Datasets:

schismaudio
/

vcsl-percussion

license: cc0-1.0
task_categories:
  - audio-classification
tags:
  - drum-samples
  - percussion
  - one-shot
  - sample-library
  - idiophones
  - membranophones
pretty_name: VCSL Percussion
size_categories:
  - 1K<n<10K
configs:
  - config_name: default
    data_files:
      - split: train
        path: data/train-*
dataset_info:
  features:
    - name: audio
      dtype: audio
    - name: filename
      dtype: string
    - name: instrument
      dtype: string
    - name: relative_path
      dtype: string
  splits:
    - name: train
      num_bytes: 1656709710
      num_examples: 1542
  download_size: 1255215594
  dataset_size: 1656709710

VCSL Percussion

Quick Start

from datasets import load_dataset

# Stream to avoid downloading the entire dataset
ds = load_dataset("schismaudio/vcsl-percussion", streaming=True)

# Or download locally
ds = load_dataset("schismaudio/vcsl-percussion")

Dataset Description

VCSL Percussion is the percussion subset of the Versilian Community Sample Library (VCSL), a free, open community project providing high-quality instrument samples for composers and developers. This subset contains 1,524 WAV samples across two Hornbostel-Sachs families: Idiophones (struck, friction, and plucked instruments whose bodies vibrate to produce sound) and Membranophones (instruments that produce sound from a vibrating membrane).

The full VCSL library covers orchestral and world instruments; this dataset extracts only the percussion-relevant directories, totaling approximately 1.5 GB. All samples are released under the CC0-1.0 (public domain) license, meaning no attribution is required and the samples can be used for any purpose without restriction.

Dataset Structure

Data Fields

Field	Type	Description
`audio`	`Audio`	WAV file, typically 44.1 or 48 kHz
`filename`	`string`	Original filename
`instrument`	`string`	Instrument name derived from directory path
`family`	`string`	Top-level family: `Idiophones` or `Membranophones`
`subcategory`	`string`	Playing technique category (e.g., `Struck Idiophones`, `Struck Membranophones`)

Directory Structure

Idiophones/
  Friction Idiophones/    (16 samples)
    Wine Glasses
  Plucked Idiophones/     (109 samples)
    Kalimba (Kenya, Tanzania)
    Mbira (multiple regional variants)
    Nyunga Nyunga
  Struck Idiophones/      (678 samples)
    Agogo Bells, Anvil, Balafon, Bell Tree, Brake Drum,
    Cabasa, Cajon, Claps, Clash Cymbals, Claves, Cowbells,
    Finger Cymbals, Flexatone, Glockenspiel, Gongs, Guiro,
    Hand Bells, Hand Chimes, Hi-Hat Cymbal, Marimba,
    Mark Trees, Ratchet, Shakers, Slapstick, Sleigh Bells,
    Slit Drum, Suspended Cymbals, Tambourines, Triangles,
    Tubular Bells, Tubular Glockenspiel, Vibraphone,
    Vibraslap, Woodblock, Xylophone
Membranophones/
  Struck Membranophones/  (718 samples)
    Bass Drums, Bongos, Conga, Darbuka, Frame Drum,
    Snare Drums (Modern + Rope Tension), Timpani, Toms
  Other Membranophones/   (3 samples)
    Ocean Drum

Class Taxonomy

Idiophones (803 samples)

Struck Idiophones (47 instrument directories, 678 samples):

Metallic pitched: Glockenspiel, Tubular Bells (3 sets), Tubular Glockenspiel, Vibraphone (bowed, hard mallets, soft mallets)
Metallic unpitched: Agogo Bells, Anvil, Bell Tree, Brake Drum, Cowbells, Finger Cymbals, Hand Bells (Nepalese), Hand Chimes, Mark Trees, Sleigh Bells, Triangles
Cymbals: Clash Cymbals (2 sets), Hi-Hat Cymbal, Suspended Cymbals (2 sets)
Wooden pitched: Balafon (hard/soft/traditional mallet), Marimba, Xylophone (hard/medium/soft mallets)
Wooden unpitched: Claves, Guiro, Ratchet, Slapstick, Slit Drum, Woodblock
Auxiliary: Cabasa, Cajon, Claps, Flexatone, Shakers (large/small), Tambourines (5 variants), Vibraslap

