Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timidity

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RFNagel
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Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timidity

Post by RFNagel »

Hiya Folks,

Long time, no type <grin>.

Several here might remember me mentioning my own custom soundfont for SBLive/Audigy/Timidity/XMPlay/etc... that has been developing over the years, but never really had an online "home" to store it. I've recently made an update to the soundfont, and Ian Luck of "XMPlay" fame has so graciously allowed me to upload it his site; so's it's now available for download over at XMPlay's web page ( http://www.un4seen.com/download.php?extra/WeedsGM3 ).

BTW, XMPlay ( http://www.un4seen.com/xmplay.html ) is another music player that supports soundfonts (with it's additional MIDI Input Plugin installed -> http://www.un4seen.com/xmplay.html#plugins ); and overall, really sounds much better playing MIDIs than the standalone Timidity softsynth does :)

Anyhow, a little cut 'n' paste from one of my PMs to Ian Luck:

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Rich Nagel wrote:Hi Ian,

In several of my messages in the forum I've mentioned a large custom soundfont that has been developing over the past few years. It's my main "base" GM soundfont that I've used extensively with my Sound Blaster Live and XMPlay (as well as my AWE32 sound cards... that is, before it got way to big for them!).

I've finished yet another update to the soundfont, and was looking for an online home for it. Per my previous messages in the forum, I had never uploaded it to anywhere, due to it's sheer size (and my miserable dialup connection out here in the woods). I was wondering if you wish to offer it for download in place of (or as an alternative) to the "Chorium" soundfont that you have over at the XMPlay download page?

Anyhow, the ZIP contains a readme and a self-extracting "sfArk" archive (sfArk is great for compressing soundfonts, much better that ZIP/RAR/ACE/ etc...). The ZIP with the self-extracting sfArk weighs in at about 27 megs, and the extracted soundfont is almost 55 megs.

Some stats of the soundfont (included/mentioned in the readme):

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
SoundFont Filename: WeedsGM3.sf2
Self-extracting sfArk Archive Filename: WeedsGM3.sfArk.exe
Zip Archive Filename: WeedsGM3.zip
File Dates and Times: March 1, 2010 3:00a
Readme Documentation: WeedsGM3.txt
License Agreement Documentation: WeedsGM3.License.txt
MIDI Files: None
Number of User Samples: 762
Size of User Samples: 54,694,776 bytes
Number of ROM Samples: 0
Number of Instruments: 147
Number of Melodic Presets: 128
Number of Percussive Presets: 9
Total SoundFont Filesize: 54,894,076 bytes
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Anyways, this custom soundfont sounds considerably better than the "Chorium" soundfont IM(Not So)HO, and I was simply wondering if you wanter to ofer it for download at the XMPlay download page? If so, I suppose I could upload the ZIP to your FTP server, although it will take me a while.


Cheers (and thanks for XMplay and the MIDI plugin!),

Rich
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


Anyhow, you can use this General MIDI compatable soundfont with any EMU8000/EMU10K hardware (AWE32/AWE64/SBLive/Audigy/etc...; in actuality though, it's too big for a single AWE <grin>), as well as any software synthesizer that supports soundfonts (I recommend XMPlay, of course <LOL>!).

And, of course, with ZDOOMs custom build of Timidity as well :)

One problem I've found with Timidity though, is that it seems to ignore patch changes in MIDI files for the various drum kits... it always seems to load the "standard" kit (patch 000) no matter what the patch change event in the MIDI file is set at. Running ZDOOM's build of Timidity from the commandline (with the "verbose" command line paramter) results in this:

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Loading SF Drumset 48 36: Orchestra Kit
Loading SF Drumset 48 38: Orchestra Kit
Loading SF Drumset 48 57: Orchestra Kit
Loading SF Drumset 48 59: Orchestra Kit
Loading SF Tonebank 0 19: Pipe Organ & Pedals
Loading SF Tonebank 0 47: Timpani and Rolls
Loading SF Tonebank 0 48: String Ensemble 1
Loading SF Tonebank 0 52: Adult Choir Aahs
Loading SF Tonebank 0 53: Boys Choir Aahs
Loading SF Tonebank 0 56: Trumpet
Loading SF Tonebank 0 61: Brass Section
Loading SF Drumset 0 36: Standard Kit
Loading SF Drumset 0 38: Standard Kit
Loading SF Drumset 0 57: Standard Kit
Loading SF Drumset 0 59: Standard Kit
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Nevertheless, the soundfont sounds quite nice even with the lowley Timidity softsynth :)

Download WeedsGM3.zip from here -> http://www.un4seen.com/download.php?extra/WeedsGM3 , and extract the ZIP, and then run the EXE to finish extracting the soundfont. Readme (also included in the soundfont's ZIP) is here -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/SoundFonts/WeedsGM3.txt .

