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<CENTER><H1><A NAME="top">
SoundFont (R) Technical Specification
</A></H1><H3>
Version 2.01, July 23, 1998
</H3><TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"><TR><TD><I>
This is a non-authoritative transcription by
<A HREF="http://www.pjb.com.au">Peter Billam</A>,
using ps2txt and vi, to ease the documentation of the
<A HREF="http://search.cpan.org/perldoc?MIDI::SoundFont">MIDI::SoundFont</A>
CPAN module.
Authoritative is
<A HREF="http://connect.creativelabs.com/developer/SoundFont/sfspec21.pdf">
the original PDF</A>.
</I></TD></TR></TABLE>
</CENTER><P>
<A NAME="i0"></A>
<A HREF="#0">
0 ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
</A><BR><A HREF="#0.1">
0.1 REVISION HISTORY
</A><BR><A HREF="#0.2">
0.2 DISCLAIMERS
</A><BR><A HREF="#0.3">
0.3 UPDATES AND COMMENTS
</A><BR><A HREF="#i0">
0.4 Table of Contents
</A><BR><A HREF="#0.5">
0.5 ILLUSTRATIONS
</A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="i1"></A>
<A HREF="#1">
1 INTRODUCTION
</A><BR><A HREF="#1.1">
1.1 SCOPE AND INTENDED PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT
</A><BR><A HREF="#1.2">
1.2 DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION
</A><BR><A HREF="#1.3">
1.3 SOUNDFONT 2 OBJECTIVES
</A><BR><A HREF="#1.4">
1.4 SOUNDFONT 1.X
</A><BR><A HREF="#1.5">
1.5 FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS TO THE SOUNDFONT 2 STANDARD
</A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="i2"></A>
<A HREF="#2">
2 TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
</A><BR><A HREF="#2.1">
2.1 DATA STRUCTURE TERMINOLOGY
</A><BR><A HREF="#2.2">
2.2 SYNTHESIZER TERMINOLOGY
</A><BR><A HREF="#2.3">
2.3 PARAMETER TERMINOLOGY
</A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="i3"></A>
<A HREF="#3">
3 RIFF STRUCTURE
</A><BR><A HREF="#3.1">
3.1 GENERAL RIFF FILE STRUCTURE
</A><BR><A HREF="#3.2">
3.2 THE SOUNDFONT 2 CHUNKS AND SUB-CHUNKS
</A><BR><A HREF="#3.3">
3.3 REDUNDANCY AND ERROR HANDLING IN THE RIFF STRUCTURE
</A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="i4"></A>
<A HREF="#4">
4 SOUNDFONT 2 RIFF FILE FORMAT
</A><BR><A HREF="#4.1">
4.1 SOUNDFONT 2 RIFF FILE FORMAT LEVEL 0
</A><BR><A HREF="#4.2">
4.2 SOUNDFONT 2 RIFF FILE FORMAT LEVEL 1
</A><BR><A HREF="#4.3">
4.3 SOUNDFONT 2 RIFF FILE FORMAT LEVEL 2
</A><BR><A HREF="#4.4">
4.4 SOUNDFONT 2 RIFF FILE FORMAT LEVEL 3
</A><BR><A HREF="#4.5">
4.5 SOUNDFONT 2 RIFF FILE FORMAT TYPE DEFINITIONS
</A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="i5"></A>
<A HREF="#5">
5 THE INFO-LIST CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#5.1">
5.1 THE IFIL SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#5.2">
5.2 THE ISNG SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#5.3">
5.3 THE INAM SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#5.4">
5.4 THE IROM SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#5.5">
5.5 THE IVER SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#5.6">
5.6 THE ICRD SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#5.7">
5.7 THE IENG SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#5.8">
5.8 THE IPRD SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#5.9">
5.9 THE ICOP SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#5.10">
5.10 THE ICMT SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#5.11">
5.11 THE ISFT SUB-CHUNK
</P><P>
<A NAME="i6"></A>
<A HREF="#6">
6 THE SDTA-LIST CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#6.1">
6.1 SAMPLE DATA FORMAT IN THE SMPL SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#6.2">
6.2 SAMPLE DATA LOOPING RULES
</A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="i7"></A>
<A HREF="#7">
7 THE PDTA-LIST CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#7.1">
7.1 THE HYDRA DATA STRUCTURE
</A><BR><A HREF="#7.2">
7.2 THE PHDR SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#7.3">
7.3 THE PBAG SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#7.4">
7.4 THE PMOD SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#7.5">
7.5 THE PGEN SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#7.6">
7.6 THE INST SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#7.7">
7.7 THE IBAG SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#7.8">
7.8 THE IMOD SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#7.9">
7.9 THE IGEN SUB-CHUNK
</A><BR><A HREF="#7.10">
7.10 THE SHDR SUB-CHUNK
</P><P>
<A NAME="p4"></A>
<A NAME="i8"></A>
<A HREF="#8">
8 ENUMERATORS
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.1">
8.1 GENERATOR AND MODULATOR DESTINATION ENUMERATORS
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.1.1">
8.1.1 Kinds of Generator Enumerators
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.1.2">
8.1.2 Generator Enumerators Defined
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.1.3">
8.1.3 Generator Summary
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.2">
8.2 MODULATOR SOURCE ENUMERATORS
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.2.1">
8.2.1 Source Enumerator Controller Palettes
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.2.2">
8.2.2 Source Directions
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.2.3">
8.2.3 Source Polarities
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.2.4">
8.2.4 Source Types
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.3">
8.3 MODULATOR TRANSFORM ENUMERATORS
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.4">
8.4 DEFAULT MODULATORS
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.4.1">
8.4.1 MIDI Note-On Velocity to Initial Attenuation
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.4.2">
8.4.2 MIDI Note-On Velocity to Filter Cutoff
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.4.3">
8.4.3 MIDI Channel Pressure to Vibrato LFO Pitch Depth
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.4.4">
8.4.4 MIDI Continuous Controller 1 to Vibrato LFO Pitch Depth
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.4.5">
8.4.5 MIDI Continuous Controller 7 to Initial Attenuation
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.4.6">
8.4.6 MIDI Continuous Controller 10 to Pan Position
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.4.7">
8.4.7 MIDI Continuous Controller 11 to Initial Attenuation
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.4.8">
8.4.8 MIDI Continuous Controller 91 to Reverb Effects Send
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.4.9">
8.4.9 MIDI Continuous Controller 93 to Chorus Effects Send
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.4.10">
8.4.10 MIDI Pitch Wheel to Initial Pitch by MIDI Pitch Wheel Sensitivity
</A><BR><A HREF="#8.5">
8.5 PRECEDENCE AND ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE VALUES
</A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="i9"></A>
<A HREF="#9">
9 PARAMETERS AND SYNTHESIS MODEL
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.1">
9.1 SYNTHESIS MODEL
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.1.1">
9.1.1 Wavetable Oscillator
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.1.2">
9.1.2 Sample Looping
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.1.3">
9.1.3 Low-pass Filter
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.1.4">
9.1.4 Final Gain Amplifier
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.1.5">
9.1.5 Effects Sends
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.1.6">
9.1.6 Low Frequency Oscillators
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.1.7">
9.1.7 Envelope Generators
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.1.8">
9.1.8 Modulation Interconnection Summary
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.2">
9.2 MIDI FUNCTIONS
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.3">
9.3 PARAMETER UNITS
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.4">
9.4 THE SOUNDFONT GENERATOR MODEL
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.5">
9.5 THE SOUNDFONT MODULATOR CONTROLLER MODEL
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.5.1">
9.5.1 Controller Model Theory of Operation
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.5.2">
9.5.2 Pictorial Examples of Source Types
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.5.3">
9.5.3 Mappings of Modulator Sources to the Controller Input Domain
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.6">
9.6 SOUNDFONT 2.01 STANDARD NRPN IMPLEMENTATION
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.6.1">
9.6.1 The NRPN Message
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.6.2">
9.6.2 The NRPN Select Values
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.6.3">
9.6.3 The Default Data Entry Ranges
</A><BR><A HREF="#9.7">
9.7 ON IMPLEMENTATION ACCURACY
</A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="i10"></A>
<A HREF="#10">
10 ERROR HANDLING
</A><BR><A HREF="#10.1">
10.1 STRUCTURAL ERRORS
</A><BR><A HREF="#10.2">
10.2 UNKNOWN CHUNKS
</A><BR><A HREF="#10.3">
10.3 UNKNOWN ENUMERATORS
</A><BR><A HREF="#10.4">
10.4 ILLEGAL PARAMETER VALUES
</A><BR><A HREF="#10.5">
10.5 OUT-OF-RANGE VALUES
</A><BR><A HREF="#10.6">
10.6 MISSING REQUIRED PARAMETER OR TERMINATOR
</A><BR><A HREF="#10.7">
10.7 ILLEGAL ENUMERATOR
</A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="i11"></A>
<A HREF="#11">
11 SILICON SOUNDFONTS
</A><BR><A HREF="#11.1">
11.1 SILICON SOUNDFONT OVERVIEW
</A><BR><A HREF="#11.2">
11.2 SILICON SOUNDFONT ROM HEADER FORMAT
</A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="i11"></A>
<A HREF="#12">
12 GLOSSARY
</A>
</P><P>
</P><A NAME="0"></A><H3>
0 About This Document
</H3><A NAME="0.1"></A><P>
<B>0.1 Revision History</B>
</P><P>
2.01 July 23, 1998 Add specification for Modulators and standard NRPN
implementation<BR>
2.00b May 2, 1997 Change nomenclature from layer/split to zone.
See glossary. Fix a few typos<BR>
2.00a October 18, 1995 First publicly released draft
</P><A NAME="0.2"></A><P>
<B>0.2 Disclaimers</B>
THIS SPECIFICATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITH NO WARRANTIES
WHATSOEVER INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR ANY
PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR ANY WARRANTEE OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF ANY
PROPOSAL, SPECIFICATION, OR SAMPLE.
A LICENSE IS HEREBY GRANTED TO COPY, REPRODUCE, AND DISTRIBUTE
THIS SPECIFICATION FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY. NO OTHER LICENSE EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, BY ESTOPPEL OR OTHERWISE, TO ANY OTHER INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY RIGHTS IS GRANTED OR INTENDED HEREBY.
AUTHORS OF THIS SPECIFICATION DISCLAIM ALL LIABILITY, INCLUDING
LIABILITY FOR INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS, RELATING TO
IMPLEMENTATION OF INFORMATION IN THIS SPECIFICATION. AUTHORS OF THIS
SPECIFICATION ALSO DO NOT WARRANT OR REPRESENT THAT SUCH IMPLEMENTATION(S)
WILL NOT INFRINGE ON SUCH RIGHTS.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p2"></A>
This preliminary document is being distributed solely for the purpose
of review and solicitation of comments. It will be updated periodically.
No products should rely on the content of this version of the document.
SoundFont(R) and the SoundFont logo is a registered trademark of E-mu
Systems, Inc. E-mu Systems licenses a "SoundFont Compatibility"
logo for a nominal fee; please contact E-mu's SoundFont
administrator by FAX at (408) 439-0392 for more information.
Users of the information contained herein should refer to files
conforming to the specification as "SoundFont Compatible,"
with appropriate acknowledgment of trademark ownership.
</P><A NAME="0.3"></A><P>
<B>0.3 Updates and Comments</B>
Please visit
<A HREF="http://www.soundfont.com">www.soundfont.com</A>
for specification updates, and
please send comments via e-mail to soundfont@emu.com.
<A NAME="p5"></A>
</P><A NAME="0.5"></A><P>
<B>0.5 Illustrations</B><BR>
FIGURE 1: IDEAL FILTER RESPONSE ... p60<BR>
FIGURE 2: GENERATOR BASED MODULATION STRUCTURE ... p62<BR>
FIGURE 3: SOUNDFONT MODULATOR BUILDING BLOCK ... p67<BR>
FIGURE 4: DETAILED SOUNDFONT MODULATOR BUILDING BLOCK ... p68<BR>
FIGURE 5: POSITIVE UNIPOLAR LINEAR PLOT ... p71<BR>
FIGURE 6: POSITIVE BIPOLAR LINEAR PLOT ... p71<BR>
FIGURE 7: NEGATIVE UNIPOLAR PLOT ... p72<BR>
FIGURE 8: SOUNDFONT MODULATOR SOURCE SUMMARY ... p73
</P><P>
<A NAME="p6"></A>
</P><A NAME="1"></A><H3>
1 Introduction
</H3><A NAME="1.1"></A><P>
<B>1.1 Scope and Intended Purpose of this Document</B>
This document is the definitive source for the SoundFont 2 standard.
This document should providecomplete and accurate information to allow
any user to correctly construct and interpret SoundFont 2
compatible banks. This document is not intended to provide any
information on the design or implementation of music synthesizers.
</P><A NAME="1.2"></A><P>
<B>1.2 Document Organization</B>
This document is organized such that
<A HREF="#i1">sections 1 and 2</A> give introductory information about
the SoundFont 2 standard. Both new and seasoned musical engineers
will get value from the review of terminology provided in section 2.
Sections <A HREF="#i3">3</A> through <A HREF="#i8">8</A> provide
increasingly detailed descriptions of the SoundFont 2 standard data
structures. The sections will ultimately serve as reference, but can be
scanned in order to provide sufficient detail for any level of
understanding.
<A HREF="#i9">Section 9</A> deals with the Synthesis model supported by
the SoundFont standard, and will be of interest to anyone involved with
the synthesis engine or bank creation.
<A HREF="#i10">Section 10</A> specifies error
handling when dealing with SoundFont compatible banks, and will be of
interest primarily to programmers using the SoundFont standard. The
alphabetical glossary in
<A HREF="#i11">section 11</A> can be used as a reference for any
unfamiliar or confusing terminology.
</P><A NAME="1.3"></A><P>
<B>1.3 SoundFont 2 Objectives</B>
The SoundFont 2 standard is intended to provide an extensible, portable,
universal interchange format for wavetable synthesizer "samples" and
articulation data. The standard is made extensible largely by the
use of enumerated "generators" and "modulators" so that additional
function units can be added as requirements dictate. The standard is
made portable and universal by the use of precisely defined and
hardware independent parameters, as well as by specific practices designed
to provide support to a broad range of technologies.
</P><A NAME="1.4"></A><P>
<B>1.4 SoundFont 1.x</B>
The SoundFont standard was originally released in its 1.0 embodiment with
the Creative Labs AWE32 product using the EMU8000 music synthesis chip.
This proprietary format proved very successful,
but experience brought a number of refinements.
These initially were performed in an upward compatible manner to revision 1.5.
However, due to increasing demand for a public downloadable sound
interchange format, CreativeTechnology determined that a public
disclosure of the SoundFont format would be in its best interest.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p7"></A>
Because there were still more improvements required, many of which could
not be supported in acompletely compatible manner, Creative decided to
combine public disclosure with the step to a revised
format. The result is the SoundFont 2 standard.
There are several key enhancements contained in the SoundFont 2 standard.
The first is the use of relative parameters in the Preset level. This
allows instruments to be adjusted without altering their self consistency,
providing easy and effective user editing of instruments. The second
is an improvement in the data structures associated with the samples
themselves, again providing key information which will
allow the sound designer to re-use samples with a minimum of difficulty.
An increased specificity in the rules for sample data produces enhanced
portability across various sound engines. Finally, the addition
of modulators produces a robust structure which can express all the
typical function in current and future wavetable synthesizers.
</P><A NAME="1.5"></A><P>
<B>1.5 Future Enhancements to the SoundFont 2 Standard</B>
The SoundFont 2 standard is designed to allow for enhancements based
on future wavetable synthesistechnology capabilities by additional
enumerations of generators and modulators. This will be done as
required in an upwardly compatible manner. Suggestions for additions
can be made via e-mail to soundfont@emu.com. In general, our policy for
updating the specification will be based on consumer need,
rather than technological idealism.
It is our expectation to maintain bi-directional compatibility
within the SoundFont 2 standard for some years.
</P><A NAME="1"></A><H3>
2 Terms and Abbreviations
</H3><P>
The following sections introduce terms used within this specification
in a logical order. They areprovided both as an introduction to readers
unfamiliar with wavetable synthesis implementation details,
as well as a review and reference for the expert. These and other terms
and abbreviations can also be found arranged alphabetically for reference
in the glossary at the end of this specification.
</P><A NAME="2.1"></A><P>
<B>2.1 Data Structure Terminology</B><BR>
bag - A SoundFont data structure element containing a list of preset
zones or instrument zones<BR>
big endian - Refers to the organization in memory of bytes within a
word such that the most significantbyte occurs at the lowest address.
Contrast "little endian."<BR>
byte - A data structure element of eight bits without definition of
meaning to those bits.<BR>
BYTE - A data structure element of eight bits which contains an unsigned
value from 0 to 255.<BR>
case-insensitive - Indicates that an ASCII character or string treats
alphabetic characters of upper orlower case as identical. Contrast
"case-sensitive."<BR>
case-sensitive - Indicates that an ASCII character or string treats
alphabetic characters of upper or lowercase as distinct. Contrast
"case-insensitive."<BR>
<A NAME="p8"></A>
CHAR - A data structure of eight bits which contains a signed value from
-128 to +127.<BR>
chunk - The top-level division of a RIFF file.<BR>
doubleword - A data structure element of 32 bits without definition of
meaning to those bits.<BR>
DWORD - A data structure of 32 bits which contains an unsigned value
from zero to 4,294,967,295.<BR>
enumerated - Said of a data element whose symbols correspond to particular
assigned functions.<BR>
global - Refers to parameters which affect all associated structures.
See "global zone"<BR>
global zone - A zone whose generators and modulators affect all other
zones within the object.<BR>
header - A data structure element which describes several aspects of a
SoundFont element.<BR>
hydra - The nine "pdta" sub-chunks which make up the SoundFont articulation
data.<BR>
instrument - In the SoundFont standard, a collection of zones which
represents the sound of a single musical instrument or sound effect set.
<BR>
instrument zone - A subset of an instrument containing a sample reference
and associated articulation data defined to play over certain key numbers
and velocities.
<BR>
layer - An obsolete SoundFont term, now called a Preset Zone.
<BR>
level - In the SoundFont structure, this refers either to the preset and
preset zones (the preset level) or the instrument and instrument zones
(the instrument level).
<BR>
little endian - A method of ordering bytes within larger words in
memory in which the least significantbyte is at the lowest address.
Contrast "big endian."<BR>
object - Either an instrument or a preset, depending on what level
(preset or instrument) is being discussed.<BR>
orphan - Said of a data structure which under normal circumstances is
referenced by a higher level, but inthis particular instance is no longer
linked. Specifically, it is an instrument which is not referenced by any
preset zone, or a sample which is not referenced by any instrument zone.<BR>
preset - A keyboard full of sound. Typically the collection of samples
and articulation data associated with a particular MIDI preset number.<BR>
preset zone - A subset of a preset containing an instrument reference
and associated articulation data defined to play over certain key numbers
and velocities.<BR>
<A NAME="p9"></A>
record - A single instance of a data structure.<BR>
RIFF - Acronym for Resource Interchange File Format. The recommended
form for interchange files such as SoundFont compatible files within
Microsoft operating systems.<BR>
SHORT - A data structure element of sixteen bits which contains a signed
value from -32,768 to+32,767.<BR>
split - An obsolete SoundFont term, now called an Instrument Zone.<BR>
sub-chunk - A division of a RIFF file below that of the chunk.<BR>
terminator - A data structure element indicating the final element in
a sequence.<BR>
WORD - A data structure of 16 bits which contains an unsigned value from
zero to 65,535.<BR>
word - A data structure element of 16 bits without definition of meaning
to those bits.<BR>
zone - An object and associated articulation data defined to play over
certain key numbers and velocities.
</P><A NAME="2.2"></A><P>
<B>2.2 Synthesizer Terminology</B><BR>
articulation - The process of modulation of amplitude, pitch, and timbre
to produce an expressive musical note.<BR>
artifact - A (typically undesirable) sonic event which is recognizable
as not being present in the original sound.<BR>
attack - That phase of an envelope or sound during which the amplitude
increases from zero to a peak value.<BR>
attenuation - A decrease in volume or amplitude of a signal.<BR>
AWE32 - The original Creative Technology Sound Blaster product which
contained an EMU8000 wavetable synthesizer and supported the SoundFont
standard.<BR>
balance - A form of stereo volume control in which both left and right
channels are at maximum whenthe control is centered, and which attenuates
only the opposite channel when taken to either extreme.<BR>
bank - A collection of presets. See also MIDI bank.<BR>
<A NAME="p10"></A>
chorus - An effects processing algorithm which involves cyclically
shifting the pitch of a signal and remixing it with itself to produce a
time varying comb filter, giving a perception of motion and fullness to
the resulting sound.<BR>
cutoff frequency - The frequency of a filter function at which the
attenuation reaches a specified value.<BR>
data points - The individual values comprising a sample. Sometimes also
called sample points. Contrast "sample."<BR>
decay - The portion of an envelope or sound during which the amplitude
declines from a peak to steady state value.<BR>
delay - The portion of an envelope or LFO function which elapses from
a key-on event until theamplitude becomes non-zero.<BR>
DC gain - The degree of amplification or attenuation a system presents
to a static, or zero frequency,signal.<BR>
digital audio - Audio represented as a sequence of quantized values
spaced evenly over time. The values are called "sample data points."<BR>
downloadable - Said of samples which are loaded from a file into RAM,
in contrast to samples which are maintained in ROM.<BR>
dry - Refers to audio which has not received any effects processing such
as reverb or chorus.<BR>
EMU8000 - A wavetable synthesizer chip designed by E-mu Systems for use
in Creative Technology products.<BR>
envelope - A time varying signal which typically controls the pitch,
volume, and/or filter cutoff frequency of a note, and comprises multiple
phases including attack, decay, sustain, and release.<BR>
flat - A. Said of a tone that is lower in pitch than another reference
tone. B. Said of a frequency response that does not deviate significantly
from a single fixed gain over the audio range.<BR>
interpolator - A circuit or algorithm which computes intermediate points
between existing sample datapoints. This is of particular use in the
pitch shifting operation of a wavetable synthesizer, in which these
intermediate points represent the output samples of the waveform at the
desired pitch transposition.<BR>
key number - See MIDI key number.<BR>
LFO - Acronym for Low Frequency Oscillator. A slow periodic modulation
source.<BR>
linear coding - The most common method of encoding amplitudes in digital
audio in which each step is of equal size.<BR>
<A NAME="p11"></A>
loop - In wavetable synthesis, a portion of a sample which is repeated
many times to increase the duration of the resulting sound.<BR>
loop points - The sample data points at which a loop begins and ends.<BR>
lowpass - Said of a filter which attenuates high frequencies but does
not attenuate low frequencies.<BR>
MIDI - Acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. The standard
protocol for sending performance information to a musical synthesizer.<BR>
MIDI bank - A group of up to 128 presets selected by a MIDI "change
bank" command.<BR>
MIDI continuous controller - A construct in the MIDI protocol.<BR>
MIDI key number - A construct in the MIDI protocol which accompanies
a MIDI key-on or key-offcommand and specifies the key of the musical
instrument keyboard to which the command refers.<BR>
MIDI pitch bend - A special MIDI construct akin to the MIDI continuous
controllers which controls the real-time value of the pitch of all notes
played in a MIDI channel.<BR>
MIDI preset - A "preset" selected to be active in a particular MIDI
channel by a MIDI "change preset"command.<BR>
MIDI velocity - A construct in the MIDI protocol which accompanies a
MIDI key-on or key-offcommand and specifies the speed with which the
key was pressed or released.<BR>
mono - Short for "monophonic." Indicates a sound comprising only one
channel or waveform. Contrast with "stereo."<BR>
oscillator - In wavetable synthesis, the wavetable interpolator is
considered an oscillator.<BR>
pan - Short for "panorama." This is the control of the apparent azimuth
of a sound source over 180 degrees from left to right. It is generally
implemented by varying the volume at the left and right speakers.<BR>
pitch - The perceived value of frequency. Generally can be used
interchangeably with frequency.<BR>
pitch shift - A change in pitch. Wavetable synthesis relies on
interpolators to cause pitch shift in a sample to produce the notes of
the scale.<BR>
pole - A mathematical term used in filter transform analysis.