Friction Idiophones (1 instrument, 16 samples):

Wine Glasses (sustains and releases at two dynamics)

Plucked Idiophones (5 instruments, 109 samples):

Kalimba (Kenya), Kalimba (Tanzania), Mbira Mavembe (Zimbabwe), Mbira dzaVadzimu (Zimbabwe), Nyunga Nyunga (Mozambique)

Membranophones (721 samples)

Struck Membranophones (17 instrument directories, 718 samples):

Bass drums: Bass Drum 1, Bass Drum 2, Bass Drum 3 (Legacy)
Snare drums: Snare Drum Modern 1-3, Snare Drum Rope Tension (hi/low), Legacy Snares (4 variants)
Toms: Tom 1 (mallet/stick), Tom 2 (mallet/stick), Legacy Toms (tenor higher/lower)
World drums: Bongos, Conga, Darbuka, Frame Drum
Orchestral: Timpani 1 (hit/roll), Timpani 2 (hit)

Other Membranophones (1 instrument, 3 samples):

Ocean Drum

Usage Examples

Browse instruments by family

from datasets import load_dataset
from collections import Counter

ds = load_dataset("schismaudio/vcsl-percussion")

families = Counter(s["family"] for s in ds["train"])
print(families)
# Counter({'Idiophones': 803, 'Membranophones': 721})

Load specific instrument samples

from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("schismaudio/vcsl-percussion")

snares = ds["train"].filter(lambda x: "Snare" in x["instrument"])
print(f"Snare samples: {len(snares)}")

for s in snares.select(range(3)):
    print(f"  {s['filename']} — {s['instrument']}")

Playback in a notebook

import IPython.display as ipd
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("schismaudio/vcsl-percussion")
sample = ds["train"][0]
ipd.Audio(sample["audio"]["array"], rate=sample["audio"]["sampling_rate"])

Dataset Creation

Source Data

All samples originate from the Versilian Community Sample Library (VCSL), a community-driven project initiated by Versilian Studios to provide free, high-quality instrument samples. Contributors record and donate samples under the CC0 license. The library covers orchestral strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion; this dataset packages only the Idiophones/ and Membranophones/ directories from the VCSL GitHub repository.

Samples are provided as WAV files at 44.1 or 48 kHz. Many instruments include multiple velocity layers and round-robin variations, making the library suitable for realistic sample-based synthesis as well as machine learning applications.

Annotations

No additional annotations have been added. Instrument labels are derived from the original VCSL directory structure. The Hornbostel-Sachs family and subcategory tags (Struck Idiophones, Struck Membranophones, etc.) follow the VCSL organizational hierarchy.

Known Limitations

No velocity or MIDI annotations: Samples are organized by instrument but do not include standardized velocity labels or MIDI note mappings.
Variable recording conditions: Samples come from multiple community contributors using different recording setups. Audio quality, room characteristics, and microphone placement vary across instruments.
Legacy samples: Some instruments include "Legacy" directories with older recordings that may differ in quality from newer contributions.
Non-WAV files: A small number of samples (26 files) are in OGG or MP3 format rather than WAV, primarily in legacy instrument directories (Tubular Bells 3, Gong 2).
Uneven coverage: Struck idiophones and struck membranophones are well-represented, while friction idiophones (16 samples) and other membranophones (3 samples) have minimal coverage.

Related Datasets

This dataset is part of the Drum Audio Datasets collection by schismaudio. Related datasets:

schismaudio/dynamic-percussion -- Anechoic one-shot percussion samples with OpenL3 embeddings (Tampere University, 2020)
schismaudio/drum-percussion-kits -- Diverse drum and percussion one-shots from SampleSwap, organic recordings, and generated samples

Citation

@misc{vcsl,
  title     = {Versilian Community Sample Library (VCSL)},
  author    = {Gossner, Sam and {VCSL Contributors}},
  year      = {2024},
  publisher = {GitHub},
  url       = {https://github.com/sgossner/VCSL},
  note      = {Percussion subset (Idiophones and Membranophones)}
}

License

This dataset is released under the CC0-1.0 (Creative Commons Zero) license.

This is a public domain dedication. You are free to copy, modify, distribute, and use the samples for any purpose -- including commercial use -- without asking permission and without attribution. No rights are reserved.