Versilian Studios developers virtual instruments which enable composers and musicians around the world to bring rare, unusual, and unique instruments into their virtual studio and create stunningly realistic compositions. The process of sampling and developing a virtual instrument is an involved, complex process relying on a team of highly-trained professionals working in unison to bring together all the moving parts.

We want to help you create something amazing that will educate, intrigue, and wow the world of professional and hobbyist musicians and composers around the globe. We can provide a wide range of services including recording, editing, co-developing, and licensing as needed.

Whether you’re looking to share your private collection with the world, expand your museum’s outreach, explore new musical techniques, or build your brand in a unique way, we are here to help!

Over the past decade, we have worked with everyone from indie games to industry leaders to record, edit, process, and license samples for apps, media, hardware instruments, and virtual instruments.

Drawing from our catalog of hundreds of thousands of samples, including many unreleased sounds captured purely for licensing use, and over a decade of experience recording samples and state-of-the-art equipment, we are able to accommodate projects of any budget and scope, from first-time app developers to massive custom library projects.

We are uniquely positioned to create custom sample libraries for composers, hardware, or apps.

Custom library recordings are conducted in-house using our own custom setup of ultra-high-performance microphones and converters, which were hand-picked for the process of sampling with high dynamic range, low noise, and of course excellent sound quality.

All specifications of the project can be adjusted to your needs and budget, including pitch density, articulations, velocity layers, round robins, processing and more.

Samples can be provided raw (wav, flac, ogg, etc.) or assembled in SFZ or Kontakt formats.

Whether you’re an instrument maker, creative musician, or a private collector, we are happy to work with you to develop a sample library to preserve and promote your instruments, brand, or sound concept.

Musicmakers Vol. 1 & 2

Created in collaboration with Musicmakers, these libraries explore over two dozen stringed folk instruments from the Musicmakers product line, with development involving multiple local musicians and a local studio space over multiple weeks of sessions.

The Recorder

With support from the American Recorder Society (ARS), we were able to sample an unparalleled collection of 27 top-of-the-range recorders from around the world, featuring local performer Emily O’Brien who conceived of the project as a means of making the recorder more accessible to composers.

Joachim’s Piano

Created with media composer Joachim Horsley, Joachim’s Piano features the exact piano, mics, studio, and processing used in his hit “Beethoven in Havana” album.

Virtuosity Drums

Featuring drummer Austin McMahon, Virtuosity Drums was captured at Virtuosity Musical Instruments in Boston, MA featuring the “house kit”. The library was collaboratively developed with Karoryfer Samples from Poland for the KVRDC 2017 and won the sampled instrument category for that year.

Etherealwinds Harp & Voice II

Performed by Jordi “Etherealwinds” Francis, Etherealwinds Harp & Voice II is a chromatically-sampled 34-string lever harp and voice library.

Sampling allows us to make historically-informed virtual instruments accessible to the general public, museum visitors, professional media composers, and researchers.

We are uniquely equipped among sample library developers with a collection of low noise measurement microphones from Microtech Gefell and ACO, including models MK 102 (x3), MK 221 (x5), and ACO 7022 (x2) for the ultra-precise capture of instrument characteristics.

VSCO 2

Includes uncommon or historical brass such as the ophicleide, antique and vintage trombones, trumpets, and cornets, tenor cor, and tenorhorn.

The Recorder

Features the last complete set of Prescott “Praetorius” renaissance recorders produced. Replicas of models from famed makers such as Rippert, Denner, Terton, Stanesby Jr, Bressan, and Scherer produced by the world-famous Von Huene Workshop were sampled, including rare “reference” instruments held by the workshop as exemplars of the type.

Joachim’s Piano

A lovingly restored 1890’s 85-key Steinway B, captured via Microtech Gefell replicas of 1950’s Neumann & Co. Gefell CMV563 M7 tube microphones.

Calderwood Drums

42 drums and other percussion, including 7 historical originals restored by Calderwood Percussion in Boston, MA, dating back as far as 1824. Also sampled were modern replicas of historical instruments such as nakers, tabors, baroque triangle, and crescent.

Many virtual instrument developers use 3rd parties to record and run their sampling sessions remotely; generalist studio engineers and producers with limited experience of the sampling process. Versilian Studios is unique in that all planning, recording, processing, and instrument assembly happens internally and directly by our small, dedicated, and highly-experienced team. This means that all aspects of development, from ideation to documentation, happen by the same people, with a constant, critical feedback cycle pushing for continuous improvement.

With over a decade delivering dozens of libraries behind us, we are looking forward to a future of incredible libraries which push the technical boundaries: physically, sonically, and programmatically. This is the Versilian Difference: uncompromised realism, addicting playability!

The absolute most critical component of any sample library is the capture, or recording, of the samples. One of the major mistakes of countless sample libraries is to assume that general recording best practices and equipment is sufficient for high-end sampling… it is not!

Most sample libraries are recorded with typical studio and location microphones, often patched through vintage preamps/consoles, outboard gear, and standard AD converters which introduce excess noise and distortion into signals unnecessarily.

By taking a specialist approach to sampling, choosing equipment specifically and exceptionally well-geared towards the task (ultra low noise and distortion), we have made a radical leap in the fidelity of our projects over the generalist approach.

Our main recording microphones (e.g. Gefell UM 930, pictured left) have an ultra low self noise of 7 dBA which is 8 – 10 dB lower than typical tube mics and small diaphragm mics used in ordinary recording, as well as an exceptional max SPL of 142 dB. Drastically less noise and distortion across the board.

The Merging Hapi Mk II converter we use with the latest ADA8V3 I/O cards has among the highest AD dynamic range in existence at 139 dBA, with a response measured flat within 0.04 dB from 20 Hz – 20 kHz and extremely low noise, distortion, and crosstalk, perfectly matched to our microphones.

Nearly as important as the initial recording, how the samples are treated in post can make or break a sample library.

Countless libraries, even very famous ones, are pockmarked by the damage of a carelessly harsh denoising pass or heavy over-processing, greatly diminishing the original recordings. Rampant use of compression, EQ, and autotune damages the fragile structure of the samples, ruining transients and reducing sustains to bland, lifeless mush.

Our approach is minimalist in impact, but extremely time consuming to carry out. Adherence to the most costly, least destructive processing possible ensures the original intent and beauty of the performance, space, and microphones is fully respected.

Over the past 13 years in business, we’ve learned and awful lot about how to not simply make a sample library, but rather make incredible sample libraries.

The answer is… an equally incredible amount of time and passion!

We make these libraries not because we want to ride trends, not because it’s easy, not because it’s simple, not because it’s an investment, but rather simply because the incredible technical and artistic challenge is appealing to us. We build the libraries we want to see brought into the world, not what a marketing department says will sell.

By putting our time and energy into developing incredibly detailed, time-consuming projects that are driven by our own interests and excitement for the field, we feel we are able to offer products that are unusually ahead of the curve in sound, playability, and technical capability compared to developers who make products just to meet market conditions.

◀ A decade of progress, 2014 – 2024