Traditionally in synthesis, a pole is equated with a rolloff of 6dB per
octave, and the rolloff of a filter is specified in "poles."<BR>
Preditor - E-mu Systems' proprietary SoundFont 2.00 compatible bank
editing software.<BR>
<A NAME="p12"></A>
preset - A keyboard full of sound. Typically the collection of samples
and articulation data associated with a particular MIDI preset number.<BR>
Q - A mathematical term used in filter transform analysis. Indicates
the degree of resonance of the filter. In synthesis terminology, it is
synonymous with resonance.<BR>
release - The portion of an envelope or sound during which the amplitude
declines from a steady state to zero value or inaudibility.<BR>
resonance - Describes the aspect of a filter in which particular
frequencies are given significantly more gain than others. The resonance
can be measured in dB above the DC gain.<BR>
resonant frequency - The frequency at which resonance reaches its maximum.
reverb - Short for reverberation. In synthesis, a synthetic signal
processor which adds artificialspaciousness and ambience to a sound.<BR>
sample - This term is often used both to indicate a "sample data point"
and to indicate a collection of such points comprising a digital audio
waveform. The latter meaning is exclusively used in this
specification.<BR>
soft - The pedal on a piano, so named because it causes the damper to be
lowered in such a way as to soften the timbre and loudness of the notes.
In MIDI, continuous controller #66 which behaves in a
similar manner.<BR>
sostenuto - The pedal on a piano which causes the dampers on all keys
depressed to be held until the pedal is released. In MIDI, continuous
controller #67 which behaves in a similar manner.<BR>
sustain - The pedal on a piano which prevents all dampers on keys as
they are depressed from beingreleased. In MIDI, continuous controller
#64 which behaves in a similar manner.<BR>
SoundFont - A registered trademark of E-mu Systems, Inc, indicating
files, data, synthesizers, hardwareor software produced by E-mu that
conform to the SoundFont Technical Specification.<BR>
SoundFont Compatible - Indicates files, data, synthesizers, hardware or
software that conform to the SoundFont Technical Specification.<BR>
stereo - Literally indicating three dimensions. In this specification,
the term is used to mean two channel stereophonic, indicating that the
sound is composed of two independent audio channels, dubbed left and
right. Contrast monophonic.<BR>
synthesis engine - The hardware and software associated with the signal
processing and modulation path for a particular synthesizer.<BR>
synthesizer - A device capable of producing ideally arbitrary musical
sound.<BR>
<A NAME="p13"></A>
tremolo - A periodic change in amplitude of a sound, typically produced
by applying a low frequency oscillator to the final volume amplifier.
triangular - A waveform which ramps upward to a positive limit, then
downward at the opposite slope to the symmetrically negative limit
periodically.<BR>
unpitched - Said of a sound which is not characterized by a perceived
frequency. This would be true of noise-like musical instruments and of
many sound effects.<BR>
velocity - In synthesis, the speed with which a keyboard key is depressed,
typically proportionally to the impact delivered by the musician.
See also MIDI velocity.<BR>
vibrato - A periodic change in the pitch of a sound, typically produced
by applying a low frequency oscillator to the oscillator pitch.
volume - The loudness or amplitude of a sound, or the control of this
parameter.<BR>
wavetable - A music synthesis technique wherein musical sounds
are recorded or computed mathematically and stored in a memory,
then played back at a variable rate to produce the desired pitch.
Additional timbre adjustments are often made to the sound thus produced
using amplifiers, filters, and effect processing such as reverb and
chorus.<BR>
</P><P>
</P><A NAME="2.3"></A><P>
<B>2.3 Parameter Terminology</B><BR>
absolute - Describes a parameter which gives a definitive real-world
value. Contrast to relative.<BR>
additive - Describes a parameter which is to be numerically added to
another parameter.<BR>
attenuation - A decrease in volume or amplitude of a signal.
bipolar - Said of a controller which has a minimum value of -1 and a
maximum value of 1. Contrast "unipolar"<BR>
cent - A unit of pitch ratio corresponding to the twelve hundredth root
of two, or one hundredth of asemitone, approximately 1.000577790.<BR>
centibel - A unit of amplitude ratio corresponding to the two hundredth
root of ten, or one tenth of a decibel, approximately 1.011579454.<BR>
cutoff frequency - The frequency of a filter function at which the
attenuation reaches a specified value.<BR>
decibel - A unit of amplitude ratio corresponding to the twentieth root
of ten, approximately 1.122018454.<BR>
<A NAME="p14">
octave - A factor of two in ratio, typically applied to pitch or
frequency.<BR>
pitch - The perceived value of frequency. Generally can be used
interchangeably with frequency.<BR>
pitch shift - A change in pitch. Wavetable synthesis
relies on interpolators to cause pitch shift in a sample
to produce the notes of the scale.<BR>
relative - Describes a parameter which merely indicates an offset from
an otherwise established value. Contrast to absolute.<BR>
resonance - Describes the aspect of a filter in which particular
frequencies are given significantly more gain than others.
The resonance can be measured in dB above the DC gain.<BR>
sample rate - The frequency, in Hertz, at which sample data points are
taken when recording a sample.<BR>
semitone - A unit of pitch ratio corresponding to the twelfth root of two,
or one twelfth of an octave,approximately 1.059463094.<BR>
sharp - Said of a tone that is higher in pitch than another reference tone.<BR>
timecent - A unit of duration ratio corresponding to the twelve hundredth root
of two, or one twelve hundredth of an octave, approximately 1.000577790.<BR>
unipolar - Said of a controller which has a minimum value of 0 and a
maximum value of 1. Contrast with "bipolar"<BR>
</P><A NAME="3"></A><H3>
3 RIFF Structure
</H3><A NAME="3.1"></A><P>
<B>3.1 General RIFF File Structure</B>
The RIFF (Resource Interchange File Format) is a tagged file structure
developed for multimedia resource files, and is described in some detail
in the Microsoft Windows SDK Multimedia Programmer's Reference.
The tagged-file structure is useful because it helps prevent compatibility
problems which canoccur as the file definition changes over time.
Because each piece of data in the file is identified by a standard header,
an application that does not recognize a given data
element can skip over the unknown information.
<A NAME="P15"></A>
A RIFF file is constructed from a basic building block called a "chunk."
In 'C' syntax, a chunk is defined:<PRE>
typedef DWORD FOURCC; // Four-character code
typedef struct {
FOURCC ckID; // A chunk ID identifies the type of data within the chunk.
DWORD ckSize; // The size of the chunk data in bytes, excluding any pad byte.
BYTE ckDATA[ckSize]; // The actual data plus a pad byte if req'd to word align.
};
</PRE>
</P><P>
Two types of chunks, the "RIFF" and "LIST" chunks,
may contain nested chunks called sub-chunks as their data.
The ordering requirements of chunks and sub-chunks within a RIFF file
is not well documented in the RIFF file format. In SoundFont 2.0,
the order of the sub-chunks within the INFO chunk is arbitrary,
but for consistency it is recommended that
the sub-chunks be ordered as presented in this document.
The order of the all other chunks and sub-chunks is strictly defined
and must be maintained as presented in this document.
</P><A NAME="3.2"></A><P>
<B>3.2 The SoundFont 2 Chunks and Sub-chunks</B>
A SoundFont 2 compatible RIFF file comprises three chunks: an INFO-list
chunk containing a number of required and optional sub-chunks describing
the file, its history, and its intended use, an sdta-list chunk
comprising a single sub-chunk containing any referenced digital audio
samples, and a pdta-list chunk containing nine sub-chunks which define
the articulation of the digital audio data.
</P><P>
The SoundFont 2 standard allows that the sub-chunks within the INFO-list
chunk may appear in arbitrary order. However, the order of the three
chunks, and the order of the sub-chunks within the pdta-list chunk,
is fixed.
The SoundFont 2 specification requires that implementations ignore unknown
sub-chunks within the INFO-list chunk.
Note, however, that until such sub-chunks become defined in the
specification,
inclusion of additional INFO-list sub-chunks will preclude the file from
conforming to the SoundFont standard.
A detailed description of the SoundFont 2 RIFF structure is provided
<A HREF="#4"> in Section 4.</A>
</P><A NAME="3.3"></A><P>
<B>3.3 Redundancy and Error Handling in the RIFF structure</B>
The RIFF file structure contains redundant information regarding the
length of the file and the length ofthe chunks and sub-chunks. This fact
enables any reader of a SoundFont compatible file to determine if
the file has been damaged by loss of data.
If any such loss is detected, the SoundFont compatible file is termed
"structurally unsound" and ingeneral should be rejected. SoundFont
compatible software developers may produce utilities to recover
data from structurally unsound files, producing with or without user
assistance a corrected andstructurally sound SoundFont 2 compatible file.
<A NAME="p16"></A>
</P><A NAME="4"></A><H3>
4 SoundFont 2 RIFF File Format
</H3><A NAME="4.1"></A><P>
<B>4.1 SoundFont 2 RIFF File Format Level 0</B>
<PRE>
<SFBK-form> -> RIFF ('sfbk' ; RIFF form header{
<INFO-list> ; Supplemental Information
<sdta-list> ; The Sample Binary Data
<pdta-list> ; The Preset, Instrument, and Sample Header data
})
</PRE></P><A NAME="4.1"></A><P>
<B>4.2 SoundFont 2 RIFF File Format Level 1</B>
<PRE>
<INFO-list> -> LIST ('INFO'{
<ifil-ck> ; Refers to the version of the Sound Font RIFF file
<isng-ck> ; Refers to the target Sound Engine
<INAM-ck> ; Refers to the Sound Font Bank Name
[<irom-ck>] ; Refers to the Sound ROM Name
[<iver-ck>] ; Refers to the Sound ROM Version
[<ICRD-ck>] ; Refers to the Date of Creation of the Bank
[<IENG-ck>] ; Sound Designers and Engineers for the Bank
[<IPRD-ck>] ; Product for which the Bank was intended
[<ICOP-ck>] ; Contains any Copyright message
[<ICMT-ck>] ; Contains any Comments on the Bank
[<ISFT-ck>] ; The SoundFont tools used to create and alter the bank
})
<sdta-ck> -> LIST ('sdta'{
[<smpl-ck.] ; The Digital Audio Samples
})
<A NAME="p17"></A>
<pdta-ck> -> LIST ('pdta'{
<phdr-ck> ; The Preset Headers
<pbag-ck> ; The Preset Index list
<pmod-ck> ; The Preset Modulator list
<pgen-ck> ; The Preset Generator list
<inst-ck> ; The Instrument Names and Indices
<ibag-ck> ; The Instrument Index list
<imod-ck> ; The Instrument Modulator list
<igen-ck> ; The Instrument Generator list
<shdr-ck> ; The Sample Headers}
)
</PRE><P>
<B>4.3 SoundFont 2 RIFF File Format Level 2</B>
<PRE><ifil-ck> -> ifil(<iver-rec>) ; e.g. 2.01
<isng-ck> -> isng(szSoundEngine:ZSTR) ; e.g. "EMU8000"
<irom-ck> -> irom(szROM:ZSTR) ; e.g. "1MGM"
<iver-ck> -> iver(<iver-rec>) ; e.g. 2.08
<INAM-ck> -> INAM(szName:ZSTR) ; e.g. "General MIDI"
<ICRD-ck> -> ICRD(szDate:ZSTR) ; e.g. "July 15, 1997"
<IENG-ck> -> IENG(szName:ZSTR) ; e.g. "John Q. Sounddesigner"
<IPRD-ck> -> IPRD(szProduct:ZSTR) ; e.g. "SBAWE64 Gold"
<ICOP-ck> -> ICOP(szCopyright:ZSTR) ; e.g. "Copyright (c) 1997 Emu Systems."
<ICMT-ck> -> ICMT(szComment:ZSTR) ; e.g. "This is a comment"
<ISTF-ck> -> ISFT(szTools:ZSTR) ; e.g. ":Preditor 2.00a:Vienna SF Studio 2.0:"
<smpl-ck> -> smpl(<sample:SHORT>) ; 16 bit Linearly Coded Digital Audio Data
<phdr-ck> -> phdr(<phdr-rec>)
<pbag-ck> -> pbag(<pbag-rec>)
<pmod-ck> -> pmod(<pmod-rec>)
<pgen-ck> -> pgen(<pgen-rec>)
<inst-ck> -> inst(<inst-rec>)
<ibag-ck> -> ibag(<ibag-rec>)
<imod-ck> -> imod(<imod-rec>)
<igen-ck> -> igen(<igen-rec>)
<shdr-ck> -> shdr(<shdr-rec>)
</PRE>
<A NAME="p18"></A>
</P><P>
<B>4.4 SoundFont 2 RIFF File Format Level 3</B>
<PRE>
<iver-rec> -> struct sfVersionTag{
WORD wMajor;WORD wMinor;
};
<phdr-rec> -> struct sfPresetHeader{
CHAR achPresetName[20];
WORD wPreset; WORD wBank; WORD wPresetBagNdx;
DWORD dwLibrary; DWORD dwGenre; DWORD dwMorphology;
};
<pbag-rec> -> struct sfPresetBag{
WORD wGenNdx;WORD wModNdx;
};
<pmod-rec> -> struct sfModList{
SFModulator sfModSrcOper; SFGenerator sfModDestOper;
SHORT modAmount; SFModulator sfModAmtSrcOper;
SFTransform sfModTransOper;
};
<pgen-rec> -> struct sfGenList{
SFGenerator sfGenOper; genAmountType genAmount;
};
<inst-rec> -> struct sfInst{
CHAR achInstName[20];WORD wInstBagNdx;
};
<ibag-rec> -> struct sfInstBag{
WORD wInstGenNdx;WORD wInstModNdx;
}; <A NAME="p19"></A>
<imod-rec> -> struct sfInstModList{
SFModulator sfModSrcOper; SFGenerator sfModDestOper;
SHORT modAmount; SFModulator sfModAmtSrcOper;
SFTransform sfModTransOper;
};
<igen-rec> -> struct sfInstGenList{
SFGenerator sfGenOper; genAmountType genAmount;
};
<shdr-rec> -> struct sfSample{
CHAR achSampleName[20]; DWORD dwStart;
DWORD dwEnd; DWORD dwStartloop;
DWORD dwEndloop; DWORD dwSampleRate;
BYTE byOriginalKey; CHAR chCorrection;
WORD wSampleLink; SFSampleLink sfSampleType;
};
</PRE>
<A NAME="p20"></A>
</P><P>
<B>4.5 SoundFont 2 RIFF File Format Type Definitions</B>
The sfModulator, sfGenerator, and sfTransform types are all enumeration
types whose values are defined in subsequent sections.
</P><P>
The genAmountType is a union which allows signed 16 bit, unsigned 16 bit,
and two unsigned 8 bitfields:
<PRE>
typedef struct{
BYTE byLo;BYTE byHi;
} rangesType;
typedef union{
rangesType ranges;
SHORT shAmount;WORD wAmount;
} genAmountType;
</PRE>
The SFSampleLink is an enumeration type which describes both the type
of sample (mono, stereo left, etc.) and the whether the sample is located
in RAM or ROM memory:
<PRE>
typedef enum{
monoSample = 1, rightSample = 2,
leftSample = 4, linkedSample = 8,
RomMonoSample = 0x8001, RomRightSample = 0x8002,
RomLeftSample = 0x8004, RomLinkedSample = 0x8008
} SFSampleLink;
</PRE>
</P><A NAME="5"></A><H3>
5 The INFO-list Chunk
</H3><P>
The INFO-list chunk in a SoundFont 2 compatible file contains three
mandatory and a variety of optional sub-chunks as defined below.
The INFO-list chunk gives basic information about the SoundFont
compatible bank that is contained in the file.
</P><A NAME="5.1"></A><P>
<B>5.1 The ifil Sub-chunk</B>
The ifil sub-chunk is a mandatory sub-chunk identifying the SoundFont
specification version level to which the file complies. It is always
four bytes in length, and contains data according to the structure:
<PRE>
struct sfVersionTag{
WORD wMajor; WORD wMinor;
};
</PRE>
The WORD wMajor contains the value to the left of the decimal point in
the SoundFont specification version, the WORD wMinor contains the value
to the right of the decimal point. For example, version
2.11 would be implied if wMajor=2 and wMinor=11.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p21"></A>
These values can be used by applications which read SoundFont compatible
files to determine if the format of the file is usable by the program.
Within a fixed wMajor, the only changes to the format will
be the addition of Generator, Source and Transform enumerators, and
additional info sub-chunks. Theseare all defined as being ignored if
unknown to the program. Consequently, many applications can be
designed to be fully upward compatible within a given wMajor. In the
case of editors or other programs in which all enumerators should
be known,
the value of wMinor may be of consequence. Generally the
application program will either accept the file as usable (possibly
with appropriate transparent translation), reject the file as unusable,
or warn the user that there may be uneditable data in the file.
</P><P>
If the ifil sub-chunk is missing, or its size is not four bytes, the
file should be rejected as structurally unsound.
</P><A NAME="5.2"></A><P>
<B>5.2 The isng Sub-chunk</B>
The isng sub-chunk is a mandatory sub-chunk identifying the wavetable
sound engine for which the file was optimized. It contains an ASCII
string of 256 or fewer bytes including one or two terminators of
value zero, so as to make the total byte count even. The default isng
field is the eight bytes representing "EMU8000" as seven ASCII characters
followed by a zero byte.
</P><P>
The ASCII should be treated as case-sensitive. In other words "emu8000"
is not the same as "EMU8000."
The isng string can be optionally used by chip drivers to vary their
synthesis algorithms to emulate the target sound engine.
If the isng sub-chunk is missing, or is not terminated with a zero valued
byte, or its contents are an unknown sound engine, the field should be
ignored and EMU8000 assumed.
</P><A NAME="5.3"></A><P>
<B>5.3 The INAM Sub-chunk</B>
The INAM sub-chunk is a mandatory sub-chunk providing the name of the
SoundFont compatible bank. It contains an ASCII string of 256 or fewer
bytes including one or two terminators of value zero, so as
to make the total byte count even. A typical INAM sub-chunk would be
the fourteen bytes representing "General MIDI" as twelve ASCII characters
followed by two zero bytes.
</P><P>
The ASCII should be treated as case-sensitive. In other words "General
MIDI" is not the same as "GENERAL MIDI."
The inam string is typically used for the identification of banks even
if the file names are altered.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p22"></A>
If the inam sub-chunk is missing, or not terminated in a zero valued byte,
the field should be ignored and the user supplied with an appropriate
error message if the name is queried. If the file is re-written, a
valid name should be placed in the INAM field.
</P><A NAME="5.4"></A><P>
<B>5.4 The irom Sub-chunk</B>
The irom sub-chunk is an optional sub-chunk identifying a particular
wavetable sound data ROM towhich any ROM samples refer. It contains an
ASCII string of 256 or fewer bytes including one or two
terminators of value zero, so as to make the total byte count even.
A typical irom field would be the six bytes representing "1MGM" as four
ASCII characters followed by two zero bytes.
</P><P>
The ASCII should be treated as case-sensitive. In other words "1mgm"
is not the same as "1MGM."
The irom string is used by drivers to verify that the ROM data referenced
by the file is available to the sound engine.
</P><P>
If the irom sub-chunk is missing, not terminated in a zero valued byte,
or its contents are an unknownROM, the field should be ignored and the
file assumed to reference no ROM samples. If ROM samples
are accessed, any accesses to such intruments should be terminated and
not sound. A file should not be written which attempts to access ROM
samples without both irom and iver present and valid.
</P><A NAME="5.5"></A><P>
<B>5.5 The iver Sub-chunk</B>
The iver sub-chunk is an optional sub-chunk identifying the particular
wavetable sound data ROMrevision to which any ROM samples refer. It is
always four bytes in length, and contains data according
to the structure:
<PRE>
struct sfVersionTag{
WORD wMajor; WORD wMinor;
};
</PRE>
The WORD wMajor contains the value to the left of the decimal point in
the ROM version. The WORDwMinor contains the value to the right of the
decimal point. For example, version 1.36 would be implied
if wMajor=1 and wMinor=36.
The iver sub-chunk is used by drivers to verify that the ROM data
referenced by the file is located in the exact locations specified by
the sound headers.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p23"></A>
If the iver sub-chunk is missing, not four bytes in length, or its
contents indicate an unknown or incorrect ROM, the field should be ignored
and the file assumed to reference no ROM samples. If ROM samples
are accessed, any accesses to such instruments should be terminated and
not sound. Note that for ROMsamples to function correctly, both iver
and irom must be present and valid. A file should not be written
which attempts to access ROM samples without both irom and iver present
and valid.
</P><A NAME="5.6"></A><P>
<B>5.6 The ICRD Sub-chunk</B>
The ICRD sub-chunk is an optional sub-chunk identifying the creation
date of the SoundFont compatible bank. It contains an ASCII string of
256 or fewer bytes including one or two terminators of value zero,
so as to make the total byte count even. A typical ICRD field would be
the twelve bytes representing "May 1, 1995" as eleven ASCII characters
followed by a zero byte.
</P><P>
Conventionally, the format of the string is "Month Day, Year" where Month
is initially capitalized and is the conventional full English spelling
of the month, Day is the date in decimal followed by a comma, and
Year is the full decimal year. Thus the field should conventionally
never be longer than 32 bytes.
The ICRD string is provided for library management purposes.
If the ICRD sub-chunk is missing, not terminated in a zero valued byte,
or for some reason incapable of being faithfully copied as an ASCII string,
the field should be ignored and if re-written, should not be copied.
If the field's contents are not seemingly meaningful but can
faithfully reproduced, this should be done.
</P><A NAME="5.7"></A><P>
<B>5.7 The IENG Sub-chunk</B>
The IENG sub-chunk is an optional sub-chunk identifying the names of any
sound designers or engineers responsible for the SoundFont compatible bank.
It contains an ASCII string of 256 or fewer bytes including one or two
terminators of value zero, so as to make the total byte count even.
A typical IENG field would be the twelve bytes representing
"Tim Swartz" as ten ASCII characters followed by two zero bytes.