Hope y'all like it :)

P.S. If ya want, you can also download a few sample MIDI files from here -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/SoundFon ... _MIDIs.zip that really show off the soundfont. The ZIP includes:

"Grabbag - Duke Nukem 3D - Lee Jackson.mid" (transposed and re-arranged a bit)
"March To War - Rich Weeds Nagel.mid" (threw this together last night)
"Mustang Sally - Arranged by Rich Weeds Nagel.mid" (no melody, go ahead and sing along!)
"Ramblings of a Non-Pianist (Op. 2) - Rich Weeds Nagel.mid" (nope, I'm not a pianist <grin>!)
"Toccata in D Minor - Bach.mid" (added bass pedals)

Heh, guess I should have included a DOOM tune as well LOL!

If you don't have a soundfont compatable sound card (even if you do use Timidity for ZDOOM, or the standalone version for MIDI music playback), try out the soundfont with XMPlay with it's MIDI Input Plugin installed ( http://www.un4seen.com/xmplay.html / http://www.un4seen.com/xmplay.html#plugins ).
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by Jimmy »

Wait, you're the guy who did the Eternal Doom III soundtrack! Awesome! :D Very eager to test this out with some MIDIs of my own. :)

I'm not sure whether the terms of the soundfont allow this, but would I be allowed to release MIDIs as MP3s rendered in this soundfont to websites like Last.fm and SoundClick? It's cool if not, but I'm just curious. :P

EDIT: Oh, by the way, your website redirected me to a 403 page if I didn't do a right-click-save-target-as on the UK flag quick enough. :?
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by RFNagel »

jimmy91 wrote:Wait, you're the guy who did the Eternal Doom III soundtrack! Awesome!
Yep, that's me! Glad you liked the soundtrack :)

jimmy91 wrote:Very eager to test this out with some MIDIs of my own. :)
I think you'll like it :) BTW, do you have a soundfont compatable sound card (e.g. SBLive/etc...)? If not, grab the afore-mentioned XMPlay and it's MIDI plugin :)

jimmy91 wrote:I'm not sure whether the terms of the soundfont allow this, but would I be allowed to release MIDIs as MP3s rendered in this soundfont to websites like Last.fm and SoundClick? It's cool if not, but I'm just curious.
No problem at all :) FYI, that "scary" looking EULA of mine is simply a generic LA template that I use for most everything <grin>.

jimmy91 wrote:EDIT: Oh, by the way, your website redirected me to a 403 page if I didn't do a right-click-save-target-as on the UK flag quick enough. :?
Actually, the XMPlay site and server isn't mine, but rather the creator of XMPlay (Ian Luck). I remember him mentioning the other day over in his official forums some sort of problem with the site, dunno though.


BTW, if you (or anyone else) is using the ZDOOM Timidity build (verses a hardware soundfont synth), a few settings for your ZDOOM.ini that you may like (or hate LOL!):

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[GlobalSettings]
timidity_frequency=44100
timidity_stereo=true
timidity_reverb=1
timidity_chorus=1
timidity_extargs=-EFdelay=b,50 -EFchorus=s,127 -EFreverb=G,127
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by phi108 »

Thanks, this sounds pretty good! Another for my soundfont collection.
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by RFNagel »

phi108 wrote:Thanks, this sounds pretty good!
Glad ya liked it :)

phi108 wrote:Another for my soundfont collection.
Hehe, hopefully you won't need a 'collection' anymore (this coming from someone who has 3 DVDs worth of soundfonts LOL!).
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by BouncyTEM »

I'm impressed, sir.

I have a TON, literally a TON, of soundfonts. I could probably make an entire archive with how many I have.

And, while this isn't the best one I heard (no one soundfont has been thus far; I always end up combining bits and pieces from various ones these days), it's certainly better than I expected for the file size. Your soundfont manages to beat a few I have which are 2 to 5 times as big.

Kudos.

