• Registered: 2012-02-21
  • Posts: 24

Re: Merging multiple soundfont files into one bank

Cool, thanks...no worries re delay, totally understand smile

What I decided to do , is break all the sounds up into 9 different folders, and I created a sf2 bank form each folder....
Now, one last question, is....

Is it possible to NOW combine all 9 sf2 banks into a single bank again, or will I come up against the same issue?  If I keep them as nine separate ones, how can I access all the banks with one app...or is this even possible?

Thanks

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  • Registered: 2011-01-31
  • Posts: 658

Re: Merging multiple soundfont files into one bank

You will most probably NOT be able to combine all 9 banks into one single. The same restrictions are there, lists cannot have more than 65536 items, chunks can't be larger than 4GB, even for the combined set.

  • Registered: 2012-02-21
  • Posts: 24

Re: Merging multiple soundfont files into one bank

Cool, I thought as much but just wanted confirmation...All I need to do now is figure out how to access the separate banks..I have a data file that lists and references every sound by midi bank MSB/LSB and Patch addressing...Just got to see how I can tie them together...

Should I split this data file to match the various banks, or will it be able to access any of the sounds regardless of bank, as long as the MSB/LSB Patch info matches?

Thanks - I now think it time to make a donation!!!

Cheers
Dennis

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Re: Merging multiple soundfont files into one bank

While importing SoundFonts the way I have designed the process, there is a certain risk that presets will be placed in a different bank than originally. For example, if two imported SoundFonts contain the preset "000:000" (Grand Piano in Bank 0) the second Piano preset will possibly be renumber "000:XYZ" where XYZ is the next free preset slot in bank 0. If there are no more slots available (the maximum is 128) then the next bank will be searched. Thus the new Piano preset may end up in the position "XYZ:000" or even "XYZ:KLM" where KML is the next free preset in bank XYZ. Complicated? Yes, definitely, but there is no other way for a simple scheme to batch process of a large number of SoundFonts and presets.

So in answer to you question: most probably the original MSL/LSB Patch info will not be valid!

  • Registered: 2012-02-21
  • Posts: 24

Re: Merging multiple soundfont files into one bank

Sorry, I didn't write it correctly...the data is in a separate file, NOT in the SF2 banks....the app I am going to use it with cna read sf2 banks, I just hope it will also use the data file (also written it the correct format to suit the app)...

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Re: Merging multiple soundfont files into one bank

This explanation did NOT make at any more clear to me...

  • Registered: 2012-02-21
  • Posts: 24

Re: Merging multiple soundfont files into one bank

big_smile  sorry...What I mean is all the bank and patch data is written into a separate text like document, similar to a Cakewalk INS file...It is only the actual name and audio data that is being saved in the SF2 bank....the midi data is separate....

But it looks like I am back to square 1, as I cannot get the host app to look at separate banks...not to worry I am sure I will work it out...

  • Registered: 2011-08-10
  • Posts: 19

Re: Merging multiple soundfont files into one bank

Looking good, may we face any trouble regarding sf2s which use samples with same names ?
I mean, if we merge 2 sf2 which both use "piano.wav" (and which are different samples of course), will viena take care of renaming or something ?

Thanks


Admin wrote:

While importing SoundFonts the way I have designed the process, there is a certain risk that presets will be placed in a different bank than originally. For example, if two imported SoundFonts contain the preset "000:000" (Grand Piano in Bank 0) the second Piano preset will possibly be renumber "000:XYZ" where XYZ is the next free preset slot in bank 0. If there are no more slots available (the maximum is 128) then the next bank will be searched. Thus the new Piano preset may end up in the position "XYZ:000" or even "XYZ:KLM" where KML is the next free preset in bank XYZ. Complicated? Yes, definitely, but there is no other way for a simple scheme to batch process of a large number of SoundFonts and presets.

So in answer to you question: most probably the original MSL/LSB Patch info will not be valid!

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Re: Merging multiple soundfont files into one bank

Viena compares samples, not only by name but also by binary data. If there's one single bit that differs then a new sample will be created.

  • Registered: 2011-08-10
  • Posts: 19

Re: Merging multiple soundfont files into one bank

great smile

  • Registered: 2011-02-01
  • Posts: 73

Re: Merging multiple soundfont files into one bank

Kenneth,
Congratulations on thinking about how to automatically optimize the number of Instrument Generators in a SoundFont. I think it is a good idea to enable folks to so do. You might want to think about letting folks operate the automatic Instrument Generators optimizer from windows explorer on any number of selected individual SoundFonts. However, I believe I don't need this functionality right now due to your Define Overrides/Default SoundFont Override feature in SynthFont that allows me to set a separate SoundFont for each MIDI Program. I'll post a seperate thread on that topic in the SynthFont Forum.
Cheers