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Topic: wavesets and sound font question (Read 15152 times) previous topic - next topic

wavesets and sound font question

sorry for questions that may seem daft to you guys. i am 16 and do not know alot of stuff.

1. what are wave sets and sound fonts? i know they are different formats but do they serve the same purpose?

2. a do games nowadays uses midi for background music?
.b) do soundfont changes quality of midi only?
c) do soundfont produced music used for application that
use 5.1 sound like games?

3. when downloading a soundfont from a wesite like hammer's website, do i have to download all the insrument?

4. is soundfont meant for specific application/games? like every game different soundfont?

can u guys suggest the best soundfont if there is one for creative audigy 1 soundcard  and the link on where to get it?

thanks in advance and hope i can know more.

Re: wavesets and sound font question

Reply #2 –
Hi Samuel,

I thought that teenagers knew EVERYTHING! ;-)

Soundfonts are samples of real musical instruments that your computer plays when it plays a midi file.

Different soundfonts can make all the different to the quality of the sound you get when playing a midi file. A violin can sound like a violin or like a piece of glass being scraped across a car door.

Yes, most of the games use midi files. These give instructions to your computer's sound card to play a certain pitch of note, for a certain length of time at a certain volume on a particular instrument. Played on different sound cards on on the same sound card with different sound fonts can make all the difference to the quality of the music. Midi file are very small while wave files "actual recordings" are large but do sound more or less the same on different computers.

Soundfonts are therefore used in the playing of midi files for music that comes as a background to games.

You don't need different soundfonts for different games. Just get a set of good soundfonts. Sometimes people mix and match different soundfonts - take a piano from here and a clarinet from there etc.

Check the other link for more information.

Have fun,

Barry

Re: wavesets and sound font question

Reply #3 –
Sometimes people mix and match different soundfonts - take a piano from here and a clarinet from there etc.
So I don't have to replace all 128 sounds with a different set of 128 sounds?
I can actually replace the last 6 lame-o sounds with things like "trombone with plunger" and "trumpet with plunger" and "trombone with cup mute" and "gong" and stuff like that?

Re: wavesets and sound font question

Reply #4 –
That is correct Randa.You can change individual instruments. Mix and match. Do a search on this forum for "soundfonts". There were some good entries on installing soundfont banks as well as individual instruments.

Good luck,

Barry

Re: wavesets and sound font question

Reply #5 –
so is there a "ultimate" full set of soundfont availabe? one that is acknowleged by everyone as the best or one of the best.

btw, if soundfont makes such a significant change to the quality of music, whats the different between a ,let say creative audigy 1 and an audigy 2 other than the 5.1, 6.1 , 7.1 and EAX  thing?

Re: wavesets and sound font question

Reply #6 –
Answer to 1: - No!  The compiler or seller of a particular soundfont may think there is, but this is an area where beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder – or should I say in the ear of the hearer.  Which is why professionals ‘mix and match’, selecting what they consider to be the best piano (say) from one soundfont and the best strings from another etc. to compile their own ‘ultimate’ soundfont.

Answer to 2: - Probably not!  That is to say, you might detect a difference between a SBLive! and an Audigy with regard to output volume or tone (brightness, clarity etc.), but the same soundfont on each card will sound essentially the same..  However, rendering of soundfonts with an Audigy 1 and an Audigy 2 will probably be totally indistinguishable.  In other words, leaving aside EAX effects, signal-to-noise ratio, number of speakers etc., it’s the soundfont rather than the soundcard that will govern the quality of the sound you hear.

Stay with it Samuel!  It's a pretty steep learning curve - but very rewarding.  BTW - The Hammer Sound site gives a link to a very helpful Soundfont forum.

Re: wavesets and sound font question

Reply #7 –
Also, keep in mind that the original MIDI may have been written with a very synth-sounding instrument in mind. If you use a more realistic sound font, it may make things worse!

Re: wavesets and sound font question

Reply #9 –
this is not a reply for a question, but i want to ask about a memory sound font size in sound card (mine is Audigy 2), that is some big size sound font, can not add or take it in sound card, and umm i was use sound Blaster Live Value, it have an software to control sound font size in sound card, i want to know about have what any software to control sound font size memory in Audigy 2, please ......