John Beach
2017-06-21 22:07:02 UTC
While I really believe that there must be an âobjective realityâ regarding the comparison of quality between recorded pipes as âreal samplesâ and synthesized sounds, the following excerpt
was copied from the jOrgan Tutorial and does state that âThis is a matter of personal opinion.â
That said, it is hard to believe that it has been six and a half years since the tutorials were written for jOrgan. I thought, however, that you would find this section particularly interesting
in view of our ongoing discussion on the topic. In the second question below, it is valuable to note that the same answers to the question which was considered 6 and a half years ago
remain the answers to the question today!
John Beach
Question: Why are jOrgan dispositions distributed with soundfonts rather than samples?
Answer: The world of jOrgan is bigger than just the dispositions that have been created for fluidsynth. Soundfonts are simply a way of bundling wave samples together for a sample playerâin jOrganâs case, typically the Fluidsynth soundfont player that is included as an extension for jOrgan. So, soundfonts can be synthesised sounds or real samples. Typically soundfont players (like fluidsynth) have a harder time with huge samples, so smaller sample sections are used, and wave files are also typically shared accross notes. [Graham G]
Question: Although soundfonts are much smaller, wouldnât real samples give a higher-quality sound? Answer: This is a matter of personal opinion. In my opinion, real samples sound better than synthesized ones, although there are some wonderful exceptions. Longer samples sound better than shorter ones. A sample for each note sounds better than a sample shared across notes. Given the nature of computers and the requirements of fluidsynth and other sample players we have to make compromises for playability and share-ability,therefore stretching one wave file across 4 notes, for example, is a reasonable compromise. [Graham G] A soundfont file is simply a packaging structure for .wav files. The quality of the samples in the soundfont package is as good as the quality of the sample files used to create the soundfont. The issue of quality is bit density of the samples and degree of lossy compression, regardless of whether they are individual files or packaged into a soundfont structure. Individual samples files versus soundfonts is not a quality of sound dimension. [Lynn]
Question: Is jOrgan capable of playing samples? Answer: jOrgan is an organ MIDI relay that has three internal Sound Extensionsâfluidysnth, creative, and linuxsampler âplus the Generic Sound element that sends MIDI data out to any MIDI receiving sound source. So jOrgan is capable of playing samples (and capable of playing real pipes too!), so long as the sample player reacts to MIDI. [Graham G] jOrgan does not play samples or soundfonts or, in fact, make any sound at all. jOrgan is a MIDI-based relay. Its input consists of MIDI data streams and mouse clicks on a console screen. Its output consists of one or more MIDI data streams...period. [Lynn]
Soundfonts and Sampled Sounds
Revised 11/6/2010 Revised 11/6/2010
Question: If jOrgan is capable of playing samples, is there any need for software such as GrandOrgue or Hauptwerk?
Answer: GrandOrgue and Hauptwerk are sample player software applications that specialize in low latency wave file reproduction. In my opinion, neither application has the versatility and ease of disposition creation that jOrgan has. Their wave reproduction is, however, generally better than the jOrgan extensions available at this time. My preference would be to have the low latency audio engine of GrandOrgue made available as a jOrgan extension. Until that time I use jOrgan with fluidsynth in Linuxâwhich has much lower latencies than Windowsâand jOrgan controlling GrandOrgue in Windows. [Graham G] Hauptwerk does indeed produce sound. If you want one software package that both operates as a MIDI-based relay and produces sound, Hauptwerk is probably the bestâand the most expensive. As stated above, jOrgan does not produce sound, so in order to have its MIDI output rendered to audio you would need an auxiliary sound rendering software packageâsuch as Fluidsynth, SFZ, GSO3, or any other MIDI-driven sample playerâor a MIDI-driven hardware device like a Sound Blaster audio card or an external MIDI-driven sound module. Because Hauptwerk is more involved in the actual rendering of the sound, it is able to produce some unique articulations that are presently not possible with jOrgan and a separate MIDI-driven sound module, whether hardware or software. [Lynn]
Question: Which is better for soundfonts: sampled sounds or synthesized sounds? Answer: Soundfonts can be synthesized sounds or real sampled sounds. [GrahamG] SoundFonts offer a unique entrance to the world of sound creation, while the available wave sample sets are nothing more or less than the result of a carefully placed mike set and cassette recorder. Thus such wave sets provide an artificial imitation of the creative impulse of real organ builders with no provision for personal creativity. [Bernd] It all depends whether your main interest is to simulate a particular real organ as closely as possible, or simply to create a pleasant sound. [Roy] Sampled and Synthesized Sounds
Index.1
Index
was copied from the jOrgan Tutorial and does state that âThis is a matter of personal opinion.â
That said, it is hard to believe that it has been six and a half years since the tutorials were written for jOrgan. I thought, however, that you would find this section particularly interesting
in view of our ongoing discussion on the topic. In the second question below, it is valuable to note that the same answers to the question which was considered 6 and a half years ago
remain the answers to the question today!
