[LAU] Hammersound: no soundfonts ?

[Roberto Gordo Saez]

On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 01:10:09PM +0200, Dan Muresan wrote:
> To clarify, I used the freepats Debian/Ubuntu package...
> 
> > Freepats project is currently trying to build soundfonts in sf2 format
> > and better quality samples. It is a harder task than expected, as most
> > free sf2 files are build from samples extracted from commercial synths
> 
> Wait... Freepats is trying to be "build soundfonts in sf2 format" out
> of... free sf2 files? What is the added value?

The mail goal is to create a General MIDI soundfont with a free license,
so reusing free samples from free sf2 files seems reasonable to me. But
there are almost no free sf2 files out there (free as GPL free).

> Anyway, how will this stack up against the Fluid soundfont, which is
> also widely included in Linux distributions?

I haven't contacted to the author of the Fluid soundfont yet, if he
confirms that all samples are original (not ripped from propietary
sources), then one of the main goals of freepats would be fulfilled,
which is very good news; then we will continue with other goals like
producing a broad collection of new, high quality instruments for
softsynths. But given previous experiences I'm skeptical...

> > Note that the freepats web is outdated, most announcements are made in
> > the mailing list.
> 
> I noticed... If at least there was a notice to that effect it wouldn't
> be so confusing...

OK, I'll add a notice in the main page ASAP.