A very preliminary handbell soundfont
Thanks to some help from users on this forum, I've come up with a very preliminary soundfont for handbells.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_trI4pZKiMlr_-ElSGt0-cbMKAZzTeBN/view?…
I recorded the samples on my set of 4 octave Schulmerichs. I haven't done much processing on them, I really want the sound to be as true to actual bells as possible. There's always room for improvement though, so if anyone has suggestions they would be welcome.
The thing I would really like to do would be to add all the sounds made with different bell techniques, such as marts, mallets, etc. (see this video for some examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7peh-ccULqQ ). I'm envisioning a custom palette with all the handbell symbols, and also tying audio playback to those symbols, much like the Articulations palette works. However, I think that would be a much more involved process and I'm not really sure where to begin. Recording the samples would be no problem, it's actually getting it to work with Musescore where I'm not sure. Would this mean writing a plugin?
Comments
You might want to ask @Daniel, the author of the MuseScore Drumline Extension.
This would be a great possible extension.
Please reach out to Zac Jansheski (z.jansheski@musesc*re.com).
He has been recently working on some extension updates.
Somehow I've missed this post for almost a year and a half! I blame supply chain issues. ;) Have you made any further progress?
Don't know if you new about this one: there's a now extinct soundfont for handbells that has a bunch of techniques included. Used to be found on www.handbellpractice.com website (now gone). I keep a backup copy on my google drive in this folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4d8_UmqbBFSVHRIMjhodE9LaEk?res…
The author's contact info is embedded in the sf2.
The folder also includes a matching xml file I created so I could change current technique with a staff text.
In reply to Somehow I've missed this… by Rob Bruce
MuseScore 4 makes some significant changes/advances related to most of these things.
I suggest this can be revisited for a 4.x release at some point in future taking into context the changes in 4.0 that would impact something like this.
This would mean adding symbols to Leland and also creating a new virtual library (not soundfont).
I think about 6 months from now would probably be best time to revisit.
In reply to MuseScore 4 makes some… by Daniel
"This would mean adding symbols to Leland and also creating a new virtual library (not soundfont)."
I'm not familiar with these developments, what do these terms mean and what sort of improvements should we be anticipating?
In reply to MuseScore 4 makes some… by Daniel
I'm intrigued! Though I'm not sure what the difference is between a virtual library and a soundfont?
In reply to Somehow I've missed this… by Rob Bruce
Hm interesting, the timbre makes me think these are synthesized sounds, but it does include several bell techniques which was my goal. I'm surprised I've never heard of the author, as the handbell world is not large.
I have not made any more progress on mine, too many other things going on in life meant that this fell down the priority list. It sounds like MS 4 might be a good time to revisit though, although perhaps in a different format?