Edit: This soundfont also has some of the best synth strings i've ever heard in a soundfont thus far, too. Double kudos.
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by RFNagel »

Bouncy wrote:I'm impressed, sir.
Glad ya liked it, Bouncy :)

Bouncy wrote:I have a TON, literally a TON, of soundfonts. I could probably make an entire archive with how many I have.
Same here, more than I have time to even audition <grin>.

Bouncy wrote:it's certainly better than I expected for the file size. Your soundfont manages to beat a few I have which are 2 to 5 times as big.
Quite honestly, I've never really heard any of the 'monsters' (due to my lowley dialup). About the biggest that I had previously downloaded was the afore-mentioned "Chorium" soundfont, and I was never really happy with that one.

Many of the largish retail GM soundfonts are complete disasters IM(not so)HO. Ones that come to mind were Sonido Media's "Monster GM" 24 meg soundfont <uugghh> (included on their "SoundFont Toolbox" CD), as well as Creative's "28MBGM"; heh, I bought the Creative X-Fi Vista CD just to get that one (I'm running Windows XP).

I was still happy with buying the SoundFont Toolbox CD though, as many of the seperate soundfonts were quite nice, but that Monster GM, was, well, a monster LOL!

One that has caught my eye was SONiVOX MI's (used to be called "Sonic Implants") "250 Meg GM Wavetable" soundfont, but the MP3s didn't impress me that much to warrant a US$100 purchase. I also read a few sour reviews about it elsewhere on the 'net.

I previusly bought their "Industrial Dance PC" and "Retro Synth PC" GM soundfonts (4 megs each), but that type of style isn't really my kinda thang.

Sonido Media's "Orchestra Gold Edition" CD had some nice seperate soundfonts on it, but the larger partial GM soundfonts didn't seem all that balanced to me.

Heh, history tidbit, you know that good old "8MBGM.SF2" that comes with just aboult ALL modern Creative sound cards? Yep, I pre-ordered that CD before it first came out back in '96. Now, *THAT* one was some decent 'bang for the buck' if ya ask me (filesize-wise) :)

Anyhoo, 'nuff of my ramblings <grin>.

Bouncy wrote:Edit: This soundfont also has some of the best synth strings i've ever heard in a soundfont thus far, too. Double kudos.
Hehe, funny you should mention that; the synthy sort of stuff I kinda slacked on... I was more geared towards real instruments and such.


Oh, and BTW, if you (or anyone else) is looking for the ULTIMATE soundfont <LOL!>, check the one included with E-mu's "SoundFont Librarian" -> http://www.emu.com/support/files/downlo ... Platform=1 (scroll down to "SoundFont Librarian 1.0c")... the included "1MGM.sf2" was created from a ROM dump of the original AWE32 <grin>.
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by BouncyTEM »

I have that SONiVOX soundfont. Blech. Not all that great.

Yeah, if Chorium's the biggest of the ones you've seen, you haven't seen a tenth of the ones I got. I have multiple soundfonts that easily reach 300 MB or larger. Crisis GM's a GB!

I'd agree about commercial ones being crap. Wonder why that is.

you slacked on the synths? Huh. Well, the samples you used are really good, at least. Certainly among the more interesting synth strings i've heard.
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by RFNagel »

Bouncy wrote:I have that SONiVOX soundfont. Blech. Not all that great.
Thanks for the info. Between your's (and others') comments on that one, I'll definately not be wasting money on it.

Bouncy wrote:Yeah, if Chorium's the biggest of the ones you've seen, you haven't seen a tenth of the ones I got. I have multiple soundfonts that easily reach 300 MB or larger. Crisis GM's a GB!
Holey Camoley! A GIG?! For that kind of size, I'd better be cleaning up the 'spit valve' mess (any brass players out there know what I'm refering to <G>) after a few MIDI files <LOL>!

Bouncy wrote:I'd agree about commercial ones being crap. Wonder why that is.
That's really a good question. Seems that none of them can make a decent all-purpose GM compatable soundfont. Like I said before though, I've found a lot of seperate single-instrument ones on various retail CDs that were quite nice, but I was never happy with any of the GM soundfonts.

