New article: Using SoundFonts with Sonar

Ethan Winer

Ethan Winer

Acoustics Expert
Folks,

If you use SONAR, trying to use SoundFonts with a hardware soundcard can be frustrating because SONAR has its own ideas about how SoundFonts should be used. Fortunately, these problems can be solved with just a little ingenuity.

For the full story, see my article at www.prorec.com.

--Ethan Winer
 
Ethan, very good article but...

Most musician's just wanna play!
They most likely wont take the time to read, and learn and understand alot of what you said.

Have you contacted Cakewalk and let them know how it should be done?
You should if you haven't. Tell them everything that's wrong and the right way to do it.
I think they will (or should) take your advice since you seem to have a very keen knowledge of soundfonts.

Well here's hoping for the best, and thanks for the article.

A1MixMan
 
MixMan,

> Most musician's just wanna play!

Yes, I realize that. But heck, I'm a musician and it was worth it to me to figure this out, to help me make music more easily. All someone else has to do is follow along! Of course, folks that don't care about these problems can always continue doing what they're doing now. :)

> Have you contacted Cakewalk and let them know how it should be done? <

You bet. Last week I sent them seven pages (!) of bugs and issues, including all the problems with SoundFonts.

--Ethan
 
Good article Ethan...
It's about time Pro-Rec updated their stories.

I am using soundfonts with Sonar and a SBLive Platinum card. I am very pleased with the results. My band doesn't have a drummer and we usually use drum modules like the D4 or DM-5 when we record albums but I've reached a new level of realism using a great set of Drum Implants. Being able to tweak velocities and applying effects on the soundfont tracks is outstanding too!
 
Thank you for a really good set of articles Ethan. I enjoyed reading through them all and the step by step approach.

You wouldn't think about marketing the fruits of your labours eh? We could all do with some more realistic s/fonts banks that have been lovingly massaged by someone as skilled as you.

Just a thought! (does that mean I get the first cut free? Lol)
 
Another great article Ethan!

One question though:

In the 'Many Problems'-part you're saying: "Sonar assumes you will use different Soundfonts for each project, and each in the same folder where the song resides" and "This forces you to keep multiple copies of the same soundfonts...."

I don't think this is true, you can store all of your soundfonts in one folder (which you specify in Options > Soundfonts > Soundfontbankwindow appears > click on the Locationsbutton > and type the location*). This doesn't have to be the same folder 'where the song resides'. So in my opinion, there's no waste of diskspace (no multiple copies necessary).

*or multiple locations: you can type a list of soundfontfolders using a ";" like this "e:\soundfonts;e:\soundfonts\emu"
 
Tim,

> My band doesn't have a drummer and we usually use drum modules like the D4 or DM-5 when we record albums but I've reached a new level of realism using a great set of Drum Implants. <

I used to have an Alesis D4, and I sold it when I moved over to SoundFonts. But before I sold it I sampled every single sound so I'd still have them available. :) Though I admit I haven't yet used any of those, since the drum SoundFonts I'm using are so good.

--Ethan
 
Paul,

> Thank you for a really good set of articles Ethan. I enjoyed reading through them all and the step by step approach. <

Thanks.

> You wouldn't think about marketing the fruits of your labours eh? <

Most of the SoundFonts I use are public domain, downloaded from the various sites. But a few are from commercial libraries and I can't distribute those.

When I started collecting them I didn't yet have my current cable modem, so I bought all the CDs from The Sound Site. Most of the free stuff is junk, but there are some real gems in there.

--Ethan
 
> you can store all of your soundfonts in one folder (which you specify in Options > Soundfonts ... Locations <

I tried that, but it doesn't work the way I want. The problem is that SoundFonts located in those folders are found only if the files have the same first name as your current project. So if I'm working on HardRock.cwp I must have a SoundFont named HardRock.sf2. And that just isn't a good way for me to work. All of my SoundFonts were already organized just as I want them before I bought Sonar, and I prefer to keep it that way. I don't want to have to copy or rename SoundFonts just to use them!

It wouldn't be so bad if I had to navigate to the proper folder only once. But every single time you click Attach, Sonar defaults back to the folder where the current project was loaded from!

--Ethan
 
> The problem is that SoundFonts located in those folders are found only if the files have the same first name as your current project.

Weird, it NEVER worked this way before. I've used Cakewalk 8, Pro 9 and now I'm using HomeStudio2002 (SONAR is too heavy/expensive for me), without any problems of this kind. Perhaps the new format is the cause of this problem? HomeStudio still uses *.wrk files, SONAR uses the new format *.cwp.

>It wouldn't be so bad if I had to navigate to the proper folder only once. But every single time you click Attach, Sonar defaults back to the folder where the current project was loaded from!

Indeed, this is a very annoying problem. So it seems, this 'bug' has migrated from Cakewalk 8 to SONAR. Not very nice...
 
I put a shortcut to my soundfont folder in the default folder that sonar opens when you want to attach a soundfont.

This way it's only one click away.

Works great for me.

A1MixMan
 
Pedullist,

> Weird, it NEVER worked this way before.

Unless I'm missing something. But the Help clearly states that is how it works. And I'm sure I tried it and couldn't make it do what I wanted...

--Ethan
 
A1MixMan,

> I put a shortcut to my soundfont folder in the default folder that sonar opens when you want to attach a soundfont. <

Brilliant! I'm an old DOS guy, and I just don't think in terms of shortcuts to folders. Thanks for the tip.

--Ethan
 
A1MixMan,

I agree with Ethan, this is so simple it's genius. I hate setting up soundfonts because I can't set up a default directory. Thanks for the solution.
 
I'm steeping with gratitude, Ethan.
Thanks for doing all the leg work and the link.
Much obliged.
 
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