Effects profiles - dwhinham/mt32-pi GitHub Wiki

mt32-pi allows you to configure FluidSynth's built-in gain, chorus and reverb effects, which are used in SoundFont mode.

These settings can be configured in two ways:

  • Globally (set inside the [fluidsynth] section of mt32-pi.cfg) - these settings are the defaults used for all SoundFonts.
  • Per-SoundFont (set inside separate appropriately-named .cfg files) - these settings override the global settings and are applied to individual SoundFonts.

Global effects profile

The [fluidsynth] section of the configuration file contains the global effects settings. The default values correspond to the FluidSynth recommended defaults, and are as follows:

[fluidsynth]

gain = 0.2

reverb = on
reverb_damping = 0.0
reverb_level = 0.9
reverb_room_size = 0.2
reverb_width = 0.5

chorus = on
chorus_depth = 8.0
chorus_level = 2.0
chorus_voices = 3
chorus_speed = 0.3

These settings correspond to the FluidSynth-native equivalents, and so full descriptions of the gain, reverb and chorus parameters can be found in the FluidSynth documentation.

Per-SoundFont effects profiles

You can configure effects settings on a per-SoundFont basis by creating a .cfg file matching the file name of the SoundFont, and placing it adjacent to the SoundFont (in the same directory).

For example, to create an effects profile for a SoundFont named foo.sf2, create a new text file named foo.cfg.

You can then copy some or all of the effects settings from the global profile into this text file, which will redefine them for foo.sf2. The global setting will be used when you don't override it.

For example, if foo.cfg contains the following lines, then the gain, reverb room size, reverb width, and chorus speed will be overridden for foo.sf2:

gain = 0.4
reverb_room_size = 0.7
reverb_width = 0.75
chorus_speed = 0.35

GeneralUser GS

mt32-pi comes with the GeneralUser GS SoundFont by S. Christian Collins. The author recommends the following settings for this SoundFont:

gain = 0.2

reverb = on
reverb_damping = 0.19
reverb_level = 0.5
reverb_room_size = 0.7
reverb_width = 0.75

chorus = on
chorus_depth = 4.5
chorus_level = 0.5
chorus_voices = 3
chorus_speed = 0.35

⚠️ Note: mt32-pi's release package contains an effects profile for this SoundFont with the recommended settings shown above. You can find it at soundfonts/GeneralUser GS v1.511.cfg.