The IENG string is provided for library management purposes.
If the IENG sub-chunk is missing, not terminated in a zero valued byte,
or for some reason incapable of being faithfully copied as an ASCII string,
the field should be ignored and if re-written, should not be copied.
If the field's contents are not seemingly meaningful but can
faithfully reproduced, this should be done.
</P><A NAME="5.8"></A><P>
<B>5.8 The IPRD Sub-chunk</B>
<A NAME="p24"></A>
The IPRD sub-chunk is an optional sub-chunk identifying any specific
product for which the SoundFont compatible bank is intended. It contains
an ASCII string of 256 or fewer bytes including one or two
terminators of value zero, so as to make the total byte count even.
A typical IPRD field would be the eight bytes representing "SBAWE32"
as seven ASCII characters followed by a zero byte.
</P><P>
The ASCII should be treated as case-sensitive. In other words "sbawe32"
is not the same as"SBAWE32."
The IPRD string is provided for library management purposes.
If the IPRD sub-chunk is missing, not terminated in a zero valued byte,
or for some reason incapable of being faithfully copied as an ASCII
string,
the field should be ignored and if re-written, should not be
copied. If the field's contents are not seemingly meaningful but can
faithfully reproduced, this should be done.
</P><A NAME="5.9"></A><P>
<B>5.9 The ICOP Sub-chunk</B>
The ICOP sub-chunk is an optional sub-chunk containing any copyright
assertion string associated withthe SoundFont compatible bank.
It contains an ASCII string of 256 or fewer bytes including one or two
terminators of value zero, so as to make the total byte count even.
A typical ICOP field would be the 40 bytes representing "Copyright (c)
1995 E-mu Systems, Inc." as 38 ASCII characters followed by two
zero bytes.
The ICOP string is provided for intellectual property protection and
management purposes.
If the ICOP sub-chunk is missing, not terminated in a zero valued byte,
or for some reason incapable of being faithfully copied as an ASCII string,
the field should be ignored and if re-written, should not be
copied. If the field's contents are not seemingly meaningful but can
faithfully reproduced, this should be done.
</P><A NAME="5.10"></A><P>
<B>5.10 The ICMT Sub-chunk</B>
The ICMT sub-chunk is an optional sub-chunk containing any comments
associated with the SoundFont compatible bank. It contains an ASCII
string of 65,536 or fewer bytes including one or two terminators
of value zero, so as to make the total byte count even. A typical ICMT
field would be the 40 bytes representing "This space unintentionally left
blank." as 38 ASCII characters followed by two zero bytes.
</P><P>
The ICMT string is provided for any non-scatological uses.
If the ICMT sub-chunk is missing, not terminated in a zero valued byte,
or for some reason incapable of being faithfully copied as an ASCII string,
the field should be ignored and if re-written, should not be
<A NAME="p25"></A>
copied. If the field's contents are not seemingly meaningful but can
faithfully reproduced, this should be done.
</P><A NAME="5.11"></A><P>
<B>5.11 The ISFT Sub-chunk</B>
The ISFT sub-chunk is an optional sub-chunk identifying the SoundFont
compatible tools used to create and most recently modify the SoundFont
compatible bank. It contains an ASCII string of 256 or fewer
bytes including one or two terminators of value zero, so as to make the
total byte count even. A typical ISFT field would be the thirty bytes
representing "Preditor 2.00a:Preditor 2.00a" as twenty-nine ASCII
characters followed by a zero byte.
The ASCII should be treated as case-sensitive. In other words "Preditor"
is not the same as"PREDITOR."
</P><P>
Conventionally, the tool name and revision control number are included
first for the creating tool and then for the most recent modifying tool.
The two strings are separated by a colon. The string should be
produced by the creating program with a null modifying tool field
(e.g. "Preditor 2.00a:), and each time a tool modifies the bank, it should
replace the modifying tool field with its own name and revision
control number.
The ISFT string is provided primarily for error tracing purposes.
If the ISFT sub-chunk is missing, not terminated in a zero valued byte,
or for some reason incapable of being faithfully copied as an ASCII
string,
the field should be ignored and if re-written, should not be
copied. If the field's contents are not seemingly meaningful but can
faithfully reproduced, this should be done.
</P><A NAME="6"></A><H3>
6 The sdta-list Chunk
</H3><P>
The sdta-list chunk in a SoundFont 2 compatible file contains a single
optional sub-chunk which contains all the RAM based sound data
associated with the SoundFont compatible bank. The smpl subchunk
is of arbitrary length, and contains an even number of bytes.
</P><A NAME="6.1"></A><P>
<B>6.1 Sample Data Format in the smpl Sub-chunk</B>
The smpl sub-chunk, if present, contains one or more "samples" of digital
audio information in the form of linearly coded sixteen bit, signed,
little endian (least significant byte first) words. Each sample is
followed by a minimum of forty-six zero valued sample data points.
These zero valued data points are necessary to guarantee that any
reasonable upward pitch shift using any reasonable interpolator can loop
on zero data at the end of the sound.
<A NAME="p26"></A>
</P><A NAME="6.2"></A><P>
<B>6.2 Sample Data Looping Rules</B>
Within each sample, one or more loop point pairs may exist. The locations
of these points are defined within the pdta-list chunk, but the sample
data points themselves must comply with certain practices in
order for the loop to be compatible across multiple platforms.
The loops are defined by "equivalent points" in the sample. This means
that there are two sample datapoints which are logically equivalent,
and a loop occurs when these points are spliced atop one another.
In concept, the loop end point is never actually played during looping;
instead the loop start point follows the point just prior to the loop
end point. Because of the bandlimited nature of digital audio sampling,
an artifact free loop will exhibit virtually identical data
surrounding the equivalent points.
</P><P>
In actuality, because of the various interpolation algorithms used by
wavetable synthesizers, the data surrounding both the loop start and
end points may affect the sound of the loop. Hence both the loop
start and end points must be surrounded by continuous audio data.
For example, even if the sound is programmed to continue to loop throughout
the decay, sample data points must be provided beyond the loop end point.
This data will typically be identical to the data at the start of the loop.
A minimum of eight valid data points are required to be present
before the loop start and after the loop end.
</P><P>
The eight data points (four on each side) surrounding the two equivalent
loop points should also be forced to be identical. By forcing the data
to be identical, all interpolation algorithms are guaranteed to
properly reproduce an artifact-free loop.
</P><A NAME="7"></A><H3>
7 The pdta-list Chunk
</H3><A NAME="7.1"></A><P>
<B>7.1 The HYDRA Data Structure</B>
The articulation data within a SoundFont 2 compatible file is contained
in nine mandatory sub-chunks.
This data is named "hydra" after the mythical nine-headed beast.
The structure has been designed for interchange purposes;
it is not optimized for either run-time synthesis or for on-the-fly editing.
It is reasonable and proper for SoundFont compatible client programs
to translate to and from the hydra structure
as they read and write SoundFont compatible files.
</P><A NAME="7.2"></A><P>
<B>7.2 The PHDR Sub-chunk</B>
The PHDR sub-chunk is a required sub-chunk listing all presets within
the SoundFont compatible file. It is always a multiple of thirty-eight
bytes in length, and contains a minimum of two records, one record
for each preset and one for a terminal record according to the structure:
<PRE>
<A NAME="p27"></A>
struct sfPresetHeader{
CHAR achPresetName[20]; WORD wPreset;
WORD wBank; WORD wPresetBagNdx;
DWORD dwLibrary; DWORD dwGenre;
DWORD dwMorphology;
};
</PRE>
The ASCII character field achPresetName contains the name of the preset
expressed in ASCII, with unused terminal characters filled with
zero valued bytes. Preset names are case sensitive.
A unique name should always be assigned to each preset
in the SoundFont compatible bank to enable identification.
However, if a bank is read containing the erroneous state of presets
with identical names, the presets should not be discarded.
They should either be preserved as read or preferably uniquely renamed.
</P><P>
The WORD wPreset contains the MIDI Preset Number and the WORD wBank
contains the MIDI BankNumber which apply to this preset.
Note that the presets are not ordered within the SoundFont compatible
bank.
Presets should have a unique set of wPreset and wBank numbers.
However, if two presets have identical values of both wPreset and wBank,
the first occurring preset in the PHDR chunk is the active preset,
but any others with the same wBank and wPreset values should be maintained
so that they can be renumbered and used at a later time.
The special case of a General MIDI percussion bank is handled
conventionally by a wBank value of 128.
If the value in either field is not a valid MIDI value of zero through
127,
or 128 for wBank, the preset cannot be played but should be maintained.
</P><P>
The WORD wPresetBagNdx is an index to the preset's zone list in the
PBAG sub-chunk. Because the preset zone list is in the same order as the
preset header list, the preset bag indices will be monotonically
increasing
with increasing preset headers. The size of the PBAG sub-chunk in bytes
will be equal to four times the terminal preset's wPresetBagNdx plus four.
If the preset bag indices are non-monotonic or if
the terminal preset's wPresetBagNdx does not match the PBAG sub-chunk
size,
the file is structurally defective and should be rejected at load time.
All presets except the terminal preset must have at least one zone;
any preset with no zones should be ignored.
The DWORDs dwLibrary, dwGenre and dwMorphology are reserved for
future implementation in a preset library management function
and should be preserved as read, and created as zero.
</P><P>
The terminal sfPresetHeader record should never be accessed,
and exists only to provide a terminal wPresetBagNdx
with which to determine the number of zones in the last preset.
All other values are conventionally zero, with the exception of
achPresetName,
which can optionally be "EOP" indicating end of presets.
</P><P>
If the PHDR sub-chunk is missing, or contains fewer than two records,
or its size is not a multiple of 38 bytes,
the file should be rejected as structurally unsound.
<A NAME="p28"></A>
</P><A NAME="7.3"></A><P>
<B>7.3 The PBAG Sub-chunk</B>
The PBAG sub-chunk is a required sub-chunk listing all preset zones
within the SoundFont compatible file.
It is always a multiple of four bytes in length,
and contains one record for each preset zone
plus one record for a terminal zone according to the structure:
<PRE>
struct sfPresetBag{
WORD wGenNdx; WORD wModNdx;
};
</PRE>
The first zone in a given preset is located at that preset's
wPresetBagNdx.
The number of zones in the preset is determined by the difference
between the next preset's wPresetBagNdx and the current wPresetBagNdx.
The WORD wGenNdx is an index
to the preset's zone list of generators in the PGEN sub-chunk,
and the wModNdx is an index
to its list of modulators in the PMOD sub-chunk.
Because both the generator and modulator lists are
in the same order as the preset header and zone lists,
these indices will be monotonically increasing with increasing preset
zones.
The size of the PMOD sub-chunk in bytes will be equal to
ten times the terminal preset's wModNdx plus ten
and the size of the PGEN sub-chunk in bytes will be equal to
four times the terminal preset's wGenNdx plus four.
If the generator or modulator indices are non-monotonic
or do not match the size of the respective PGEN or PMOD sub-chunks,
the file is structurally defective and should be rejected at load time.
</P><P>
If a preset has more than one zone, the first zone may be a global zone.
A global zone is determined by the fact that the last generator in the
list is not an Instrument generator. All generator lists must contain
at least one generator with one exception - if a global zone exists for
which there are no generators but only modulators. The modulator lists
can contain zero or more modulators.
</P><P>
If a zone other than the first zone lacks an Instrument generator as
its last generator, that zone should be ignored.
A global zone with no modulators and no generators should also be ignored.
If the PBAG sub-chunk is missing, or its size is not a multiple of
four bytes, the file should be rejected as structurally unsound.
</P><A NAME="7.4"></A><P>
<B>7.4 The PMOD Sub-chunk</B>
The PMOD sub-chunk is a required sub-chunk listing all preset zone
modulators within the SoundFont compatible file.
It is always a multiple of ten bytes in length, and contains zero or more
modulators plus a terminal record according to the structure:
<PRE>
<A NAME="p29"></A>
struct sfModList{
SFModulator sfModSrcOper; SFGenerator sfModDestOper;
SHORT modAmount; SFModulator sfModAmtSrcOper;
SFTransform sfModTransOper;
};
</PRE>
The preset zone's wModNdx points to the first modulator for that preset zone,
and the number of modulators present for a preset zone
is determined by the difference between the next higher preset zone's
wModNdx and the current preset's wModNdx.
A difference of zero indicates there are no modulators in this preset zone.
</P><P>
The sfModSrcOper is a value of one of
<A HREF="#8.2">the SFModulator enumeration type values.</A>
Unknown or undefined values are ignored.
This value indicates the source of data for the modulator.
Note that this enumeration is two bytes in length.
</P><P>
The sfModDestOper indicates the destination of the modulator.
The destination a value of one of
<A HREF="#8.1.3">the SFGenerator enumeration type values.</A>
Unknown or undefined values are ignored.
Note that this enumeration is two bytes in length.
</P><P>
The SHORT modAmount is a signed value indicating the degree to which
the source modulates the destination.
A zero value indicates there is no fixed amount.
</P><P>
The sfModAmtSrcOper is a value of one of
<A HREF="#8.2">the SFModulator enumeration type values.</A>
Unknown or undefined values are ignored.
This value indicates the degree to which the source modulates the
destination is to be controlled by the specified modulation source.
Note that this enumeration is two bytes in length.
</P><P>
The sfModTransOper is a value of one of
<A HREF="#8.3">the SFTransform enumeration type values.</A>
Unknown or undefined values are ignored.
This value indicates that a transform of the specified type will be
applied to the modulation source before application to the modulator.
Note that this enumeration is two bytes in length.
</P><P>
The terminal record conventionally contains zero in all fields,
and is always ignored. A modulator is defined by its sfModSrcOper,
its sfModDestOper, and its sfModSrcAmtOper.
All modulators within a zone must have a unique set of these three enumerators.
If a second modulator is encountered with the same three enumerators as a
previous modulator with the same zone, the first modulator will be ignored.
</P><P>
Modulators in the PMOD sub-chunk act as additively relative modulators
with respect to those in the IMOD sub-chunk. In other words, a PMOD
modulator can increase or decrease the amount of an IMOD modulator.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p30"></A>
<A HREF="#9.5">Section "9.5 The SoundFont Modulator Controller Model"</A>
contains the details of how this application works.
Note for backward compatibility that in SoundFont 2.00, no modulators
had been defined. So in SoundFont 2.00 compatible rendering engines,
the PMOD sub-chunk will always be ignored.
If the PMOD sub-chunk is missing, or its size is not a multiple of ten bytes,
the file should be rejected as structurally unsound.
</P><A NAME="7.5"></A><P>
<B>7.5 The PGEN Sub-chunk</B>
The PGEN chunk is a required chunk containing a list of preset zone
generators for each preset zone within the SoundFont compatible file.
It is always a multiple of four bytes in length, and contains one or
more generators for each preset zone (except a global zone containing
only modulators) plus a terminal record according to the structure:
<PRE>
struct sfGenList{
SFGenerator sfGenOper; genAmountType genAmount;
};
</PRE>
where the types are defined:
<PRE>
typedef struct{
BYTE byLo; BYTE byHi;
} rangesType;
typedef union{
rangesType ranges; SHORT shAmount; WORD wAmount;
} genAmountType;
</PRE>
The sfGenOper is a value of one of
<A HREF="#8.1.3">the SFGenerator enumeration type values.</A>
Unknown or undefined values are ignored.
This value indicates the type of generator being indicated.
Note that this enumeration is two bytes in length.
The genAmount is the value to be assigned to the specified generator.
Note that this can be of three formats. Certain generators specify
a range
of MIDI key numbers of MIDI velocities, with a minimum and maximum value.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p31"></A>
Other generators specify an unsigned WORD value.
Most generators, however, specify a signed 16 bit SHORT value.
The preset zone's wGenNdx points to the first generator for that preset
zone.
Unless the zone is a global zone,
the last generator in the list is an "Instrument" generator,
whose value is a pointer to the instrument associated with that zone.
If a "key range" generator exists for the preset zone,
it is always the first generator in the list for that preset zone.
If a "velocity range" generator exists for the preset zone,
it will only be preceded by a key range generator.
If any generators follow an Instrument generator, they will be ignored.
</P><P>
A generator is defined by its sfGenOper.
All generators within a zone must have a unique sfGenOper enumerator.
If a second generator is encountered with the same sfGenOper enumerator as
a previous generator with the same zone, the first generator will be ignored.
Generators in the PGEN sub-chunk are applied relative to generators in
the IGEN sub-chunk in an additive manner. In other words,
PGEN generators increase or decrease the value of an IGEN generator.
<A HREF="#9.4">Section "9.4 The SoundFont Generator Model"</A>
contains the details of how this application works.
</P><P>
If the PGEN sub-chunk is missing, or its size is not a multiple of
four bytes,
the file should be rejected as structurally unsound. If a key range
generator is present and not the first generator, it should be ignored.
If a velocity range generator is present, and is preceded by a generator
other than a key range generator, it should be ignored. If a non-global
list does not end in an instrument generator, zone should be ignored.
If the instrument generator value is equal to or greater than the terminal
instrument, the file should be rejected as structurally unsound.
</P><A NAME="7.6"></A><P>
<B>7.6 The INST Sub-chunk</B>
The inst sub-chunk is a required sub-chunk listing all instruments within
the SoundFont compatible file. It is always a multiple of twenty-two
bytes in length, and contains a minimum of two records, one record for
each instrument and one for a terminal record according to the structure:
<PRE>
struct sfInst{
CHAR achInstName[20]; WORD wInstBagNdx;
};
</PRE>
The ASCII character field achInstName contains the name of the instrument
expressed in ASCII, with unused terminal characters filled with zero
valued bytes. Instrument names are case-sensitive.
A unique name should always be assigned to each instrument in the SoundFont
compatible bank to enable identification. However, if a bank is read
containing the erroneous state of instruments with identical names,
the instruments should not be discarded.
They should either be preserved as read or preferably uniquely renamed.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p32"></A>
The WORD wInstBagNdx is an index to the instrument's zone list in the
IBAG sub-chunk. Because the instrument zone list is in the same order
as the instrument list, the instrument bag indices will be
monotonically increasing with increasing instruments.
The size of the IBAG sub-chunk in bytes will be four greater
than four times the terminal (EOI) instrument's wInstBagNdx.
If the instrument bag indices are non-monotonic or if the terminal
instrument's wInstBagNdx does not match the IBAG sub-chunksize,
the file is structurally defective and should be rejected at load time.
All instruments except the terminal instrument must have at least one zone;
any preset with no zones should be ignored.
</P><P>
The terminal sfInst record should never be accessed, and exists only to
provide a terminal wInstBagNdx with which to determine the number of zones
in the last instrument. All other values are conventionally zero, with the
exception of achInstName, which should be "EOI" indicating end of instruments.
</P><P>
If the INST sub-chunk is missing, contains fewer than two records,
or its size is not a multiple of 22 bytes, the file should be rejected as
structurally unsound. All instruments present in the inst sub-chunk
are typically referenced by a preset zone. However, a file containing
any "orphaned" instruments need not be rejected. SoundFont compatible
applications can optionally ignore or filter out these orphaned
instruments based on user preference.
</P><A NAME="7.7"></A><P>
<B>7.7 The IBAG Sub-chunk</B>
The IBAG sub-chunk is a required sub-chunk listing all instrument zones
within the SoundFont compatible file. It is always a multiple of four
bytes in length, and contains one record for each instrument zone
plus one record for a terminal zone according to the structure:
<PRE>
struct sfInstBag{
WORD wInstGenNdx; WORD wInstModNdx;
};
</PRE>
The first zone in a given instrument is located at that instrument's
wInstBagNdx. The number of zones in the instrument is determined by the
difference between the next instrument's wInstBagNdx and the
current wInstBagNdx.
The WORD wInstGenNdx is an index to the instrument zone's list of
generators in the IGEN sub-chunk,and the wInstModNdx is an index to its
list of modulators in the IMOD sub-chunk. Because both the
generator and modulator lists are in the same order as the instrument
and zone lists, these indices will bemonotonically increasing with
increasing zones. The size of the IMOD sub-chunk in bytes will be equal
to ten times the terminal instrument's wModNdx plus ten and the size
of the IGEN sub-chunk in bytes will be equal to four times the terminal
instrument's wGenNdx plus four. If the generator or modulator
indices are non-monotonic or do not match the size of the respective
IGEN or IMOD sub-chunks, the file is structurally defective and should
be rejected at load time.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p33"></A>
If an instrument has more than one zone, the first zone may be a global
zone. A global zone is determined by the fact that the last generator
in the list is not a sampleID generator. All generator lists
must contain at least one generator with one exception - if a global
zone exists for which there are no generators but only modulators.
The modulator lists can contain zero or more modulators.
</P><P>
If a zone other than the first zone lacks a sampleID generator as its
last generator, that zone should be ignored.
A global zone with no modulators and no generators should also be ignored.
If the IBAG sub-chunk is missing, or its size is not a multiple of
four bytes, the file should be rejected as structurally unsound.
</P><A NAME="7.8"></A><P>
<B>7.8 The IMOD Sub-chunk</B>
The IMOD sub-chunk is a required sub-chunk listing all instrument zone
modulators within the SoundFont compatible file. It is always a multiple
of ten bytes in length, and contains zero or more modulators
plus a terminal record according to the structure:
<PRE>
struct sfModList{
SFModulator sfModSrcOper; SFGenerator sfModDestOper;
SHORT modAmount; SFModulator sfModAmtSrcOper;
SFTransform sfModTransOper;
};
</PRE>
The zone's wInstModNdx points to the first modulator for that zone,
and the number of modulators present for a zone is determined by the
difference between the next higher zone's wInstModNdx and the
current zone's wModNdx.
A difference of zero indicates there are no modulators in this zone.
The sfModSrcOper is a value of one of
<A HREF="#8.2">the SFModulator enumeration type values.</A>
Unknown or undefined values are ignored.
This value indicates the source of data for the modulator.
Note that this enumeration is two bytes in length.
The sfModDestOper indicates the destination of the modulator.
The destination is a value of one of
<A HREF="#8.1.3">the SFGenerator enumerations.</A>
Unknown or undefined values are ignored.
Note that this enumeration is two bytes in length.
The SHORT modAmount is a signed value indicating the degree to which
the source modulates the destination.
A zero value indicates there is no fixed amount.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p34"></A>
The sfModAmtSrcOper is a value of one of
<A HREF="#8.2">the SFModulator enumeration type values.</A>
Unknown or undefined values are ignored.
This value indicates the degree to which the source modulates the
destination is to be controlled by the specified modulation source.
Note that this enumeration is twobytes in length. The
sfModTransOper is a value of one of the SFTransform enumeration type values.
Unknown or undefined values are ignored.
This value indicates that a transform of the specified type will be
applied to the modulation source before application to the modulator.
Note that this enumeration is two bytes in length.
</P><P>
The terminal record conventionally contains zero in all fields,
and is always ignored.
A modulator is defined by its sfModSrcOper, its sfModDestOper, and
its sfModSrcAmtOper.
All modulators within a zone must have a unique set of these three enumerators.
If a second modulator is encountered with the same three enumerators as a
previous modulator within the same zone, the first modulator will be ignored.
</P><P>
Modulators in the IMOD sub-chunk are absolute. This means that
an IMOD modulator replaces, rather than adds to, a default modulator.
However the effect of a modulator on a generator is additive,
I.e. the output of a modulator adds to a generator value.
Note for backward compatibility that in SoundFont 2.00, no modulators
had been defined. So in SoundFont 2.00 compatible rendering engines,
the IMOD sub-chunk will always be ignored.
</P><P>
If the IMOD sub-chunk is missing, or its size is not a multiple
of ten bytes, the file should be rejected as structurally unsound.
</P><A NAME="7.9"></A><P>
<B>7.9 The IGEN Sub-chunk</B>
The IGEN chunk is a required chunk containing a list of zone generators
for each instrument zone within the SoundFont compatible file.
It is always a multiple of four bytes in length, and contains one or more
generators for each zone (except for a global zone containing only
modulators) plus a terminal record according to the structure:
<PRE>
struct sfInstGenList{
SFGenerator sfGenOper; genAmountType genAmount;
};
</PRE>
where the types are defined as
<A HREF="#7.5">in the PGEN zone above.</A>
The genAmount is the value to be assigned to the specified generator.
Note that this can be of three formats. Certain generators specify a range
of MIDI key numbers of MIDI velocities, with a minimum and maximum value.
Other generators specify an unsigned WORD value.
Most generators, however, specify a signed 16 bit SHORT value.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p35"></A>
The zone's wInstGenNdx points to the first generator for that zone.
Unless the zone is a global zone, the last generator in the list is a
"sampleID" generator, whose value is a pointer to the sample associated
with that zone. If a "key range" generator exists for the zone, it is
always the first generator in the list for that zone. If a "velocity
range" generator exists for the zone, it will only be preceded by a
key range generator. If any generators follow a sampleID generator,
they will be ignored.
A generator is defined by its sfGenOper. All generators within a
zone must have a unique sfGenOper enumerator. If a second generator
is encountered with the same sfGenOper enumerator as a previous
generator within the same zone, the first generator will be ignored.
Generators in the IGEN sub-chunk are absolute in nature.
This means that an IGEN generator replaces, rather than adds to,
the default value for the generator.
</P><P>
If the IGEN sub-chunk is missing, or its size is not a multiple of four
bytes, the file should be rejected as structurally unsound. If a
key range
generator is present and not the first generator, it should be ignored.
If a velocity range generator is present, and is preceded by a generator
other than a key range generator,it should be ignored. If a non-global
list does not end in a sampleID generator, the zone should be ignored.
If the sampleID generator value is equal to or greater than the
terminal sampleID, the file should be rejected as structurally unsound.
</P><A NAME="7.10"></A><P>
<B>7.10 The SHDR Sub-chunk</B>
The SHDR chunk is a required sub-chunk listing all samples within
the smpl sub-chunk and any referenced ROM samples. It is always a
multiple of forty-six bytes in length, and contains one record for
each sample plus a terminal record according to the structure:
<PRE>
struct sfSample{
CHAR achSampleName[20];
DWORD dwStart; DWORD dwEnd;
DWORD dwStartloop; DWORD dwEndloop;
DWORD dwSampleRate; BYTE byOriginalPitch; CHAR chPitchCorrection;
WORD wSampleLink; SFSampleLink sfSampleType;
};
</PRE>
<A NAME="p36"></A>
The ASCII character field achSampleName contains the name of the sample
expressed in ASCII, with unused terminal characters filled with zero
valued bytes. Sample names are case-sensitive. A unique name should
always be assigned to each sample in the SoundFont compatible bank to
enable identification. However, if a bank is read containing the erroneous
state of samples with identical names, the samples should not be discarded.
They should either be preserved as read or preferably uniquely renamed.
</P><P>
The DWORD dwStart contains the index, in sample data points, from the
beginning of the sample data field to the first data point of this sample.
</P><P>
The DWORD dwEnd contains the index, in sample data points, from the
beginning of the sample data field to the first of the set of 46 zero
valued data points following this sample.
</P><P>
The DWORD dwStartloop contains the index, in sample data points, from
the beginning of the sample data field to the first data point in the
loop of this sample.
</P><P>
The DWORD dwEndloop contains the index, in sample data points, from the
beginning of the sampledata field to the first data point following the
loop of this sample. Note that this is the data point "equivalent to"
the first loop data point, and that to produce portable artifact free
loops, the eight proximal data points surrounding both the Startloop
and Endloop points should be identical.
</P><P>
The values of dwStart, dwEnd, dwStartloop, and dwEndloop must all be
within the range of the sampledata field included in the SoundFont
compatible bank or referenced in the sound ROM. Also, to allow a
variety of hardware platforms to be able to reproduce the data, the
samples have a minimum length of 48 data points, a minimum loop size of
32 data points and a minimum of 8 valid points prior to dwStartloop
and after dwEndloop. Thus dwStart must be less than dwStartloop-7,
dwStartloop must be less than dwEndloop-31, and dwEndloop must be
less than dwEnd-7. If these constraints are not met, the sound may
optionally not be played if the hardware cannot support artifact-free
playback for the parameters given.
</P><P>
The DWORD dwSampleRate contains the sample rate, in hertz, at which
this sample was acquired or to which it was most recently converted.
Values of greater than 50000 or less than 400 may not be
reproducible by some hardware platforms and should be avoided.
A value of zero is illegal. If an illegal or impractical value
is encountered, the nearest practical value should be used.
</P><P>
The BYTE byOriginalPitch contains the MIDI key number of the recorded
pitch of the sample. For example, a recording of an instrument playing
middle C (261.62 Hz) should receive a value of 60.
This value is used as the default "root key" for the sample, so that in
the example, a MIDI key-on commandfor note number 60 would reproduce
the sound at its original pitch.
For unpitched sounds, a conventional value of 255 should be used.
Values between 128 and 254 are illegal.
Whenever an illegal value or a value of 255 is encountered,
the value 60 should be used.
</P><P>
The CHAR chPitchCorrection contains a pitch correction in cents that
should be applied to the sample on playback. The purpose of this field
is to compensate for any pitch errors during the sample recording
process. The correction value is that of the correction to be applied.
For example, if the sound is 4 cents sharp, a correction bringing
it 4 cents flat is required; thus the value should be -4.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p37"></A>
The value in sfSampleType is an enumeration with eight defined values:
monoSample = 1, rightSample =2, leftSample = 4, linkedSample = 8,
RomMonoSample = 32769, RomRightSample = 32770,
RomLeftSample = 32772, and RomLinkedSample = 32776.
It can be seen that this is encoded such that bit 15 of the 16 bit
value is set if the sample is in ROM, and reset if it is included
in the SoundFont compatible bank. The four LS bits of the word
are then exclusively set indicating mono, left, right, or linked.
</P><P>
If the sound is flagged as a ROM sample and no valid "irom" sub-chunk
is included, the file is structurally defective and should be rejected
at load time.
If sfSampleType indicates a mono sample, then wSampleLink is undefined
and its value should be conventionally zero, but will be ignored
regardless
of value. If sfSampleType indicates a left or right sample,
then wSampleLink is the sample header index of the associated
right or left stereo sample respectively. Both samples should be played
entirely synchronously, with their pitch controlled by the
right sample's generators. All non-pitch generators should apply
as normal;
in particular the panning of the individual samples to left and right
should be accomplished via the pan generator. Left-right pairs
should always be found within the same instrument. Note also that no
instrument should be designed in which it is possible to activate more
than one instance of a particular stereo pair. The linked sample type
is not currently fully defined in the SoundFont 2 specification,
but will ultimately support a circularly linked list of samples using
wSampleLink. Note that this enumeration is two bytes in length.
</P><P>
The terminal sample record is never referenced, and is conventionally
entirely zero with the exception of achSampleName, which should be
"EOS" indicating end of samples. All samples present in the smpl
sub-chunk are typically referenced by an instrument, however
a file containing any "orphaned" samples need not be rejected.
SoundFont compatible applications can optionally ignore or
filter out these orphaned samples according to user preference.
If the SHDR sub-chunk is missing, or its is size is not a multiple
of 46 bytes the file should be rejected as structurally unsound.
</P><A NAME="8"></A><H3>
8 Enumerators
</H3><A NAME="8.1"></A><P>
<B>8.1 Generator and Modulator Destination Enumerators</B>
Section 8.1 defines the generator and generator kinds.
<A HREF="#9.4">Section 9.4</A> defines the generator operation model.
</P><A NAME="8.1.1"></A><P>
<B>8.1.1 Kinds of Generator Enumerators</B>
A Generator and a Modulator Destination are two terms
meaning the same thing, a single synthesizer parameter.
Generator is used in the context of the IGen and PGen lists,
Modulator Destination is used in the context of the IMod and PMod lists.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p38"></A>
Five kinds of Generator Enumerators exist: Index Generators, Range
Generators, Substitution Generators, Sample Generators, and Value Generators.
Modulator Destinations are exclusively the list of Value Generators.
</P><P>
An <B>Index Generator</B>'s amount is an index into another data structure.
The only two Index Generators are
<A HREF="#g41">Instrument</A> and
<A HREF="#g53">sampleID.</A><BR>
A <B>Range Generator</B> defines a range of note-on parameters outside of
which the zone is undefined.
Two Range Generators are currently defined,
<A HREF="#g43">keyRange and velRange</A>.<BR>
<B>Substitution Generators</B> are generators which substitute a value for a
note-on parameter. Two Substitution Generators are currently defined,
overridingKeyNumber and overridingVelocity.<BR>
<B>Sample Generators</B> are generators which directly affect a sample's
properties. These generators are undefined at the preset level. The currently
defined Sample Generators are the eight address offset generators, the
<A HREF="#g54">sampleModes</A> generator, the
<A HREF="#g58">Overriding Root Key</A> generator and the
<A HREF="#g57">Exclusive Class</A> generator.<BR>
<B>Value Generators</B> are generators whose value directly affects a signal
processing parameter. Most generators are value generators.
</P><P>
</P><A NAME="8.1.2"></A><P>
<B>8.1.2 Generator Enumerators Defined</B>
The following is an exhaustive list of SoundFont 2.00 generators and
their strict definitions:
</P><P>
<A NAME="g0"></A>
<B>0 startAddrsOffset</B>
The offset, in sample data points, beyond the Start
sample header parameter to the first sample data point to be played for
this instrument.
For example, if Start were 7 and startAddrOffset were 2,
the first sample data point played would be sample data point 9.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g1"></A>
<B>1 endAddrsOffset</B>
The offset, in sample sample data points, beyond the End sample header
parameter to the last sample data point to be played for this instrument.
For example, if End were 17 and endAddrOffset were -2,
the last sample data point played would be sample data point 15.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g2"></A>
<B>2 startloopAddrsOffset</B>
The offset, in sample data points, beyond the Startloop sample header
parameter to the first sample data point to be repeated in the loop for this
instrument. For example, if Startloop were 10 and startloopAddrsOffset were
-1, the first repeated loop sample data point would be sample data point 9.
<A NAME="p39"></A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="g3"></A>
<B>3 endloopAddrsOffset</B>
The offset, in sample data points, beyond the Endloop sample header parameter
to the sample data point considered equivalent to the Startloop sample
data point for the loop for this instrument. For example, if Endloop were
15 and endloopAddrsOffset were 2, sample data point 17 would be considered
equivalent to the Startloop sample data point, and hence sample data
point 16 would effectively precede Startloop during looping.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g4"></A>
<B>4 startAddrsCoarseOffset</B>
The offset, in 32768 sample data point increments beyond the Start sample
header parameter and the first sample data point to be played in this
instrument. This parameter is added to the startAddrsOffset parameter.
For example,
if Start were 5, startAddrsOffset were 3 and startAddrsCoarseOffset were 2,
the first sample data point played would be sample data point 65544.
</P><P>
<B>5 modLfoToPitch</B>
<A NAME="g5"></A>
This is the degree, in cents, to which a full scale
excursion of the Modulation LFO will influence pitch.
A positive value indicates a positive LFO excursion increases pitch;
a negative value indicates a positive excursion decreases pitch.
Pitch is always modified logarithmically, that is
the deviation is in cents, semitones, and octaves rather than in Hz.
For example, a value of 100 indicates that the pitch
will first rise 1 semitone, then fall one semitone.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g6"></A>
<B>6 vibLfoToPitch</B>
This is the degree, in cents, to which a full scale
excursion of the Vibrato LFO will influence pitch.
A positive value indicates a positive LFO excursion increases pitch;
a negative value indicates a positiveexcursion decreases pitch.
Pitch is always modified logarithmically, that is
the deviation is in cents, semitones, and octaves rather than in Hz.
For example, a value of 100 indicates that the pitch will first
rise 1 semitone, then fall one semitone.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g7"></A>
<B>7 modEnvToPitch</B>
This is the degree, in cents, to which a full scale
excursion of the Modulation Envelope will influence pitch.
A positive value indicates an increase in pitch;
a negative value indicates a decrease in pitch.
Pitch is always modified logarithmically, that is
the deviation is in cents, semitones, and octaves rather than in Hz.
For example, a value of 100 indicates that
the pitch will rise 1 semitone at the envelope peak.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g8"></A>
<B>8 initialFilterFc</B>
This is the cutoff and resonant frequency of the
lowpass filter in absolute cent units. The lowpass filter is defined as
a second order resonant pole pair whose pole frequency in Hz is defined
by the InitialFilter Cutoff parameter. When the cutoff frequency exceeds
20kHz and the Q (resonance) of the filter is zero, the filter does
not affect the signal.
<A NAME="p40"></A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="g9"></A>
<B>9 initialFilterQ</B>
This is the height above DC gain in centibels which
the filter resonance exhibits at the cutoff frequency. A value of zero
or less indicates the filter is not resonant; the gain at the cutoff
frequency (pole angle) maybe less than zero when zero is specified.
The filter gain at DC is also affected by this parameter
such that the gain at DC is reduced by half the specified gain.
For example, for a value of 100, the filter gain at
DC would be 5 dB below unity gain, and the height of the resonant peak
would be 10 dB above the DC gain, or 5 dB above unity gain.
Note also that if initialFilterQ is set to zero or less and the
cutoff frequency exceeds 20 kHz, then the filter response is flat and
unity gain.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g10"></A>
<B>10 modLfoToFilterFc</B>
This is the degree, in cents, to which a full scale
excursion of the Modulation LFO will influence filter cutoff frequency.
A positive number indicates a positive LFO excursion increases cutoff
frequency;
a negative number indicates a positive excursion decreases cutoff frequency.
Filter cutoff frequency is always modified logarithmically, that is
the deviation is in cents, semitones, and octaves rather than in Hz.
For example, a value of 1200 indicates that the cutoff frequency will
first rise 1 octave, then fall one octave.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g11"></A>
<B>11 modEnvToFilterFc</B>
This is the degree, in cents, to which a full scale excursion
of the Modulation Envelope will influence filter cutoff frequency.
A positive number indicates an increase in cutoff frequency;
a negative number indicates a decrease in filter cutoff frequency.
Filter cutoff frequency is always modified logarithmically, that is
the deviation is in cents,semitones, and octaves rather than in Hz.
For example, a value of 1000 indicates that the cutoff frequency
will rise one octave at the envelope attack peak.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g12"></A>
<B>12 endAddrsCoarseOffset</B>
The offset, in 32768 sample data point increments
beyond the Endsample header parameter and the last sample data point to
be played in this instrument. This parameter is added to the
endAddrsOffset parameter. For example, if End were 65536, startAddrsOffset
were -3 and startAddrsCoarseOffset were -1, the last sample data point
played would be sample data point 32765.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g13"></A>
<B>13 modLfoToVolume</B>
This is the degree, in centibels, to which a full scale
excursion of the Modulation LFO will influence volume. A positive number
indicates a positive LFO excursion increases volume; a negative number
indicates a positive excursion decreases volume. Volume is always
modified
logarithmically, that is the deviation is in decibels rather than
in linear amplitude. For example, a value of 100 indicates that the
volume will first rise ten dB, then fall ten dB.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g14"></A>
<B>14 unused1</B>
Unused, reserved. Should be ignored if encountered .
<A NAME="p41"></A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="g15"></A>
<B>15 chorusEffectsSend</B>
This is the degree, in 0.1% units, to which the
audio output of the note is sent to the chorus effects processor.
A value of 0% or less indicates no signal is sent from this note;
a value of 100% or more indicates the note is sent at full level.
Note that this parameter has no effect on the amount of this
signal sent to the "dry" or unprocessed portion of the output.
For example, a value of 250 indicates that the signal is sent at 25% of full
level (attenuation of 12 dB from full level) to the chorus effects processor.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g16"></A>
<B>16 reverbEffectsSend</B>
This is the degree, in 0.1% units, to which the audio
output of the note is sent to the reverb effects processor. A value of 0%
or less indicates no signal is sent from this note; a value of 100% or more
indicates the note is sent at full level. Note that this parameter has
no effect on the amount of this signal sent to the "dry" or unprocessed
portion of the output. For example, a value of 250 indicates that the
signal is sent at 25% of full level (attenuation of 12 dB from full level)
to the reverb effects processor.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g17"></A>
<B>17 pan</B>
This is the degree, in 0.1% units, to which the "dry" audio output
of the note is positioned to the left or right output. A value of -50%
or less indicates the signal is sent entirely to the left output and not sent
to the right output; a value of +50% or more indicates the note is sent
entirely to the right and not sent to the left. A value of zero places the
signal centered between left and right. For example, a value of -250
indicates that the signal is sent at 75% of full level to the left output
and 25% of full level to the right output.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g18"></A>
<B>18 unused2</B>
Unused, reserved. Should be ignored if encountered.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g19"></A>
<B>19 unused3</B>
Unused, reserved. Should be ignored if encountered.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g20"></A>
<B>20 unused4</B>
Unused, reserved. Should be ignored if encountered.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g21"></A>
<B>21 delayModLFO</B>
This is the delay time, in absolute timecents, from key on
until the Modulation LFO begins its upward ramp from zero value.
A value of 0 indicates a 1 second delay. A negative value indicates a delay
less than one second and a positive value a delay longer than one second.
The most negative number (-32768) conventionally indicates no delay.
For example, a delay of 10 msec would be 1200log2(.01) = -7973.
</P><P>
<B>22 freqModLFO</B>
<A NAME="g22"></A>
This is the frequency, in absolute cents,
of the Modulation LFO's triangular period.
A value of zero indicates a frequency of 8.176 Hz.
A negative value indicates a frequency less than 8.176 Hz;
a positive value a frequency greater than 8.176 Hz.
For example, a frequency of 10 mHz would be 1200log2(.01/8.176) = -11610.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g23"></A>
<B>23 delayVibLFO</B>
This is the delay time, in absolute timecents, from
key on until the Vibrato LFO begins its upward ramp from zero value.
A value of 0 indicates a 1 second delay. A negative value indicates a
delay less than one second; a positive value a delay longer than one second.
The most negative number (-32768) conventionally indicates no delay.
For example, a delay of 10 msec would be 1200log2(.01) = -7973.
<A NAME="p42"></A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="g24"></A>
<B>24 freqVibLFO</B>
This is the frequency, in absolute cents, of the Vibrato
LFO's triangular period. A value of zero indicates a frequency of 8.176 Hz.
A negative value indicates a frequency less than 8.176 Hz; a positive value
a frequency greater than 8.176 Hz. For example, a frequency of 10 mHz
would be 1200log2(.01/8.176) = -11610.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g25"></A>
<B>25 delayModEnv</B>
This is the delay time, in absolute timecents, between key on
and the start of the attack phase of the Modulation envelope.
A value of 0 indicates a 1 second delay. A negative value indicates a
delay less than one second; a positive value a delay longer than one second.
The most negative number (-32768) conventionally indicates no delay.
For example, a delay of 10 msec would be 1200log2(.01) = -7973.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g26"></A>
<B>26 attackModEnv</B>
This is the time, in absolute timecents, from the end of the
Modulation Envelope Delay Time until the point at which the Modulation
Envelope value reaches its peak. Note that the attack is "convex";
the curve is nominally such that when applied to a decibel or semitone
parameter, the result is linear in amplitude or Hz respectively.
A value of 0 indicates a 1 second attack time. A negative value indicates
a time less than one second; a positive value a time longer than one second.
The most negative number (-32768) conventionally indicates instantaneous
attack. For example, an attack time of 10 msec would be 1200log2(.01)
= -7973.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g27"></A>
<B>27 holdModEnv</B>
This is the time, in absolute timecents, from the end of
the attack phaseto the entry into decay phase, during which the envelope
value is held at its peak. A value of 0 indicates a 1 second hold time.
A negative value indicates a time less than one second;
a positive value a time longer than one second.
The most negative number (-32768) conventionally indicates no hold phase.
For example, a hold time of 10 msec would be 1200log2(.01) = -7973.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g28"></A>
<B>28 decayModEnv</B>
This is the time, in absolute timecents, for a 100% change
in the Modulation Envelope value during decay phase. For the Modulation
Envelope, the decay phase linearly ramps toward the sustain level.
If the sustain level were zero, the Modulation Envelope Decay Time
would be the time spent in decay phase. A value of 0 indicates a 1 second
decay time for a zero-sustain level. A negative value indicates a
time less than one second; a positive value a time longer than one second.
For example, a decay time of 10 msec would be 1200log2(.01) = -7973.
<A NAME="p43"></A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="g29"></A>
<B>29 sustainModEnv</B>
This is the decrease in level, expressed in 0.1% units,
to which the Modulation Envelope value ramps during the decay phase.
For the Modulation Envelope, the sustain level is properly expressed in
percentof full scale. Because the volume envelope sustain level is expressed
as an attenuation from full scale, the sustain level is analogously
expressed as a decrease from full scale. A value of 0 indicates the sustain
level is full level; this implies a zero duration of decay phase regardless
of decay time. A positive value indicates a decay to the corresponding
level. Values less than zero are to be interpreted as zero; values
above 1000 are to be interpreted as 1000. For example, a sustain level
which corresponds to an absolute value 40% of peak would be 600.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g30"></A>
<B>30 releaseModEnv</B>
This is the time, in absolute timecents, for a 100%
change in the Modulation Envelope value during release phase.
For the Modulation Envelope, the release phase linearly ramps toward zero
from the currentlevel. If the current level were full scale, the Modulation
Envelope Release Time would be the time spent in release phase until zero
valuewere reached. A value of 0 indicates a 1 second decay time for a
release from full level. A negative value indicates a time less than
one second; a positive value a time longer than one second.
For example, a release time of 10 msec would be 1200log2(.01) = -7973.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g31"></A>
<B>31 keynumToModEnvHold</B>
This is the degree, in timecents per KeyNumber
units, to which the holdtime of the Modulation Envelope is decreased
by increasing MIDI key number. The hold time at key number 60 is always
unchanged. The unit scaling is such that a value of 100 provides a hold
time which tracks the keyboard; that is, an upward octave causes the hold
time to halve. For example, if the Modulation Envelope Hold Time were -7973
= 10 msec and the Key Number to Mod Env Hold were 50 when keynumber 36
was played, the hold time would be 20 msec.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g32"></A>
<B>32 keynumToModEnvDecay</B>
This is the degree, in timecents per KeyNumber
units, to which the holdtime of the Modulation Envelope is decreased by
increasing MIDI key number. The hold time at key number 60 is always
unchanged. The unit scaling is such that a value of 100 provides a hold
time that tracks the keyboard; that is, an upward octave causes the hold
time to halve.
