Sound Fonts are used mainly by
computer musicians with soundcards. HammerSound, a loopwise
affiliate, is a web-site focusing on computer music and sound fonts
in general. HammerSound.net carries a wide variety of sound fonts,
both free and professional. They offer a forum for sound and
software developement related to SoundBlaster, SoundFonts, synthesis and
computer music - a place where different people can contribute their
sounds, software, ideas and knowledge. Thomas Hammer is a Master of
Science in Computers and has been creating sounds and sound-related
software for more than 10 years. Thomas Hammer is R&D manager in
"Systems In Motion", he can be reached by email to thammer@pvv.org.
Please visit the Hammer Sound
website today for all your sound font needs!
General
FAQ about Sound Fonts
I've
read this FAQ, and I still haven't found a solutions to my problem, what
do I do next?
You have several options:
Where
can I find a soundfont with X type sounds?
If you cannot find what you are looking for
in the SoundFont
Library, try posting a request to the MessageBoard,
maybe someone else has the soundfont you are looking for.
How
can I publish my own soundfonts on HammerSound and receive instant fame?
Check the 'Sounds | Share your SoundFonts'
section at HammerSound.
I'm
having problems downloading one of the soundfonts in the SoundFont
Library, what's wrong?
The link might be dead, or there might be
some problem with the server. Send a mail
to the HammerSound webmaster and tell him the name of the soundfont as
well as the exact error message you get when you try to download.
The
file I downloaded is not in the sf2 file format, what do I do with it?
Most of the files in the Library are
compressed. Here's a list of the filename endings used, and what to do to
get usable soundfonts from the files.
Filename ending |
What to do
|
.arj |
Download WinZip
and uncompress the file. |
.exe |
Just run the .exe file to uncompress
the file. |
.sfArk, .sfa |
Download sfArk
and uncompress the file. If your browser saves the file with the .sfa
ending, you'll have to change it to .sfArk. If you're a Netscape
user having problems with sfArk files, this
might help. If it doesn't, you'll have to use Internet
Explorer instead, or try downloading from one of the Norwegian
servers. Sorry about the inconvenience, I'm working on it. |
.sfPack |
Download SFPack
and uncompress the file. |
.rar |
Download WinRar
and uncompress the file. |
.zip |
Download WinZip
and uncompress the file. |
The
pages on the HammerSound site load real slow, what's wrong?
The server is probably busy, try one of the
mirror sites. You'll find a list of mirrors on the front page.
I
have created a song that I want to share, where can I upload it?
Jordan Van Bergen has a very good website,
the SoundFont Website,
where anyone can upload songs (midi file + soundfont). The songs are
stored on his ftp-server, and each day, there's a 'featured song' from the
archive available for direct download from his web-site. The ftp-server
is open for anonymous access, but there is a user limit of 5.
If your song contains a soundfont you've
created yourself, please consider uploading it to the HammerSound
ftp-site.
SoundBlaster
AWE / SoundFonts
What
kind of software/hardware do I need to use SoundFonts?
If you want hardware support for SoundFonts,
you can chose from the CreativeLabs
range of SoundFont compatible soundcards (SBLive!, SoundBlaster AWE64,
SoundBlaster AWE32, SoundBlaster 32), EMU
(Audio Production Studio, 8710ps PCMCIA, 8710 PCMCIA) and TDK (DMC9000
PCMCIA). The software you need to create and manage SoundFonts is
delivered with each of these cards or can be downloaded from Creative
Labs' website (direct
link).
If you do not own any of these soundcards,
you can go for the software-only solution. Both Reality and SurReal from Seer
Systems has software support for SoundFonts for several different
soundcards. Here's what one of the HammerSound users had to say about
Reality:
"Soundfont integration
seems seamless - Soundfonts open and play without any problem. BUT, it can
ONLY use soundfonts that don't use any of the original; waveforms from an
AWE card. I guess this is so it will be compatible with all DirectX cards,
not just AWE's. All other banks open fine and the sound quality &
latency is very good. Haven't done any direct comparison with playback
through Vienna, though."
What
is the difference between the GS and the GM patch set?
GM means General Midi. It is a standard
containing 128 patches (sounds). This standard ensures that if you have
selected a brite piano on any GM device you will get that sound. The
standard is described on the MMA
(MIDI Manufacturers Association) pages.
GS is a Roland standard which can be thought of as GM + additional sounds.
So there are more patches (sounds) then in the GM standard. These
additional sounds can be used using bank selection via a sequencer.
What
are ROM samples?
The AWE uses samples (sounds) stored in ROM.
There is 1 MB of samples. The samples are 16-bit and they're not
compressed. There're actually 4 MB allocated for ROM samples but so far
there haven't been any versions with 4 MB ROM.
