My computer's MIDI soundfont sucks!

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:55 pm

How might I upgrade to a better one? I've recently taken to writing with Cakewalk and I HATE the soundfont! I've heard far more realistic on MIDI upload sites. Any suggestions/links?

heftig · Post by **heftig** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 11:26 pm

http://www.geocities.jp/shansoundfont/index.html

SGM-V2 beta is a very nice GM/GS-compatible all-purpose soundfont.

edit: Looks like the download is down again. If someone wants to host it, I've got it here (135MB RAR archive).

fliptw · Post by **fliptw** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 12:07 am

unison is good, so is magicsf.

its too bad modern games don't use midi....

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 8:43 am

How would you install such a thing? Do I need to go through my midi collection and edit it in any way to take advantage of the soundfont, or does the midi output pass through it?

heftig · Post by **heftig** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 10:25 am

Depends on your MIDI synthesizer. It has to support SoundFonts.

Creative Labs EMU, Live!, Audigy and X-Fi products are compatible. Use the SoundFont Bank Manager to load the SoundFont into memory.

The Microsoft Synthesizer always uses its own DLS library, not a SoundFont.

If you haven't got a SoundFont-compatible synthesizer, I recommend XMPlay together with its MIDI input plugin. It's a very good sounding free software synthesizer with SoundFont support. However, you will only able to play MIDI files with it, not use it as a MIDI device.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:52 am

Which component is the synth? The sound card? (I have the Live/Audigy)

I do not use any midi input, I have an old MIDI notation app that displays a music score for each instrument, and I just drop notes on it, and save. It's from Windows 3.1.

Where's the Soundfont Bank Manager? Something that needs to be installed? I don't install the Creative software, I just drop the card and let Windows pick it up.

heftig · Post by **heftig** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:59 am

The sound card. You'll see Synth A and Synth B MIDI devices.

SoundFont Bank Manager is part of the Live! and Audigy software packages.

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 4:35 pm

heftig wrote:Depends on your MIDI synthesizer. It has to support SoundFonts.

Creative Labs EMU, Live!, Audigy and X-Fi products are compatible. Use the SoundFont Bank Manager to load the SoundFont into memory.

The Microsoft Synthesizer always uses its own DLS library, not a SoundFont.

If you haven't got a SoundFont-compatible synthesizer, I recommend XMPlay together with its MIDI input plugin. It's a very good sounding free software synthesizer with SoundFont support. However, you will only able to play MIDI files with it, not use it as a MIDI device.

Where can I find this?

How would I configure MIDI in Vista?

heftig · Post by **heftig** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:21 pm

Do you have a Creative Labs soundcard?

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:04 pm

Nope. SigmaTel.

heftig · Post by **heftig** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:20 pm

So what's the synthesizer you are using? Microsoft GS Software Wavetable SW Synth?

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:06 am

Yes. It sucketh!

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:23 am

If you're playing Descent, Awe-Rom GM is a must - it emulates the AWE32, which was the soundcard Descent was meant for. If you want something really awesome in Descent, try the Chaos Bank (I can't remember where I got it,) and if you can, take the distortion guitar from unison and use it instead of the one from that bank... the level 12 and 21 music from D1 will really sound like it's being played on an electric guitar!!!
I have a huge collection of free downloaded soundfonts I use to record my own midi compositions... I might be able to send them to some people, provided I do it legally.

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:27 am

fliptw wrote:its too bad modern games don't use midi....

Actually, Lego Island 2 used midi... in a way. The music was in some sort of midi format, and the game included the synthesizers used to play it. I'm planning to use those synths in some of my own music, once I figure out how.

Sorry for double posting...

heftig · Post by **heftig** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:09 pm

Red_5 wrote:Yes. It sucketh!

Cakewalk should ship with the sfz synthesizer. It uses SoundFonts. If it didn't ship, you can download it for free from the developer (rgc:audio).

For listening to MIDI files, I recommend XMPlay + MIDI plugin.

Did you get the SoundFont from my FTP?

Alter-Fox wrote:Actually, Lego Island 2 used midi... in a way. The music was in some sort of midi format, and the game included the synthesizers used to play it. I'm planning to use those synths in some of my own music, once I figure out how.

What makes you so sure it uses MIDI? Could it have been MOD?

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 2:42 pm

It could have been. There seemed to be several files that together acted as a midi file. There was a folder for each piece of music, and each folder had a DLS file and an STY file, (Which is the same file type my midi keyboard uses for its \"styles\"), and I think there was some other file that I didn't know what it was.

However, I do know that it used midi files for ambient sounds, as I was able to open the ambient sounds in a midi player.

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:48 pm

heftig wrote:Cakewalk should ship with the sfz synthesizer. It uses SoundFonts. If it didn't ship, you can download it for free from the developer (rgc:audio).

Where can I find it free? Google doesn't seem to turn up any legit results.

heftig · Post by **heftig** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:29 pm

SGM-V2b:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/4f6951/

rgc:audio sfz:
http://www.project5.com/products/instru ... sfz197.exe

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 5:55 pm

How do I make it work with Cakewalk Pro Audio 9?

Do I have to launch SFZ before Cakewalk?

heftig · Post by **heftig** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 12:08 am

sfz is a VST instrument.

I know Cakewalk Sonar (Pro Audio's successor) supports VST.
If Pro Audio 9 doesn't support VST, you're out of luck.

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:18 pm

Aww crap. One last thing; can I somehow use the sfz soundfont loading program thing for standard midi playback on my system?

Nergen-Ak1-Defender · Post by **Nergen-Ak1-Defender** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 8:05 pm

Theres this program that supposed to make midi devices work with windows without the microsoft crap. Try a program called Midi Yoke. I tried it with my mixman dm2 and it wound up working perfectly with most of my midi capable programs.

heftig · Post by **heftig** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 7:27 am

Without what Microsoft crap? Midi Yoke is a MIDI loopback driver. All it does is provide virtual loopback MIDI devices.

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:20 pm

Does anyone have the \"MIDI device picker\" app? I can't find it on Google. I can't believe Microsoft removed the MIDI control from the UI.

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Mon May 12, 2008 3:21 pm

Ooh! Just got Melody Assistant! Anyone know how I can force it to use my soundfont?

heftig · Post by **heftig** » Mon May 12, 2008 4:07 pm

Doesn't look like it has got its own synthesis engine. So it uses the system MIDI synthesizer.

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Thu May 15, 2008 8:52 pm

I'm pretty sure it uses a different instrument set. It sound far better than Windows crappy sounds, but still isn't very good at the same time

TechPro · Post by **TechPro** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:45 pm

Melody Assistant has it's own sound base and it's a pretty fair sound base. There is an extended sound base you can download seperately that's even better, but the best sound base for Melody Assistant is the \"Gold sound base\" which you can only get after paying the fee to register the program.

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Sat May 17, 2008 12:13 pm

Ah, okay. Well, I'll see if I can't cough up some cash for the registered version of the program. It works very well.

My computer's MIDI soundfont sucks!

My computer's MIDI soundfont sucks!

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re: