[SOLVED] How do I play Dore Mark's Yamaha S6

[Chibchan]

Forgive my ignorance but I don't recall ever coming across an sfz soundfont. I've always thought it was either one or the other. AFAIK, sfizz only does sfz. skimming the sfztools home page, https://sfz.tools/sfizz/ reveals no such beast.

[bluebell]

Forgive my ignorance but I don't recall ever coming across an sfz soundfont. I've always thought it was either one or the other. AFAIK, sfizz only does sfz. skimming the sfztools home page, https://sfz.tools/sfizz/ reveals no such beast.

See the first article in ths thread where you can download a ZIP with samples and sfz files.

Load one of the sfz files into a recent sfizz and there you are.

[Chibchan]

I am well aware of what an sfz file is. I posted a working list of mine. Its the last post on the first page of this topic. The question was regarding an sfz soundfont. The term "sfz soundfont" is very loosely used. It's like asking someone who drives, if they've seen the latest commercial for the new "BMW Mercedes".

Soundfonts are file format, both the samples and the definitions of sample behaviour are in the same binary file.
SFZ is a file format which only defines the behaviour of musical instruments of which the sample contents are in a folder or two or in the same directory.

[amc252]

Forgive my ignorance but I don't recall ever coming across an sfz soundfont. I've always thought it was either one or the other. AFAIK, sfizz only does sfz. skimming the sfztools home page, https://sfz.tools/sfizz/ reveals no such beast.

I referred to SFZ as soundfonts even though they are technically samples and there migh be a more correct way to call them. SFZ are differently structured than SF2. SF2 (or GIG) are a single file, whereas SFZ have a Samples directory containing the sounds and an .sfz file containing the mapping and the code to play the samples.

Forgive my ignorance but I don't recall ever coming across an sfz soundfont. I've always thought it was either one or the other. AFAIK, sfizz only does sfz. skimming the sfztools home page, https://sfz.tools/sfizz/ reveals no such beast.

See the first article in ths thread where you can download a ZIP with samples and sfz files.

Load one of the sfz files into a recent sfizz and there you are.

I installed sfizz on Devuan, but am a bit lost, all I can find:

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ls /usr/lib/pd/extra/sfizz
example.sfz  sfizz~-help.pd  sfizz.pd_linux

no executable. Yet it's my understanding sfizz works as a standalone SFZ player.
How do I run it?

[bluebell]

There is a standalone sfizz but without a GUI. You should load the sfizz plugin into the plugin host of your choice, e.g. carla or qtractor.

[Chibchan]

after "man sfizz_jack" in terminal, was able to:

command in terminal:
sfizz_jack /path/to/sfz --jack_autoconnect

ctrl c to close out session.

in order for midi to connect, again you must have jack running with a2jmidid, cadence or qjackctl and use their graphical gui's to connect midi.

[amc252]

Thanks for the pointers, I was able to get sfizz to work from the command line.
So far, I have been using liquisfz, also from the command line, which works okay for me.
What would you guys say are the significant differences between sfizz and liquidsfz?

[Chibchan]

I've never used liquidsfz. Can tell you that sfizz allows for editing sfz file through "edit file" in menu. Sfizz can also expose parameters baked into sfz file that can also be controlled from midi controller: filter, rez, ahdsr and more my tired brain cant think of this moment. It also has a 16 out plugin version which I've never used. I know some users report it to be unstable but i gets none of that. Stable version is what i use and stable it is.

[amc252]

I've never used liquidsfz. Can tell you that sfizz allows for editing sfz file through "edit file" in menu. Sfizz can also expose parameters baked into sfz file that can also be controlled from midi controller: filter, rez, ahdsr and more my tired brain cant think of this moment. It also has a 16 out plugin version which I've never used. I know some users report it to be unstable but i gets none of that. Stable version is what i use and stable it is.

Sounds cool. I'm still getting to learn all of liquidsfz functions, but sfizz is sure worth a try.
What app is the sfizz GUI that appears in the screenshot you posted in the prrevious page?

[Chibchan]

What app is the sfizz GUI that appears in the screenshot you posted in the prrevious page?

It's sfizz. https://sfz.tools/sfizz/

[amc252]

What app is the sfizz GUI that appears in the screenshot you posted in the prrevious page?

It's sfizz. https://sfz.tools/sfizz/

I must be missing something 'cause I installed sfizz on Devuan and it only works from the command line in text mode. I don't see any GUI. Could you please explain how you get the GUI in the screenshot?

[Chibchan]

How did you install it? Is your system a jack/pipwire system? If system is ready for pro audio then following the sfztools page:
https://sfz.tools/sfizz/downloads ---> get sfizz ---> linux 64bit stable ----> Debian (this applies to Devuan as well ) -----> Grab binary packages directly ----> Packages for Debian 11:
sfizz_1.2.1-0_amd64.deb

The deb file works on debian current stable and debian 11.

Running gui means you'll be running lv2 or vst3 plugin.

There is a standalone sfizz but without a GUI. You should load the sfizz plugin into the plugin host of your choice, e.g. carla or qtractor.

Note: linux version 2.2.0 of kxstudio's carla found in Downloads @ https://kx.studio will not run vst3 plugins. Will run LV2 and all other formats without issues. For vst3, you must add kstudio repos to your system and install latest version of carla.

[amc252]

Thanks a lot for the instructions. Will try it ASAP.
Liquidsfz works okay for my limited needs, but it's always nice to try alternatives.

[j_e_f_f_g]

What are the significant differences between sfizz and liquidsfz?

The letters L, Q, U, and D.

I couldn't resist.

But just a clarification. You don't have to put an sfz's wave files in a folder named "Samples". It's just that a lot of people prefer to do this. In fact, an sfz player automatically assumes that the wave files are in the same directory as the sfz text file. If you put the wave files in a different directory (ie, a seperate "Samples" directory), then you must tell the sfz player where they are. You can do this by adding a line with the default_path opcode, followed by the path, and ending with a backslash.

For example, if you place the wave files in a separate Samples dir:

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default_path=Samples\

The path may include several directory levels (ie names). Note that you must separate each directory name with a backslash like on the Windows operating system, not a forward slash like linux. This is required even if you're loading the sfz on linux.

For example, if you put your wave files into another folder named Version1 inside of the Samples folder, do this:

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default_path=Samples\Version1\

If your folder name includes spaces, use doublequotes (or better yet, don't use spaces)

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default_path="Samples\Version One\"

The path you supply is relative to (referenced from) wherever the sfz file is located. And note that most players recognize ..\ (2 dots and a backslash) as "one directory up or back".

So assume you have 2 folders named "Samples" and "sfz" in your home folder. You put your waves in "Samples", and your sfz text file in "sfz". Add this to your sfz:

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default_path="..\Samples\"

Most players let you use default_path anywhere in your text file. Even multiple times if you put waves in multiple dirs:

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default_path=Samples1\
<region> sample=wave1.ogg

default_path=Samples2\
<region> sample=wave2.ogg

default_path is a late addition to sfz, so old players may not support it. A few years back, linuxsampler didn't.

[amc252]

Funny you should mention this, cause I spent last night studying precisely various SFZs which have rather articulated structures.
I'm toying with the Piano in 162 library, trying to customize its mapping and performance, (velocity and volume in particular) and found this approach useful in my experimenting, isolating sounds and seeing how they respond to different parameters.
I'm familiar with split configuration files from my long-time use of the JWM desktop, and they sure have merits.