A different soundfont for the up-coming update of MuseScore
I have an idea for a different soundfont for the up-coming update for
MuseScore. Instead of using the Fluid R3 soundfont as the default soundfont,
would the MuseScore community please like to use the GeneralUser GS Soundfont as default for the
up-coming update for MuseScore and for the online audio playback in any kind
of sheet music that a lot of people can upload in their profiles?
Comments
We can't use General User GS as all the samples are not guaranteed public domain.
In reply to We can't use General User GS by ChurchOrganist
How about SGM-V2.01! Could that SoundFont work? I mean, we are trying to upgrade to MuseScore 3, if so. I would say SGM-V2.01 would be perfect then for the Default rather than that stinky FluidR3 SoundFont! Maybe I'll add some samples from VSCO 2 CE to the SGM SoundFont too. Did you know that the "Virtual Sheet Music" website uses the SGM SoundFont for Audio Demos of EACH and every Score they published?
In reply to How about SGM-V2.01! Could… by Arianna2001
SGM-V2.01 is a tad unbalanced in places. And I was quite the fan when I saw it a decade ago. :) A much stronger candidate would be the latest Timbres of Heaven. While still being comparable in size. Even though the one on the midkar download page is quite behind where he is at now, it is still objectively stronger then SGM. Don Allen is still working on it, and his current beta is better with fluidsynth then what it was.
I strongly recommend people take a look at where he is at now. You won't regret it.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZXdfs_ySSLc-ye5Aus-7C9_g052lgXbk/view
In reply to SGM-V2.01 is a tad old and… by Joshua Pettus
I'm more of a Choral and Orchestral Composer, and SGM is so far, the only one I can get along with. ToH, even with the new one, It still had areas where certain instruments were piercing through everything.
In reply to I'm more of a Choral and… by Elwin
Aegean Symphonic Orchestra is a high quality free orchestral soundfont. It also has an S/A preset and a T/B preset for SATB. You could try it but it is not GM compatible. It comes with an XML file for all of the instruments that you can load into musescore.
https://musescore.org/en/node/240256
In reply to How about SGM-V2.01! Could… by Arianna2001
See https://musescore.org/en/node/269279 - looks like there is already an effort to develop an all-original and properly-licensed soundfont for MuseScore. As far as I know, none of the other soundfonts being mentioned as candidates are licensed in a way that would allow for inclusion. This has been discussed before, and as far as I know, nothing has changed.
Arianna,
I wondered and requested the same thing a few months back. I do know that Fluid R3 stinks as a SoundFont. I don't like it at all. Keep it in mind, that in order to change the SoundFont, the SoundFont has to be 100% free, and in the public domain. GeneralUser GS is not a public domain SoundFont.
The best thing for you to do would be to search up high-quality free SoundFonts.
I personally use HQ orchestral (you can find it if you join "Young Composer's Group" in musescore.com); as well as SGM v2.01. Both are better than the default SoundFont, but still not perfect. However, you can also get a high-quality personal orchestra SoundFont like Garritan's personal orchestra, however, those are usually expensive.
As for the online audio, it can only playback with the default, as of right now. Though I'm thinking if one has a pro-account, one could make it playback with the desired SoundFont.
In reply to Arianna, I wondered and by Elwin
I've gone through all the SoundFonts you have. FluidR3 has its warts in a few individual instruments, but for full orchestra or concert band music, everything else sounds synthesized by comparison.
In reply to I've gone through all the by Isaac Weiss
Let's see, are you talking about me?
If yes, not everyone has gone through everything I have, many people
Here are some that I have had
Compifont
benteng another
merlingmv
realfont (I don't think it's in the internet anymore)
32MbGMStereo
Omega
Crisis General Midi
JClive21
024 Big Symphony
Have you gone through these?
In reply to Let's see, are you talking by Elwin
Well, not everything. But at least half, plus others including Chaos, SGM, Unison, Arachno, PersonalCopy, Aspirin, and Florestan.
In reply to Well, not everything. But at by Isaac Weiss
Chaos and Asprin?
Wow! I should try them.
In reply to Chaos and Asprin? Wow! I by Elwin
Ha! If you want. They may be the sort of thing you'd like. Doesn't sound like an orchestra to me, though.
In reply to Ha! If you want. They may be by Isaac Weiss
Well, I hope I'd like them.
I'm considering saving up for Garritan's personal Orchestra 5.
In reply to Well, I hope I'd like by Elwin
I don't think you could use that with MuseScore without great difficulty.