For example, if the Modulation Envelope Hold Time were -7973 = 10
msec and the Key Number to Mod Env Hold were 50 when key number36 was
played, the hold time would be 20 msec.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g33"></A>
<B>33 delayVolEnv</B>
This is the delay time, in absolute timecents, between key
on and the start of the attack phase of the Volume envelope. A value of 0
indicates a 1 second delay. A negative value indicates a delay less
than one second; a positive value a delay longer than one second.
The most negative number (-32768) conventionally indicates no delay.
For example, a delay of 10 msec would be 1200log2(.01) = -7973.
<A NAME="p44"></A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="g34"></A>
<B>34 attackVolEnv</B>
This is the time, in absolute timecents, from the end of
the VolumeEnvelope Delay Time until the point at which the Volume Envelope
value reaches its peak. Note that the attack is "convex"; the curve
is nominally such that when applied to the decibel volume parameter, the
result is linear in amplitude. A value of 0 indicates a 1 second
attacktime. A negative value indicates a time less than one second;
a positive value a time longer than one second. The most negative number
(-32768) conventionally indicates instantaneous attack. For example, an
attack time of 10 msec would be 1200log2(.01) = -7973.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g35"></A>
<B>35 holdVolEnv</B>
This is the time, in absolute timecents, from the end of
the attack phaseto the entry into decay phase, during which the Volume
envelope value is held at its peak. A value of 0 indicates a 1 second hold
time. A negative value indicates a time less than one second; a positive
value a time longer than one second. The most negative number
(-32768) conventionally indicates no hold phase. For example, a hold
time of 10 msec would be 1200log2(.01) = -7973.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g36"></A>
<B>36 decayVolEnv</B>
This is the time, in absolute timecents, for a 100%
change in the Volume Envelope value during decay phase. For the Volume
Envelope, the decay phase linearly ramps toward the sustain level, causing
a constant dB change for each time unit. If the sustain level were -100dB,
the Volume Envelope Decay Time would be the time spent in decay phase.
A value of 0 indicates a 1-second decay time for a zero-sustain level.
A negative value indicates a time less than one second;
a positive value a time longer than one second.
For example, a decay time of 10 msec would be 1200log2(.01) = -7973.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g37"></A>
<B>37 sustainVolEnv</B>
This is the decrease in level, expressed in centibels,
to which the Volume Envelope value ramps during the decay phase.
For the Volume Envelope, the sustain level is best expressed
in centibels of attenuation from full scale.
A value of 0 indicates the sustain level is full level;
this implies a zero duration of decay phase regardless of decay time.
Apositive value indicates a decay to the corresponding level.
Values less than zero are to be interpreted as zero;
conventionally 1000 indicates full attenuation.
For example, a sustain level which corresponds to an
absolute value 12dB below of peak would be 120.
<A NAME="p45"></A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="g38"></A>
<B>38 releaseVolEnv</B>
This is the time, in absolute timecents, for a 100%
change in the Volume Envelope value during release phase. For the Volume
Envelope, the release phase linearly ramps toward zero from the
current level, causing a constant dB change for each time unit.
If the current level were full scale, the Volume Envelope Release Time would
be the time spent in release phase until 100dB attenuation were reached.
A value of 0 indicates a 1-second decay time for a release from full level.
A negative value indicates a time less than one second; a positive valuea
time longer than one second. For example, a release time of 10 msec
would be 1200log2(.01) = -7973.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g39"></A>
<B>39 keynumToVolEnvHold</B>
This is the degree, in timecents per KeyNumber units,
to which the hold time of the Volume Envelope is decreased by increasing
MIDI key number. The hold time at key number 60 is always unchanged.
The unit scaling is such that a value of 100 provides a hold time which
tracks the keyboard; that is, an upward octave causes the hold time to halve.
For example, if the Volume Envelope Hold Time were -7973 = 10 msec
and the Key Number to Vol Env Hold were 50 when keynumber 36 was played,
the hold time would be 20 msec.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g40"></A>
<B>40 keynumToVolEnvDecay</B>
This is the degree, in timecents per KeyNumber units, to which the hold time
of the Volume Envelope is decreased by increasing MIDI key number.
The hold time at key number 60 is always unchanged.
The unit scaling is such that a value of 100 provides a hold time that tracks
the keyboard; that is, an upward octave causes the hold time to halve.
For example, if the Volume Envelope Hold Time were -7973 = 10 msec
and the Key Number to Vol Env Hold were 50 when key number 36 was played,
the hold time would be 20 msec.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g41"></A>
<B>41 instrument</B>
This is the index into the INST sub-chunk providing
the instrument to be used for the current preset zone.
A value of zero indicates the first instrument in the list.
The value should never exceed two less than the size of the instrument list.
The instrument enumerator is the terminal generator for PGEN zones.
As such, it should only appear in the PGEN sub-chunk, and it must
appear as the last generator enumerator in all but the global preset zone.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g42"></A>
<B>42 reserved1</B>
Unused, reserved. Should be ignored if encountered.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g43"></A>
<B>43 keyRange</B>
This is the minimum and maximum MIDI key number values
for which this preset zone or instrument zone is active.
The LS byte indicates the highest and the MS byte the lowest valid key.
The keyRange enumerator is optional, but when it does appear,
it must be the first generator in the zone generator list.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g44"></A>
<B>44 velRange</B>
This is the minimum and maximum MIDI velocity values for which
this preset zone or instrument zone is active. The LS byte indicates the
highest and the MS byte the lowest valid velocity.
The velRange enumerator is optional, but when it does appear,
it must be preceded only by keyRange in the zone generator list.
<A NAME="p46"></A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="g45"></A>
<B>45 startloopAddrsCoarseOffset</B>
The offset, in 32768 sample data point increments beyond the Startloop
sample header parameter and the first sample data point to be repeated
in this instrument's loop. This parameter
is added to the startloopAddrsOffset parameter. For example, if Startloop
were 5, startloopAddrsOffset were 3 and startAddrsCoarseOffset were 2,
the first sample data point in the loop would be sample data point 65544.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g46"></A>
<B>46 keynum</B>
This enumerator forces the MIDI key number to effectively
be interpreted as the value given. This generator can only appear
at the instrument level. Valid values are from 0 to 127.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g47"></A>
<B>47 velocity</B>
This enumerator forces the MIDI velocity to effectively
be interpreted as the value given. This generator can only appear
at the instrument level. Valid values are from 0 to 127.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g48"></A>
<B>48 initialAttenuation</B>
This is the attenuation, in centibels, by which
a note is attenuated below full scale. A value of zero indicates no
attenuation; the note will be played at full scale. For example, a value
of 60 indicates the note will be played at 6 dB below full scale for
the note.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g49"></A>
<B>49 reserved2</B>
Unused, reserved. Should be ignored if encountered.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g50"></A>
<B>50 endloopAddrsCoarseOffset</B>
The offset, in 32768 sample data point
increments beyond the Endloop sample header parameter to the sample data
point considered equivalent to the Startloop sample data point
for the loop for this instrument.
This parameter is added to the endloopAddrsOffset parameter.
For example, if Endloop were 5, endloopAddrsOffset were 3
and endAddrsCoarseOffset were 2, sample data point 65544 would be
considered equivalent to the Startloop sample data point, and hence sample
data point 65543 would effectively precede Startloop during looping.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g51"></A>
<B>51 coarseTune</B>
This is a pitch offset, in semitones,
which should be applied to the note.
A positive value indicates the sound is reproduced at a higher pitch;
a negative value indicates a lower pitch. For example, a Coarse Tune
value of -4 would cause the sound to be reproduced four semitones flat.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g52"></A>
<B>52 fineTune</B>
This is a pitch offset, in cents, which should be applied
to the note. It is additive with coarseTune. A positive value indicates
the sound is reproduced at a higher pitch; a negative value indicates
a lower pitch. For example, a Fine Tuning value of -5 would cause the
sound to be reproduced five cents flat.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g53"></A>
<B>53 sampleID</B>
This is the index into the SHDR sub-chunk providing the
sample to be used for the current instrument zone.
A value of zero indicates the first sample in the list.
The value should never exceed two less than the size of the sample list.
The sampleID enumerator is the terminal generator for IGEN zones.
As such, it should only appear in the IGEN subSoundFont chunk,
and it must appear as the last generator enumerator in all but the
global zone.
<A NAME="p47"></A>
</P><P>
<A NAME="g54"></A>
<B>54 sampleModes</B>
This enumerator indicates a value which gives a variety
of Boolean flags describing the sample for the current instrument zone.
The sampleModes should only appear in the IGEN sub-chunk,
and should not appear in the global zone.
The two LS bits of the value indicate the type of loop in the sample:<BR>
<B>0</B> indicates a sound reproduced with no loop,<BR>
<B>1</B> indicates a sound which loops continuously,<BR>
<B>2</B> is unused but should be interpreted as indicating no loop, and<BR>
<B>3</B> indicates a sound which loops for the duration of key depression
then proceeds to play the remainder of the sample.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g55"></A>
<B>55 reserved3</B>
Unused, reserved. Should be ignored if encountered.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g56"></A>
<B>56 scaleTuning</B>
This parameter represents the degree to which MIDI
key number influences pitch. A value of zero indicates that MIDI key
number has no effect on pitch; a value of 100 represents the usual
tempered semitone scale.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g57"></A>
<B>57 exclusiveClass</B>
This parameter provides the capability for a key depression in a
given instrument to terminate the playback of other instruments. This is
particularly useful for percussive instruments such as a hi-hat cymbal.
An exclusive class value of zero indicates no exclusive class; no special
action is taken. Any other value indicates that when this note
isinitiated, any other sounding note with the same exclusive class value
should be rapidly terminated. The exclusive class generator can
only appear at the instrument level. The scope of the exclusive class
is the entire preset. In other words, any other instrument zone within the
same preset holding a corresponding exclusive class will be terminated.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g58"></A>
<B>58 overridingRootKey</B>
This parameter represents the MIDI key number
at which the sample is to be played back at its original sample rate.
If not present, or if present with a value of -1, then the sample header
parameter OriginalKey is used in its place.
If it is present in the range 0-127, then the
indicated key number will cause the sample to be played back at its sample
header Sample Rate. For example, if the sample were a
recording of a piano middle C (Original Key = 60) at a sample rate of
22.050 kHz, and Root Key were set to 69, then playing MIDI key number
69 (A above middle C) would cause a piano note of pitch middle C to be heard.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g59"></A>
<B>59 unused5</B>
Unused, reserved. Should be ignored if encountered.
</P><P>
<A NAME="g60"></A>
<B>60 endOper</B>
Unused, reserved. Should be ignored if encountered.
</P><P>
Unique name provides value to end of defined list.
<A NAME="p48"></A>
</P><P>
</P><A NAME="8.1.3"></A><P>
<B>8.1.3 Generator Summary</B><BR>
The following table give the ranges and default values for all SoundFont
2.x defined generators.
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0><TR>
<TH>#</TH><TH>Name</TH><TH>
<A HREF="#9.3">Units</A></TH><TH>AbsZero</TH><TH>Min</TH>
<TH>Min<BR>Useful</TH><TH>Max</TH><TH>Max<BR>Useful</TH><TH>Default</TH><TH>Def<BR>Value
</TH></TR><TR><TH>
0</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g0">startAddrsOffset</A>
+</TD><TD>smpls</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
1</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g1">endAddrsOffset</A>
+</TD><TD>smpls</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
2</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g2">startloopAddrsOffset</A>
+</TD><TD>smpls</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
3</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g3">endloopAddrsOffset</A>
+</TD><TD>smpls</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
4</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g4">startAddrsCoarseOffset</A>
+</TD><TD>32k smpls</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
5</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g5">modLfoToPitch</A>
</TD><TD>cent fs</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>-10 oct</TD><TD>12000</TD><TD>10 oct</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
6</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g6">vibLfoToPitch</A>
</TD><TD>cent fs</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>-10 oct</TD><TD>12000</TD><TD>10 oct</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
7</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g7">modEnvToPitch</A>
</TD><TD>cent fs</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>-10 oct</TD><TD>12000</TD><TD>10 oct</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
8</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g8">initialFilterFc</A>
</TD><TD>cent</TD><TD>8.176Hz</TD><TD>1500</TD><TD>20 Hz</TD><TD>13500</TD><TD>20 kHz</TD><TD>13500</TD><TD>Open
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
9</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g9">initialFilterQ</A>
</TD><TD>cB</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None</TD><TD>960</TD><TD>96 dB</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
10</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g10">modLfoToFilterFc</A>
</TD><TD>cent fs</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>-10 oct</TD><TD>12000</TD><TD>10 oct</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
11</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g11">modEnvToFilterFc</A>
</TD><TD>cent fs</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>-10 oct</TD><TD>12000</TD><TD>10 oct</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
12</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g12">endAddrsCoarseOffset</A>
+</TD><TD>32k smpls</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
13</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g13">modLfoToVolume</A>
</TD><TD>cB fs</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-960</TD><TD>-96 dB</TD><TD>960</TD><TD>96 dB</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
15</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g15">chorusEffectsSend</A>
</TD><TD>0.1%</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None</TD><TD>1000</TD><TD>100%</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
16</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g16">reverbEffectsSend</A>
</TD><TD>0.1%</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None</TD><TD>1000</TD><TD>100%</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
17</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g17">pan</A>
</TD><TD>0.1%</TD><TD>Cntr</TD><TD>-500</TD><TD>Left</TD><TD>+500</TD><TD>Right</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>Center
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
21</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g21">delayModLFO</A>
</TD></A>
<TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>5000</TD><TD>20 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
22</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g22">freqModLFO</A>
</TD><TD>cent</TD><TD>8.176Hz</TD><TD>-16000</TD><TD>1 mHz</TD><TD>4500</TD><TD>100 Hz</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>8.176Hz
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
23</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g23">delayVibLFO</A>
</TD><TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>5000</TD><TD>20 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
24</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g24">freqVibLFO</A>
</TD><TD>cent</TD><TD>8.176Hz</TD><TD>-16000</TD><TD>1 mHz</TD><TD>4500</TD><TD>100 Hz</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>8.176Hz
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
25</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g25">delayModEnv</A>
</TD><TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>5000</TD><TD>20 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
26</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g26">attackModEnv</A>
</TD><TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>8000</TD><TD>100sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
27</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g27">holdModEnv</A>
</TD><TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>5000</TD><TD>20 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
28</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g28">decayModEnv</A>
</TD><TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>8000</TD><TD>100sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
29</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g29">sustainModEnv</A>
</TD><TD>-0.1%</TD><TD>attkpeak</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>100%</TD><TD>1000</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>attk pk
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
30</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g30">releaseModEnv</A>
</TD><TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>8000</TD><TD>100sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
31</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g31">keynumToModEnvHold</A>
</TD><TD>tcent/key</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-1200</TD><TD>-oct/ky</TD><TD>1200</TD><TD>oct/ky</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
32</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g32">keynumToModEnvDecay</A>
</TD><TD>tcent/key</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-1200</TD><TD>-oct/ky</TD><TD>1200</TD><TD>oct/ky</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
33</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g33">delayVolEnv</A>
</TD><TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>5000</TD><TD>20 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><A NAME="p49"></A><TR><TH>
34</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g34">attackVolEnv</A>
</TD><TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>8000</TD><TD>100sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
35</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g35">holdVolEnv</A>
</TD><TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>5000</TD><TD>20 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
36</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g36">decayVolEnv</A>
</TD><TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>8000</TD><TD>100sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
37</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g37">sustainVolEnv</A>
</TD><TD>cB attn</TD><TD>attk peak</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0 dB</TD><TD>1440</TD><TD>144dB</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>attk pk
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
38</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g38">releaseVolEnv</A>
</TD><TD>timecent</TD><TD>1 sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD>1 msec</TD><TD>8000</TD><TD>100sec</TD><TD>-12000</TD><TD><1msec
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
39</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g39">keynumToVolEnvHold</A>
</TD><TD>tcent/key</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-1200</TD><TD>-oct/ky</TD><TD>1200</TD><TD>oct/ky</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
40</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g40">keynumToVolEnvDecay</A>
</TD><TD>tcent/key</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-1200</TD><TD>-oct/ky</TD><TD>1200</TD><TD>oct/ky</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
43</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g43">keyRange</A>
@</TD><TD>MIDI ky#</TD><TD>key#0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>lo key</TD><TD>127</TD><TD>hi key</TD><TD>0-127</TD><TD>fullkbd
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
44</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g44">velRange</A>
@</TD><TD>MIDI vel</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>minvel</TD><TD>127</TD><TD>maxvel</TD><TD>0-127</TD><TD>all vels
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
45</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g45">startloopAddrsCoarseOffset</A>
+</TD><TD>smpls</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
46</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g46">keynum</A>
+@</TD><TD>MIDI ky#</TD><TD>key#0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>lo key</TD><TD>127</TD><TD>hi key</TD><TD>-1</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
47</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g47">velocity</A>
+@</TD><TD>MIDI vel</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>min vel</TD><TD>127</TD><TD>max vel</TD><TD>-1</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
48</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g48">initialAttenuation</A>
</TD><TD>cB</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0 dB</TD><TD>1440</TD><TD>144dB</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
50</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g50">endloopAddrsCoarseOffset</A>
+</TD><TD>smpls</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>*</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
51</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g51">coarseTune</A>
</TD><TD>semitone</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-120</TD><TD>-10 oct</TD><TD>120</TD><TD>10 oct</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
52</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g52">fineTune</A>
</TD><TD>cent</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>-99</TD><TD>-99 cent</TD><TD>99</TD><TD>99 cent</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
54</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g54">sampleMode</A>
+@</TD><TD>Bit Flags</TD><TD>Flags</TD><TD>**</TD><TD>**</TD><TD>**</TD><TD>**</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>No Loop
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
56</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g56">scaleTuning</A>
@</TD><TD>cent/key</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>none</TD><TD>1200</TD><TD>oct/ky</TD><TD>100</TD><TD>semi-tone
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
57</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g57">exclusiveClass</A>
+@</TD><TD>arbitrary#</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>--</TD><TD>127</TD><TD>--</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR><TR><TH>
58</TH><TD>
<A HREF="#g58">overridingRootKey</A>
+@</TD><TD>MIDI ky#</TD><TD>key#0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>lo key</TD><TD>127</TD><TD>hi key</TD><TD>-1</TD><TD>None
</TD></TR></TABLE><P>
* Range depends on values of start, loop, and end points in sample header.<BR>
** Range has discrete values based on bit flags<BR>
+ This generator is only valid at the instrument level.<BR>
@ This generator is designated as a non-real-time parameter.
</P><A NAME="8.2"></A><P>
<B>8.2 Modulator Source Enumerators</B>
Section 8.2 defines the SoundFont modulator enumerations,
<A HREF="#9.5">Section 9.5</A>
describes the SoundFontModulator theory of operation.
</P><P>
The SoundFont sfModulator enumeration values are actually a combination
of an index value like the sfGenerator enumeration values specifying
source values with bit fields specifying source types and
source pallettes.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p50"></A>
The following diagram contains the bit-wise specific information contained
within a 16 bit SoundFont source enumeration:
</P><PRE>
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
|......Type.....| P D C |.......Index......|
</PRE><P>
<A HREF="#8.2.4">Type = a 6-bit value specifying the continuity of the controller</A><BR>
<A HREF="#8.2.3">P = Polarity</A><BR>
<A HREF="#8.2.2">D = Direction</A><BR>
<A HREF="#8.2.1">C = MIDI Continuous Controller Flag</A><BR>
<A HREF="#8.2.1">Index = A 7 bit value specifying the controller source</A>
</P><A NAME="8.2.1"></A><P>
<B>8.2.1 Source Enumerator Controller Palettes</B>
The SoundFont format supports two distinct controller palettes,
based on the value of bit 7 in the source enumeration field.
If the 'C' bit is set to 0, the General Controller palette of controllers
is selected.
</P><P>
The 'index' field value corresponds to one of the following controller sources.
All values not listed are reserved for future use. If such a value is
encountered, the entire modulator structure should be ignored.
<BR>
<B>0 No Controller</B>
No controller is to be used. The output of this
controller module should be treated as if its value were set to '1'.
It should not be a means to turn off a modulator.
<BR>
<B>2 Note-On Velocity</B>
The controller source to be used is the velocity
value which is sent from the MIDI note-on command which generated the
given sound.
<BR>
<B>3 Note-On Key Number</B>
The controller source to be used is the key
number value which was sent from the MIDI note-on command which generated
the given sound.
<BR>
<B>10 Poly Pressure</B>
The controller source to be used is the poly-pressure
amount that is sent from the MIDI poly-pressure command.
<BR>
<B>13 Channel Pressure</B>
The controller source to be used is the channel
pressure amount that is sent from the MIDI channel-pressure command.
<BR>
<B>14 Pitch Wheel</B>
The controller source to be used is the pitch wheel amount
which is sent from the MIDI pitch wheel command
<A NAME="p51"></A>
<BR>
<B>16 Pitch Wheel Sensitivity</B>
The controller source to be used is the pitch
wheel sensitivity amount which is sent from the MIDI RPN 0 pitch wheel
sensitivity command.
</P><P>
If the 'C' bit is set to '1', the MIDI Controller Palette is selected.
The 'index' field value corresponds to one of the 128 MIDI Continuous
Controller messages as defined in the MIDI specification.
Note that in this case where C is set to 1, index values 0, 6, 32, 38,
98 through 101, and 120 through 127 are ILLEGAL due to their nature
as a MIDI functions rather than true MIDI controllers. Also, index
values 33 through 63 should be reserved for LSB contributions of
controller indices 1 through 31. If these index values are encountered,
the entire modulator structure should be ignored.
</P><A NAME="8.2.2"></A><P>
<B>8.2.2 Source Directions</B>
The SoundFont 2.01 format supports two directions for any controller.
The direction is specified by bit 8 of the source enumeration field.
</P><P>
If the 'D' bit is set to 0, the direction of the controller should be
from the minimum value to the maximum value. So, for example, if the
controller source is Key Number, then Key Number value of 0
corresponds to the minimum possible controller output, and Key Number
value of 127 corresponds to the maximum possible controller input.
</P><P>
If the 'D' bit is set to 1, the direction of the controller should be
from the maximum value to theminimum value. So, for example, if the
controller source is Key Number, then a Key Number value of 0
corresponds to the maximum possible controller output, and the Key Number
value of 127 correspondsto the minimum possible controller input.
</P><A NAME="8.2.3"></A><P>
<B>8.2.3 Source Polarities</B>
The SoundFont 2.01 format supports two polarities for any controller.
The polarity if specified by bit 9 of the source enumeration field.
</P><P>
If the 'P' bit is set to 0, the controller should be mapped with a minimum
value of 0 and a maximum value of 1. This is also called Unipolar.
