Instrument Patches

2001-08-04 04:00 am

I'm afraid I'm a novice when it comes to all this midi terms. I'm a folk harpist trying to turn composer. I like the wide assortment of instrument patches that comes with NWC, but I was wondering if there is a way to get more, or better patches. Or is the quality of sound more to do with the sound card one has. For instance the cello sounds pretty much like a cello, but the contrabass just sounds like a cello, and the violin is a bit of a streach unless you do some creative notation. I love some of the synth sounds, but again it's hard to get the sounds you want out of some of the instruments.

I guess I'm probably too new at it to get the sounds I really want. Can anyone suggest a midi book for people who are not a computer wiz. Here is my website so you can hear what I'm talking about if you like:

http://www.geocities.com/rhean-rhe/StansMidiPg.html

I don't know if that kind of thing is incouraged here, this is my first time at this board, seems very nice and friendly and helpful.

I would like to learn to do some of the tricks I hear everyone talking about. I'm afraid my composisitons are all straight notation with very little techno embelishment. I don't even have a midi keyboard yet.

Well thanks for any help you can provide.
Stan

Re: Instrument Patches

Reply #1 – 2001-08-05 04:00 am

NWC and other MIDI sequencers don't include patches. It's either your soundcards wavetable or -if your soundcard supports- your soundfonts that include them.

If your soundcard supports soundfonts (ref. your manual), you can download many diffrent soundfonts that include either a single patch or a set of all 127. Many websites stand for soundfont download, HammerSound, The Sound Site to name a few.

Unless your soundcard has soundfont support, you're not miserable yet. You can download and install a software syntesizer for different instrument sounds. Yamaha XG and Roland GS supply limited free trials.

If your soundcard does support soundfonts, you can still use soft-synthesizers.

Hth

Re: Instrument Patches

Reply #2 – 2001-08-05 04:00 am

Thanks, I will try that.