seejayjames

Hello all, I know some of these questions could be answered with some more searching, but I'm curious to hear people's thoughts. Apologies in advance for any ignorance on my part...

Been looking around at soft synths for awhile now. I'd like to improve the built-in sounds that come with my computer, because as you all know so many of them are just so ordinary (or worse). Ideally I'd like a soft synth that could be used from a flash drive and therefore be portable, but I'm not sure of some of the details of how they work, especially regarding integration with Max. So:

1) What actually happens when you install a soft synth on a given machine? I'm on PC but am interested in Mac details too.

2) How is a typical soft synth (using samples for its sounds) set up in the OS? A collection of note samples in folders, or some other means? I know that some instruments also use interpolation between notes instead of a sample for every note, so how does a MIDI-playback application know when and how to make the in-between notes?

3) Has anyone made a patch which makes it easy to play back a custom "soft synth"? Seems like this wouldn't be difficult to make, especially if it was very bare-bones: just map the MIDI noteouts to the right buffer~, let the velocity affect the volume (or not), and make your audio. Looping could be on or off, for sustained or non-sustained instruments. Pitch bend with gizmo~ if you want. You could record right in the patch, or use rewire~ to send elsewhere, and of course whatever effects you want before it goes out.

The most important thing about it would be the organization of your samples, so that the noteout-to-audio is really seamless: drop a folder of notes (one full instrument), your dedicated buffers~ load the sound files for each note, and you're ready to go. And if you have recording right in the patch (why wouldn't you?) it would be easy to record new batches of sound samples from your experimenting...like if you have several instruments going at once, and are using effects. At that point, the question becomes: How do you take your samples and organize them so that they could be used as a standard soft synth on other machines? It would be great to hear what kinds of instruments Maxers are making...

4) Any recommendations on commercial soft synths, to get started right away? I'd like one that emulates the General MIDI sound set...I just want better versions of the built-in instruments, even if some are still kind of lame. Specialty sets (like for keyboards or strings) are great, but I want the GM set so it's standardized. I'd like to spend up to $100, or a bit more if it's really that good.

Many thanks if you've made it through all this and have thoughts to share, or good links to more information. Having some better sounds to work with would make things a lot more enjoyable...and having a way to create our own MIDI soft synths (that could be used by other applications and other people) would be awesome!

1) What actually happens when you install a soft synth on a given machine? I'm on PC but am interested in Mac details too. 

soft-synths-how-to-create-recommendations-for-purchase

Typically softsynths (or at least the sounds) are controlled by some other interface. They'll be plugins of some sort; some will have standalone versions, but those are difficult to control externally unless they are ReWire compatible.

Max/MSP plays pretty well with VST plugins...in fact there's a series of tutorials written about controlling and identifying VST parameters through Max somewhere on the site (don't have the links handy).

There's also a metric buttload (2.2 times larger than an imperial buttload, for those of you keeping track of these things) of free VST plugin softsynths out there. Happy searching!

Typically softsynths (or at least the sounds) are controlled by some other interface.  They'll be plugins of some sort; some will have standalone versions, but those are difficult to control externally unless they are ReWire compatible.

There's also a metric buttload (2.2 times larger than an imperial buttload, for those of you keeping track of these things) of free VST plugin softsynths out there.  Happy searching!


Thanks so much for the info, it makes more sense now. I've got a handful of VST's to try and they should do the trick through vst~.

You were right, some are standalone and some only operate as a VST. (And some of the standalone ones would be totally doable in Max :) There are some pretty cool ones out there. The SoniVox SoundStage looks like a good contender as a GM replacement, and there's a free demo, which is great to be sure everything is talking to each other how I want it to. The Cakewalk Studio Instruments is also really fun and was only $30, the standalones are slick and I like the sounds. Looks like there are a number of SoundFonts, kind of like what I wast talking about above, but are usable with the SoundBlaster cards that I don't have.

Anyway, I'll see how far I can get with vst~. At the very least, it would be helpful to have a couple well-selected free ones that I could "bundle" with any kind of MIDI patch I make, with all the vst~ connections handled already. It would definitely give users some more sound-making options for using the patches.

Thanks so much for the info, it makes more sense now. I've got a handful of VST's to try and they should do the trick through vst~. 

You were right, some are standalone and some only operate as a VST. (And some of the standalone ones would be totally doable in Max  :) There are some pretty cool ones out there. The SoniVox SoundStage looks like a good contender as a GM replacement, and there's a free demo, which is great to be sure everything is talking to each other how I want it to. The Cakewalk Studio Instruments is also really fun and was only $30, the standalones are slick and I like the sounds. Looks like there are a number of SoundFonts, kind of like what I wast talking about above, but are usable with the SoundBlaster cards that I don't have.

There's a sound font playing max external called [fluidsynth~] available 

 which might be worth a look as there are loads of slightly-better-than-MIDI sounds which you can get for free.

There's a sound font playing max external called [fluidsynth~] available here which might be worth a look as there are loads of slightly-better-than-MIDI sounds which you can get for free.

One last post from me, after getting buried in VST land... I absolutely love it! I don't know why I've been living under a rock for so long regarding vst~, but it's so easy to use and offers so many new possibilities, really kind of unreal. Also seems more straightforward (in most ways) than creating a system/OS-based MIDI bank, and the end result is similar.

Now my task is to see about using Mac vst plug-ins, without having a machine to test them on. Ah well, more to learn...

It was GREAT to see all the messages out from vst~, the way they're formatted makes it a cinch to create a generic controller patch for pretty much any vst you want to use. Or you can make a specialty one for your favorites. Either way, you get all the cool generative/preset features of Max and apply them to these external tools that already have all the cool sounds and effects, and sometimes the slick interfaces already. What a great system.

Thanks again for the info, I'm off and running!

Soft Synths: How to create? Recommendations for purchase?