Thus it behaves similar to the Modulation Wheel controller of the
MIDI specification.<BR>
If the 'P' bit is set to 1, the controller sound be mapped with a minimum
value of -1 and a maximum value of 1. This is also called Bipolar.
Thus it behaves similar to the Pitch Wheel controller of the MIDI
specification.
</P><A NAME="8.2.4"></A><P>
<B>8.2.4 Source Types</B>
<A NAME="p52"></A>
The SoundFont 2.01 format may be used to support various types of controllers.
This field completes the definition of the controller.
A controller type specifies how the minimum value approaches the maximum value.
Currently, there is one source types defined; thus bits 10 through 15
of the enumeration field are not defined individually. They are instead
reserved to support future source types. If any of bits 11 through
15 are set to 1, the modulator structure should be ignored.
The following are the definitions of the controller types:
<BR>
<B>0 Linear</B>
The SoundFont modulator controller moves linearly from the
minimum to the maximum value in the direction and with the polarity
specified by the 'D' and 'P' bits.
<BR>
<B>1 Concave</B>
The SoundFont modulator controller moves in a concave fashion
from the minimum to the maximum value in the direction and with the
polarity specified by the 'D' and 'P' bits. The negative unipolar
concave characteristic follows variations of the mathematical equation:<BR>
<CODE>output = -20/96 * log((value^2)/(range^2))</CODE><BR>
where<BR>
<CODE> value = input value - min value</CODE><BR>
<CODE> range = max value - min value</CODE>
<BR>
<B>2 Convex</B>
The SoundFont modulator controller moves in a convex fashion
from the minimum to the maximum value in the direction and with the
polarity specified by the 'D' and 'P' bits. The convex curve is the
same curve as the concave curve, except the start and end points are
reversed.
<BR>
<B>3 Switch</B>
The SoundFont modulator controller output is at a minimum
valuewhile the controller input moves from the minimum to half of the
maximum, after which the controller output is at a maximum. This occurs
in the direction and with the polarity specified by the 'D' and 'P' bits.
</P><A NAME="8.3"></A><P>
<B>8.3 Modulator Transform Enumerators</B>
The following values for the transform enumeration field are defined
for SoundFont 2.01:<BR>
<B>0 Linear</B>
The output value of the multiplier is to be fed directly to
the summing node of the given destination.
<A NAME="p53"></A>
</P><A NAME="8.4"></A><P>
<B>8.4 Default Modulators</B>
The "default" modulators are described below. These modulator values
are the default for the instrument level; I.e. they are not default at the
preset level. The default modulators at the preset level are such that
there is no additional control over any parameter. "Default" modulators
are also refered to as "GeneralMIDI" modulators because their settings
and values match the MIDI specification.
</P><P>
Note that these modulators are implicit to the file format, so in order to
turn them off one must explicitly put modulators in the appropriate level
of the hierarchy to either supersede or negate the effect of these modulators.
</P><P>
Please review
<A HREF="#9.4">section 9.4</A>, the SoundFont Modulator Controller Model
Theory of Operations for a detailed description of the general nature
of these modulators, as well as the effect of Modulators upon
default modulators in different levels in the SoundFont hierarchy.
</P><A NAME="8.4.1"></A><P>
<B>8.4.1 MIDI Note-On Velocity to Initial Attenuation</B><BR>
Source Enumeration = 0x0502 (type=1, P=0, D=1, C=0, index = 2)<BR>
Destination Enumeration = Initial Attenuation<BR>
Amount = 960<BR>
Amount Source Enumeration = 0x0 (No controller)<BR>
Transform Enumeration = 0 (Linear)<BR>
The MIDI key number is used as a Negative Unipolar source; thus the
input value of 1 is mapped to a value of 127/128, an input value of 127
is mapped to 0 and all other values are mapped between 127/128
and 0 in a concave fashion.
There is no secondary source for this modulator;
thus its effect is the same as the effect of multiplying the amount by 1.
The amount of this modulator is 960 cB (or 96 dB) of attenuation.
Note that the MIDI specification is such that a note-on
velocity amount of zero indicates a note-off,
thus it is not considered in this modulator.
</P><P>
The product of these values is passed through a Linear Transform
(or is left uninhibited) and is added to the initial attenuation
generator.
</P><A NAME="8.4.2"></A><P>
<B>8.4.2 MIDI Note-On Velocity to Filter Cutoff</B><BR>
Source Enumeration = 0x0102 (type=0, P=0, D=1, C=0, index = 2)<BR>
Destination Enumeration = Initial Filter Cutoff<BR>
Amount = -2400 Cents<BR>
Amount Source Enumeration = 0x502 (type=3, P=0, D=1, C=0, index=2)<BR>
Transform Enumeration = 0 (Linear)<BR>
The MIDI key number is used as a Negative Unipolar source; thus the
input value of 1 is mapped to a value of 127/128, an input value of 127
is mapped to 0 and all other values are mapped between 127/128
and 1 in a linear fashion. The MIDI velocity number is also used as a
secondary source for thismodulator; it is a negative unipolar switch. This
has the effect of turning off velocity-to-filter for velocity
numbers less than 64. The amount of this modulator is -2400 Cents.
Note that the MIDI specification is such that a note-on velocity amount of
zero indicates a note-off, thus it is not considered in this modulator.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p54"></A>
The product of these values is passed through a Linear Transform (or is left
uninhibited) and is added to the Initial Filter Cutoff generator summing node.
Please note that the stipulation in the previous specification where
this default modulator does not occur unless the volume envelope attack
time is less than 7 msec has been removed. This stipulation may be
added as a synthesizer mode function in order to make your synthesizer
AWE32 compatible, however it is not required for SoundFont 2.01
compatibility. Also note that the definition of a "MIDI Velocity to
Initial Filter Cutoff" transform is not used. This linear transformation
combined with the use of velocity as a secondary source with a switch
curve approximates the original functionality of the AWE32 very closely.
</P><A NAME="8.4.3"></A><P>
<B>8.4.3 MIDI Channel Pressure to Vibrato LFO Pitch Depth</B><BR>
Source Enumeration = 0x000D (type=0, P=0, D=0, C=0, index = 13)<BR>
Destination Enumeration = Vibrato LFO to Pitch<BR>
Amount = 50 cents/max excursion<BR>
Amount Source Enumeration = 0x0 (No controller)<BR>
Transform Enumeration = 0 ( Linear)<BR>
The MIDI Channel Pressure data value is used as a Positive Unipolar source;
thus the input value of 0 is mapped to a value of 0, an input value of 127
is mapped to 127/128 and all other values are mapped between 0 and 127/128
in a linear fashion. There is no secondary source for this modulator;
thus itseffect is the same as the effect of multiplying the amount by 1. The
amount of this modulator is 50 cents per max excursion of vibrato modulation.
The product of these values is passed through a Linear Transform (or is left
uninhibited) and is added to the Vibrato LFO to Pitch generator summing node.
</P><A NAME="8.4.4"></A><P>
<B>8.4.4 MIDI Continuous Controller 1 to Vibrato LFO Pitch Depth</B><BR>
Source Enumeration = 0x0081 (type=0, P=0, D=0, C=1, index = 1)<BR>
Destination Enumeration = Vibrato LFO to Pitch<BR>
Amount = 50<BR>
Amount Source Enumeration = 0x0 (No controller)<BR>
Transform Enumeration = 0 (Linear)<BR>
The MIDI Continuous Controller 1 data value is used as a Positive
Unipolar source; thus the input value of 0 is mapped to a value of 0,
an input value of 127 is mapped to 127/128 and all other values are
mapped between 0 and 127/128 in a linear fashion. The MIDI Continuous
Controller 33 data value maybe optionally used for increased resolution
of the controller input.
<BR>
<A NAME="p55"></A>
There is no secondary source for this modulator; thus its effect
is the same as the effect of multiplying the amount by 1.
The amount of this modulator is 50 cents/max excursion of vibrato modulation.
The product of these values is passed through a Linear Transform (or is left
uninhibited) and is added to the Vibrato LFO to Pitch generator summing node.
</P><A NAME="8.4.5"></A><P>
<B>8.4.5 MIDI Continuous Controller 7 to Initial Attenuation</B><BR>
Source Enumeration = 0x0587 (type=1, P=0, D=1, C=1, index = 7)<BR>
Destination Enumeration = Initial Attenuation<BR>
Amount = 960<BR>
Amount Source Enumeration = 0x0 (No controller)<BR>
Transform Enumeration = 0 (Linear)<BR>
The MIDI Continuous Controller 7 data value is used as a Negative Unipolar
source; thus the inputvalue of 0 is mapped to a value of 127/128, an
input value of 127 is mapped to 0 and all other values are
mapped between 127/128 and 0 in a concave fashion. There is no secondary
source for this modulator; thus its effect is the same as the effect of
multiplying the amount by 1. The amount of this modulator is
960 cB (or 96 dB) of attenuation.
The product of these values is passed through a Linear Transform (or is
left uninhibited) and is added to the initial attenuation generator.
</P><A NAME="8.4.6"></A><P>
<B>8.4.6 MIDI Continuous Controller 10 to Pan Position</B><BR>
Source Enumeration = 0x028A (type=0, P=1, D=0, C=1, index = 10)<BR>
Destination Enumeration = Initial Attenuation<BR>
Amount = 1000 tenths of a percent<BR>
Amount Source Enumeration = 0x0 (No controller)<BR>
Transform Enumeration = 0 (Linear)<BR>
The MIDI Continuous Controller 10 data value is used as a Positive
Bipolar source; thus the input value of 0 is mapped to a value of -1,
an input value of 127 is mapped to 127/128 and all other values are
mapped between -1 and 127/128 in a linear fashion.
There is no secondary source for this modulator;
thus its effect is the same as the effect of multiplying the amount by 1.
The amount of this modulator is 1000 tenths of a percent panned-right.
The product of these values is passed through a "Linear" transform (or
is left uninhibited) and is then added to the Pan generator summing node.
<A NAME="p56"></A>
</P><A NAME="8.4.7"></A><P>
<B>8.4.7 MIDI Continuous Controller 11 to Initial Attenuation</B><BR>
Source Enumeration = 0x058B (type=1, P=0, D=1, C=1, index = 11)<BR>
Destination Enumeration = Initial Attenuation<BR>
Amount = 960<BR>
Amount Source Enumeration = 0x0 (No controller)<BR>
Transform Enumeration = 0 (Linear)<BR>
The MIDI Continuous Controller 11 data value is used as a Negative
Unipolar source; thus the inputvalue of 0 is mapped to a value of 127/128,
an input value of 127 is mapped to 0 and all other values are
mapped between 127/128 and 0 in a concave fashion. There is no secondary
source for this modulator; thus its effect is the same as the effect of
multiplying the amount by 1. The amount of this modulator is
960 cB (or 96 dB) of attenuation.
The product of these values is passed through a Linear Transform
(or is left uninhibited) and is added to the initial attenuation
generator.
</P><A NAME="8.4.8"></A><P>
<B>8.4.8 MIDI Continuous Controller 91 to Reverb Effects Send</B><BR>
Source Enumeration = 0x00DB (type=0, P=0, D=0, C=1, index = 91)<BR>
Destination Enumeration = Reverb Effects Send<BR>
Amount = 200 tenths of a percent<BR>
Amount Source Enumeration = 0x0 (No controller)<BR>
Transform Enumeration = 0 (Linear)<BR>
The MIDI key number is used as a Positive Unipolar source; thus the input
value of 0 is mapped to a value of 0, an input value of 127 is mapped to
127/128 and all other values are mapped between 0 and
127/128 in a linear fashion. There is no secondary source for this
modulator; thus its effect is the same as the effect of multiplying the
amount by 1.
<BR>
The amount of this modulator is 200 tenths of a percent added reverb send.
The product of these values is passed through a "Linear" transform (or is left
uninhibited) and is then added to the Reverb Send generator summing node.
</P><A NAME="8.4.9"></A><P>
<B>8.4.9 MIDI Continuous Controller 93 to Chorus Effects Send</B><BR>
Source Enumeration = 0x00DD (type=0, P=0, D=0, C=1, index = 93)<BR>
Destination Enumeration = Chorus Effects Send (Effects Send 2)<BR>
Amount = 200 tenths of a percent<BR>
Amount Source Enumeration = 0x0 (No controller)<BR>
Transform Enumeration = 0 (Linear)
<BR>
<A NAME="p57"></A>
The MIDI key number is used as a Positive Unipolar source; thus the input
value of 0 is mapped to a value of 0, an input value of 127 is mapped to
127/128 and all other values are mapped between 0 and 128 in a linear fashion.
There is no secondary source for this modulator;
thus its effect is the same as the effect of multiplying the amount by 1.
<BR>
The amount of this modulator is 200 tenths of a percent added chorus send.
The product of these values is passed through a "Linear" transform (or is left
uninhibited) and is then added to the Chorus Send generator summing node.
</P><A NAME="8.4.10"></A><P>
<B>8.4.10 MIDI Pitch Wheel to Initial Pitch Controlled by MIDI Pitch
Wheel Sensitivity</B><BR>
Source Enumeration = 0x020E (type=0, P=1, D=0, C=0, index = 14)<BR>
Destination Enumeration = Initial Pitch<BR>
Amount = 12700 Cents<BR>
Amount Source Enumeration = 0x0010 (type=0, D=0, P=0, C=0, index=16)<BR>
Transform Enumeration = 0 (Linear)<BR>
The MIDI Pitch Wheel data values are used as a Positive Bipolar source;
thus the input value of 0 is mapped to a value of -1, an input value of
8191 is mapped to 8191/8192 and all other values are mapped
between -1 and 8191/8192 in a linear fashion.<BR>
The MIDI Pitch Wheel Sensitivity data values are used as a secondary
source. This source is PositiveUnipolar; thus an input value of 0 is
mapped to a value of 0, an input value of 127 is mapped to 127/128
and all other values are mapped between 0 and 127/128 in a linear fashion.<BR>
The amount of this modulator is 12700 Cents.
The product of these values is passed through a "Linear" transform (or is left
uninhibited) and is then added to the Initial Pitch generator summing node.
</P><A NAME="8.5"></A><P>
<B>8.5 Precedence and Absolute and Relative values.</B>
Most SoundFont generators are available at both the Instrument and Preset
Levels, as well as having a default value. Generators at the Instrument
Level are considered "absolute" and determine an actual physical value for
the associated synthesis parameter, which is used instead of the default.
For example, a value of 1200 for the attackVolEnv generator would produce
an absolute time of 1200 timecents or 2 seconds of attack time for the
volume envelope, instead of the default value of -12000 timecents or 1msec.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p58"></A>
Generators at the Preset Level are instead considered "relative" and
additive to all the default or instrument level generators within the
Preset Zone. For example, a value of 2400 timecents for the attackVolEnv
generator in a preset zone containing an instrument with two zones,
one with the default attackVelEnv and one with an absolute attackVolEnv
generator value of 1200 timecents would cause the default zone to actually
have a value of -9600 timecents or 4 msec, and the other to have a value of
3600 timecents or 8 seconds attack time.
There are some generators that are not available at the Preset Level.
These are:<BR>
# Name<BR>
0 startAddrsOffset<BR>
1 endAddrsOffset<BR>
2 startloopAddrsOffset<BR>
3 endloopAddrsOffset<BR>
4 startAddrsCoarseOffset<BR>
12 endAddrsCoarseOffset<BR>
45 startloopAddrsCoarseOffset<BR>
46 keynum<BR>
47 velocity<BR>
50 endloopAddrsCoarseOffset<BR>
54 sampleModes<BR>
57 exclusiveClass<BR>
58 overridingRootKey<BR>
</P><P>
If these generators are encountered in the Preset Level, they should be ignored.
The effect of modulators on a given destination is always relative to the
generator value at the Instrument level. However modulators may supersede
or add to other modulators depending on their position within the hierarchy.
<A HREF="#9.5">Please see section 9.5</A>
for details on the Modulator implementation and the hierarchical details.
</P><A NAME="9"></A><H3>
<B>9 Parameters and Synthesis Model</B>
</H3><P>
The SoundFont 2 standard has been established with the intent of providing
support for an expandingbase of wavetable based synthesis models.
The model supported by the SoundFont 2 specification
originates with the EMU8000 wavetable synthesizer chip.
The description below of the underlying synthesis model
and the associated parameters are provided to allow
mapping of this synthesis model onto other hardware platforms.
</P><A NAME="9.1"></A><P>
<B>9.1 Synthesis Model</B>
The SoundFont 2 specification Synthesis Model comprises a wavetable
oscillator, a dynamic low-pass filter, an enveloping amplifier,
and programmable sends to pan, reverb, and chorus effects units.
An underlying modulation engine comprises two low frequency oscillators
(LFOs) and two envelope generators with appropriate routing amplifiers.
<A NAME="p59"></A>
</P><A NAME="9.1.1"></A><P>
<B>9.1.1 Wavetable Oscillator</B>
The SoundFont 2 specification wavetable oscillator model is capable of
playing back a sample at an arbitrary sampling rate with an arbitrary pitch
shift. In practice, the upward pitch shift (downward sample rate conversion)
will be limited to a maximum value, typically at least two octaves.
The pitch is described in terms of an initial pitch shift which is based
on the sample's sampling rate, the root key at which the sample should
be unshifted on the keyboard, the coarse, fine, and correction tunings,
the effective MIDI key number, and the keyboard scale factor.
All modulations in pitch are in octaves, semitones, and cents.
</P><A NAME="9.1.2"></A><P>
<B>9.1.2 Sample Looping</B>
The wavetable oscillator is playing a digital sample which is described
in terms of a start point, end point,and two points describing a loop. The
sound can be flagged as unlooped, in which case the loop points are ignored.
<A HREF="#g54">If the sound is looped</A>, it can be played in two ways.
If it is flagged as "loop during release", the sound is played from the
start point through the loop, and loops until the note becomes inaudible.
If not, the sound is played from the start point through the loop, and
loops until the key is released. At this point, the next time the loop
end point is reached, the sound continues through the loop end point and
plays until the end point is reached, at which time audio is terminated.
</P><A NAME="9.1.3"></A><P>
<B>9.1.3 Low-pass Filter</B>
The synthesis model contains a resonant low-pass filter, which is
characterized by a dynamic cutoff frequency and a fixed resonance (Q).
Because there is tremendous variation within the industry as to
filter implementations, this filter is idealized rather than being
specified as a particular realization.
The filter is idealized at zero resonance as having a flat passband to the
cutoff frequency, then a rolloff at 6dB per octave above that frequency.
The resonance, when non-zero, comprises a peak at the cutoff frequency,
superimposed on the above response. The resonance is measured as a dB ratio
of the resonant peak to the DC gain. The DC gain at any resonance is half
of the resonance value below the DC gain at zero resonance; hence the
peak height is half the resonance value above DC gain at zero resonance.
</P><P>
All modulations in cutoff frequency are in octaves, semitones, and cents.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p60"></A>
Resonance
Cutoff
Frequency
</P><P>
Rolloff
12 dB/oct
Figure 1: Ideal Filter Response
</P><A NAME="9.1.4"></A><P>
<B>9.1.4 Final Gain Amplifier</B>
The final gain amplifier is a multiplier on the filter output, which is
controlled by an initial gain in dB.This is added to the volume envelope.
Additional modulation can also be added. The gain is always
specified in dB.
</P><A NAME="9.1.5"></A><P>
<B>9.1.5 Effects Sends</B>
The output of the final gain amplifier can be routed into the effects
unit. This unit causes the sound to be located (panned) in the stereo
field, and a degree of reverberation and chorus to be added. The pan is
specified in terms of percentage left and right, which also could be
considered as an azimuth angle. The reverb and chorus sends are specified
as a percentage of the signal amplitude to be sent to these units,
from 0% to 100%.
</P><A NAME="9.1.6"></A><P>
<B>9.1.6 Low Frequency Oscillators</B>
The synthesis model provides for two low frequency oscillators (LFOs)
for modulating pitch, filtercutoff, and amplitude. The "vibrato" LFO
is only capable of modulating pitch. The "modulation" LFO
can modulate any of the three parameters.
An LFO is defined as having a delay period during which its value remains
zero, followed by a triangularwaveshape ramping linearly to positive one,
then downward to negative 1, then upward again to positive one, etc.
Each parameter can be modulated to a varying degree, either positively
or negatively, by the associated LFO. Modulations of pitch and cutoff
are in octaves, semitones, and cents, while modulations of
amplitude are in dB. The degree of modulation is specified
in cents or dB for the full scale positive LFO excursion.
<A NAME="p61"></A>
</P><A NAME="9.1.7"></A><P>
<B>9.1.7 Envelope Generators</B>
The synthesis model provides for two envelope generators. The volume
envelope generator controls the final gain amplifier and hence determines
the volume contour of the sound. The modulation envelope
can control pitch and/or filter cutoff.
An envelope generates a control signal in six phases. When key-on
occurs, a delay period begins during which the envelope value is zero.
The envelope then rises in a convex curve to a value of one during the
attack phase. When a value of one is reached, the envelope enters a
hold phase during which it remains at one. When the hold phase ends,
the envelope enters a decay phase during which its value decreases
linearly to a sustain level. When the sustain level is reached, the
envelope enters sustain phase, during which the envelope stays at the
sustain level. Whenever a key-off occurs, the envelope immediately
enters a release phase during which the value linearly ramps from the
current value to zero. When zero is reached, the envelope value remains
at zero.
</P><P>
Modulation of pitch and filter cutoff are in octaves, semitones,
and cents. These parameters can bemodulated to varying degree, either
positively or negatively, by the modulation envelope. The degree of
modulation is specified in cents for the full-scale attack peak.
The volume envelope operates in dB, with the attack peak providing a full
scale output, appropriatelyscaled by the initial volume. The zero value,
however, is actually zero gain. The implementation in the
EMU8000 provides for 96 dB of amplitude control. When 96 dB of
attenuation is reached in the finalgain amplifier, an abrupt jump to
zero gain (infinite dB of attenuation) occurs. In a 16-bit system, this
jump is inaudible.
</P><P>
</P><A NAME="9.1.8"></A><P>
<B>9.1.8 Modulation Interconnection Summary</B>
The following diagram shows the interconnections expressed in the
SoundFont 2 specification synthesismodel:
</P><P>
<A NAME="p62"></A>
Oscillator Filter Amplifier
Modulation
Envelope
</P><P>
Reverb
Chorus
</P><P>
Vibrato
LFO
</P><P>
Modulation
LFO
</P><P>
Volume
Envelope
</P><P>
Pitch Fc Volume
Figure 2: Generator Based Modulation Structure
</P><A NAME="9.2"></A><P>
<B>9.2 MIDI Functions</B>
The response to certain MIDI commands is defined within the MIDI
specification, and is therefore not considered to be part of the SoundFont
2 specification. These MIDI commands may not be used as
sources for the Modulator implementation.
For completeness, the expected responses are given here.
Specification Version 2.00b Note:*
</P><P>
MIDI Key Number to Pitch, noted here in the 2.00a version of this
specification, is the "Scale Tune"parameter in the Generator list,
is also considered a true Modulator and is therefore removed from
this list.*
</P><P>
MIDI Pitch Bend, noted here in the 2.00a version of this specification,
is considered a true Modulator and is therefore removed from here.
