Download Latest Soundplant
Soundplant is offered as a free download which includes a trial of the registered features:
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Download Legacy Soundplant
Select older versions of Soundplant are still available if you need them for older computers:
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 Soundplant 47 (2018) for Windows 7 & up [47 MB] (last version that works on 32-bit Windows, may be better for older/slower computers)Soundplant 45 (2017) for Windows Vista & up [38 MB] (last version that works on Vista)Soundplant 43 (2016) for Windows XP sp2 & up [25 MB] (last version that works on XP)Soundplant 39 (2010) for Windows XP sp2 & up [8 MB] (may be better for even older/slower computers)Soundplant 26.1 (2002) for Windows 9x/NT & up [2 MB] (last version that works on Win 95/98/NT/2k)Soundplant beta 12 (1999) for Windows 9x/NT & up [2 MB] (the first release of Soundplant! here for nostalgia only, it's not particularly useful)
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Soundplant 47 (2018) for macOS 10.9-10.14 [64 MB] (last version that works on OS X pre-10.11, last 32-bit version)Soundplant 45 (2017) for Mac OS X 10.6-10.14 [50 MB] (last version that works on OS X pre-10.9)Soundplant 39 (2010) for Mac OS X 10.4-10.8, Intel & PPC [22 MB] (last version that works on PPC & OS X pre-10.6)Soundplant beta 27 (2004) for Mac OS X 10.1.5-10.6 & Classic 9.2+, PPC [4 MB] (last version that works on OS 9 & OS X pre-10.4)Soundplant beta 26 (2002) for Mac OS Classic 8.1+ [3 MB] (last version that works on OS 8)
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Download Free Soundplant Keymaps
Here are some example .keymaps to play with:
beat pad 2 [4.5 MB] - Drum pad of sounds extracted from various breakbeats, with a mix of well-worn classic hip-hop sample sources and dug-up finds. Compatible with Soundplant v.40 and up.
sine wave church organ [0.008 MB] - A chromatically tuned, heavily reverberating organ made from a simple sine tone, utilizing 'fade/hold' keymode to sustain the tone while holding down keys and fade out on release. A great way to test out the NKRO capabilities of your keyboard! Compatible with Soundplant v.40 and up.
keys of Tron [2.12 MB] - Sound effects from the classic arcade games Tron (1982) and Discs of Tron (1983). Some cool vintage synth sounds and chiptune building blocks here. I always wondered if Wendy Carlos was involved in the brilliant sound design of these games. Compatible with Soundplant v.40 and up.
Speak & Spell alphabet [1.34 MB] - The letters of the alphabet as spoken by a vintage Speak & Spell speech synthesizer, assigned to their corresponding keyboard keys. Especially fun for kids learning to read and type. Sourced from a UK model so it's got a cute British accent. Compatible with Soundplant v.40 and up.
car keys [0.1 MB] - Microtonal electric piano made out of the 'ding' my car makes when I open the door with the keys left in the ignition. Compatible with Soundplant v.40 and up.
Floer Lickshot Archieve [10.4 MB] - DJ sound effect drops by reggae DJ Floer to spice up your mix with sirens, lasers, and yes, air horn. Compatible with Soundplant v.40 and up.
If you have created a keymap that is especially cool/fun/funny/useful that you'd like to share with the world here, submit it to soundplant [at] soundplant.org.
Free Online Sound Archives
Here are some links to free sound file sites to help get you started using Soundplant, with a varied assortment of sound sources, from standard sound effects libraries to audiophile samples of orchestral instruments to field recordings from around the world to breakbeats to experimental sound art to early electronic instruments:
- Freesound
- Soungle
- Sound Jay
- WavSource
- ZapSplat
- BBC Sound Effects
- One Laptop per Child Sound Samples Archive
- Free Sample Packs
- SoundBible
- Videvo Sound Effects
- Pixabay Sound Effects
- Phat DrumLoops
- University of Iowa Electronic Music Studios Musical Instrument Samples
- Philharmonia Orchestra Sound Sample Archive
- The Sounds Resource video game sound effects
- UbuWeb Sound experimental music
- Quiet American field recordings
- Alan Lomax Digital Archive world folk music field recordings
Software Links
Some programs that are useful/fun in combination with Soundplant:
- Audacity (free x-platform audio editor)
- TwistedWave (browser-based audio editor, free for limited use)
- OSC Keypress (Windows freeware for converting OSC messages to keyboard key hits)
- JoyToKey (Windows app for converting input from joysticks and other game controllers into keyboard hits so you can use them with Soundplant)
- Xpadder (another Windows app for converting input from gamepads into keyboard hits that works well with Soundplant)
- OSCulator (Mac app that can convert input from game controllers and other devices into keyboard key hits)
- USB Overdrive (Mac app that converts input from virtually any USB or Bluetooth input device into keyboard key hits, offers much flexibility including triggering keys with mouse scrolls or redirecting keys on secondary keyboards)
- Sharp Keys (free Windows app for remapping keyboard keys, for example make your Caps Lock trigger F10, also supports extra/media keys, can be used to make keys that are normally unassignable in Soundplant play sounds)
- FAAST (free Windows software for Microsoft Kinect, can convert body motion input to keyboard key hits and works well with Soundplant)
- Jack Audio Connection Kit (free, adds a virtual sound device to Mac or Windows which you can use to directly route output from one program into another, can be used to process Soundplant's output in other programs)
