The Philharmonia Orchestra, the UK’s National Orchestra, has released thousands of free, downloadable samples on its website. The library of recorded sounds is organized by instrument, with multiple dynamic, articulation and duration variables for each note.
The samples are released under a creative commons license, allowing producers to use them in commercial work without paying royalties. The entire range of orchestral instruments is available and each can be downloaded as a zip file. The samples are in MP3 format.
While there are other free samples available online, it’s exceptional to find ones recorded by world-class musicians in a professional orchestra without paying between $500 and thousands of dollars.
Since, 1945 the Philharmonia Orchestra has been one of the world’s premiere orchestras. In 2013, the orchestra performed over 160 concerts and recorded scores for films, CDs and video games. The free samples are part of Philharmonia’s long tradition of innovation and commitment to engaging new composers and musicians.
Samples are especially helpful for projects with multiple tracks, where textures can be mixed to blend together using eq and reverb. Many film score projects also using a blending of sampled orchestra instruments and recorded ones, to fill out the sound of the mix and save money on costly recording sessions.
Using sampled instruments has become increasingly prolific in recent years, thanks to breakthroughs in computer processing power and affordability. And as high quality samples like this become more and more accessible, it’s safe to assume that this trend will only continue.
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There are 8 unique value-points inside the Sage Audio membership, so let’s go over each one so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.
1. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You’ll get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
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2. 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio 1:1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us to answer all your questions and receive unlimited advanced mixing feedback directly from us.
- Unlimited direct access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve your mixes and masters.
- Unlimited advanced mixing feedback with detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Fast communication to answer all your questions and get tailored guidance that’s specific to your needs.
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3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can improve your mixes quickly.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide feedback about what you can improve before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
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4. Sage Audio University™ (SAU) — (Mixing and Mastering Education Platform)
- SAU is a modern audio engineering education platform that includes in-depth mixing and mastering course curriculums that match the new music industry.
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5. Mixing and Mastering Competitions
- Compete in Mixing Competitions and Mastering Competitions to win prizes and connect with friends and colleagues.
- This is a great collaborative way to improve your skills alongside both aspiring engineers and seasoned industry professionals.
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6. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
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7. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content, Including:
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
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8. 700+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into playlists so you can take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your mixing and mastering skills at your own pace.
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