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FatBoy SoundFont

fatboy.site

11–20 of 67 posts

Re: FatBoy SoundFont

#11
Wonderful samples. None of the instruments are neglected; the standard is consistently high. And I'm happy to have clarity on the terms of use. So many (for example, Shan's Soundfont) have no stated license or provenance.

I'll be loading this into juicysfplugin[0] (my free, cross-platform soundfont synth) for a play.

[0] https://github.com/Birch-san/juicysfplugin

Re: FatBoy SoundFont

#13
Nice work! I am working to improve the MIDI playback quality on my MIDI archive website, BitMidi (https://bitmidi.com), and I think this might help.

The main difficulty with a web-based MIDI player like BitMidi is that it's not feasible to force the user to wait for a 300+ MB SoundFont to download before starting in-browser playback. The current format I use ("patch" files) has a separate file for each instrument, so I can lazily load only the necessary instruments needed to play a single song. You can see the approach I use here: https://github.com/feross/timidity

Anyway, excellent work on this SoundFont!

Re: FatBoy SoundFont

#14
post #3

Here’s the Link to the sample: https://youtu.be/b3uycgx8FiA Sounds pretty good!

Here's the original for comparison. It's quite an improvement! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMlnxlgpZg

Are you sure this was a Roland SC? This sounded pretty close to just plain old Adlib. Of course any sound font would sound better than fm synth. What would be helpful is to have the track played on an MT32 or a Sound Canvas to do a proper comparison.

That's the thing about these old games: they were totally made for how the MT32 and later the Sound Canvas sounded to the point where they would even chose an instrument that would otherwise not be fitting, but which sounded good on the original device.

Unfortunately for me, all of this happened way before I had money on my own or could convince my parents to shell out the considerable sum these devices would have cost, so I really don't know how these games were intended to sound.

Which makes me really sad as a huge video game music fan/nerd.

Re: FatBoy SoundFont

#15
post #5

Love it! I had to go back and listen to one of my favorite midi tracks - the Ultima online Buccaneer's Den theme. Using this sound font there are some really major improvements. Not that the original instrumentation that shipped with machines of the day didn't have its charm. I love the fact that we used to literally ship midi files around for game music - it's such a technically elegant approach and because it could…

I agree, shipping full audio tracks is somehow too "easy". Also really love C64 SID music and Amiga tracker music.

Re: FatBoy SoundFont

#16
post #5

Love it! I had to go back and listen to one of my favorite midi tracks - the Ultima online Buccaneer's Den theme. Using this sound font there are some really major improvements. Not that the original instrumentation that shipped with machines of the day didn't have its charm. I love the fact that we used to literally ship midi files around for game music - it's such a technically elegant approach and because it could…

> there was always something fun about the idea that music directors were practically composing symphonies to be played by individual orchestras on each user's machine

I like this way of looking at it. And with different sound fonts like the original vs the FatBoy sample posted on the site and ITT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMlnxlgpZg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3uycgx8FiA

it’s kind of like we get to listen to new interpretations of the music, where the sheet music remains the same but the conductor has told the orchestra to perform it different in terms of instruments used. I think.

Someone who knows about orchestra music and performance correct me if you think what I said was off base. I don’t know whether it is actually the role of the conductor to pick instruments. Wikipedia says:

> The primary duties of the conductor are to interpret the score in a way which reflects the specific indications in that score, set the tempo, ensure correct entries by ensemble members, and "shape" the phrasing where appropriate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conducting

So I don’t know who actually picks the instruments that the orchestra will use.

Re: FatBoy SoundFont

#17
post #5

Love it! I had to go back and listen to one of my favorite midi tracks - the Ultima online Buccaneer's Den theme. Using this sound font there are some really major improvements. Not that the original instrumentation that shipped with machines of the day didn't have its charm. I love the fact that we used to literally ship midi files around for game music - it's such a technically elegant approach and because it could…

It also showcases the fundamental problem with MIDI/SoundFonts - it makes your music sound orchestry/jazzy. I know there are electronic/modern sounding SoundFonts out there, but unless they were specifically made for your song, they only partially mitigate the problem.

I've also found it hilarious to listen to the MIDI version of popular songs. They always sound like kids music.

Re: FatBoy SoundFont

#18
post #13

Nice work! I am working to improve the MIDI playback quality on my MIDI archive website, BitMidi ( https://bitmidi.com ), and I think this might help. The main difficulty with a web-based MIDI player like BitMidi is that it's not feasible to force the user to wait for a 300+ MB SoundFont to download before starting in-browser playback. The current format I use ("patch" files) has a separate file for each instrument,…

Ideally for a web midi player if you are able to generate all the general midi sounds using fm synthesis like the old 80s midi boxes you could have a really tiny download size but it would still sound really cool.

Re: FatBoy SoundFont

#19
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the original for comparison. It's quite an improvement! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMlnxlgpZg

Are you sure this was a Roland SC? This sounded pretty close to just plain old Adlib. Of course any sound font would sound better than fm synth. What would be helpful is to have the track played on an MT32 or a Sound Canvas to do a proper comparison. That's the thing about these old games: they were totally made for how the MT32 and later the Sound Canvas sounded to the point where they would even chose an instrument…

[deleted]

Re: FatBoy SoundFont

#20
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the original for comparison. It's quite an improvement! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMlnxlgpZg

Are you sure this was a Roland SC? This sounded pretty close to just plain old Adlib. Of course any sound font would sound better than fm synth. What would be helpful is to have the track played on an MT32 or a Sound Canvas to do a proper comparison. That's the thing about these old games: they were totally made for how the MT32 and later the Sound Canvas sounded to the point where they would even chose an instrument…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HjPqvCp_aQ here is an actual mt32 recording, without voice over, that should make the comparison more clear
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