier Bélanger and Nathanael Lécaudé
- TamTam Original Sample Set (125 samples)
- 44.1K