- Virtual Audio Cable (adds a virtual sound device to Windows which you can use to directly route output from one program into another, can be used to process Soundplant's output in other programs)
- Soundflower (another free utility for routing audio output via a virtual sound device, can be used to process Soundplant's output in other programs)
- VB-Cable (another Windows virtual sound device driver for routing output from one program into another)
- VoiceMeeter (donationware Windows utility for mixing multiple software audio sources into a single output, can be used to mix Soundplant's output with mic input live in Skype or Twitch)
- LoopBe1 (Windows "virtual MIDI cable" for routing MIDI from one program to another, can be used to make a program that outputs MIDI trigger Soundplant, free for non-commercial use)
- ASIO4ALL (free Windows universal ASIO driver for non-ASIO soundcards, can bring lower latency in Soundplant if you don't have an actual ASIO device)
- Webcam Zone Trigger (Windows motion detection software that can be set to send keystrokes when motion is detected in different zones of a video feed, can be used to allow real-world actions to trigger sounds with Soundplant)
- MAME (awesome free x-platform vintage arcade video game emulator, good practice for using the computer keyboard for high intensity input)
Hardware Links
Some devices with interesting possibilities for use with Soundplant:
- MaKey MaKey (easy to use invention kit circuit board that can make virtually any object send keyboard key input)
- Das Keyboard (awesome high-end keyboard which works great with Soundplant, both noticeably increasing triggering speed for high-intensity Soundplant applications like drum pad use as well as allowing "n-key rollover", which means that the keyboard's circuitry enables an unlimited amount of keys to be pressed simultaneously)
- Fentek Industries Keyboard Control Foot Pedals
- P.I. Engineering X-keys (custom programmable keypads)
- The I-PAC (hardware for converting joystick input to key input)
- Kinesis (interesting key input devices)
- InclusiveTLC (sells an array of assistive hardware such as switches and buttons that can be used to send key presses)
- Sensorium USB Trigger (can make external trigger buttons, switches, or relays send keyboard input)
- Vetra MegaCast Keyboard Multicasters (devices allowing 1 keyboard to output to multiple computers simultaneously, can be used to trigger Soundplant on multiple machines for redundancy)
Other Resources
- The latest Soundplant User Manual
- Soundplant v.50.5 press release
- For software download sites, Soundplant PAD XML files are hosted on the official PAD repository: Soundplant for Windows PAD | Soundplant for Mac PAD
- Chad Robertson of Essential Production Services created a Soundplant User Group on Facebook
A Cross-Section of Soundplant Users
- director & producer Kevin Smith's View Askew Productions
- sci-fi surf rock band Man or Astro-man?
- composer, sound designer, and Genome Music creator Todd Barton
- film production sound engineer Ed Novick (who used Soundplant as part of his Academy Award-winning work on Inception)
- experimental composer Tom Furgas, who has used Soundplant in several pieces including his Concerto For Prepared Piano And Strings
- electroacoustic composer and sound designer Darren Copeland (who wrote a composition for Soundplant; read an article about its premier here)
- breakcore producer and designer Droon
- producer, experimental composer, and member of The Residents Philip Perkins
- new music composer and performer Paul Pinto
Awards & Press
Soundplant has received awards and recognition from Electronic Musician Magazine (Download Of The Month), Sound On Sound Magazine (Useful Utilities For The PC Musician), CNET (How To feature), Software Informer (Editor's Pick, 5 Stars), Lockergnome (Newsletter Recommended Download), Softpedia (5/5 Pick), Free Download Manager (Recommended Award), Windows64.com (5 Stars), DownloadPipe (5 Stars), soft82.com (5 Stars), Download 3000 (5 Stars), File Transit (5 Stars), and Tai Mien Phi (feature review), among many others.
Credits
Soundplant 50 was written primarily in JavaScript with some C/C++, and gratefully uses open source libraries by Yotam Mann, Benjamin Taylor, Alexander Barker, Dmitry Aloyan, Almog Hamdani, Gary Scavone, katspaugh, Stefan Schaermeli, Matt DesLauriers, Legokichi Duckscallion, Andrey Klebanov, David Lindkvist, and Carson Britt.
Feature sponsorship thanks to Nike, Inc., Marie-Andrée Pellerin, Man or Astro-man?, John Wingert, Jeremy Gold for Project KITT Jeep, Bob Wong/Audio Image Engineering Singapore, and Dan McGee.
Soundplant versions 39 and higher include a distribution of FFmpeg binaries, © Fabrice Bellard et al. As per the GNU General Public License, here is a copy of the FFmpeg source code used to compile the builds of FFmpeg used by the latest version of Soundplant (note that the latest sources will always be found at the FFmpeg home page, not here!): ffmpeg-N-102967-g3f5d5c1c2d.tar.bz2 [11 MB]
Earlier Soundplant versions up to v.47 were written in Lingo, JavaScript, and C++ and used libraries by Valentin Schmidt, Gary Smith, Antoine Schmitt, Tabuleiro, Stephan Eichhorn, and Marmalade. Soundplant versions 40-47 used the FluidSynth software synthesizer, © Peter Hanappe et al., by way of Antoine Schmitt's FluidXtra. Both projects are open source with full source repositories available at their respective links.
Soundplant is for playing digital samples with the computer keyboard or MIDI, but there are other programs which turn the computer keyboard into a MIDI keyboard that sends MIDI messages. If this is what you are looking for, try any of these:
- Virtual Piano by AnalogX
- Virtual MIDI Keyboard by Wouter van Beek
- Virtual MIDI Piano Keyboard by Pedro Lopez-Cabanillas
