In OSX, the low level audio architecture is perfectly integrated with the MIDI system. In fact, there are a few really neat features, mostly unknown and untapped. For example, CoreAudio can use 'SoundFonts' files.

• Soundfonts For Mac

Sound Font Catalog is a database application for cataloging your Sound Font collection. Sound Font catalog will search through all your Sound Font files, recording which instruments (presets) are found, and will create a database of this information. PostScript Type 1 Fonts. Type1 fonts are the native font format for the PostScript page description language. Type 1 fonts have been supported on the Mac OS starting with OS X and in Windows since Win2000. Oct 13, 2012  get a free bundle of 60 sf2. Soundfonts @ How to Install sf2. SoundFonts on your Mac and use in Garageband and here's a free Soundfont.

SoundFonts are used by sequencers, software synthetizers and even sound cards. They are files containing samples and descriptions to play a range of instruments. SoundFonts are, for example, shipped with SoundBlaster cards for PC. In fact, when you play a MIDI file with QuickTime, or use an application that uses 'QTMA' (QuickTime Musical Architecture), the sound of the instruments is generated by CoreAudio, using a default (and low end) SoundFonts provided by Roland. However, there.is. a way to replace the default SoundFont QT and CoreAudio will use.

Read the rest of the article for the how-to. First, download a SoundFont (a.sf2 file).

The SoundFont must be at least GM (General MIDI, with 128 instruments) or better GS (GM plus some Roland Extensions). You can find SoundFonts from 4Mb to 128+Mb in size, depending on the quality and richness of the instrument set. For comparison, the default Roland SoundFont is 1.5Mb in size. Once you've found a.sf2 file, copy it to /Library/Audio/Sounds/Banks.

Then open the 'System Preferences', select 'QuickTime' and 'Music', and select the SoundFont name from the list and click 'Make Default'. There you are! Now double click a MIDI file and play it in QuickTime Player, and it will use the SoundFont you downloaded!

Notes:. QuickTime 6 preview includes a much better instrument set than before. However, it's still far from 'rich'. Some instruments from the SoundFonts you download might not work; the implementation of SoundFont playback appears to be unfinished in OSX 10.1.X.I suspect it will get much better in Jaguar. Editor's note: I have not tried this hint myself, but would be interested in hearing other's experiences with using sound fonts. For those more experienced in the audio world, are there standard locations where sound fonts and/or MIDI files can be legally downloaded?

I know almost nothing about audio on the Mac beyond using iTunes to rip and play my CD collection!. There's been an OSX decompressor for sfArk compressed SoundFonts out for a while. Officially its a beta, but no major problems have been reported. The other compressor used for SoundFonts, sfpack, does not have any Mac version, and it seems unlikey that it ever will as their website disappeard from the net a couple of years ago, and no new release of the program has been made for even longer. Suggestion: If you find files in sfpack format, email the webmaster asking for him/her to convert them to sfArk files so that they will be accessible to Mac OSX users.

Mac OS9 version of sfArk remains unlikely however. Has anyone found any.complete. high-quality GM/GS sound fonts? I found the following, but they do not work very well.

Soundfonts For Mac

There are missing voices and some of these soundfonts actually sound worse than the built-in Roland soundfont. SilverSpring - AnotherGS - GeneralUser GS - Here's another one which seems interesting, but I couldn't download it. Fluid R3 - StuffIt Expander can BTW open self-extracting zip files (.exe). For the record, the Fluid soundfont sounds fantastic, but the unpacked file is 141MB large and my G3/500 can't play even a simple piano sonata without the sound getting choppy. Those of you with dual G4s and 60+GB hard disks may enjoy it, though. Unpacking requires SFArk on Windows. The GeneralUser soundfont (25MB) seems fairly complete has problems with the relative volume of the various instruments.

The bassoons and flutes are blaring, while piano and bass are barely audible. The Silverspring soundfont (62MB) is otherwise quite OK, but the instruments are not completely in tune with each other and some percussion sounds are blatantly wrong. There used to be several websites that offered MIDI files for download. However, with the advent of MP3 trading, demand for MIDI seems to have declined, so many have disappeared. As far as the legality of MIDI trading is concerned, a MIDI is only a note/instrument control sequence (and an inaccurate one at that, according to longtime MAC user BT) and will never result in an identical copy of a recorded work.

However, one COULD say that MIDI playback constitutes a 'performance' of sorts. So you might be under the same laws as govern sheet music distribution and 'cover' performances. Take note that I'm NOT a lawyer, and at this point am speculating wildly.:).