</P><P>
<B>MIDI CC0 Bank Select</B>
- When received, the following program change should
select the MIDI programin this bank value instead of the default bank
of 0.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC6</B>
- Data Entry MSB - When received, its value should be sent to
either the RPN or NRPNimplementation mechanism depending on the Data
Entry mode.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC32 Bank Select LSB</B>
- When received, may behave in conjunction
with CC0 Bank Select toprovide a total of 16384 possible MIDI banks of
programs.<BR>
<A NAME="p63"></A>
<B>MIDI CC38 Data Entry LSB</B>
- When received, its value should be sent to
either the RPN or NRPNimplementation mechanism, depending on the Data
Entry mode.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC64 Sustain</B>
- ACTIVE when greater than or equal to 64. When the
sustain function is active,all notes in the key-on state remain in the
key-on state regardless of whether a key-off command for the note arrives.
The key-off commands are stored, and when sustain becomes inactive,
all stored key-off commands are executed.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC66 Soft</B>
- ACTIVE when greater than or equal to 64. When active,
all new key-ons aremodulated in such a way to make the note sound "soft."
This typically affects initial attenuation and
filter cutoff is a pre-defined manner.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC67 Sostenuto</B>
- ACTIVE when greater than or equal to 64.
When sostenuto becomes active,all notes currently in the key-on state
remain in the key-on state until the sostenuto becomes inactive.
All other notes behave normally. Notes maintained by sostenuto in key-on
state remain in key-on stateeven if sustain is switched on and off.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC98 NRPN LSB</B>
- When received, should be processed by the NRPN
implementation mechanism.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC99 NRPN MSB</B>
- When received, should put the synthesizer in NRPN
Data Entry mode andthen should be processed by the NRPN implementation
mechanism.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC100 RPN LSB</B>
- When received, should be processed by the RPN
implementation mechanism.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC101 RPN MSB</B>
- When received, should put the synthesizer in RPN
Data Entry mode and thenshould be processed by the RPN implementation
mechanism.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC120 All Sound Off</B>
- When received with any data value, all notes
playing in the key-on state bypass the release phase and are shut off,
regardless of the sustain or sostenuto positions.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC121 Reset All Controllers</B>
- Defined as Reset All Controllers as
defined by the MIDIspecification. This typically resets the values of
the MIDI continuous controllers to a power-on or default state.<BR>
<B>MIDI CC123 All Notes Off</B>
- When received with any data value, all notes
playing in the key-on state immediately enter release phase, pending
their status in SUSTAIN or SOSTENUTO state.
</P><A NAME="9.3"></A><P>
<B>9.3 Parameter Units</B>
The units with which SoundFont generators are described are all well
defined. The strict definitions appear below:
</P><P>
<A NAME="p64"></A>
ABSOLUTE SAMPLE DATA POINTS - A numeric index of 16 bit sample data
point words as stored in ROM or supplied in the smpl-ck, indexing the
first sample data point word of memory or the chunk as zero.
<BR>
RELATIVE SAMPLE DATA POINTS - A count of 16 bit sample data point words
based on an absolute sample data point reference. A negative value
implies a relative count toward the beginning of the data.
<BR>
ABSOLUTE SEMITONES - An absolute logarithmic measure of frequency based
on a reference of MIDI key numbers.
A semitone is 1/12 of an octave, and value 69 is 440 Hz (A-440).
Negative values and values above 127 are allowed.
<BR>
RELATIVE SEMITONES - A relative logarithmic measure of frequency ratio
based on units of 1/12 ofan octave, which is the twelfth root of two,
approximately 1.059463094.
<BR>
ABSOLUTE CENTS - An absolute logarithmic measure of frequency based on
a reference of MIDI keynumber scaled by 100. A cent is 1/1200 of an
octave, and value 6900 is 440 Hz (A-440). Negative values and
values above 12700 are allowed.
<BR>
RELATIVE CENTS - A relative logarithmic measure of frequency ratio based
on units of 1/1200 of anoctave, which is the twelve hundredth root of two,
approximately 1.000577790.
<BR>
ABSOLUTE CENTIBELS - An absolute measure of the attenuation of a signal,
based on a reference ofzero being no attenuation. A centibel is a tenth
of a decibel, or a ratio in signal amplitude of the two
hundredth root of 10, approximately 1.011579454.
<BR>
RELATIVE CENTIBELS - A relative measure of the attenuation of a signal.
A centibel is a tenth of a decibel, or a ratio in signal amplitude of
the two hundredth root of 10, approximately 1.011579454.
<BR>
ABSOLUTE TIMECENTS - An absolute measure of time, based on a reference
of zero being one second. A timecent represents a ratio in time
of the twelve hundredth root of two, approximately 1.011579454.
<BR>
RELATIVE TIMECENTS - A relative measure of time ratio, based on a unit
size of the twelve hundredth root of two, approximately 1.011579454.
<BR>
ABSOLUTE PERCENT - An absolute measure of gain, based on a reference
of unity. In SoundFont 2,absolute percent is measured in 0.1% units,
so a value of zero is 0% and a value of 1000 is 100%.
<BR>
RELATIVE PERCENT - A relative measure of gain difference. In SoundFont 2,
relative percent is measured in 0.1% units. When the gain goes below
zero, zero is assumed; when the gain exceeds 100%, 100% is used.
<A NAME="p65"></A>
</P><A NAME="9.4"></A><P>
<B>9.4 The SoundFont Generator Model</B>
Five kinds of Generator Enumerators exist: Index Generators, Range Generators,
Substitution Generators, Sample Generators, and Value Generators.
</P><P>
The following is the precedence of SoundFont generator in the SoundFont
file format hierarchy.
</P><UL><LI>
A 'generator' sets or offsets the value of a destination or a
synthesis parameter. In exception cases, it sets ranges (Range Generators),
or sets values and never offsets values
(Index Generators, Sample Generators, and Substitution Generators).
</LI><LI>
A generator is defined as identical to another generator if its
generator operator is the same in both generators.
</LI><LI>
A generator in a global instrument zone that is identical to a
default generator supersedes or replaces the default generator.
</LI><LI>
A generator in a local instrument zone that is identical to a default
generator or to a generator in a global instrument zone supersedes or
replaces that generator.
</LI><LI>
Points below (until noted) apply to Value Generators ONLY.
</LI><LI>
A generator at the preset level adds to a generator at the
instrument level if both generators are identical.
</LI><LI>
A generator in a global preset zone that is identical to a default
generator or to a generator inan instrument adds to that generator.
</LI><LI>
A generator in a global preset zone which is not identical to a
default generator and is not identical to a generator in an instrument
has its effect added to the given synthesis parameter.
</LI><LI>
A generator in a local preset zone that is identical to a generator
in a global preset zonesupersedes or replaces that generator in the
global preset zone. That generator then has its effects added to
the destination-summing node of all zones in the given instrument.
</LI><LI>
A generator in a local preset zone which is not identical to a default
generator or a generator ina global preset zone has its effects added
to the destination summing node of all zones in the given instrument.
</LI><LI>
If the generator operator is a Range Generator,
the generator values are NOT ADDED to those in the instrument level,
rather they serve as an intersection filter to those key number or
velocity ranges in the instrument that is used in the preset zone.
</LI><LI>
<A NAME="p66"></A>
If the generator operator is a Substitution Generator or a Sample
Generator, they are illegal atthe preset level. The only Index Generator
legal at the Preset Level is 'instrumentID', whereas
the only Index Generator legal at the Instrument Level is 'sampleID'
</LI></UL>
<A NAME="9.5"></A><P>
<B>9.5 The SoundFont Modulator Controller Model</B>
SoundFont Modulators are used to allow real-time control over the sound in
sound designer programmable manner. Each instance of a SoundFont modulator
structure defines a real-time perceptually additive effect
to be applied to a given destination or synthesizer parameter.
</P><A NAME="9.5.1"></A><P>
<B>9.5.1 Controller Model Theory of Operation</B>
The SoundFont Modulator Controller model is a general-purpose
mechanism intended to allow for flexible and complex
real-time control over the synthesis parameters provided.
While SoundFont 2.00 provides a mechanism to set initial conditions for a
wide variety of synthesis parameters or generators atmultiple levels of
hierarchy (Preset/Instrument level, Global/Local zones, etc.), the addition
of the SoundFont Modulator Controller Model provides a mechanism to allow
real-time control over thosesame parameters at the same levels of hierarchy.
</P><P>
The SoundFont Modulator Controller model is what it takes
to turn the rather simplistic generator based synthesis model
into a complex and much more interesting synthesis model.
The following diagram shows the general nature the SoundFont controller model:
</P><P>
<A NAME="p67"></A>
Transform
</P><P>
+
</P><P>
Amount
</P><P>
Secondary or
Amount Source
</P><P>
Primary Source
</P><P>
Generator, or Destination
Summing Node
</P><P>
TNorm
</P><P>
Norm
</P><P>
Figure 3: SoundFont Modulator Building Block
The Primary Controller source is to be mapped into the -1 to 1 space
based upon the controller directionand controller type. The secondary
controller source is also to be mapped into the -1 to 1 space based
upon its controller direction and controller type. The result of the
secondary controller source inputshould be multiplied by the given amount,
and that value should be multiplied by the primary controller
source mapped value. This value should then be fed into a transform,
which should be a mathematical expression which knows of no minimum or
maximum amounts, and the result of this transformation
should be added to the destination summing node.
In simpler terms, the equation for a given destination summing node is:
destination value += Transform(Amount * Map(primary source input) *
Map(secondary source input))
where Map(x) takes maps the source input value from -1 to 1 based on
the source type, polarity anddirection.
</P><P>
The diagram below shows this pictorially using the above control model
diagram.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p68"></A>
Transform
</P><P>
+
</P><P>
Amount
</P><P>
Secondary orAmount Source
</P><P>
Primary Source
</P><P>
Destination SummingNode
TNorm
</P><P>
Norm
Input value in
</P><P>
native units
</P><P>
Input value mapped to a
</P><P>
value from -1 to 1
</P><P>
Amount value in theunits of the
</P><P>
destination.
</P><P>
Input value innative units
</P><P>
Input value mapped to a
</P><P>
value from -1 to 1
</P><P>
Input to transform is in
destination units
</P><P>
Output oftransform is in
</P><P>
destination units
</P><P>
Figure 4: Detailed SoundFont Modulator Building Block
The destination summing node consists of the sum of all given modulators
with that destination as wellas the effect of the preset level of the
SoundFont articulation data. This summed value should be added to the
value as defined in the instrument level of the SoundFont articulation data.
A few points of note here.
First, the SoundFont controller model makes no assumptions about the
nature of the controller. So, for example, MIDI controller values 0 to
127 are not mapped directly to synthesis parameters. MIDI
controllers are simply a mechanism designed to transmit information.
The SoundFont controller model is NOT designed to accommodate the MIDI
controller data values, rather the MIDI controller values
should be translated to accommodate the SoundFont controller model.
The same would be true for anyother possible controller source
(such as a software LFO or a system timer).
This makes the controller model general purpose in nature.
Secondly, transform inputs are always in perceptually additive real-world
units. Therefore transformsmay only be simple mathematical equations
which know of no upper or lower limits to their potential values.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p69"></A>
Third, with the exception of the file format size limits, there is no
limit as to how many modulators maybe put into the SoundFont file format,
or where in the hierarchy a SoundFont modulator may be placed.
As a result, there is no limit as to how many times a given destination
may be affected by a givenmodulator source. Also, there is no limit as
to how many ways a given destination may be affected by a modulator source.
Also there is no limit as to how many destinations may be affected by a single
source, whether that source is used as a primary or as a secondary source.
Again, to make the controller model general in nature.
Fourth, in case it is not clear in the general description of the
SoundFont hierarchy, the following is the precedence of SoundFont
modulators in the hierarchy.
<UL><LI>
The ranges that modulators are active are defined in the Generator
list, which is referenced by the same Bag structure from which the
modulator list is indexed.
</LI><LI>
A series of Modulators modifies the value of a destination in the
following manner:<BR>
Destination = Generator Value + Mod() + Mod() + Mod().<BR>
Where Mod(source, dest, amount source, transform)
= Transform(source * amount * amount source)<BR>
I.e. Initial Attenuation = Generator 48 + Mod(source=CC7, dest=48) + Mod
(source=CC11, dest=48) + ...
</LI><LI>
A Modulator is defined as identical to another modulator if its source,
destination, amount source, and transform are the same in both modulators.
</LI><LI>
The result of a modulator "adding to" another modulator equivalent to
the result of a single modulator whose the amount is the sum of the amounts
in the two modulators which are "added". In other words<BR>
Mod((amount = a + b)) = Mod(amount = a) + Mod(amount = b).<BR>
This operation is only legal if both modulators are identical.
</LI><LI>
All Modulators applied to a Destination need not be identical,
however if two or more modulators applied to a destination are not
identical, their amounts may NOT be summed into a single modulator.
</LI><LI>
A modulator, contained within a global instrument zone, that is
identical to a default modulatorsupersedes or replaces the default
modulator.
</LI><LI>
A modulator in a global instrument zone with the same destination but
different source ortransform parameters has its effects added to the
destination.
</LI><LI>
A modulator, that is contained in a local instrument zone, which is
identical to a defaultmodulator or to a modulator in a global instrument
zone supersedes or replaces that modulator.
</LI><LI>
A modulator in a local instrument zone with the same destination
but different source ortransform parameters has its effects added
to the destination.
</LI><LI>
<A NAME="p70"></A>
A modulator at the preset level adds to a modulator at the instrument
level if both modulatorsare identical. Otherwise, the effects of a
modulator at the preset level are added to the effects
of a modulator at the instrument level.
</LI><LI>
A modulator, contained within a global preset zone, that is identical
to a default modulator or to a modulator in an instrument adds to that
modulator.
</LI><LI>
A modulator in a global preset zone in an preset which is not identical
to a default modulatorand is not identical to a modulator in an instrument
has its effect added to the given destination.
</LI><LI>
A modulator, contained within a local preset zone, that is identical to
a modulator in a globalpreset zone supersedes or replaces that modulator
in the global preset zone. That modulator then has its effects added
to the destination summing node of all zones in the given instrument.
</LI><LI>
A modulator in a local preset zone which is not identical to a default
modulator or a modulator in a global preset zone has its effects added
to the destination summing node of all zones in the given instrument.
Finally, since the amount value must match the units of the destination,
and since the controller model requires all units to be of a perceptually
additive nature, new generators and destinations that follow this revision
of the specification must take on perceptually additive units as well.
</LI></UL><A NAME="9.5.2"></A><P>
<B>9.5.2 Pictorial Examples of Source Types</B>
In order to make the concept of the source types, directions, and
polarities perfectly clear, the following pictorial examples are provided.
</P><P>
Figure 5 below shows the response to a Positive Unipolar Linear Source:
</P><P>
<A NAME="p71"></A>
Controller Source Native Values
SoundFontModulator
</P><P>
InputValues
</P><P>
1
1/2
</P><P>
0
</P><P>
Min Mid = (Max+Min)/2 Max
</P><P>
Figure 5: Positive Unipolar Linear Plot
</P><P>
(type=0, D=0, P=0)
</P><P>
Figure 6 below shows the response to a Positive Bipolar Linear Source:
</P><P>
Controller Source Native Values
SoundFontModulator
</P><P>
InputValues
</P><P>
1
0
</P><P>
-1
</P><P>
Min Mid = (Max+Min)/2 Max
</P><P>
Figure 6: Positive Bipolar Linear Plot
</P><P>
(type=0, D=0, P=1)
</P><P>
Note the difference caused by flipping the 'P' bit is a change in the
"bias", as well as cutting the resolution of the source controller in half.
</P><P>
Figure 7 below shows the response of a Negative Unipolar Linear source:
</P><P>
<A NAME="p72"></A>
Controller Source Native Values
SoundFontModulator
</P><P>
InputValues
</P><P>
1
1/2
</P><P>
0
</P><P>
Min Mid = (Max+Min)/2 Max
</P><P>
Figure 7: Negative Unipolar Plot
</P><P>
(type=0, D=1, P=0)
</P><P>
Note the difference caused by flipping the 'D' bit is a change in the
slope, or a mirror image of the original controller.
</P><P>
Likewise, a Negative Bipolar Linear plot would have a negative slopping
bipolar characteristic. The concave curves take on similar
characteristics.
The figure below contains a summary of the approximate shapes of all
supported controller types. Note that
<A HREF="#8.2.4">Section "8.2.4 Source Types"</A>
contains the mathematical formula for the convex and concave curves.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p73"></A>
Linear Controller Curvesfor given Directions and Polairities
Positive Unipolar Negative Unipolar Positive Bipolar Negative Bipolar
</P><P>
Concave Controller Curvesfor given Directions and Polairities
Positive Unipolar Negative Unipolar Positive Bipolar Negative Bipolar
</P><P>
Convex Controller Curvesfor given Directions and Polairities
Positive Unipolar Negative Unipolar Positive Bipolar Negative Bipolar
</P><P>
Switch Controller Curvesfor given Directions and Polairities
Positive Unipolar Negative Unipolar Positive Bipolar Negative Bipolar
</P><P>
Figure 8: SoundFont Modulator Source Summary
<A NAME="p74"></A>
</P><A NAME="9.5.3"></A><P>
<B>9.5.3 Mappings of Modulator Sources to the SoundFont Controller Input
Domain</B>
The following table shows how SoundFont modulator sources are mapped to
the SoundFont controllerminimum and maximum values.
</P><P>
Note that due to the fact that MIDI has an even number of distributed
points in their controllers, the maximum position can not correspond to
exactly 1.<BR>
Table 2: Controller Native to Input Value Mappings
</P><A NAME="9.6"></A><P>
<B>9.6 SoundFont 2.01 Standard NRPN Implementation</B>
Although the SoundFont 2.01 Modulator implementation gives a large degree
of flexibility to real-timecontrol over sounds, by itself it precludes
the ability to have some dynamic real-time control over the
suite of synthesis parameters without having to do sound design or
customization. Therefore this NPRNimplementation will be a standard NRPN
implementation to be used in any SoundFont 2.01 compatible
synthesizer.
NRPN stands for Non Registered Parameter Number. The MIDI specification
has defined this series of continuous controllers to permit General MIDI
compatible synthesizers to take advantage of their
proprietary hardware by using these messages to control the non-General
MIDI compatible aspects oftheir hardware. The SoundFont 2.01
specification uses these messages to allow arbitrary real-time
control over all SoundFont synthesis parameters.
This specification outlines a general approach on how to select generators
and what resolutions they maybe controlled. This way, there need not be
any adjustments to this portion of the specification in order to
accommodate new generators.
Note that this NRPN implementation is not compatible with NRPN
implementations provided with otherSoundFont 2.0 compatible products
such as Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE32.
</P><A NAME="9.6.1"></A><P>
<B>9.6.1 The NRPN Message</B>
A NRPN message is a series of standard Continuous Controller messages,
which are order dependent. Amaximum of 4 messages is necessary to complete
a single NRPN message. The NRPN message format
allows the use of the same 4 controllers to control an infinite number
of parameters.
</P><P>
Modulator Source Native Position SoundFont MappedUnipolar Position
SoundFont MappedBipolar Position
7 bit MIDI Controller Min 0 0 -128/128 = -1Data Value Max 127
</P><P>
127/128 = +0.992 127/128 = +0.992
</P><P>
14 bit MIDI Controller Min 0 0 -8192/8192 = -1Data Value Max 8191
</P><P>
8191/8192 = 0.99999 8191/8192 = 0.99999
</P><P>
<A NAME="p75"></A>
The Continuous Controller Messages that make up a NRPN message (in order)
are as follows:
NRPN SELECT MSB: Continuous controller 99NRPN SELECT LSB: Continuous
controller 98
DATA ENTRY LSB: Continuous controller 38DATA ENTRY MSB: Continuous
controller 6
</P><P>
A NRPN message follows the running-status paradigm. In other words,
if a NRPN SELECT LSB isreceived, it should be used in conjunction with
the most recently sent NRPN SELECT MSB, regardless
of whether the MSB command was the most previously sent message. The
same goes for the othermessages.
</P><A NAME="9.6.2"></A><P>
<B>9.6.2 The NRPN Select Values</B>
The SoundFont 2.01 standard defines the following values that must be
recognized and responded to by any synthesizerthat is SoundFont 2.01
compatible. These values should not conflict with values used in standard
and/or widely available
MIDI synthesizers today.
The NRPN Select MSB message value is 120. This message indicates that
a NRPN Message that follows will be aSoundFont 2.01 NRPN message.
</P><P>
The NRPN Select LSB message with data less than 100 corresponds to the
generator enumeration value, modulo 100, ifand only if the most recently
sent NRPN Select MSB message was 120. The NRPN Select LSB message with
data greater
than or equal to 100 is used to permit selecting of generator values
greater than 100.
0 - 99: Indicates the generator value100: Indicates a single multiple
of 100 for generator value selection
101: Indicates a single multiple of 1,000 for generator value
selection102: Indicates a single multiple of 10,000 for generator value
selection
103 - 127: Undefined, unused, should be ignored if encountered
Note that NRPN Select LSB greater than 100 are for setup only, and should
not be used on their own in order to select agenerator parameter.
</P><P>
So, to have a NRPN message control the Initial Filter Cutoff parameter,
the following NRPN Select parameters are sent:
NRPN Select MSB: 120NRPN Select LSB: 8
</P><P>
And, if a generator value is defined by the SoundFont Specification with
a value of 100, the following NRPN Selectparameters are sent:
NRPN Select MSB: 120NRPN Select LSB: 100
NRPN Select LSB: 0
And, if a generator value is defined by the SoundFont Specification with
a value of 250, the following NRPN Selectparameters are sent:
</P><P>
NRPN Select MSB: 120NRPN Select LSB: 100 (generator 100)
</P><P>
<A NAME="p76"></A>
NRPN Select LSB: 100 (generator 200)NRPN Select LSB: 50 (generator 250)
Running status does not include multiple sends of values greater than
100. IE you cannot use a single message to select251 if the most recently
sent message selected generator 250:
NRPN Select LSB: 100NRPN Select LSB: 100
NRPN Select LSB: 50 (Selects generator 250)NRPN Select LSB: 51 (Selects
generator 51, NOT 251)
</P><P>
If a parameter is selected which is unrecognized, or is not designated
as a real-time controller or synthesizer parameter(such as overriding
root key, key number, etc), or cannot be controlled in real-time by a
synthesizer, either at all or without
causing audio artifacts, the LSB selection should be ignored but
the status of the MSB selection, being that of aSoundFont 2.01 NRPN
controller, should remain unchanged.
</P><A NAME="9.6.3"></A><P>
<B>9.6.3 The Default Data Entry Ranges</B>
The Data Entry values, which follow the NRPN Select messages, have the
following significance.
Data Entry values are ONLY applied as SoundFont 2.01 controllers if
and only if the most recently sent NRPN MSB andLSB message comprises a
SoundFont 2.01 message AND an RPN LSB/MSB message combination was NOT
sent more recently than the SoundFont 2.01 NRPN LSB/MSB message.
