简体中文
EnglishWhat is Pianobook?
Updated
Pianobook is a global collective of sound enthusiasts who share free sample packs for instruments including piano, strings, guitar, and synths. It is aimed at music producers, composers, and hobbyists who want playable virtual instruments without paying for them, and it works best if you already have a sampler or DAW that can load one of the supported formats.
What you can download
The site organises its library around sample packs, each built from recordings contributed by community members. The catalogue is broad rather than limited to one instrument family:
- Piano
- Strings
- Guitar
- Synths
- All Packs (the full library)
Each pack is a virtual instrument rather than a set of loose audio files, so you load it into a sampler to play it.
Supported formats
Packs are published in several sampler and DAW formats, which determines whether you can use a given pack:
| Format | What it is |
|---|---|
| Decent Sampler | A free sampler plugin |
| Kontakt | Native Instruments' sampler |
| EXS24 | Logic's sampler format |
| Ableton Live | Ableton's own instrument format |
| SFZ | An open sampler format |
Before downloading, check the format listed on the pack page against what your setup can load. If a pack only ships in Kontakt and you don't own Kontakt, that pack won't be usable for you even though the download is free.
Scale of the library
The site's own counters give a sense of how much is available:
- Free sample packs: 1,762
- Users: 605,393
- Creators: 683
- Downloads: 4,177,732
The gap between users and creators is worth noting: a small number of contributors produce the packs that a much larger audience downloads, so the library depends on people submitting their own recordings.
Beyond the downloads
Pianobook is also a publishing platform for the community around the sounds. It carries stories tied to individual packs and vlogs, including entries such as "#1 Vlog – Pianobook" and "#2 Vlog – Can Inspiration actually be planned?", plus a section headed "WHAT WE CONTINUE TO WRITE TOGETHER". These give context on how packs were made and who made them, which is useful when you're deciding whether a particular instrument fits your project.
How to find a pack
- Browse by instrument category (Piano, Strings, Guitar, Synths) or open All Packs.
- Use the search field if you have a specific sound or creator in mind.
- Apply the filters to narrow results — you can restrict to packs that have reviews, videos, or demos, and filter by sample pack format.
- Open a pack page to check its format, listen to any demo, and read its story before downloading.
The review, video, and demo filters are the quickest way to avoid downloading something you can't judge by description alone.
Who it suits
Pianobook fits you if you want free, community-made instruments and are comfortable loading sample packs into a sampler or DAW. It suits you less if you need guaranteed commercial support, consistent quality across every pack, or a format outside the five listed — those packs are contributed individually, so quality and documentation vary from one creator to the next.