John Beach
Question: Why are jOrgan dispositions distributed with soundfonts rather than samples?
Answer: The world of jOrgan is bigger than just the dispositions that have been created for fluidsynth. Soundfonts are simply a way of bundling wave samples together for a sample playerâin jOrganâs case, typically the Fluidsynth soundfont player that is included as an extension for jOrgan. So, soundfonts can be synthesised sounds or real samples. Typically soundfont players (like fluidsynth) have a harder time with huge samples, so smaller sample sections are used, and wave files are also typically shared accross notes. [Graham G]
Question: Although soundfonts are much smaller, wouldnât real samples give a higher-quality sound? Answer: This is a matter of personal opinion. In my opinion, real samples sound better than synthesized ones, although there are some wonderful exceptions. Longer samples sound better than shorter ones. A sample for each note sounds better than a sample shared across notes. Given the nature of computers and the requirements of fluidsynth and other sample players we have to make compromises for playability and share-ability,therefore stretching one wave file across 4 notes, for example, is a reasonable compromise. [Graham G] A soundfont file is simply a packaging structure for .wav files. The quality of the samples in the soundfont package is as good as the quality of the sample files used to create the soundfont. The issue of quality is bit density of the samples and degree of lossy compression, regardless of whether they are individual files or packaged into a soundfont structure. Individual samples files versus soundfonts is not a quality of sound dimension. [Lynn]
Question: Is jOrgan capable of playing samples? Answer: jOrgan is an organ MIDI relay that has three internal Sound Extensionsâfluidysnth, creative, and linuxsampler âplus the Generic Sound element that sends MIDI data out to any MIDI receiving sound source. So jOrgan is capable of playing samples (and capable of playing real pipes too!), so long as the sample player reacts to MIDI. [Graham G] jOrgan does not play samples or soundfonts or, in fact, make any sound at all. jOrgan is a MIDI-based relay. Its input consists of MIDI data streams and mouse clicks on a console screen. Its output consists of one or more MIDI data streams...period. [Lynn]
Soundfonts and Sampled Sounds
Revised 11/6/2010 Revised 11/6/2010
Question: If jOrgan is capable of playing samples, is there any need for software such as GrandOrgue or Hauptwerk?
Answer: GrandOrgue and Hauptwerk are sample player software applications that specialize in low latency wave file reproduction. In my opinion, neither application has the versatility and ease of disposition creation that jOrgan has. Their wave reproduction is, however, generally better than the jOrgan extensions available at this time. My preference would be to have the low latency audio engine of GrandOrgue made available as a jOrgan extension. Until that time I use jOrgan with fluidsynth in Linuxâwhich has much lower latencies than Windowsâand jOrgan controlling GrandOrgue in Windows. [Graham G] Hauptwerk does indeed produce sound. If you want one software package that both operates as a MIDI-based relay and produces sound, Hauptwerk is probably the bestâand the most expensive. As stated above, jOrgan does not produce sound, so in order to have its MIDI output rendered to audio you would need an auxiliary sound rendering software packageâsuch as Fluidsynth, SFZ, GSO3, or any other MIDI-driven sample playerâor a MIDI-driven hardware device like a Sound Blaster audio card or an external MIDI-driven sound module. Because Hauptwerk is more involved in the actual rendering of the sound, it is able to produce some unique articulations that are presently not possible with jOrgan and a separate MIDI-driven sound module, whether hardware or software. [Lynn]
Question: Which is better for soundfonts: sampled sounds or synthesized sounds? Answer: Soundfonts can be synthesized sounds or real sampled sounds. [GrahamG] SoundFonts offer a unique entrance to the world of sound creation, while the available wave sample sets are nothing more or less than the result of a carefully placed mike set and cassette recorder. Thus such wave sets provide an artificial imitation of the creative impulse of real organ builders with no provision for personal creativity. [Bernd] It all depends whether your main interest is to simulate a particular real organ as closely as possible, or simply to create a pleasant sound. [Roy] Sampled and Synthesized Sounds
Index.1
Index