# Getting Started with Digital Synthesized Music **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-started-with-digital-synthesized-music/438015 "2008-02-17T21:11:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hengist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@Hengist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hengist)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-started-with-digital-synthesized-music/438015/1 "2008-02-17T21:11:43Z")
O great Straight Dope Message Board, please hear my plea! Recently, I learned that much of the surprisingly real sounding music we hear in television shows, modern video games, and movies is synthesized. I compose music as a hobby, and I’ve always wanted a way to make my ideas audible. Unfortunately, I don’t have an inhouse orchestra :smack:, and my usual attempts with MIDI tend to sound pretty bad. My current setup is an 88 key Casio MIDI keyboard (has a really bad synthesizer), a copy of Anvil Studio, and a computer (which has an even worser synth than the keyboard.) What can I do to make my music sound more… real? (Preferably without requiring a second mortgage. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-started-with-digital-synthesized-music/438015/2 "2008-02-17T23:07:33Z")
What you want is an orchestral synth/sampler library. [Garritan is a popular and inexpensive one,](http://www.garritan.com/GPO.html), [Eastwest EWQL Symphonic Orchestra PLATINUM BUNDLE](http://www.eastwestsamples.com/details.php?cd_index=1011) is pretty amazing and pretty expensive, although they also have [a Silver Bundle](http://www.eastwestsamples.com/details.php?cd_index=1009), which is much cheaper. [Here’s one that’s supposed to be good,](http://www.synful.com/) but I’ve never heard of before. Now, one thing you have to understand in working with these libraries is that if believability is your goal, you have to have a pretty decent understanding of how the instruments work in real life and how players articulate their instruments for musical expression. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-started-with-digital-synthesized-music/438015/3 "2008-02-17T23:14:52Z")
I should add, that’s if you want to try to replicate real instruments. If you really want to get into synthesis, you should play around with some of the freeware soft synths out there. I use [FreeAlpha](http://www.kvraudio.com/get/36.html) and [Remedy](http://www.kvraudio.com/get/2434.html) when I muck about. Somebody like **VCO3** should hopefully be able to come along to steer you to some better software synths/virtual instruments. It helps to have a MIDI controller that has many knobs and faders on it (like the old analog synths), so you can tweak various parameters on the fly (allowing you more expression/articulation). I suspect the Casio only has a pitch bend and modulation wheel on it. If it doesn’t have a pitch bend and modulation wheel, then you might have some trouble getting believable orchestral sounds out of the computer as well. ---
**Author:** ![Hengist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@Hengist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hengist)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-started-with-digital-synthesized-music/438015/4 "2008-02-18T02:36:19Z")
Thank you, pulykamell, the orchestral synth library looks like just the sort of thing I’ve been looking for! I do have a pretty good understanding of how musical instruments work, and I certainly don’t expect the libraries to magically make everything sound real. I wish the Casio had a mod wheel. It’s just got pitch bend. ☹ Can anyone think of any other suggestions? I’d love to hear them! ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-started-with-digital-synthesized-music/438015/5 "2008-02-18T09:03:55Z")
The cheap option is **sfz** , a free Soundfont 2 player, and either custom soundfonts for each instrument, or a big (100Mb or so) General Midi soundfont (I use Chorium) containing sampled instruments. Si ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-started-with-digital-synthesized-music/438015/6 "2008-02-18T11:27:21Z")
[QUOTE=si\_blakely] The cheap option is **sfz** , a free Soundfont 2 player, and either custom soundfonts for each instrument, or a big (100Mb or so) General Midi soundfont (I use Chorium) containing sampled instruments. Si [/QUOTE] Yeah, so, I have a related query. I’ve always wondered if there is a way to get my computer to play different voices than the ones it actually plays when it reads midi files. I know I could do this with extra hardware, but I’ve wondered if there’s a way to do this just with software. The word “soundfont” has the ring of just exactly what I’ve been looking for. Is it? And are there free ones? And how do I use them? -FrL- eta: [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoundFont) looks promising ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-started-with-digital-synthesized-music/438015/7 "2008-02-18T11:38:39Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] I should add, that’s if you want to try to replicate real instruments. If you really want to get into synthesis, you should play around with some of the freeware soft synths out there. I use [FreeAlpha](http://www.kvraudio.com/get/36.html) and [Remedy](http://www.kvraudio.com/get/2434.html) when I muck about. [/QUOTE] I just downloaded and installed Free Alpha, and there is, as far as I can tell, no executable installed other than one called “uninstallfreealpha.” It gave me a folder full of files, but no way to read them. What am I missing? -Kris ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-started-with-digital-synthesized-music/438015/8 "2008-02-18T11:48:48Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] Yeah, so, I have a related query. I’ve always wondered if there is a way to get my computer to play different voices than the ones it actually plays when it reads midi files. I know I could do this with extra hardware, but I’ve wondered if there’s a way to do this just with software. [/QUOTE] Absolutely. Was a time (back in the dim dark past 😉 ) when Soundfonts were the native midi voice files of the ubiquitous Creative Labs soundcard (implemented in hardware, too). There were tools and stuff for playing with them, and a whole community of soundfont enthusiasts. Then MS introduced their software wavetable midi synth and manufacturers started supplying computers with hardware wave (PCM) only audio output, and used the MS synthesizer for midi support. That would be OK, but the MS Software synth has rubbish samples, and basically no additional support. There should be additional sample tables, but no-one bothers. And it is what most people use now, purely by default. [QUOTE=Frylock] The word “soundfont” has the ring of just exactly what I’ve been looking for. Is it? And are there free ones? And how do I use them? [/QUOTE] You have two choices. Use **sfz** (as noted above) in a free vst host, or use a free standalone soundfont player like **Timidity**. Google for free soundfonts, there are a few ones about. It will need to be pretty big - about 100Mb. Si ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-started-with-digital-synthesized-music/438015/9 "2008-02-18T11:54:38Z")
I have a Mac, so the way I do it is go to my recording/sequencing program, in this case GarageBand. I click on an instrument, go to “Details,” and where it says “Generator” I select “Free Alpha” from the drop-down menu (under “Audio Unit modules.”) Basically, “Free Alpha” and “Remedy” are both plug-ins that are accessed from a host like Garage Band or Cubase or whatnot. If you’re using Windows, you have to figure out how to get your host program to recognize VST (virtual studio technology) instruments. For Apple, it’s Audio Unit modules. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-started-with-digital-synthesized-music/438015/10 "2008-02-18T11:56:25Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] I just downloaded and installed Free Alpha, and there is, as far as I can tell, no executable installed other than one called “uninstallfreealpha.” It gave me a folder full of files, but no way to read them. What am I missing? [/QUOTE] FreeAlpha is a VST instrument - it is a plugin housed in a .dll file that can be utilised by a _VST host_. This is a midi/audio program that can utilise VST plugins to convert midi input (from a file or a hardware device) to audio (a VSTi or instrument) or can manipulate audio (a VST effect plugin), like adding reverb or chorus. There is a program that converts a plugin to a standalone executable, but I forget the name. Go to [KvRAudio.com](http://KvRAudio.com) to find commercial and free VST hosts, instruments and effects. Or buy a copy of ComputerMusic magazine. Their cover CD has a complete lowend music production studio each month, with a range of instruments and effects to play with. Si