SoundFont

SoundFont is a file format for sample-based instrument sounds. You will need a SoundFont to use FluidSynth. If you are not familiar with them, check out Josh Green's Introduction to SoundFonts and Soundfont 2.1 application note.

If you just need to play General Midi files, these SoundFonts are known to work well with FluidSynth:

• S. Christian Collins GeneralUser GS - 30 MB
• Fluid (R3) General MIDI SoundFont (GM) - 140 MB

Soundfont Resources

• Hammersound - A nice resource for downloading free SoundFont instrument files.
• Magic Sound Font, version 2.0 (68 MB)
• Arachno SoundFont, version 1.0 (148MB)
• TimGM6mb (6 MB)
• MuseScore_General.sf2 (208 MB)
• Timbres Of Heaven GM_GS_XG_SFX V 3.4 (246 MB)
• Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra (503 MB uncompressed)
• Aegean Symphonic Orchestra v2.5 universal (350 MB)
• Salamander C5 Light (25 MB)

SoundFont editors

• Project SWAMI by Josh Green (Win, Linux, MacOS), http://www.swamiproject.org/

• Polyphone (Win, Linux, MacOS), http://polyphone-soundfonts.com/en/

• Vienna SoundFont Studio by Creative Technology Ltd. (Win)

• Viena (Win), http://www.synthfont.com/Viena_news.html

• Alive Soundfont Editor by Soundfaction (Win)

Note: We cannot recommend using Audio Compositor for creating or editing Soundfonts, as it generates files that violate the Soundfont2 spec (specifically the order of generators as defined in section 8.1.2) and are therefore unusable with fluidsynth!

Conversion Tools

• CDxtract by Safta Consulting, Inc. (Win)

• ReCycle by Propellerhead Software (Win & Mac),

• Translator by Rubber Chicken Software (Win & Mac),

• Awave Studio by FMJ-Software (Win)

• sf1to2 (Dos)

Note that most of the editors mentioned above may also perform conversions to some extend.

Software SoundFont Synthesizers:

• LiveSynth Pro DXi and Crescendo from LiveUpdate (Win)

• Unity DS-1 from Bitheadz (Win & Mac)

• QuickTime 5 from Apple (Win & Mac)

• Logic from eMagic

• SynthFont

Developer Resources

The SoundFont format was originally created by Creative Labs and EMU Systems and used in the SoundBlaster AWE 32 and later cards. There are now many other hardware platforms and software synthesizers supporting this format. SoundFont 2.0 and later are open formats and the specification is freely available.

• Wikipedia SoundFont page - Good overview of SoundFont format and other resources.
• Soundfont 2.1 application note - PDF document describing fundamental SoundFont concepts. (should be read first as an overview before diving in SoundFont 2.4 specification.
• SoundFont 2.4 specification - PDF document describing SoundFont format technical details.
• The MIDI Manufacturers Association has a standard called Downloadable Sounds (DLS) that closely resembles the Soundfont Specifications.
• Creative Labs Developer Documentation - Specifications, docs, SF2 test files, etc. (...vanished, unfortunately)
• Soundfont.com FAQ (...gone as well)