Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] Soundfont synthesizer (Was: LinuxTag 2001)
From: Peter Hanappe (peter_AT_hanappe.com)
Date: Tue May 29 2001 - 11:59:12 EEST
Josh Green wrote:
> Peter Hanappe wrote:
>
>> That would be a really good idea. I should study a little more the
>> various required file access functions. My basic needs were just a
>> file reading API. Off course, we would have to design a full file
>> editing API.
>>
>> Since i'm not doing any editing, I can read all the samples in memory
>> in one block. Smurf creates and inserts samples much more randomly.
>> Both should be supported.
>>
>> Anyway, I'll start thinking about what kind of design I would propose
>> and what I think should be in the API.
>>
>
>
> No. I meant an API for something like the Smurf Sound Font Editor (and
> other sound font aware programs) to connect to the wavetable engine and
> load/unload/update/query sound font patches in an arbitrary destination
> sound font capable wavetable device (iiwusynth, AWE 32/64 Live!,
> Timidity, whatever). The current sound font API is very SB AWE specific
> and is still OSS based. Making a general Sound Font API would allow for
> any synth (hardware or software) to be viewed as sound font capable and
> transparent to other programs.
Okay! I see what you mean now. I guess the main functionnality should
be:
- synthesizer interface: it should integrate with
Frank van der Pol's sequencer API (or implement the rawmidi API?).
- detection of supported patches: SF2, GUS, DLS, ...
- load/unload/update/query sound font patches
I don't know the ALSA API nor the OSS AWE 32/54 API but I'll check
it out. As you said, I could use the synthesizer as a test.
> I am creating (like we discussed already off the list) a libsoundfont
> library to handle the actual loading/saving/editing of sound font files,
> which is more like what you described above.
Did you get the change to take a look at the Downloadable Sounds
(DLS) specifications? It's designed by the MIDI Manufacturers
Association (MMA) and it very closely ressembles SF2. I used the
specs to understand SF2 a little better. The file format also looks
similar so it might be interesting to make a common API.
(http://www.midi.org/about-midi/dls/dls2spec.htm)
The MMA also worked on a draft to combine a midi and a DLS file
into one archive file (a RMID file)
(http://www.midi.org/about-midi/rp29spec(rmid).pdf).
It's very useful if someone wants to distribute her MIDI file
together with her SoundFont and people can listen to it with, for
example, XMMS.
However, I don't know if the format is well supported by the available
sequencers and other MIDI tools.
Cheers,
Peter
> Josh Green
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Tue May 29 2001 - 14:45:52 EEST