Saxman717 22 Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 Heeeey, can somebody tell me more about soundfonts and those sort of things? I am really interested in getting better virtual instruments for the compositions I'm writing, and am looking for something that's relatively low-cost but sounds really really good.I'm writing for orchestras and wind ensembles, mainly. Might try jazz sometime too.I'm really hoping to upgrade my virtual instruments soon so any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated! -Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxman717 22 Posted June 20, 2003 Author Share Posted June 20, 2003 BTW, I have mainly use Finale2003 for my compositions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csiaspam 0 Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 Soundfonts a great was to work with many different sounds flexibly for a minimal cost. Find yourself an Creative SBLive... ranging anywhere from $50 to $250 depending how many extra features you need. Then make sure you have plenty of RAM (I'd recommend atleast 512MB for large soundbanks). You can download all the soundfonts you'll ever need for free off the internet and edit them with Vienna SoundFont Studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelot 508 Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 if I think what you are talking about is sounds for the studio I use various libraries on gigastudio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrongBad992648 0 Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 csiaspam, would you be able to perhaps talk to me with IM, or E-Mail and walk me through from step one onward how to use one of these? I am sick of having my pieces demo on regular MIDI, and it's gotten to the point where my keyboard doesn't sound good anymore either. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsawruk 0 Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 If you're looking for virtual instruments, then I strongly recommend the Native Instruments VSTi plugins. These plugins are used in Cubase and Acid, and are literally virtual instruments. They are synthesized, but the output is great. My favorite is the B4. Virtual instruments run on Windows or Mac.Sound fonts are good. You will need a soundfont compatible soundcard, most likely a Sound Blaster of some sort. Soundfonts are samples stored in files with the extension SF2. Soundfonts can be used with Linux as well, but not with Macs because the hardware is not compatible.There is a MIDI standard for sample libraries as well, called DLS (downloadable sounds). This standard has not caught on yet, but may some day. The only software I know that supports this standard is Acid, but since DirectX supports DLS, other companies may as well.The optimal setup is to use Cubase so that you can use soundfonts and virtual instruments at the same time (and I have!).If you are really serious about sampled sounds, however, then you will most likely want to either get a hardware sampler such as an Akai or a software sampler such as GigaStudio. The reason for this is not really performance, but the amount of libraries out there. Most sampled sounds are in Akai or Giga formats.Then there is Acid, but that's another story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxman717 22 Posted June 22, 2003 Author Share Posted June 22, 2003 OK........so what option do you think would be best to make my Finale 2003 compositions (or Sibelius, for that matter) sound much more lifelike without a whole lot of editing with sound files?Like, I'm hoping to just download some sort of new library (like right now, I have the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth library ), set it to the default MIDI playback setting, and b e really really pleased with the results when I go to play back my Finale 2003 compositions the next time.Is there any way to get really realistic sounds just using this simple method?Thanks for the help -Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsawruk 0 Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Your best bets are either soundfonts or giga it sounds like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxman717 22 Posted June 22, 2003 Author Share Posted June 22, 2003 I have a Soundblaster Audigy 2 soundcard and it came with its default "Soundfont" thing as ?4MB GMGSMT?, according to the Soundfont Bank Manager program.I think this library sounds even less realistic than the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth one...........what Soundfonts would you recommend?I am eyeing the Creative Soundfonts (the orchestral ones, the strings, brass, woodwind, percussion etc.) but don't want to fork over 20-30 bucks per library if they aren't going to significantly improve the way my stuff sounds (in terms of realism;) ).Do you guys know anything about these library? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsawruk 0 Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 To get soundfonts, google a site called "HammerSound" (I forgot the URL). This site has a lot of soundfonts.I use the 8Rock11e soundfont off of this site. For me, it is the best soundfont with the least RAM. It is optimized for rock though, which is why I like it because the guitars and organs and bass are really good.I bought some libraries when they were really cheap. I got a 5-pack of libraries for about $20, but I would say their overall quality is only ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlesk 0 Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 There used to be a site called www.thesoundsite.net with a huge list of soundfonts available. Now I can't see it anymore. If anyone knows where it is now, please tell.Among lots of trash, I could find some believable horns and solo strings. I'm still looking for full strings, and strings in martelatto, con legno and marcatto, and doing harmonics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Vincent 8 Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 You can download the SoundFont bank I use to create / listen to MIDI files from my site : http://musicby.jw-music.net/zip/MidiFont.zip (30Mb) :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxman717 22 Posted June 23, 2003 Author Share Posted June 23, 2003 hey i really like some of the strings in there! sounds a lot more realistic than the stuff I'm used to. But ouch! Some woodwinds are sooooorely out of tune! and the trumpet....arrrrrrrrgh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csiaspam 0 Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 csiaspam, would you be able to perhaps talk to me with IM, or E-Mail and walk me through from step one onward how to use one of these? I am sick of having my pieces demo on regular MIDI, and it's gotten to the point where my keyboard doesn't sound good anymore either. Thanks!yeah, just send an email to csiaSpam@aol.com and i'll try to help you out the best I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossMan 1 Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Are these sound fonts still limited by the polyphony of the sound card their played by? I can get around that by playing individual sections and recording them with a wave recorder, but it would be so much better if I could just record the entire orchestra at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csiaspam 0 Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Are these sound fonts still limited by the polyphony of the sound card their played by? I can get around that by playing individual sections and recording them with a wave recorder, but it would be so much better if I could just record the entire orchestra at once.Yes, sometimes there are voice dropouts with too much going on. It can be a problem with lots of percussion rolls and stuff with full orchestra. SBLive has major problems with that in WinXP... unless you download the right patch update, then it's fine. I think the newer soundcards have a good polyphony range. I would love to get my hands on some expensive pro equiptment, but i'm on a college student financial status at the moment and I think for this case, soundfonts are definately the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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