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Soundfonts

Would you like to make a radical change to the sounds generated from your soundcard? Would you like a realistic drum sound or barking dogs? Soundfonts are the solution for you. Simply stated, soundfonts are digital samples which can be loaded in your sound card to replace or supplement your actual sounds.

Initially, this technology has been implemented on Creative's Soundblaster AWE 32 sound card. Since then, it has been ported to the AWE 64, Soundblaster Live! and E-mu Audio Production cards. In addition, many other brands are now supporting soundfonts. You can get some useful informations on E-mu's website concerning soundfonts.

Where can I get soundfonts?

There are plenty of free soundfonts available over the Web. Some of them are of great quality, some are not. Here is a list of websites on which you can find some:

eMusicmag.com
  They probably have the largest directory of free soundfonts on the web (near 600). You can also post your own creations.
Hammersound
  Used to be the one the best soundfont library but hasn't been updated in a while. Many of their soundfonts have been added to eMusicmag.com.
Johannes Roussel
  Some free soundfonts and some electronic music as well.
Soundfont.nl
  Invites submissions of soundfonts and MIDI files and features new ones each week. They list an impressive number of files, some of questionable legality.
Soundzone.info
  Free and commercial soundfonts.

You can also purchase some high-quality soundfonts from commercial websites:

Sonic Implants
  Sound Libraries, Audio Software and Music for your PC & Synthesizer.
Soundfont.com
  Soundfonts from the creators of this technology.
Sampleheads
  Soundfonts availables on CD.
Melody Machine
  Free and commercial soundfonts.


OK, I've downloaded some soundfonts, what do I do now?

Soundfont files are often compressed in sfArk so you must uncompressed them first. Download the sfArk compression utility and install it. Files with the sfArk extension will automatically be associated with the compression utility. To decompress a soundfont, right-click on the filename in Windows Explorer. Then, select "Decompress" from the menu. You will get an SF2 file extracted from the sfArk archive. This is the file you will be using.

There are two ways to load soundfonts in your sound card:

   1. Loading soundfonts "permanently" (each time your computer boots);
   2. Loading soundfonts from your sequencer (only when your sequencer application is running).

If you want your soundfonts to reside in your computer's memory, see your sound card's manual. Every sound card comes with a software utility that allows you to load soundfonts.

If you want to load soundfonts from your sequencer, here are the steps for Cakewalk:

1. Open a MIDI file;
2. Select Soundfonts from the Tools menu;
3. Select a blank Bank by highlighting it. This will be the Bank # for selecting program changes.
4. Hit the Attach button and select your soundfont file (sf2 format). Wait until it loads into memory. (You'll see a message at the bottom of the Cakewalk window indicating it's loading.);
5. Close the window. Your sounds are now ready to be selected in the sequencer;
6. Make sure you have selected a channel;
7. Under Port, select SoundFont Device;
8. Make sure "Bank select method" uses the method with an asterisk beside it;
9. Select the bank where you have installed the SoundFonts;
10. Choose the patch you wish to use.

Other sequencers may use soundfonts differently, but this cannot be explained in a short column. This should give you enough information to set you on the road to many hours of listening and experimentation.

How do I create soundfonts?

Soundfont.com has a great tutorial on creating soundfonts here so I won't explain it.

That's it folks!

This article ain't of professional use but should be enough to get you started. Should you need any help with soundfonts, try eMusicmag.com's forum.

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