schismaudio/vcsl-percussion

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.