[linux-audio-user] Soundfonts

[linuxmedia4 at netscape.net]

>> Could you suggest a script that will load soundfonts upon startup ?

> Make sure first that you have the awesfx package installed. I use this script 
> that someone gave me. It runs from /home/username/.kde/autostart.
> 
> Presuming you have copied the soundfont from the cdrom for the soundcard to 
> your home directory, it goes like this.
> 
> In .kde/autostart right click, and select create new, then text file.
> Name it something like soundfont.sh , with these contents.
> 
> #!/bin/bash
> ## Created by me to load soundfonts on login
> sfxload <path-to-soundfont>
> 
> In my case this is: sfxload CT4MGM.SF2  , presuming you have the soundfont 
> installed in the /home/user directory.
> 
> Make sure to make the soundfont file executable in it's 
> properties/permissions.

Some of this goes beyond the scope of your immediate concern, but if you 
have a multi-user system, you can put the above command in whatever 
script is devoted to running commands during bootup. On my Planet CCRMA 
system, it's located at: /etc/rc.d/rc.local.

If you do that, you might want to find a universal directory to put the 
soundfont. I have a directory called /Snd were all soundfonts, samples, 
instruments (etc) that are used by all users are located. Also, it makes 
for a universal directory structure that all users can use for their 
programs (make sure the owner of the directories and files are 'root' 
and are readable by all so they can't be deleted by 'normal users'). For 
instance, if you have a sound bank in Specimen, and it uses the samples 
/Snd/Samples/Drums/Kick_04.wav, and /Snd/Samples/Drums/Snare_03.wav, 
then you can share that Specimen Bank with any user, because any user 
using that bank will be able to access those samples. It also means that 
not every user needs to duplicate all these samples in their own home 
directories.

This assumes that only one user uses the computer at at time. If it's a 
network and several people are accessing the sound files at the same 
time, I have no clue what would happen. I have zero experience with 
networked systems.

Just a thought,
Rocco