What
is the SPDIF jumper?
It's a jumper on top of the board marked
SPDIF. All you have to do is connect it to an outside SPDIF (Sony/Philips)
in eg. minidisk, DAT or a dedicated D/A converter for the ultimate
in high-fidelity. Pin 0 is signal and pin 1 is ground. Note that his is
not an optical line-out.
How
do I use soundfonts in Cakewalk Pro 8.0 (and up)?
Check out this
article.
How
do I change soundfonts in Cakewalk Apprentice?
Do the following:
- Click the right mouse button on a track
and call up the event list.
- Hit insert.
- Double click on the type and choose
controller change.
- Set values to 0 and then the bank number
you want.
- Selct a patch number
How
do I change soundfonts in Cakewalk Pro x.x?
If you're using Cakewalk Pro 3.0 you can
change banks by just typing in the bank number in the Track window. You
will have to configure the Bank-select-method to controller 0 only. Once
you've done that it will work with all MIDI-files.
How
do I change the sound FX and the MIDI volume in DOS?
Run SB16SET (either command-line parameters
or with mouse/keyboard) and turn up the midi and the wave volume.
How
do I make an extra "Line in"?
If you're not using a CD-ROM you can make a
cable that uses the CD-ROM Audio in connector on the AWE board. You can
then use the CD mixer option as "Line in 2".
How
do I expand the RAM memory?
If you got an AWE with simm-sockets (not the
AWE value) then you can expand your RAM memory up to 28 Mb. The AWE has
two simm-sockets. To expand your memory you will need two simm-modules of
the same kind (30 pin and 80 ns or better, parity or no parity). You can't
use only one simm. You can use up to 16 Mb modules but you will only get
28 Mb instead of 32 Mb. This is because the EMU chip can adress 32 Mb, 4Mb
ROM (but the AWE only has 1 Mb) and 28 Mb RAM. There's a jumper you'll
have to switch on the AWE. It selects either built-in DRAM or SIMM-RAM.
You can't use both the built-in RAM and the SIMM-RAM at the same time.
How
do I change the reverb and chorus effect types in a midi song?
These effects are compatible with Roland GS.
This means that if you put them in a midifile all GS synths can use them.
Reverb sysex macro:
F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 30 xx 00 F7
xx indicate effect type:
00 - Room 1
01 - Room 2
02 - Room 3
03 - Hall 1
04 - Hall 2
05 - Plate
06 - Delay
07 - Panning Delay
Chorus sysex macro:
F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 38 xx 00 F7
xx indicate effect type:
00 - Chorus 1
01 - Chorus 2
02 - Chorus 3
03 - Chorus 4
04 - Feedback chorus
05 - Flanger
06 - Short Delay
07 - Short delay (FB)
How do I set NRPN
parameters?
As NRPN and Data Entry messages are MIDI
controller messages, any MIDI sequencer software that supports editing of
controller messages (such as Cakewalk, MasterTracks Pro) is capable of
sending them.
For SB AWE32 NRPN to be functional, NRPN MSB has to be 127, and NRPN LSB
set to the desired parameter to be controlled.
To control the AWE32's NRPNs, enter the following series of controller
events:
Ctrl: 99 = 127 This is the NRPN MSB. It is always 127.
Ctrl: 98 = NRPN LSB # The number of the effect.
Ctrl: 06 = Data Entry MSB # (See equations below.)
Ctrl: 38 = Data Entry LSB # (See equations below.)
Data Entry MSB # = (Actual Value + 8192) /
128
Data Entry LSB # = (Actual Value + 8192) % 128
Where "Actual Value" represents the desired increment in a
specified range ). For example:
NRPN LSB 26 (Reverb Effects Send)
Realtime : No
Range : [0, 255]
Reverb may be controlled from levels 0 to 255. Select the desired reverb
level, and use that number as the Actual Value in the equations above.
These equations determine the parameters for controllers 6 and 38,
respectively. For example, if you wanted to have a reverb value of 140,
you would put 140 into the equations above, and come up with the value of
65 for Controller 6, and 12 for Controller 38.
If you need to determine the Actual Value of
an NRPN already present in a MIDI file, use the formula:
Actual value = (MSB * 128 + LSB) - 8192
How do I change
pitch bend sensitivity?
Insert the following controllers in your
midifile:
Control 101 0 MSB for RPN
Control 100 0 LSB for RPN -> Pitch Bend Sensitivity
Control 6 X Data Entry MSB; X= number of semitones
Control 38 X Data Entry LSB; X= number of hundredths of a semitone
All these numbers are in decimal.
How
do I reduce noise on the AWE?
The critical part on the AWE (and other
cards) is the analog part (often the DAC). It's very sensitive for
electrical disturbances. There are many parts that produces magnetical
fields inside the computer.
