Re: midi sound quality help needed

[Hwaen Ch'uqi]

Greetings Guy,

Perhaps I am missing something, but the folder contents that you
display don't seem to contradict what I wrote.

Hwaen Ch'uqi


On 9/14/21, Guy Stalnaker <jimmyg521@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks Hwaen Ch'uqi! That's not at all how kubuntu does this:
>
> √ /mnt/NAS326_Music/music/Radio Drama > ll /etc/timidity/
> total 480K
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 230K Nov 11  2016 fluidr3_gm.cfg
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.7K Nov 11  2016 fluidr3_gs.cfg
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.6K Sep 22  2006 freepats.cfg
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 225K Aug  1  2019 timgm6mb.cfg
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.2K Jun 27  2018 timidity.cfg
>
> Just people making things more complicated than they need to be.
>
> Guy
>
> On 9/14/21 5:49 PM, Hwaen Ch'uqi wrote:
>> Greetings Ken,
>>
>> I do not use a mac; I use linux. However, I have a feeling that the
>> principle for this is  the same. Timidity reads its settings from a
>> file called /etc/timidity.cfg, and those settings can be changed.
>> Whatever soundfont you wish to use, you should be able to download it
>> and tell timidity.cfg where it is located. I use the freepats.cfg
>> soundfont. The relevant little paragraph in my timidity.cfg looks like
>> this:
>>
>> # By default, try to use the instrument patches from freepats:
>> source /etc/timidity/freepats.cfg
>>
>> Any other lines that begin with the word "source" I comment with the
>> pound sign so that timidity ignores it.
>>
>> I hope this helps.
>>
>> Hwaen Ch'uqi
>>
>>
>> On 9/14/21, Guy Stalnaker <jimmyg521@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Ken,
>>>
>>> You are SOOOO close :-)
>>>
>>> The issue is neither Lilipond nor its midi output. MIDI is simply a
>>> specification for musical "events" describing pitch, duration, etc. It's
>>> up to a program that understands MIDI to make actual sound. That is
>>> typically done via a synthesizer (dedicated synth module, keyboard, or
>>> other MIDI-capable equipment) or via an application that knows how to
>>> use a soundfont.
>>>
>>> You're getting nice sound with Alda not because Alda is making "better"
>>> MIDI, but because of the FluidR3 soundfont (which has surprisingly
>>> decent sounds for many, though not all, of its General Midi sounds).
>>>
>>> When I was using a MacBook and LP/Frescobaldi, I used fluidsynth/QSynth
>>> configured to use the FluidR3 sound font (but this was some time ago, at
>>> least 7-8 years). On Windows I use CoolSoftVirtualMidiSynth. On Linux
>>> (my current desktop) I use the fluidsynth/QSynth apps. Both of them are
>>> configured to use the FluidR3 soundfont.
>>>
>>> I *know* that you can configure timidity to use a different soundfont
>>> than its default (which does indeed suck). In fact, timidity on my
>>> Kubuntu 20.04 desktop is so configured. But this is by default and
>>> involves ways that timidity is installed on kubuntu, so it's not easy
>>> for me to tell you how to do it using this setup. But, I'm fairly
>>> certain Google will provide you options for getting timidity to use the
>>> FluidR3 sound font.
>>>
>>> See this Google search:
>>>
>>> https://www.google.com/search?q=tell+timidity+to+use+alternate+soundfont&newwindow=1&sxsrf=AOaemvKkuOn8r1q2lCX0swD3GgF5Q5AHGg%3A1631650995863&ei=swRBYY6RNJqztQaBhLRw&oq=t&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMYADIECCMQJzIECCMQJzIECCMQJzIFCAAQkQIyBQgAEJECMgQIABBDMg4ILhCABBCxAxDHARCjAjIECAAQQzIFCAAQgAQyEQguEIAEELEDEIMBEMcBENEDOgcIABBHELADOgcIABCwAxBDOg0ILhCxAxDHARCvARBDOgoIABCxAxCDARBDOgcIABCxAxBDSgQIQRgAUN74EFj_gBFg7pMRaAJwAngAgAGkAYgBwgKSAQMwLjKYAQCgAQHIAQrAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz
>>>
>>> I know nothing about GarageBand, however Google can likely help you
>>> learn if you can configure it to use alternate soundfonts.
>>>
>>> Hope this helps.
>>>
>>> Guy
>>>
>>> P.S. A nice thing about using an app and soundfont YOU specify is that
>>> you can change the soundfont used. If you've the money you can purchase
>>> incredibly good soundfonts (if you like) though there are dozens
>>> available for free. One of my favorite is an English Organ sound font
>>> with quite good sounds.
>>>
>>> On 9/14/21 3:13 PM, Kenneth Wolcott wrote:
>>>> HI All;
>>>>
>>>>     This is really not a Lilypond question, but I'm sure you have some
>>>> helpful information, as you always do :-)
>>>>
>>>>     midi sound quality help needed
>>>>
>>>>     I'm on a Mac.
>>>>
>>>>     I'm using Lilypond 2.22.0 via MacPorts.
>>>>
>>>>     I'm using Garageband as my midi player, with Timidity (from home
>>>> brew) as an alternative.
>>>>
>>>>     I don't do rock music, synthesizers, sound effects, etc.  I do
>>>> traditional classical music.  I do some pop, and folks music, but in a
>>>> classical manner...
>>>>
>>>>     I'm not asking for a professional live performance output quality
>>>> from midi, but most often the midi output sounds really bad.
>>>>
>>>>     Now here's an interesting twist to the story.
>>>>
>>>>     I installed Alda from home brew which is a more rudimentary
>>>> text-based musical scoring system.  I also installed the suggested
>>>> alternative soundfont (FluidR3).
>>>>
>>>>     The Alda coding is much more rudimentary than what Lilypond offers,
>>>> so I'm not in any way going to abandon Lilypond!!!
>>>>
>>>>     But the sound quality of what comes out of playing the Alda scripts
>>>> is phenomenal (!) compared to what I get out of GarageBand and/or
>>>> Timidity.  I've even tried MidiAndMusicXmlPlayer as an alternative
>>>> midi player.
>>>>
>>>>     How do I improve my midi output quality?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance for your advice,
>>>> Ken Wolcott
>>>>
>>> --
>>> --
>>>
>>> “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end
>>> of
>>> human existence.”
>>>
>>> ― Aristotle
>>>
>>>
> --
> --
>
> “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of
> human existence.”
>
> ― Aristotle
>
>