Re: [linux-audio-user] QSynth dumb question

On Fri, December 29, 2006 06:04, Paul Winkler wrote:
> So, I read the man page, I poked around on qsynth.sourceforge.net,
> I read Dave's article at http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8354
> and I must be missing something really obvious, because I'm stumped:
>
> How the heck do you use the channels dialog?
>
>
> (qsynth 0.2.5 by the way.)
>
>
> For example. I have added several soundfonts via the Soundfonts
> dialog. I click the Channels button. Per Dave's tutorial, I expect to see
> only names from the last font in my Soundfonts list. But I see a mishmash
> of names from various soundfonts. And I can't seem to DO anything with
> them. Per Dave's tutorial, I try right-clicking. I get a popup menu with
> Edit and Refresh options. Fine, I choose Edit for
> channel 1. I get a dialog labelled Channel 1. There doesn't seem to be
> any way to actually edit anything here. For example, right now I can
> select bank 0 or bank 2. Bank 0 includes this:
>
> prog Name SFID Soundfont ---- ----
> ---- ---------
> 1 BritePiano 5 TrachtmanSteinC_XFade2_2001Aug16
> 0 GrandPiano-Multi 5 TrachtmanSteinC_XFade2_2001Aug16
>
>
> And bank 2 includes this:
>
>
> prog Name SFID Soundfont ---- ----
> ---- ---------
> 0 Roland 64VoicePiano 1 Roland_64VoicePiano
>
> I can't find any way to add other programs, or remove the ones that
> are showing. I seem to be permanently stuck with these. I don't even
> really know how I got them in there :-(
>
> As far as I can tell, what I'm actually hearing is bank 2 program 0.
> I have resorted to every combination of mouse buttons and keyboard
> modifiers I can think to try. Nothing I do has any visible or audible
> effect.
>
> Help!
>

the channels window does list the 16 addressable midi channels of one
synth engine. each midi channel might be assigned to one (and only one)
bank/program patch at a time. you can change it manually, with the
provided edit dialog or you can send a bank-select/program-change midi
message thru the corresponding midi input port and channel.

you select a bank and a program from the list. once selected you're about
to assign that bank/program combination to one midi channel, which will
in turn render sound from that instrument selection. the preview option
(which is another misleading name btw) just makes the changes audible
while you're selecting in the edit dialog, even before you hit ok and make
it permanent.

you just can't add nor remove banks/programs in anyway. the ones you see
listed are the ones provided by the current soundfont stack. nothing more,
nothing less. to change that you have to change soundfonts on setup. pay
attention to soundfont layering order, as identically numbered
banks/programs are overriden by soundfonts which are loaded last. you can
cope with that by tinckering with bank offsets.

hope this helps a bit

cheers,

-- 
rncbc aka Rui Nuno Capela
rncbc@email-addr-hidden