- Use the mixersetting output-gain x1.
- Switch off the microphone in the mixer.
- If you're only listening to midi switch
off Wave in the mixer. The SB16 tends to make a beeping sound.
- If you have an external device connected
to the Line-in switch off Line-in in the mixer during midi playback.
- Use Line-out and not the Speaker-out
because it's so noisy. If you're using speakers that haven't got an
amplifier you'll have to use the speaker-out.
- Try to uninstall the OPL3 chip's driver.
It's very noisy and the output from the chip is sent to the EMU so
that you can add reverb and chorus. One person suggested that you
choose the OPL3's midiport in your sequencer and then hit some keys.
This will result in less noise from the OPL3. The only drawback is
that you'll have to do this everytime you boot your computer.
- Place the Soundblastercard as far away
from your computer's powersupply as possible. This may reduce some
electrical noise.
- If you've got an external DAC use it
instead. Connect it to the SPDIF jumper on the AWE board.
- If your amplifier has a ground connector
for record players you can connect the Line-out cable's ground chord
to this connector.
NOTE: IT MAY CAUSE DAMAGE! BE SURE TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!
What
are the differences between the different Soundblaster AWE soundcards?
Here is a comparison of the different ISA cards, made by Johan Nilsson
in 1997. Since then, Creative Labs has released several new PCI cards. The
PCI cards are described at Creative
Labs' website.
|
Multi CD: Sony, Mitsumi and Creative CD-ROM
drive |
|
ASP/DSP/CSP |
|
ASP/DSP/CSP is a digital signal processor. It's
used for real-time compression of samples when sampling and
decompression when playing. This is used on the Soundblaster 16
part of the soundcard. The EMU synth doesn't support compressed
samples. |
|
RAM Onboard |
|
The versions called AWE all come with a 512kB RAM
onboard. The RAM is used to store user samples/sounds. SB32 hasn't
got any RAM but can be upgraded (see below). |
|
SIMM-sockets |
|
All versions except the AWE Value and AWE64/Gold
have simm-sockets. They are used for upgrading the RAM. The
maximum amount of RAM is 28MB divided into 2x16MB simms. You can't
get 32MB because 4MB are reserved for ROM even if there's only 1MB
ROM on the soundcard. |
|
Creative RAM Upgrade |
|
The new AWE64 and AWE64 Gold uses Creative RAM
upgrades instead of simms. These are 2MB or 4MB (so far) and the
cards still support 28MB of RAM. You can't get 32MB because 4MB
are reserved for ROM even if there's only 1MB ROM on the
soundcard. |
|
CD-ROM Interface |
|
There're two different CD-ROM interface versions of
the cards. The old cards were equiped with the Multi CD interface
(Sony, Mitsumi, Creative) and the new ones have IDE interface that
supports all IDE CD-ROM drives. The ISA-buss limits the transfer
to 8x. If you want to use faster CD-ROMS you'll have to connect
them to the EIDE interface in your computer instead. |
|
Synth Modes |
|
The AWE cards were designed for the following
modes:
- General Midi (GM)
- General Standard (GS) a Roland standard
- MT32 A Roland soundmodule that used to be popular
Both GS and MT32 uses RAM and therefore the SB32 can't use
GS/MT32 unless the RAM is upgraded.
|
|
Chipset |
|
All AWE cards uses the same chipset as the
Soundblaster 16. There's been released a new chipset called Vibra.
The main difference between the Vibra and the old chipset is that
Vibra doesn't support analog bass/treble control (no loss). Vibra
is said to produce less noise than the old chipset. |
|
Waveblaster Connector |
|
Waveblaster is a doughter-board that can be used to
expansion the soundcard with another synth. Other manufacturers
have made their own daughter-boards such as Sound Canvas and they
can be connected to the Waveblaster connector. . |
|
Modem Blaster Connector |
|
Modem Blaster 28.8 DSVD: Add full
telephony/communication functions to the card. |
|
S/P-DIF |
|
This is a connector that is used for digital
output. You can only get digital out from the EMU8000 chip and NOT
from the SB16 part. It follows the Sony/Philips standard so the
AWE can be connected to most DAT/MD/DCC that use coaxial digital
in. The AWE64 Gold sends 20-bit data and a cable + a rear computer
connector are supplied. |
|
On-board DAC |
|
There're separate DACs for the SB16 part and the
EMU8000 part. The table states the amount of bits used by the
EMU8000 part DAC. |
|
Synth Polyphony |
|
The synth can only handle a limitited amount of
samples for playback at the same time. All soundcards supports 32
and the AWE64/AWE64 Gold supports 32+32 because there's a software
synth supplied. The software synth is called Creative WaveSynth/WaveGuide
and can handle 32 samples at the same time. |
|