The Data Entry values are used to send an ADDITIVE response to a generator
value, exactly the same as a modulator.Since you have 2 controllers for a
Data Entry message, the Data Entry values make up a single 14-bit value.
The Data Entry value is "applied" to a generator at the time the MSB
message is sent in. In other words, when the MSB message is sent,
this value is combined with the most recently sent LSB message
and then added to the appropriate generator value.
</P><P>
Data Entry values have zero-offset at 0x2000. This value always means
add 0 or do not influence the parameter.
Data Entry value spans the "useful" range as
<A HREF="8.1.3"> outlined in section 8.1.3</A>,
and in the same perceptually-additive-real-worldunits. In
the case where the meaningful range consists of more than 8192
perceptually-additive-real-world units, the range
of the NRPN control of that parameter is decreased by a factor
of two until the adjusted range consists of 8192 or less ofthe
perceptually-additive-real-world units. In the case where the meaningful
range consists of less than 8192 perceptuallyadditive-real-world units,
the range of the NRPN control of that parameter is left unchanged,
and the synthesizer may ormay not permit the control to exceed that range.
</P><A NAME="9.7"></A><P>
<B>9.7 On Implementation Accuracy</B>
While the SoundFont 2 standard is well defined, it must be recognized
that there are a large variety ofpractices and features within the
wavetable music synthesis industry that are not conducive to exact
implementation of the specification as defined. Some examples of
impediments include the order ofinterpolation of sample data points,
the exact shape and number of segments of envelopes, the filter
implementation, and the details of the implementation of loops.
Additionally, all real implementations are likely to have less accuracy
than the SoundFont 2 standarditself. The units for the standard have
been chosen to exceed the accuracy required for high fidelity
applications. It should be recognized that in rendering a SoundFont 2
compatible file, a best practicalreproduction is all that is expected.
</P><P>
<A NAME="p77"></A>
As such, implementers of SoundFont 2 compatible rendering engines will
have to determine based ontheir own perceptual criteria the degree to
which their implementation meets the standard.
Approximations may take a variety of forms. In many cases, the resolution
of the rendering engine willbe less than that of the corresponding
SoundFont unit. Also, it will frequently be the case that a line segment
approximation will be made to a continuous curve. In the case of filters,
the order of the filter may vary from the SoundFont 2 standard, and an
optimum audible equivalent will have to be heuristically constructed.
All such problems are left to the ingenuity of the implementers.
</P><A NAME="10"></A><H3>
10 Error Handling
</H3><A NAME="10.1"></A><P>
<B>10.1 Structural Errors</B>
Structural Errors are errors which are determined from the implicit
redundancy of the SoundFont RIFFfile structure, and indicate that the
structure is not intact. Examples are incorrect lengths for the chunks
or sub-chunks, pointers out of valid range, or missing required chunks
or sub-chunks for which no errorcorrection procedure exists.
</P><P>
In all cases, files should be checked for structural errors at load
time, and if any are found the files should be rejected. Separate tools
or options can be used to "repair" structurally defective files, but
these tools should validate that the reconstructed file is not only
a valid SoundFont compatible bank but alsocomplies with the intended
timbral results in all cases.
</P><A NAME="10.2"></A><P>
<B>10.2 Unknown Chunks</B>
In parsing the RIFF structure, unknown but well formed chunks or
sub-chunks may be encountered. Unknown chunks within the INFO-list chunk
should simply be ignored. Other unknown chunks or subchunks are illegal
and should be treated as structural errors.
</P><P>
</P><A NAME="10.3"></A><P>
<B>10.3 Unknown Enumerators</B>
Unknown enumerators may be encountered in Generators, Modulator Sources,
or Transforms. This is to be expected if the ifil field exceeds the
specification to which the application was written. Even if
unexpected, unknown enumerators should simply cause the associated
Generator or Modulator to be ignored.
<A NAME="p78"></A>
</P><A NAME="10.4"></A><P>
<B>10.4 Illegal Parameter Values</B>
Some SoundFont parameters are defined for only a limited range of the
possible values which can be expressed in their field. If the value of
the field is not in the defined range, the parameter has an illegal value.
Illegal values for may be detected either at load or at run time.
If detected at load time, the file may optionally be rejected as
structurally unsound. If detected at run time, the default value for the
parameter should be used if the parameter is required, or the entire
Generator or Modulator ignored if it is optional. Certain parameters
may have more specific procedures for illegal values as expressed
elsewhere in this specification.
</P><A NAME="10.5"></A><P>
<B>10.5 Out-of-range Values</B>
SoundFont parameters have a specified minimum and useful range the
span the perceptually relevant values for the associated sonic property.
When the parameter value is exceeds this useful range,
the parameter is said to have an out of range value.
Out of range values can result from two distinct causes.
An out of range value can be actually present as a SoundFont generator value,
or the out of range value can be the result of the summation of instrument
and preset values.
Out of range values should be handled by substituting the nearest
perceptually relevant or realizable value. SoundFont compatible banks
should not be created with out of range values in the instrument
generators. While it is acceptable practice to create SoundFont
banks which produce out of range values as a result of summation,
it is undesirable and should be avoided where practical.
</P><P>
</P><A NAME="10.6"></A><P>
<B>10.6 Missing Required Parameter or Terminator</B>
Certain parameters and terminators are required by the SoundFont specification.
If these are missing, the file is technically not within specification.
If such a problem is detected at load time,
the file may optionally be rejected as structurally unsound.
If detected at run time, the instrument or zone for which
the required parameter is missing should simply be ignored.
If this causes no sound, the corresponding key-on event is ignored.
</P><A NAME="10.7"></A><P>
<B>10.7 Illegal enumerator</B>
Certain enumerators are illegal in certain contexts. For example,
key and velocity ranges must be the first generators in a zone,
instruments are not allowed in instrument zones, and sampleIDs are not
allowed in preset zones. If such a problem is detected at load time,
the file may optionally be rejected as structurally unsound.
If detected at run time, the enumerator should simply be ignored.
</P>
<A NAME="p79"></A>
<H3>
11 Silicon SoundFonts
</H3><A NAME="11.1"></A><P>
<B>11.1 Silicon SoundFont Overview</B>
A "Silicon SoundFont Bank" is an implementation of a SoundFont compatible
bank realized in non-volatile memory with slight format additions.
On initialization of a system using a Silicon SoundFont,
the host processor navigates the Silicon SoundFont ROM format in sample
memory space, determinesthe number of SoundFont Banks installed, and,
when appropriate, reads the articulation data of the
SoundFont files out of the Preset Data Chunks into its local RAM.
The sample headers in the SiliconSoundFont point to the sample address
offsets relative to the start of the Sample Chunk in the
SoundFont compatible bank. The loader adds the appropriate offset to
the sample addresses as part ofits data management. Then, the system
operates like any other SoundFont compatible system.
</P><P>
The format of a Silicon SoundFont file intended to be burned into
non-volatile memory is a hybrid between a standard ROM header and a
modification of the standard SoundFont compatible bank file
format. The ROM header contains data used for diagnostic tests, a ROM
name, a size, and checksuminformation, and a sine wave sample to test
audio outputs of a circuit. This is the first block of data
found in the SoundFont ROM (address 0). The structure of the data
contained in the ROM header is shown below.
</P><P>
Because sample memory space is word oriented, the endian nature of the
resulting word reads is processor independent. However, the organization
of bytes within a word, or words within a
doubleword may vary on both the way the data has been encoded in the
ROM and the endian nature ofthe processor. To handle all eventualities,
it is recommended that the initialization software both
recognize and adapt for endian variations.
</P><A NAME="11.2"></A><P>
<B>11.2 Silicon SoundFont ROM Header Format</B>
<PRE>
typedef struct romHdrType{
DWORD romRsrc; // unused
DWORD romByteSize; // ROM size in bytes
CHAR interleaveIndex; // for use in case of interleaved ROMs
CHAR revision[3]; // for revision control
CHAR id[4]; // matched with the IROM chunk in SF file format
SHORT checksum; // to check ROM integrity
SHORT checksum2sComplement; // for updating checksum variable
// w/o changing file checksum value
CHAR bankFormat; // unused
CHAR product[16]; // product name (either system or SoundFont)
BYTE sampleCompType; // indicates type of sample precompensation used
CHAR filler1[2]; // future use
CHAR style[16]; // sound library style
CHAR copyright[80]; // copyright notice <A NAME="p80"></A>
DWORD sampleStart; // beginning byte address of the SoundFont bank
DWORD sineWaveStart; // beginning byte address of the sine wave sample
DWORD filler2[124]; // future use
SHORT sineWave[SINEWAVESIZE]; // sine wave sample data
} romHdr;
</PRE>
</P><A NAME="12"></A><H3>
12 Glossary
</H3><P>
absolute - Describes a parameter which gives a definitive real-world
value. Contrast to relative.<BR>
additive - Describes a parameter which is to be numerically added to
another parameter.<BR>
articulation - The process of modulation of amplitude, pitch, and timbre
to produce an expressive musical note.<BR>
articulation data - Single term indicating generators and modulators.
artifact - A (typically undesirable) sonic event which is recognizable
as not being present in the originalsound.<BR>
attack - That phase of an envelope or sound during which the amplitude
increases from zero to a peak value.<BR>
attenuation - A decrease in volume or amplitude of a signal.
AWE32 - The original Creative Technology Sound Blaster product which
contained an EMU8000 wavetable synthesizer and supported the SoundFont
standard.<BR>
bag - A SoundFont data structure element containing a list of zones.<BR>
balance - A form of stereo volume control in which both left and right
channels are at maximum whenthe control is centered, and which attenuates
only the opposite channel when taken to either extreme.<BR>
bank - A collection of presets. See also MIDI bank.<BR>
bipolar - In the SoundFont standard, said of a modulator source whose
minimum is -1 and whosemaximum is 1. Contrast "unipolar"<BR>
bi-directional compatibility - Simultaneous upward and downward
compatibility. This refers to the factthat a properly designed SoundFont
compatible program can appropriately handle files written to either a
lower or higher revision of the specification.<BR>
<A NAME="p81"></A>
big endian - Refers to the organization in memory of bytes within a
word such that the most significantbyte occurs at the lowest address.
Contrast "little endian."<BR>
byte - A data structure element of eight bits without definition of
meaning to those bits.<BR>
BYTE - A data structure element of eight bits which contains an unsigned
value from 0 to 255.<BR>
case-insensitive - Indicates that an ASCII character or string treats
alphabetic characters of upper orlower case as identical. Contrast
"case-sensitive."<BR>
case-sensitive - Indicates that an ASCII character or string treats
alphabetic characters of upper or lowercase as distinct. Contrast
"case-insensitive."<BR>
cent - A unit of pitch ratio corresponding to the twelve hundredth root
of two, or one hundredth of asemitone, approximately 1.000577790.<BR>
centibel - A unit of amplitude ratio corresponding to the two hundredth
root of ten, or one tenth of a decibel, approximately 1.011579454.<BR>
CHAR - A data structure of eight bits which contains a signed value from
-128 to +127.<BR>
chorus - An effects processing algorithm which involves cyclically
shifting the pitch of a signal andremixing it with itself to produce a
time varying comb filter, giving a perception of motion and fullness to
the resulting sound.<BR>
chunk - The top-level division of a RIFF file.<BR>
convex - A curve which is bowed in such a way that it is steeper on its
lower portion. Contrast with"concave" and "linear."<BR>
concave - (1) A curve which is bowed in such a way that it is steeper
on its upper portion. (2) In the SoundFont standard, said of a modulator
source whose shape is that of the amplitude squared
characteristic. Contrast with "convex" and "linear."<BR>
cutoff frequency - The frequency of a filter function at which the
attenuation reaches a specified value.<BR>
data points - The individual values comprising a sample. Sometimes also
called sample points. Contrast "sample."<BR>
decay - The portion of an envelope or sound during which the amplitude
declines from a peak to steady state value.<BR>
decibel - A unit of amplitude ratio corresponding to the twentieth root
of ten, approximately 1.122018454.<BR>
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delay - The portion of an envelope or LFO function which elapses from
a key-on event until theamplitude becomes non-zero.<BR>
destination - The generator to which a modulator is applied.<BR>
DC gain - The degree of amplification or attenuation a system presents
to a static or zero frequency signal.<BR>
digital audio - Audio represented as a sequence of quantized values
spaced evenly over time. The valuesare called "sample data points."<BR>
doubleword - A data structure element of 32 bits without definition of
meaning to those bits.<BR>
downloadable - Said of samples which are loaded from a file into RAM,
in contrast to samples which aremaintained in ROM.<BR>
dry - Refers to audio which has not received any effects processing such
as reverb or chorus.<BR>
DWORD - A data structure of 32 bits which contains an unsigned value
from zero to 4,294,967,295.<BR>
EMU8000 - A wavetable synthesizer chip designed by E-mu Systems for use
in Creative Technologyproducts.<BR>
envelope - A time varying signal which typically controls the pitch,
volume, and/or filter cutoff frequency of a note, and comprises multiple
phases including attack, decay, sustain, and release.<BR>
enumerated - Said of a data element whose symbols correspond to particular
assigned functions.<BR>
extensible - Said of a format whose feature set can be expanded without
impact on existing function.<BR>
flat -
A. Said of a tone that is lower in pitch than another reference tone.
B. Said of a frequencyresponse that does not deviate significantly
from a single fixed gain over the audio range.<BR>
generator - In the SoundFont standard, a parameter which directly affects
sound reproduction. Contrast with "modulator."<BR>
global - Refers to parameters which affect all associated structures.
See "global zone."<BR>
global zone - A zone whose generators and modulators affect all other
zones within the object.<BR>
header - A data structure element which describes several aspects of a
SoundFont element.<BR>
hydra - A. A nine-headed mythical beast. B. The nine "pdta" sub-chunks
which make up the SoundFont articulation data.<BR>
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instrument - In the SoundFont standard, a collection of zones which
represents the sound of a singlemusical instrument or sound effect set.<BR>
instrument zone - A sample and associated articulation data defined to
play over certain key numbers and velocities.<BR>
interpolator - A circuit or algorithm which computes intermediate points
between existing sample datapoints. This is of particular use in the
pitch shifting operation of a wavetable synthesizer, in which these
intermediate points represent the output samples of the waveform at the
desired pitch transposition.<BR>
key number - See MIDI key number.<BR>
layer - An obsolete SoundFont term, now called a Preset Zone.<BR>
level - In the SoundFont structure, this refers either to the preset and
preset zones (the preset level) orthe instrument and instrument zones
(the instrument level.)<BR>
LFO - Acronym for Low Frequency Oscillator. A slow periodic modulation
source.<BR>
linear - In the SoundFont standard, said of a modulator source whose
shape is that of a straight line. Contrast with "concave" and "convex."<BR>
linear coding - The most common method of encoding amplitudes in digital
audio in which each step is of equal size.<BR>
little endian - A method of ordering bytes within larger words in
memory in which the least significantbyte is at the lowest address.
Contrast "big endian."<BR>
loop - In wavetable synthesis, a portion of a sample which is repeated
many times to increase the duration of the resulting sound.<BR>
loop points - The sample data points at which a loop begins and ends.<BR>
lowpass - Said of a filter which attenuates high frequencies but does
not attenuate low frequencies.<BR>
modulator - In the SoundFont standard, a parameter which routes an
external controller to dynamicallyalter the setting of a "generator."
Contrast with "generator."<BR>
monotonic - Continuously increasing or decreasing. Said of a sequence
which never reverses direction.<BR>
MIDI - Acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. The standard
protocol for sending performance information to a musical synthesizer.<BR>
MIDI bank - A group of up to 128 presets selected by a MIDI "change
bank" command.<BR>
MIDI continuous controller - A construct in the MIDI protocol.
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MIDI key number - A construct in the MIDI protocol which accompanies
a MIDI key-on or key-offcommand and specifies the key of the musical
instrument keyboard to which the command refers.<BR>
MIDI pitch bend - A special MIDI construct akin to the MIDI continuous
controllers which controls thereal-time value of the pitch of all notes
played in a MIDI channel.<BR>
MIDI preset - A "preset" selected to be active in a particular MIDI
channel by a MIDI "change preset"command.<BR>
MIDI velocity - A construct in the MIDI protocol which accompanies a
MIDI key-on or key-offcommand and specifies the speed with which the
key was pressed or released.<BR>
modulator - In the SoundFont standard, a set of parameters which affect
a particular generator. Contrast with "generator."<BR>
mono - Short for "monophonic." Indicates a sound comprising only one
channel or waveform. Contrast with "stereo."<BR>
negative - In the SoundFont standard, said of a modulator which has a
negative sloping characteristic. Contrast with "positive."<BR>
object - Either an instrument or a preset, depending on the context.<BR>
octave - A factor of two in ratio, typically applied to pitch or
frequency.<BR>
orphan - Said of a data structure which under normal circumstances is
referenced by a higher level, but inthis particular instance is no longer
linked. Specifically, it is an instrument which is not referenced by any
preset zone, or a sample which is not referenced by any instrument zone.<BR>
oscillator - In wavetable synthesis, the wavetable interpolator is
considered an oscillator.<BR>
pan - Short for "panorama." This is the control of the apparent azimuth
of a sound source over 180 degrees from left to right. It is generally
implemented by varying the volume at the left and right speakers.<BR>
pitch - The perceived value of frequency. Generally can be used
interchangeably with frequency.<BR>
pitch shift - A change in pitch. Wavetable synthesis relies on
interpolators to cause pitch shift in a sample to produce the notes of
the scale.<BR>
pole - A mathematical term used in filter transform analysis.
Traditionally in synthesis, a pole is equated with a rolloff of 6dB per
octave, and the rolloff of a filter is specified in "poles."<BR>
positive - In the SoundFont standard, said of a modulator source which
has a positive slopingcharacteristic. Contrast "negative."<BR>
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Preditor - E-mu Systems' proprietary SoundFont 2.00 compatible bank
editing software.<BR>
preset - A keyboard full of sound. Typically the collection of samples
and articulation data associated with a particular MIDI preset number.<BR>
preset zone - A subset of a preset containing generators, modulators,
and an instrument.<BR>
proximal - Closest to. Proximal sample data points are the data points
closest in either direction to thenamed point.<BR>
Q - A mathematical term used in filter transform analysis. Indicates
the degree of resonance of the filter.In synthesis terminology, it is
synonymous with resonance.<BR>
RAM - Random Access Memory. Conventionally, this term implies read-write
memory. Contrast "ROM."<BR>
record - A single instance of a data structure.<BR>
relative - Describes a parameter which merely indicates an offset from
an otherwise established value. Contrast to absolute.<BR>
release - The portion of an envelope or sound during which the amplitude
declines from a steady state tozero value or inaudibility.<BR>
resonance - Describes the aspect of a filter in which particular
frequencies are given significantly more gain than others.
The resonance can be measured in dB above the DC gain.<BR>
resonant frequency - The frequency at which resonance reaches its maximum.<BR>
reverb - Short for reverberation. In synthesis, a synthetic signal
processor which adds artificialspaciousness and ambience to a sound.<BR>
RIFF - Acronym for Resource Interchange File Format. The recommended
form for interchange files such as SoundFont compatible files within
Microsoft operating systems.<BR>
ROM - Acronym for Read Only Memory. A memory whose contents are fixed at
manufacture, andhence cannot be written by the user. Contrast with RAM.
sample - This term is often used both to indicate a "sample data point"
and to indicate a collection of such points comprising a digital audio
waveform. The latter meaning is exclusively used in this specification.<BR>
sample rate - The frequency, in Hertz, at which sample data points are
taken when recording a sample.<BR>
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semitone - A unit of pitch ratio corresponding to the twelfth root of two,
or one twelfth of an octave,approximately 1.059463094.<BR>
sharp - Said of a tone that is higher in pitch than another reference
tone.<BR>
SHORT - A data structure element of sixteen bits which contains a signed
value from -32,768 to +32,767.<BR>
soft - The pedal on a piano, so named because it causes the damper to be
lowered in such a way as to soften the timbre and loudness of the notes.
In MIDI, continuous controller #66 which behaves in a similar manner.<BR>
sostenuto - The pedal on a piano which causes the dampers on all keys
depressed to be held until the pedal is released. In MIDI, continuous
controller #67, which behaves in a similar manner.<BR>
sustain - The pedal on a piano which prevents all dampers on keys as they
are depressed from beingreleased. In MIDI, continuous controller #64,
which behaves in a similar manner.<BR>
SoundFont - A registered trademark of E-mu Systems, Inc, indicating
files, data, synthesizers, hardwareor software produced by E-mu that
conform to the SoundFont Technical Specification.<BR>
SoundFont Compatible - Indicates files, data, synthesizers, hardware or
software that conform to the SoundFont Technical Specification.<BR>
source - In a SoundFont modulator, the enumerator indicating the
particular real-time value which themodulator will transform, scale,
and add to the destination generator.<BR>
split - An obsolete SoundFont term. Please see "Instrument Zone"<BR>
stereo - Literally indicating three dimensions. In this specification,
the term is used to mean two channelstereophonic, indicating that the
sound is composed of two independent audio channels, dubbed left and
right. Contrast with monophonic.<BR>
sub-chunk - A division of a RIFF file below that of the chunk.<BR>
synthesis engine - The hardware and software associated with the signal
processing and modulation path for a particular synthesizer.<BR>
synthesizer - A device ideally capable of producing arbitrary musical
sound.<BR>
terminator - A data structure element indicating the final element in
a sequence.<BR>
timecent - A unit of duration ratio corresponding to the twelve
hundredth root of two, or one twelve hundredth of an octave, approximately
1.000577790.<BR>
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transform - In a SoundFont modulator, the enumerator indicating the
particular transfer function throughwhich the source will be passed
prior to scaling and addition to the destination generator.<BR>
tremolo - A periodic change in amplitude of a sound, typically produced
by applying a low frequency oscillator to the final volume amplifier.<BR>
triangular - A waveform which ramps upward to a positive limit, then
downward at the opposite slope to the symmetrically negative limit
periodically.<BR>
unipolar - In the SoundFont standard, said of a modulator source whose
minimum is 0 and whosemaximum is 1. Contrast with "bipolar."<BR>
unpitched - Said of a sound which is not characterized by a perceived
frequency. This would be true of noise-like musical instruments and of
many sound effects.<BR>
velocity - In synthesis, the speed with which a keyboard key is depressed,
typically proportionally to the impact delivered by the musician.
See also MIDI velocity.<BR>
vibrato - A periodic change in the pitch of a sound, typically produced
by applying a low frequency oscillator to the oscillator pitch.<BR>
volume - The loudness or amplitude of a sound, or the control of this
parameter.<BR>
wavetable - A music synthesis technique wherein musical sounds are
recorded or computed mathematically and stored in a memory, then played
back at a variable rate to produce the desired pitch.
Additional timbre adjustments are often made to the sound thus produced
using amplifiers, filters, andeffect processing such as reverb and chorus.
WORD - A data structure of 16 bits that contains an unsigned value from
zero to 65,535.<BR>
word - A data structure element of 16 bits without definition of meaning
to those bits.<BR>
zone - An object and associated articulation data defined to play over
certain key numbers and velocities.
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