SF2 Fonts

[Orange Pickle]

How do I install .sf2 files to be used in Mixcraft as midi sound files Thankyou, help will be greatly appreciated.

[Vibrant Audio]

Sound fonts are like samples that can only be played using an instrument or sample player capable of loading sf2 files.

Cakewalk distributes a free one:
http://www.cakewalk.com/support/project5/sfz.aspx

Download and install the Cakewalk player. It will be then be available in Mixcraft 4 as a virtual instrument called sfz.

Load the sf2 file in the sfz player and enjoy.

[Kenchu]

I was beginning to pull my hair in frustration trying to get this to work, but eventually I figured it out. What I did was this:

1. Click the little piano icon for a track to the left on the screen.
2. Click show details
3. Click new preset
4. In synth, select sfz (this is the cakewalk you can find in above post)
5. A button "edit" will appear to the right, click it
6. Cakewalk will appear, you can load the sf2 file here
7. Ready to use!
8. You can of course save this preset (preferable)

[JoeLeckermanBeats]

I have a HUGE problem with this. I have done everything correct to get soundfonts onto the cakwalk presetes. Problem is, i loaded up about 10 presets and when i start producing music with these presets...this alot of loud crackling and popping, but when i play ONE soundfont instrument alone, theres no cracking or popping, only when i play like two or three different sound fonts together. please help im in love with the fact that i can use soundfonts in mixcraft but now i can only use one instead of some combined!? please help me and help make this go away ):

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

Those sound fonts are huge and take up lots of RAM. Check out this video: optimizing your PC for Mixcraft.

Greg

[jonnyinengland]

First, a quick suggestion to the previous problem, re multiple sf2's and performance issues...
Check sf2 splitter (screenshot), you may be able to remove unused instruments (or presets/banks?) from the sf2's you're using... or even take the bits you like from your soundfont chain, and make one custom sf2. That's theoretical. I don't actually know what I'm talking about... yet.


This is what I've learned thus far: MIDI is a piece of cake compared to everything since!

Try and decipher the SoundFont white paper

A SoundFont compatible file contains a single SoundFont compatible Bank.
- A SoundFont compatible Bank comprises a collection of one or more MIDI presets, each with unique MIDI preset and bank numbers.

Because the MIDI bank number is included, a SoundFont compatible
Bank can contain presets from many MIDI banks.

A SoundFont compatible Bank contains a number of information strings, including the SoundFont Format Revision Level to which the Bank complies, the sound ROM (if any) to which the Bank refers, the Creation Date, the Author, any Copyright Assertion, and a User Comment string.

This is where I get lost...

Each MIDI Preset within the SoundFont compatible Bank is assigned a name, a MIDI Preset # and a MIDI
Bank #. A MIDI Preset represents an assignment of sounds to keyboard keys; a MIDI Key-On event on any
given MIDI Channel refers to one and only one MIDI Preset, depending on the most recent MIDI Preset
Change and MIDI Bank Change occurring in the MIDI Channel in question....

then some sense is almost tangible....

Each MIDI Preset in a SoundFont compatible Bank comprises an optional Global Preset Parameter List and
one or more Preset Layers. The Global Preset Parameter List contains any default values for the Preset Layer
Parameters. Page 5
A Preset Layer contains the applicable Key and Velocity Range for the Preset Layer, a list of Preset Layer
Parameters, and a reference to an Instrument. The Preset Layer Parameters, whether defined in the Preset
Layer or as defaults, additively modify the Instrument Parameters, allowing a single Instrument to be used to
give a variety of sounds.

I'm a guitarist, but I understand computers - to a degree! The problem, for me, is terminology and context. I've got an RP6 effects board. That's got 10 factory banks and 10 user banks, each with 4 programs,ie F0(:1-4) - F9(:1-4)... etc.

I thought I understood MIDI, so I reinstalled the endearing Bome's Mouse Keyboard (having given up on FreePiano, which isn't helping me understand, or use, VST MIDI / SF2 MIDI stuff..)



"Which bank numbers to use is detailed in the documentation of your MIDI device."

So, On The Wavetable Synth, all instruments are on bank 1.

(from Bome MouseKeyboard Helpfile) Patches
The instrument that you play is selected with the Patch drop down list. A patch is comprised of the name of the instrument, and its setting for MIDI program and MIDI bank, which are displayed in the second row of the Mouse Leyboard's main screen.

When you select a patch in the drop down list, you will see that the program and bank numbers will change accordingly. Conversely, changing the program and/or bank will try to find a matching patch in the patch list, and if successful, select it.

Now different soundcards/synthesizers/tone generators can have different instruments assigned to the MIDI programs and MIDI banks. The most common standard is the General MIDI standard which is used as default patch list in Mouse Keyboard. However, if your synthesizer is not General MIDI, then the names in the patch list are not meaningful.

So I've got some patch sets already



and I've got some soundfonts!!!


Some q's:

UPDATE: some clarity!

Some great tools here, now just need to work out how to control/use soundfont "presets" and instruments

[jonnyinengland]

OK so I had a breakthrough, and discovered that the MIDI program change works, and sends the "change instrument to program/patch/preset #"

Here's what happened:

1. Make sure Bonjour + [img=http://i.imgur.com/AUDJyJW.png]rtpMIDI Services are started[/img]

2. [img=http://i.imgur.com/3r2cgV8.png]Launch rtpMIDI, enabling a wifiMIDI session[/img]

3. Launch a "v-MIDI controller"

(free controllers include - best to worst

MIDI Knob - if it weren't for this, I'd still be stuck on program #1
MIDI Monitor - as well as providing real-time monitor of MIDI events, a number of polished control surfaces are provided, and it's very slick)

Knob Lab (lite version locked down, by you can still create several knobs, so a kind of custom-omni-midi message is being performed (sliding the visual knob affect all configured knobs). Tempted to buy...

MIDI Designer - bees knees. Need to master usage

littleMIDI - very cool little sequencer...

Midi Controller (Michael Choudakcreate your own surfaces... but the help doesn't work, the translation to the small iphone screen isn't very usable without a pen to tap the screen I guess...)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway, the point is this: you have a midi controller, and you can use (it seems) hundreds of tools to use a soundfont compatible "midi output device" (instead of the MS wavetable synth).

To monitor receipt of MIDI messages on your computer, [img=http://i.imgur.com/EsUd2Uw.png]MIDI-OX is invaluable[/img] (if initially a little overwhelming! nature of the beast... )

Personally, the easiest implementation I've found (on windows) is to use virtualmidisynth, which has an interface to check active soundfonts.

So I have "MIDI IN" active, and I have a "soundfont player"
[img=http://i.imgur.com/csCVWjM.png][/img]

currently, I'm using Bome's Mouse Keyboard - it's very light and simple, and consequently helped me glean a breakthrough yesterday - live control of the "soundfont MIDI soft synth" - INCLUDING Program Changes!

Yeah, this is really primitive stuff, but I've been banging my head for days trying to get even this far.

any ideas on how to get the bank select working?

thanks in advance to any kind wizards!

[thecornishcrusader]

Hey there, the Cakewalk link doesn't work anymore, so are there any alternative programs I could use? Thanks in advance

[JonInc]

Hey there, the Cakewalk link doesn't work anymore, so are there any alternative programs I could use? Thanks in advance

That original link was actually incorrect (sfz wasn't capable of reading sf2, but sfz+ was). It doesn't matter now since to my knowledge, neither is available anymore.

Here are a couple free SF2 players:

http://www.tx16wx.com/features/

https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando/