KVR Audio

zvon · Post by **zvon** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:32 am

First I would like to know if those who own and use bismark bs-16i like it?

I am asking this because I am considering releasing soundfont versions of some of my sample sets specifically for it and I am wondering if there would be any interest in that.

The advice part of my post is that I would like to know what organisation of the soundfont would be preferable. What I mean is that I already have some sets available in the soundfont format like my Baby Piano and Baby Bells:
http://lesproductionszvon.com/Baby_piano.htm

But it is currently 2 multi-programs soundfont, one is 86.4 MB and the other is 123 MB. Maybe single program soundfonts would be preferable, each one having only one instrument and thus all would be smaller. So they would be easier to manage, users being able to select the programs they want for a specific track without having to load larger soundfonts.

What do you think?

Derek Buddemeyer · Post by **Derek Buddemeyer** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:54 am

I absolutely love bs-16i. One of my favorite apps for realistic instruments. I would be interested in what you have. I can't seem to find a decent soundfont editor and just don't have time to create my own files.

zvon · Post by **zvon** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:17 am

Hi Derek,

Thanks for your reply and you interest in my sounds.
I don't have it yet but I am very tempted, it looks nice and supports Virtual MIDI and Audiobus.

Can it play sf2 with velocity layers?
It has 16 parts but can they be layered, meaning 2 or more parts having the same MIDI channel or is the arrangement of the channels fixed from 1 to 16?

BiancaNeve · Post by **BiancaNeve** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:51 am

Why just for bs16i ?

Fluid synth, gestrument and energy xtra all use SF2 as well and there may well be others as well.

zvon · Post by **zvon** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 3:38 pm

Of course they will not be only for bs-16i but it was the only one that came to my mind yesterday, I was not aware that Gestrument and energy xtra load sf2 too.

Derek Buddemeyer · Post by **Derek Buddemeyer** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:48 pm

bs-16i will do multiple velocities in one patch...pretty cool...you can also mix instruments in one patch. I haven't got too far into the midi connection besides virtual midi from app to app.
I wouldn't mind just being able to pick from certain instruments as I don't really use a lot....I go for realism as opposed to weird funky sounding stuff...except for the synth stuff.

zvon · Post by **zvon** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 8:41 pm

I bought bs-16i a few hours ago. After some testing soundfont banks are the way to go. They are more practical as bs-16i has 4 library slots that can hold one bank or single instrument soundfont each. When a slot holds a bank, individual instruments can be selected from the instrument menu that is over the keyboard.

The bank that are assigned to each library slots are selected in the Soundfont section of the Settings menu.

Below is the list of my sample sets that currently are in the soundfont bank format. Each has a free demo soundfont that can be downloaded too.

Baby Piano - Julie Resynth - Prepared Rhodes - Sidekick Electronic Percussion

Note that my Out There set is in sf2 format but they are single instruments not a bank. So they would work too but may not be as practical.

bstageboss · Post by **bstageboss** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 9:53 pm

For my purposes, I like the patches combined into one soundfont. Turns out
bs-16i only has 4 slots for soundfont files, and you have to use iTunes to load/change them. Not a problem if you're in a studio situation, but on the go, it's more convenient to have just one file with multiple patches.

(The app is really handy when you're playing live with a VA synth and you need to play a piano or some other sampled instrument. Basically it turns my iphone into an expander module that's with me wherever I go.)

STV

BiancaNeve · Post by **BiancaNeve** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:02 pm

You don't have to use I tunes to change sound font

You can load new ones by open in from the web site you found them on

Or open in from e-mail

Or store them in Dropbox and open them in BS16i

It has 4 slots for soundfonts libraries loaded into "ram" but you can have lots of others on the " hard drive" of your ipad to load into those slots.

(Hope you know what I mean by ram and hd but I'm not sure what the right terms are for the ipad)

bstageboss · Post by **bstageboss** » Sat Feb 09, 2013 12:43 am

BiancaNeve wrote:You don't have to use I tunes to change sound font

You can load new ones by open in from the web site you found them on

Or open in from e-mail

Or store them in Dropbox and open them in BS16i

It has 4 slots for soundfonts libraries loaded into "ram" but you can have lots of others on the " hard drive" of your ipad to load into those slots.

(Hope you know what I mean by ram and hd but I'm not sure what the right terms are for the ipad)

All of which are nice options to have, absolutely, but don't help with switching sounds on the fly in a live situation.
It's still better for me to just have them ready in one multi-patch file (accessible via MIDI program change), which was why I went with that option in response to the OP.

Good to know that there are other file transfer options, though, so thanks!

zvon · Post by **zvon** » Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:36 am

Thanks to everyone who posted!
The information I gathered in this thread combined with my testing helped me organize my thoughts. I have loaded 11 of my sf2 in my iPad and I am going through them via the library slots.

Today I made a soundfont version of my Marching Band Horn and I am currently testing it and everything is fine so far. If everything goes as planned, I should release it tomorrow together with "mobile" version of Julie Resynth and the Chromatic Hits.

Also, I have decided to leave the Baby Piano as it is, it seems to work perfectly. I still have to test my Sidekick and Prepared Rhodes sets.

I am very happy with the bs-16i so far!

bismark bs-16i, want feedback and advice from users