Hi there
is this a problem with my soundcard or a setting I have inadvertantly fiddled with?
Yes/ No/ Maybe - Not enough info and likely to be too difficult to determine from a distance. Best I can offer is to keep fiddling and use the following as a check list: - [this talks about Cakewalk products - you may have to also check your sound card documentation.]
Options-SoundFonts
The Options-SoundFonts command lets you import SoundFont banks.
SoundFont files contain data for patches. They are available from vendors and you can create them using the Vienna editor from Creative. To use SoundFonts, you must have a Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live, AWE 32 or AWE 64 sound card and have the SoundFont Management System installed (supplied with SoundBlaster Live). When Music Creator opens a WRK or MID file, it looks for a SF2 file in the same folder with the same base name. If one exists, Music Creator uses it. Use the Locations button to specify folder (or folders, separate multiple folders with semicolons) where Music Creator should look. Use the Attach button in the SoundFont Banks dialog box to override this behavior and specify a different SoundFont file to use with the song. Bank 0 is reserved for the Standard GM sound set, but user banks can be attached to banks 1 through 255. Music Creator saves SoundFont file names in (WRK) files, but not in Standard MIDI (MID) files. In order to use an attached SoundFont, you must select your SoundFont device as an output and assign a MIDI track to that output. You must also force an output channel for the track and choose a SoundFont bank and patch for the MIDI track.
SoundFont Banks dialog
The Options-SoundFonts command opens the SoundFont Banks dialog box, which you use to load banks of SoundFonts patches into a Music Creator project. SoundFonts are banks of sounds produced by Creative Labs that you can load into Music Creator or other SoundFont-compatible sequencers, and control by using MIDI program change commands. To use SoundFonts in Music Creator, you must have three things:
1. A Creative Labs SoundFont-compatible soundcard installed, such as the AWE 32 or 64, or SB Live
2. The SoundFont Manager software and sounds
3. Your SoundFont-compatible soundcard chosen as an Output in Music Creator's MIDI Devices dialog box (Options-MIDI Devices)
OR
· [You can use SoundFonts without a SoundFont-compatible soundcard if you install the LiveSynth Pro software synthesizer that comes with Music Creator.- apparently not any more!!!!]
When Music Creator opens a .cwp or .MID file, it looks in the same folder for a .SF2 file with the same base name (the base name is the same as the project name. but without the extension on the end). If one exists, Music Creator loads that .SF2 file into the project, and the sounds in that .SF2 file become available in that project as MIDI patches. Saving the project as a .cwp file (but not as a .MID file) also saves the attachments you make between the project and .SF2 files.
You can also manually attach a .SF2 file to a project by clicking the Attach button in the SoundFont Banks dialog box, and browsing to the .SF2 file you want to attach to the project. Manual attachment overrides base name attachment.
Note that bank 0 is reserved for the Standard GM bank and cannot be assigned.
The SoundFonts Banks dialog box has these fields
Banks window
This window lists all the SoundFont banks that are currently loaded into this project.
Attach button
Clicking this button opens the Soundfont File dialog box. Use this dialog box to browse to a .SF2 file that you want to attach to this project.
Warning: After you attach a .SF2 file to a project, do not move that file without detaching it from the project first.
Detach button
Use this button to detach a highlighted .SF2 file from a project.
Locations button
Use this button to tell Music Creator where to look for a base name .SF2 file, if there isn't one in the project folder. This dialog box lets you type in one or more directories (multiple directories separated by semicolons).
The information in the following post may still be valid:
http://forum.cakewalk.com/fb.asp?m=38055&key=soundfont You should check with the Creative Labs Website for the latest drivers for your card and operating system, as well as updated info on Soundfonts.
post edited by millerbill - 2005/09/22 01:22:40