(getting O.T. here) Man, I sure miss my old WaveBlaster (1)... based on the Proteus line of MIDI modules :)

Bouncy wrote:you slacked on the synths? Huh. Well, the samples you used are really good, at least. Certainly among the more interesting synth strings i've heard.
Glad you like 'em :) BTW, dunno if you're into this sort of thing, but check out the grand piano and pipe organ presets in the soundfont (hope ya got some BIG speakers for that pipe organ <grin>) :)

Oh, and the belltree (contained in all of the drum kits). MUCH better than the clunky things that I've heard in every soundfont I've ever used. Now *THAT* is a REAL belltree, or to be more precise a marktree :)
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by BouncyTEM »

Oh, i've already heard just about every instrument your soundfont has to offer. I tend to test them out pretty thoroughly.

Did notice the marktree. :)

Don't have big speakers, but I have a Sennheiser HD 280 pro headset, so I did hear how nice the pipe organs are. Love those samples. They work so well with Nitemare 3d's epic organ song.

As for the SONiVOX, it has some nice samples in some areas, it's certainly better than the abysmal Conexant GM500 soundfont but not enough to justify the price or the filesize.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to truly enjoy the good old days of the AWE32/Wave Blaster and all that. I was a kid. :P


From my experiences with my vast archives, as much as I hate admitting it for sticking by big GM banks for so long, individual instrument soundfonts 9.9/10 tend to be better than what the banks offer. I'm guessing it's because the author of the soundfont puts more time into that one instrument, as opposed to, say, 130 instruments (or more)

Edit: Also, I hear some kind of skip/static/scratch/oddity in one of the drum samples. Not sure which one exactly, seems to be in a snare, but you might want to go check them out?
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by RFNagel »

Bouncy wrote:Did notice the marktree. :)
:)

Bouncy wrote:so I did hear how nice the pipe organs are. Love those samples. They work so well with Nitemare 3d's epic organ song.
I have four 60-watt (RMS) Reveal speakers connected to my PC, as well as my TNT130 Peavy bass amp (with an 18" oil cooled Black Widow).. understament to say that I can REALLY feel that 16' register <grin>. Man, I really need a MIDI pedal controller :)

Bouncy wrote:Unfortunately, I didn't get to truly enjoy the good old days of the AWE32/Wave Blaster and all that. I was a kid. :P
Hehe, have a look here to see what ya missed -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Weeds_486DX4-100.htm .

Bouncy wrote:Edit: Also, I hear some kind of skip/static/scratch/oddity in one of the drum samples. Not sure which one exactly, seems to be in a snare, but you might want to go check them out?
Do you remember which drum kit it was in? I'll have to fire up Vienna and have a looksie. Off the top of my head I might say that it could be the snare in the Power kit. The original sample was quite low quality... check the version history in the readme file, and me thinks you'll prolly know where the original sample came from <LOL>.
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by BouncyTEM »

I think it was the standard kit, actually.
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by RFNagel »

Bouncy wrote:I think it was the standard kit, actually.
Thanks for the heads up :)

BTW, (refering to the Power drum snare and kick sample source previously mentioned), I'll give y'all a little hint:

XM2.???

<grin>
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by RFNagel »

OK, I'm not really sure which one it could be. I auditioned all of the various instruments in all of the drum kits, and couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary (?).

The closest thing that I could hear that might possibly scratchy would be the D#2 in all of the drum kits (except for the orchestral kit). That is a standard GM 'hand claps', which is fairly close (keyboard-wise) to the snare drums. Other than that, everything sounded OK to me.

Do you have a particular MIDI file that you can hear the bad sound in? If so, shoot it over to me at richnagel@earthlink.net , and I'll see what I can figure out.


BTW, sort of OT, surf here -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/SoundFonts/ ... I'll bet you don't have any soundfonts like those LOL!

Oh, also, dunno what type of sound card that you have, but here is a little something you might find handy (if you do any composing on any of the EMU8000/EMU10K based sound cards) -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/SoundFonts/NRPNCalc.zip (readme, also in the tiny ZIP is here -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/SoundFonts/NRPNCalc.txt ).
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Re: Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 for SBLive/Audigy/Timi

Post by BouncyTEM »

Email sent with some information. Hopefully you can pinpoint it now.

Noticed this problem on 3 computers. Tried XMPlay and Timidity on all 3 machines, and the soundfont bank manager on an older one.

Not sure that program will do anything. I have X-Fis (which are based on EMU20Ks) on both of my newer machines, and one of those is the one I do music stuff with.

Also, lol at some of those soundfonts. Saved. :3:

And, yeah, I have no idea where the power drum/kick is from.
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