SoundFont is a brand name that collectively refers to a file format and associated technology that uses sample-based synthesis to play MIDI files. It was first used on the Sound Blaster AWE32 sound card for its General MIDI support.

Specification[edit]

SamplerFont SoundFont Player / Sampler VST VST3 Audio Unit 64-bit. Plays SoundFont files in SF2 format v2.04 in Windows and Mac. SamplerFont is a flexible sampler instrument to play SoundFont files in.sf2 format (v2.04 compliant) with an optimized soundfont player engine and integrated filters, envelope generator and reverb. SyFonOne is a Midi Port player based on SynthFont and VSTSynthFont. Hook it up to your Midi keyboard, or via a virtual midi port to your sequencer and play MIDI using SoundFonts. Version 1.072 released July 1st, 2020, is available.

The newest version of the SoundFont file format is 2.04 (often incorrectly called 2.4). It is based on the RIFF format. A detailed description can be found in the specification, which is currently only available as a copy on various company sites.^[1]

Best Free SoundFont Players Sforznado – Windows / Mac. The SFZ Format is widely accepted as the open standard to define the behavior of a musical. Phenome – Windows. Phenome is an free eight-part multi-timbral SoundFont Player / Rompler VSTi for Windows. DSK SF2 – Windows. Best Free SoundFont Players Sforznado – Windows / Mac The SFZ Format is widely accepted as the open standard to define the behavior of a musical instrument from a bare set of sound recordings. Being a royalty-free format, any developer can create, use and distribute SFZ files and players for either free or commercial purposes.

History[edit]

The original SoundFont file format was developed in the early 1990s by E-mu Systems and Creative Labs. A specification for this version was never released to the public. The first and only major device to utilize this version was Creative's Sound Blaster AWE32 in 1994. Files in this format conventionally have the file extension of .SBK.

SoundFont 2.0 was developed in 1996. This file format generalized the data representation using perceptually additive real world units, redefined some of the instrument layering features within the format, added true stereo sample support and removed some obscure features of the first version whose behavior was difficult to specify. This version was fully disclosed as a public specification, with the goal of making the SoundFont format an industry standard. All SoundFont 1.0 compatible devices were updated to support the SoundFont 2.0 format shortly after it was released to the public, and consequently the 1.0 version became obsolete. Files in this and all other 2.x formats (see below) conventionally have the file extension of .SF2.

Version 2.01 (usually,^[2] but incorrectly called 2.1) of the SoundFont file format was introduced in 1998 with an E-mu sound card product called the Audio Production Studio. The 2.01 version added features allowing sound designers to configure the way MIDI controllers influence synthesizer parameters. The 2.01 format is bidirectionally compatible with 2.0, which means that synthesizers capable of rendering 2.01 format will also by definition render 2.0 format, and synthesizers that are only capable of rendering 2.0 format will also read and render 2.01 format, but just not apply the new features.

SoundFont 2.04 (there never was a 2.02 or a 2.03 version) was introduced in 2005 with the Sound Blaster X-Fi. The 2.04 format added support for 24-bit samples. The 2.04 format is bidirectionally compatible with the 2.01 format, so synthesizers that are only capable of rendering 2.0 or 2.01 format would automatically render instruments using 24-bit samples at 16-bit precision.

SoundFont is a registered trademark of Creative Technology, Ltd., and the exclusive license for re-formatting and managing historical SoundFont content has been acquired by Digital Sound Factory.^[3]

Functionality[edit]

MIDI files do not contain any sounds, only instructions to play them. To play such files, sample-based MIDI synthesizers use recordings of instruments and sounds stored in a file or ROM chip. SoundFont-compatible synthesizers allow users to use SoundFont banks with custom samples to play their music.

A SoundFont bank contains base samples in PCM format (similar to WAV files) that are mapped to sections on a musical keyboard. A SoundFont bank also contains other music synthesis parameters such as loops, vibrato effect, and velocity-sensitive volume changing.

SoundFont banks can conform to standard sound sets such as General MIDI, or use other wholly custom sound-set definitions.

SoundFont creation software (.sf2 format)[edit]

Soundfont Player Fl Studio 20

Several .sf2 editors are available:

• Vienna from Creative Labs, requiring a particular sound card (such as Sound Blaster),
• Viena^[4] (with a single 'n'), created in 2002,
• Swami^[5] is a collection of free software for editing and managing musical instruments for MIDI music composition, used mainly under Linux,
• Polyphone,^[6] free editor for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux created in 2013.

See also[edit]

• General MIDI (GM)
• Roland GS (GS)

References[edit]

1. ^e.g. at http://www.synthfont.com/sfspec24.pdf (PDF; 518 kB; The document incorrectly claims to be for version 2.01 in the page footer.
2. ^'SoundFont 2.1 Application Note'(PDF). Retrieved 10 November 2014.
3. ^'Digital Sound Factory releases SoundFont libraries'. rekkerd. 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2007.
4. ^Viena, free sf2 editor.
5. ^Swami, free soundfonts editor for Linux.
6. ^Polyphone, free sf2 editor for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

Resources SoundFonts[edit]

Hi there !

I have a great news today. I made an article some months ago to help people read their SF2 libraries for free on Mac because it was quite complicated to do so when you didn't know how to do.

At that time there was no free soundfont player for Protools on Mac so you had to convert SF2 to NKI and then import the converted files in Structure free. Now all this is over !

You can import directly you SF2 banks in Protools, how good that sounds ?

YEAH ! for FREE !

Bs-16 V4.0.4

Some nice developers have decided to release a free soundfont player for the audio community ! And it's really nice. You won't have to mess with a SF2 to SFZ converter plus a SFZ reader. All is already included. The plugin is called sforzando and is made by Plogue (the guys behind Bidule). The good thing is that's it's available for VTS, AU, RTAS and standalone version (that means a Protools version YES).

Here is the description from the Plogue website :

sforzando is a Free SFZ Player.
sforzando is a free, highly SFZ 2.0 compliant sample player. Advanced sample hobbyists now have a powerful tool to experiment and share instruments without relying on proprietary formats. sforzando has only one instrument slot; no fancy UI, effects or mixers. Every tweak has to be done at the SFZ file level, no cheating!

Cached

Free As In Free Me From Proprietary Formats

Example SFZ FileThe SFZ Format is widely accepted as the open standard to define the behavior of a musical instrument from a bare set of sound recordings. Being a royalty-free format, any developer can create, use and distribute SFZ files and players for either free or commercial purposes.

So when looking for flexibility and portability, SFZ is the obvious choice. That’s why it’s the default instrument file format used in the ARIA Engine.

Soundfont Player Vst Mac

As a bonus, an integrated format converter should get you started!

You can also drop SF2, DLS and acidized WAV files directly on the interface, and they will automatically get converted to SFZ 2.0, which you can then edit and tweak to your liking!Powered by the ARIA Engine ™
sforzando relies on the same ARIA Engine that powers the ARIA Player and other products from Garritan and obviously Plogue chipsounds. This engine has been built from the “ground up” on the SFZ spec, and not as an afterthought. Like the other ARIA products, this player is available as a standalone and VSTi/AU/RTAS plugin on Windows or OS X and can run in either 32bit or 64bit.

Peace.

See Full List On Hitsquad.com

Sam.