A few (noob-ish) questions about sfz and Soundfont players

[johneboy]

I was looking to add to my sound palette at as low a cost as possible (um…free), and I've soaked up just about every free VST I could find. But I keep coming across the term soundfont (and soundfont players) and I've a few questions about how it works (and If I could really use it). Forgive me if some of the questions sound a bit naive, but if I don't ask I won't know.

First, do soundfonts work like a vst instrument (ie: load a sound and play it out on a, in my case, usb keyboard)? When you load a sound, is it a single sound 'stretched out' (resulting in unrealistic sounds) or are the sounds sampled one for each note on a keyboard? Do I need any specific hardware or software (besides a player)? What is the difference between sfz and sf2? Opinion question: do most of the free ones (like on the sf2midi site) actually sound good? In order to use a soundfont, is it as simple as loading a sfz into the player and then making noise, or is there a lot of tweaking and twiddeling involved? And finally, are there any general pros or cons that a noob should know about?

Thanks in advance to all who reply!

[Timothy J Swartz]

Thanks for your interest. Please check us out at www.DigitalSoundFactory.com.

[pethu]

First, do soundfonts work like a vst instrument (ie: load a sound and play it out on a, in my case, usb keyboard)?

No, "soundfont" is just a sample storage format -- wave files and patches/presets that tells a soundfont player how to play them, packed together in a single file.

When you load a sound, is it a single sound 'stretched out' (resulting in unrealistic sounds) or are the sounds sampled one for each note on a keyboard?

Totally depends on each soundfont -- can be either. Since it is an older standard/format, and many of the most popular devices for playback (read: creative sound cards) traditionally have had size limitations for how big soundfonts they can handle, the quality for many tends to be on the lower side, but it is certainly no rule.

Do I need any specific hardware or software (besides a player)?

No. The format was originally used for cretaive soundcards on-board hardware synths, but has evolved to become one of the most compatible sample formats -- most of the big software samplers today can read and use the soundfont format.

What is the difference between sfz and sf2?

sfz is a software sample player that can play soundfonts, but in addition it has its own more advanced sample format -- also called sfz. It is nowhere as "standard" as the sf2 format, although some other samplers also have begun to include compatibility with sfz.

Opinion question: do most of the free ones (like on the sf2midi site) actually sound good?

There are thousands upon thousands of soundfonts. As ever, you usually get what you pay for. If you find a free soundfont that is "too good", chances are it actually contains samples ripped from a commercial product. But exceptions exist, of course! As always, carefully check the source...

In order to use a soundfont, is it as simple as loading a sfz into the player and then making noise,

Yep.

or is there a lot of tweaking and twiddeling involved?

No. Except that some multi-instrument (specifically, General MIDI standard) soundfonts require you use both bank and program change MIDI messages to get at all the sounds!

And finally, are there any general pros or cons that a noob should know about?

No disadvantages, apart from the fact that you can't do very advanced sample programming using the soundfont format -- the big advantage is that once you're ready to step up to bigger and more advanced sample players, you will probably be able to play/convert your old, favourite soundfonts through it as well, because of the widespread compatibility.

[joshhunsaker]

I guess that's the end of this thread!

[johneboy]

Hey Pethu: Thanks for your thorough repy...and apparent kindness to a noob. cheers!

[dark_virus]

Pethu covered almost all soundfont aspects!

Only adding that I use soundfonts quite a lot, and it's a fantastic sound sample storage format. SF2MIDI is a wonderful sample resource, but you should dig a little in order to find the right sounds.

Also, hammersound.net is a good repository, and their soundfonts has a little review, making things easier.

[johneboy]

Thanks for the tip on hammersound, dark_virus. I'll check it out.

[emdot_ambient]

Pethu covered all soundfont aspects!

Did he? What about creating your own soundfont files?

Also, soundfonts may not be very tweakable, but then again, they are if you use VSTi's that will load them such as Crystal.

[timobrien]

Sometimes when you have a basic question like "What are soundfonts or what can they do?"
the best thing is to go to a basic site:

www.soundfont.com

[keyman_sam]

If you use actual samplers, soundfonts are very usable. I use GS3 and soundfonts load within a second or two, and i can add effects and whatnot to it...

[dark_virus]

Pethu covered all soundfont aspects!

Did he? What about creating your own soundfont files?

eh... original post fixed!

[emdot_ambient]

eh... original post fixed!