Let's Play a SoundFont

Starting with our Play MIDI Keyboard with LMMS project. LMMS installs on Windows, Linux and MacIntosh but I am using a Linux computer and will point out a few differences

SoundCheck

Open a blank canvas. Click on the word TripleOscillator and a keyboard panel opens. Click on the buttons on the little keyboard image and you should hear a musical note out the speakers or headphones.

You notice all the dials and controls on the TripleOscillator panel? This is a synthesizer program that allows you to adjust attack, sustain, decay, frequency and other parameters.

PC Keyboard Input

While the panel is selected as your active window you can use the PC keyboard to play music. This is a layout used by other music softwares.

MIDI Keyboard

We can tell LMMS to connect a MIDI keyboard to the TripleOscillator by clicking on the little gear in the Song Editor field.

The notes you hear are generated by the TripleOscillator synthesizer. It sounds good but perhaps a bit artificial, not quite like a real instrument.

SF2 Player Instrument

Click on the left-hand side of LMMS and you will see a list of instruments that you can add to our project.Locate SF2 Player and pull the icon onto the Song Editor. This will add a new track for the new instrument.

Just like the TripleOscillator we can click on the SF2 Player and see a control panel with keyboard. Try the keyboard. No sound will be generated because no soundfont has been assigned.

Load SoundFont

Click on the little pink folder icon. A finder panel defaults to looking in a LMMS folder in my home account. We can put soundfonts into this folder and see them. We can find new soundfonts on the interweb and purchase new ones.

Linux Sound Folder

I am choosing to do this project on Linux because I know that there is a folder of default soundfonts. AVLinux or UbuntuStudio are distros for music and come with many soundfonts. Ordinary Linux may only have a few.

The default folder for Linux sf2 type soundfonts is /usr/share/sounds/sf2. Choose default-GM.sf2 if you see it. We see the active soundfont in the space next to the little pink folder icon.

Play Music

While the soundfont panel is the active window type the letters on your computer keyboard nm, mnm and you should hear a melody.

Patches?

Click on the icon for PATCH. Look through the list and try a few musical choices. Try Dueling Banjoes on the Harpsichord or Foggy Mountain Breakdown on the accordion.

MIDI Input Devices

Just like TripleOscillator click on the gear symbol and go down through the options and you will see connected MIDI devices that you can associate with our soundfont.

Now, this may sound complicated. A single MIDI device can play more than one instrument at the same time. If you don't associate a MIDI device with an instrument it doesn't play.

Windows

MSoft uses a synthesizer software called WaveSynth or GS Wavetable Synth. It is an old soundfont from the 1990s and it works fine. You can still add soundfonts, download them from the interweb. You can also copy soundfont files from other computers and move them to your Windows PC. We can copy soundfonts from Linux and use them on Windows.

Polyphone Editor

Your Linux may already have Polyphone SoundFont Editor. Windows and MacIntosh downloads are available. Open one of your soundfonts and explore the menus. Look for the different instruments available.

Maybe you can write your own Hackster project on this program.