I Were U Synth - README
Copyright (C) 1999-2000 Peter Hanappe, Samuel Bianchini, and Johnathan Lee
Email: contact@iiwu.org, peter@hanappe.com
IIWU Synth homepage: http://www.iiwu.org/iiwusynth
IIWU Synth CVS: http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/iiwusynth
IIWU homepage: http://www.iiwu.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the readme file for the IIWU Synth.
Introduction
============
IIWU Synth is a software real-time synthesizer based on the
Soundfont 2 specifications.
The IIWU Synth package actually contains two applications: iiwusynth
and iiwuplay.
iiwusynth reads and handles MIDI events from the MIDI input device. It
is the software analogue of a MIDI synthesizer.
iiwuplay is a midifile player that allows to render a midifile using a
Soundfont.
Features
========
- Software sampler, no soundfont hardware required
- Two applications: a midifile player and midi synthesizer
License:
- Free software, GNU's GPL
Compatibility:
- Loads Soundfont v2.1 files
Synthesis:
- Resonant filter
- Volume envelope
- Modulation envelope
- Vibrato LFO
- Modulation LFO
- Pan
- Reverb
- Hermite cubic sample interpolation
Control:
- Pitch bend
- Pan
- Volume
Drivers:
- OSS drivers
- Alsa 0.9
Misc:
- Small interpreter to change synthesizer settings
License
=======
The source code a available under the version 2 of the GPL license
(see COPYING)
Compiling IIWU Synth
====================
The instruction on how to install IIWU can be found in INSTALL.
The most significant configure options are:
--enable-double:
When set, all signal processing will be done with
double floating point precision.
--enable-debug:
When you compile with the debug option set, more debugging
messages will be printed to the standard out. You will also be
able the run iiwusynth within source code debugging.
--disable-oss-support:
OSS support will not be compiled in. By default, the ALSA drivers
will be used.
--disable-alsa-support:
ALSA support will not be compiled in. By default, the OSS driver
will be used.
--with-readline:
Compile with readline support for fancy input line editing and
history. By default, readline is compiled in. I've you experience
compilation problems, you might want to try to compile without it.
Invoking iiwuplay
=================
Usage:
iiwuplay [options] midifile soundfont1 soundfont2 ...
Possible options:
-a, --audio-driver=[label]
the audio driver [oss,alsa,winmidi,...]
-A, --audio-device=[device]
the audio device
-h, --help
print out this help summary
Invoking iiwusynth
==================
Usage:
iiwusynth [options] soundfont1 soundfont2 ...
Possible options:
-m, --midi-driver=[label]
the midi driver [oss,alsa,winmidi,...]
-M, --midi-device=[device]
the midi device
-a, --audio-driver=[label]
the audio driver [oss,alsa,winmidi,...]
-A, --audio-device=[device]
the audio device
-h, --help
print out this help summary
Once the application is running you have a simple interpreter
available. Just type help to list all the commands. The following
commands are currently available:
help Print command summary
quit Quit the synthesizer
noteon chan key vel Send noteon
noteoff chan key Send noteoff
cc chan ctrl value Send control-change message
prog chan num Send program-change message
select chan bank prog Combination of bank-select and program-change
load file Load a SoundFont
fonts Display the list of loaded SoundFonts
inst font Print out the available instruments for the font
channels Print out preset of all channels
mstat Print out the status of the MIDI driver
quit
Why?
====
The synthesizer grew out of a project, started by Samuel Bianchini and
Peter Hanappe, and later joined by Johnathan Lee, that aimed at
developing a networked multi-user game.
Sound (and music) was considered a very important part of the game. In
addition, users had to be able to extend the game with their own
sounds and images. Johnathan Lee proposed to use the Soundfont
standard combined with an intelligent use of midifiles. The arguments
were:
- Wave table synthesis is low on CPU usage, it is intuitive and it can
produce rich sounds
- Hardware acceleration is possible if the user owns a Soundfont
compatible soundcard (important for games!)
- MIDI files are small and Soundfont2 files can be made small thru the
intelligent use of loops and wavetables. Together, they are easier to
downloaded than MP3 or audio files.
- Graphical editors are available for both file format: various
Soundfont editors are available on PC and on Linux (Smurf!), and
MIDI sequencers are available on all platforms.
It seemed like a good combination to use for an (online) game.
In order to make Soundfonts available on all platforms (Linux, Mac,
and Windows) and for all sound cards, we needed a software Soundfont
synthesizer. That is why we developed IIWU Synth.
Design decisions
================
The synthesizer was designed to be as self-contained as possible for
several reasons:
- It had to be multi-platform (Linux, MacOS, Win32). It was therefore
important that the code didn't rely on any platform specific
library.
- It had to be easy to integrate the synthesizer modules in various
environements, as a plugin or as a dynamically loadable object. I
wanted to make the synthesizer available as a plugin (jMax, LADSPA,
Xmms, WinAmp, Director, ...); develop language bindings (Python,
Java, Perl, ...); and integrate it into (game) frameworks (Crystal
Space, SDL, ...). For these reasons I've decided it would be easiest
if the project stayed very focussed on it's goal (a Soundfont
synthesizer), stayed small (ideally one file) and didn't dependent
on external code.
The result is that the synthesizer is contained in one file
(iiwu_synth.c) with one additional file to read the SoundFont file
(smurf.c).
The MIDI functions (not an essential part of the synthesizer) are kept
in the file iiwu_midi.
The interface to the audio device (another non-essential part) is kept
in one file (iiwu_auport).
For every "family" of audio and MIDI drivers, there is one file
(iiwu_alsa, iiwu_oss, iiwu_dx, iiwu_mshare, iiwu_mac, ...)
Links
=====
Documentation
- Introduction to SoundFonts, by Josh Green,
http://smurf.sourceforge.net/sfont_intro.php
- Soundfont2 Documentation, http://www.emu.com/download/sfspec21.pdf (if
it moved, do a search on sfspec21.pdf).
- Soundfont.com FAQ, http://www.soundfont.com/faqs.html
- The MIDI Manufacturers Association has a standard called "Downloadable
Sounds (DLS)" that closely ressembles the Soundfont Specifications,
http://www.midi.org/about-midi/dls/abtdls.htm
Software SoundFont Synthesizers:
- LiveSynth Pro DXi and Crescendo from LiveUpdate (Win),
http://www.livesynth.com/lspro.html
- Unity DS-1 from Bitheadz (Win & Mac), http://www.bitheadz.com/
- QuickTime 5 from Apple (Win & Mac), http://www.apple.com/quicktime/
- Logic from eMagic, http://www.emagic.de
Soundfont Editors
- Smurf Soundfont Editor by Josh Green (Linux), http://smurf.sourceforge.net
- Vienna SoundFont Editor from Creative Labs (Win),
http://www.soundblaster.com/goodies/vienna
- Alive Soundfont Editor by Soundfaction (Win),
http://www.soundfaction.com/alive/index.htm
Conversion Tools
- CDxtract from CDxtract (Win), http://www.cdxtract.com
- ReCycle from Propellerhead Software (Win & Mac),
http://www.propellerheads.se/products/recycle/
- Translator from Rubber Chicken Software (Win & Mac),
http://www.chickensys.com/translator
Soundfont Databases
- HammerSound, http://www.hammersound.net
