basic help needed:Sonar, SB Live and Soundfonts

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fab4ever
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Fab4ever

Fab4ever

Getting better
Hello. I'm sorry - again - for the basic nature of this question, but here goes.

I just started trying to use MIDI after learning (starting to learn) digital audio for the past couple years. Now I have Sonar 2.0 XL and an Omni Studio (my first mixer). I have a Delta 44 for audio and a Soundblaster Live for midi, which I've never used till now.

So...

I have gotten general midi to play, and I have attached my midi controller (a cheapie Yamaha keyboard) to my soundblaster and am able to play midi sounds. But as is expected, the stock midi sounds aren't really cutting it.

I have heard and read about soundfonts - I've even gone to the Creative website and the online help. I purchased a piano soundfont from Sonic Implants, downloaded it and installed it. Now, I can call up my Sounfont controller and use my midi keyboard to "play" the piano soundfonts - sounds awesome!!

But then I tried to play my new soundfont in Sonar.

I just can't figure out how to get my midi tracks in sonar to use ANY soundfont. Whatever changes I make to bank or patch WITHIN SONAR, I can't get away from the generic midi sounds. (I have, by the way, gotten a softsynth to REPLACE my already-recorded midi sounds, but that's another matter).

Can anyone give me a primer on using soundfonts within sonar?

Thanks in advance,

Fab
 
: D
Hang on Fab... I need to check my manual 1st... Once upon a time I had a same problem... just hang on a while...

;)
 
This is how I do it....

1) Sonar > Options > Midi select SB Live! & TTS Piano as inputs and make sure they are highlighted and at the top. Under outputs, select A:SB Live! synth only and make sure it is highlighted and at the top. Click on okay. Go back in and check again that the three devices are selected (highlighted in blue) and at the top.

2) Go back to Options > Soundfonts. Select a channel. For example, "Bank1". Click on "Attach Instruments". Point at your selected soundfont and select.("Open"). Close the soundfont bank dialogue box.

3) Open your song. Select a Midi track. Right click on the track number. Select "Track Properties" from the pop up dialogue box.

4) Go to the "Channel" window and select > 1. This should now trigger "Midi Channel 1" in the Input window and you should have "Soundfont device" in your output window.

5) Go to "Bank" and select your soundfont file from the drop down menu.

6) Then go to "Patch" and select your instrument.

And thats it. You can even use the Virtual Piano and your qwerty k/board if you don't want to use your midi k/board or, like me, you don't have one....yet!

You can also install multiple soundfonts into the system, so you can have multiple midi tracks in a song, each with a different soundfont.

Let me know how you get on.
 
Awesome, Paul! Thanks so much. I'm at the stinkin job today (if ONLY I could just play at home recording every day!) but tonight I'll jump on it.

Thanks so much! I feel very near to a breakthrough here....

Fab
 
You are very welcome, glad to help. Please let me know how you get on.
 
It worked! That rocks.. thanks very much.

I wonder if I may ask a couple more questions: Is "general midi" always gonna sound cheesy? In other words, to get great midi sounds, will I have to keep buying soundfonts? Are there good free soundfonts out there? Thanks in advance,

Fab
 
Good to hear that it worked!

There are zillions of free soundfonts out there in web-land. Just do a search on soundfonts and see what comes up. Some sites have a full listing with "customer" reviews of how good they are .
Heres one I use quite a bit:

http://www.hammersound.net/

Some soundfonts come compressed and you have to get an "uncompressor" software tool to unzip em. But again, its all free and available on the web.

Finding out about soundfonts was unbelievable for me, I still cannot believe the technology.

General Midi always sounds cheesy to me. Unless anyone wants to post a different view...:)
 
I too appreciate the information, Paul! I just got XL 2.0 yesterday and haven't reached that far in the book yet (just experimented), but I wondered how that worked. Thanks a lot!
 
...When it comes to SB products,mr.Ethan Winer is THE Man,...,Thanks for that link:
 
Thats a great link James, I printed the article out a long time ago and is in my ring binder reference manual close at hand.
Mr Winner has been known to lurk these corridors from time to time...............:)
 
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