Questions about Apple DLS and more

[_Ddan_]

Hello
I am on a MacBookProRetina 15 using ElCapitan
As I need to do a quick sound job I wonder how can I use a great sound font which comes both in sfArk and sf2 format?
This file is quite big 778MB and has several different instruments with large samples
I am somewhat of a newbie with DP (version 8) could anyone suggest me how can I use these files instead of the standard Apple sounds?
I installed the .sf2 format as a regular bank in the Library however I dont understand how to use it in DP
Any suggestion will be welcome, and hopefully simple .... I dont know anything about windows so any Mac idea would be perfect
Thanks

[_Ddan_]

Sorry I mean VERSION EIGHT but it becomes a little emoij in my post

[mikehalloran]

You need an app that can load the files—DP then loads the app. I use Mach5 but that's overkill for what you need. There are a number of inexpensive and freeware sound font readers but I don't have experience with any of them.

[_Ddan_]

Thanks Mike
I converted the various samples in the sound font and I have now a folder filled up with every single sample as this font assignes (example for the Honky tonk piano, but is the same for all the sample) a number of keys to each.
in other words I now have several sounds in WAV format totally independent from the "instruments" they belong to ... although the instruments supplied here are more than 350 I could manually fix them.
I tried to google extensively but there is nothing really for the MAC while there is a lot for Windows.
Could you suggest me what to do if I do as follows:
Create a folder for (example) the Honky tonk piano putting all the various files in it and continue till the end ...
I will come up with various folders names as the instruments containing the WAV files for each assigned key.
What will I do next to load and use them in DP?
I think this is a complex question ... but as far as I can do I can't go much further
Thanks

[_Ddan_]

What format will these apps need to convert the SF2 oe SF3 or sfArk into to become usable in DP8?

[stubbsonic]

So with this, you'll just use this VI in DP, and supposedly you can drag & drop sf2 files right onto the interface and it will convert them to sfz for the instrument to play. It's limited to one instrument, so I don't know how it will work for you. But Plogue is good. Perhaps there's enough docs to get you going.



https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando/

[_Ddan_]

Thanks for your interest and time
I found this application
http://polyphone-soundfonts.com/en
it converts to sfz too
but once I have this file how do I put it in DP
I am sorry but I am a sort of newbie
The last version of DP i used before DP8 was still with system 9 and everything changed now
Regards

[stubbsonic]

A soundfont is a standardized file that holds samples, a sample map, and some instructions for how the samples are played. You can't do anything directly with a SF2 in DP.

A soundfont must be played by digital synth software that can read soundfont files and allow you to play them.

Install the sforzando software that I linked above. When in DP, you would then go to the Project pull-down menu and choose Add Track/Instrument then choose sforzando. It will make it a track in your sequence. You would then add a MIDI track to play that instrument (and assign sforzando as its output).

Then in sfortzando, you would select the sound font you want to play. I don't know anything about how that instrument works, but I expect you can figure it out.

I don't use soundfonts as they are a little destructive to the initial attack transient- not noticeable for most things, but for percussion, it's a deal-breaker.

[_Ddan_]

Thanks a lot
I installed sforzando and converted the SF2
I will follow your advice and let you know the results
Thanks again for your patience and time