In reply to I don't think you could use by Isaac Weiss
If I remember, MuseScore is capable of using it if you put it in VST (I think). Plus, It would save me a lot of money instead of hiring professional orchestras :)
In reply to Let's see, are you talking by Elwin
You should try Aegean symphonic orchestra. It's very good.
https://musescore.org/en/node/240256
In reply to Arianna, I wondered and by Elwin
Sorry, but I don't think that's possible. I have a pro account and my mscz files only play back using the stock Fluid R3 sound font. That sound font is fairly good for certain instruments, but absolutely horrid for others.
In reply to I'm thinking if one has a by Recorder485
Oh, okay. But could one upload sound files and use those?
In reply to Oh, okay. But could one by Elwin
Please see https://help.musescore.com/hc/en-us/articles/210260605-Send-to-YouTube and https://help.musescore.com/hc/en-us/articles/209541709-Manage-audio-sou….
In reply to Arianna, I wondered and by Elwin
Taste in soundfonts, like taste in music, is subjective. One person thinks rap is terrible and country & western is the best, someone else hates country & western but loves jazz, someone else hates jazz but loves Irish folk music, etc. It's the same with soundfonts. There are definitely people that dislike FluidR3 for whatever reaosn, but over the years it has consistently rated as the favorite of many many people. i personally think GeneralUser GS is very good for its size - amazing, in fact - but the fact that it *is* only a raction the size of FluidR3 and other options is pretty glaringly obvious to me when I hear it. Just nowhere near as realistic for most instruments I use, to my ears. Others feel the opposite, and that's fine, so in pricnple we could consider providing both options, but again, we are limited to options that are sufficiently free. So far no one has proposed a completely free option that even any significant fraction of users have said they prefer.
In reply to Taste in soundfonts, like by Marc Sabatella
@Marc--Understood and agreed for the most part, however there are a few specific instruments in Fluid which are seriously in need of adjustment. The recorders are so badly out of tune that I simply can't use them at all; I am obliged to 'fake' things by substituting the flute sound for all the recorder parts in my scores.
Is there anything I could do to help fix this? I have some studio-quality microphones and an old version of Gold Wave on the XP desktop up in the office. If I were able to record some good samples, what file format would you need?
In reply to @Marc--Understood and agreed by Recorder485
ChurchOrganist is the man to talk to, but I believe WAV is preferred, and one sample for every three semitones is ideal (as the SoundFont system can automatically adjust the pitch a half step).
In reply to ChurchOrganist is the man to by Isaac Weiss
I've been in touch with Michael on some other issues, but I will write him to ask what he needs. If I can provide decent recorder samples that he can use to improve FluidR3, I'll be more than happy to do so. My recording studio is long, long since defunct, but I still have a few microphones around here, and if I can figure out how to connect them to this computer (not easy connecting an XLR balanced mic line to a mini-jack), I ought to be able to record better sounds than are currently available in Fluid.
In reply to I've been in touch with by Recorder485
See #117801: Replace recorder instrument in FluidR3Mono default soundfont
In reply to See #117801: Replace recorder by ChurchOrganist
Guys, if you could keep the conversation public, it would help tremendously and other people could join the conversation.
In reply to Guys, if you could keep the by [DELETED] 5
No problem, Nicolas. :)
In any event, it appears that Michael has already made an arrangment to do this in a recording studio within the next couple of months. I no longer have a studio, just bits and pieces of the hardware, so it's likely the samples he'll get there will be of better quality than what I could produce here. I would probably have to buy or rent a modern mixing board to get the sound into the computer, anyway. All my microphones use either xlr or quarter-inch jacks. I'd definitely need some sort of digital interface hardware.
Michael, let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
In reply to I've been in touch with by Recorder485
See https://musescore.org/en/node/269279
Other Musescore users have been discussing replacing saxes, clarinet, and oboe. Of you scroll down enough you should find sample requirements by @s.christiancollins.
In reply to Arianna, I wondered and by Elwin
Oops! Didn't mean to post this reply twice!
In reply to Arianna, I wondered and by Elwin
Both HQ Orchestral and SGM are pretty good to me. If I were you, I would pick SGM-v2.01.sf2 for the Default for MuseScore 3!
Personally I will always have a soft spot for Timbres of Heaven (which is also supports GS as well as XG). Unfortunately the author has been on hiatus since ToH3.3Beta2 (Although you can still reach him at his email and he has been very friendly to me).
But it's legal status is a little ambiguous or otherwise I would hands down say it was the best soundfont in terms of quality to size and should be the MuseScore default. I'm talking quality that you normally have to pay top dollar for with a size less then 400mb.