Re: Help with Midi

[Hwaen Ch'uqi]

Greetings David,

You are echoing many questions that I have had for quite a while. The
only tidbit that I can offer is that, using the freepats sound font,
nonpitched percussion seems to work. Once you have installed freepats,
go into your /etc/timidity/timidity.cfg file, and you should find a
line that says:

# source /etc/timidity/freepats.cfg

Uncomment that line and comment the line showing where fluidr3_gm is
found, and then the freepats should be accessible. Interestingly, the
first line of the freepats.cfg file reads:

dir /usr/share/midi/freepats

Looking at that directory, one finds two subdirectories containing the
various .pat files that are the basis of that sound font. What I
wonder is whether or not other .pat files - assuming that this is the
common extension used in other sound fonts (I have absolutely no idea
of this) - could be swapped in or out to create the ideal set of
sounds that you are looking for. Has anyone else thoughts on this or
other of David's questions?

Hwaen Ch'uqi


On 8/14/20, David Sumbler <david@aeolia.co.uk> wrote:
> When working on a project in Lilypond I usually set things up to
> generate midi files as well as printable output, mainly for note-
> checking.  But it is interesting to generate an ensemble midi file too.
> I play these files with TiMidity, using the fluidr3_gm soundfont.
>
> I know the (very) basics about midi instruments (although I'm a bit
> vague about midi channels), and I know how to improve things by using
> timidity to generate wav files which I can import into qtractor or
> similar and then edit the combined result.
>
> What I am about to ask is not really a Lilypond question at all (at
> least, I don't think it is), but I am hoping that somebody on this list
> can point me in the right direction.  Clearly I am not making the right
> searches on line, because I have never managed to find the information
> I want.
>
> What I should like to know is
> 1) how can I use drum and other untuned percussion sounds?
> 2) I notice that fluidr3_gm has dozens - probably hundreds - of extra
> sounds and instruments beyond the standard 128.  How can I access
> these?
> 3) how can I use other soundfonts?  There seem to be a lot of free
> soundfonts available on line, but I have no idea how I would use them.
> It would be nice to have a decent trumpet sound (the fluidr3-gm one is
> very poor), the sound of violin section as will as solo violin, string
> harmonics, timpani roll and so on.
>
> Can anyone point me to a useful online source of such information?
>
> David
>
>
>
>