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Other => Creativity Corner => Topic started by: skiaak on August 31, 2016, 04:50:21 PM

Title: MusiMasta's Weinbach Piano Soundfont
Post by: skiaak on August 31, 2016, 04:50:21 PM
So, one day I was just planned bored and wanted to make something. So I made a piano soundfont. You can say that there's plenty out there already, but the thing is, most of the free ones out there just aren't that good, either the sample quality, or how many samples there are for the entire piano. You couldn't say anything better for this soundfont, but at least it's my first attempt at making one. I recorded the Weinbach Upright I have in my bedroom with amateur equipment as well (considering I don't have any microphones at all) I just recorded it through a laptop in the Audacity program. It took around 2 hours to record all the keys. The final product won't actually have all the keys...as I found that I set the input volume a bit high so some keys just produce earrapish sounds. But still it has over 70 good samples and they're in WAV, 32 bit standard float, 1411 kbps at a sample rate of 44100 kHz, which is quite decent. In the audio editing process, I actually made the samples into two different sets, one made to sound more like a concert hall and another like...a bedroom/studio/small room. I'm at the final stages in assembling the samples together but so far I have to say it sounds pretty nice. Much nicer than Microsoft GS Synth (obviously) and many other GM soundfont out there (as the number of samples for the piano instrument tend to be quite low). You can hear some demos below:

Concert Grand Edition: http://kuribo64.net/get.php?id=VilSNCCZuJHZQwga
Studio Grand Edition: http://kuribo64.net/get.php?id=81TSajg918hliajX

EDIT: It's done! Download here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=jRPzv9-s2KI
Title: Re: MusiMasta's Weinbach Piano Soundfont
Post by: Dudeman on August 31, 2016, 05:11:06 PM
tbh I wasn't expecting much when I downloaded the files but these actually sound really good for an amateur attempt! The studio one in particular almost sounds like a recording which is incredible.
Title: Re: MusiMasta's Weinbach Piano Soundfont
Post by: mikey on August 31, 2016, 05:49:14 PM
Hey, this is pretty good.  Is there a way to import the soundfont into finale
Title: Re: MusiMasta's Weinbach Piano Soundfont
Post by: Static on August 31, 2016, 05:56:09 PM
As far as I know, the soundfont would have to be in the .sf2 format in order to import it.
Then once you have the file, you can import it by choosing MIDI/Audio > Device Setup > MIDI Setup, and then clicking "SoftSynth Settings." That's how I did it when I got a custom soundfont myself awhile back.
Title: Re: MusiMasta's Weinbach Piano Soundfont
Post by: skiaak on August 31, 2016, 06:33:05 PM
Quote from: Dudeman on August 31, 2016, 05:11:06 PMtbh I wasn't expecting much when I downloaded the files but these actually sound really good for an amateur attempt! The studio one in particular almost sounds like a recording which is incredible.

Thanks! Yeah the studio one is the one with less audio editing and gimmicks so it should sound more like a recording. The concert one is basically applying a touch of reverb to all of the samples to give it a more "roomy" feeling.

Quote from: NocturneOfShadow on August 31, 2016, 05:49:14 PMHey, this is pretty good.  Is there a way to import the soundfont into finale

Finale can import .sf2 files, but actually, for this project I was going to export it at as a .sfz file, as sfz has some major advantages being easier to edit, supporting true stereo, and spectral morphing, but I'll try and see what I can do with the SF2 format. Anyways, just know that you can convert your MIDIs into high quality audio using this program:
https://github.com/KaleidonKep99/Keppys-MIDI-Converter
Basically using that program, you would import the MIDI, import a soundfont (it supports almost all the formats I think, from SFZ, SF2, SF3, SFPACK, to SFARK, and then click the render to WAV button. I know you probably would want to listen to the audio while working on an arrangement in Finale, so I'll see about doing an SF2 version as well :)
Title: Re: MusiMasta's Weinbach Piano Soundfont
Post by: skiaak on September 03, 2016, 12:13:51 AM
Just wanted to say that the final touches are done and the soundfont is finished! Have fun with it! :)

Download from the description of this test demo video: