1sfxload(1)                  General Commands Manual                 sfxload(1)
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NAME

6       sfxload, asfxload - load a SoundFont file on the Emux WaveTable
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SYNOPSIS

10       sfxload [-options] fontfile
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12       asfxload [-options] fontfile
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14

DESCRIPTION

16       sfxload  and  asfxload  are utility program sto transfer the sound wave
17       and instruments data in a SoundFont file to the AWE32 sound driver,  or
18       to  the Emux WaveTable of ALSA sbawe and emu10k1 drivers.  This program
19       is necessary for playing MIDI samples via sequencer programs supporting
20       AWE  driver.   There  is no big difference between sfxload and asfxload
21       except  for  that  asfxload  is  for  ALSA  and  sfxload  is  for  OSS,
22       respecitvely. The options to specify devices are different between them
23       (see below).
24
25       Basically, sfxload behaves as two ways.
26                 % sfxload fontfile
27                 % sfxload -b1 fontfile
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29       The first usage is to read SF2 (or SBK) file and transfer  to  the  awe
30       driver.   In this case, the samples which were loaded on the driver are
31       replaced with the new one.  In the second case, sfxload reads the  file
32       and  appends  it to the pre-loaded samples on the driver with specified
33       bank number.  The old samples remain in  the  driver.   The  additional
34       samples can be cleared via -x option (see below).
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36       The  sound  files are searched through the path list.  The path list is
37       defined as built-in.  If the environment variable SFBANKDIR or the com‐
38       mand line option -P is given, it replaces the default search list.  The
39       file extension .sf2, and .sbk can be abbreviated.
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OPTIONS

43       -F, --device=file (sfxload only)
44              Specify  the  device  file  to  be  used.   Default   value   is
45              /dev/sequencer.
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47       -D, --index=number (sfxload only)
48              Specify  the  device index of AWE driver.  Negative number (e.g.
49              -1) means to probe the  first  AWE  device  automatically.   For
50              selecting  the  other AWE cards, a positive index number must be
51              given here.  Default value is -1.
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53       -D, --hwdep=name (asfxload only)
54              Specify the hwdep name to be used.  As default,  asfxload  seeks
55              until any Emux compatible hwdep device is found.
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57       -i, --clear[=bool]
58              Remove  all  samples  before  loading  the  fonts.   This  is an
59              explicit directive (see -b option).  If this option is specified
60              alone  without  soundfont  file  arguments,  sfxload  does onlay
61              remove samples.  Either of on, off, yes, no, true, or false  can
62              be specified as an optional argument.
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64       -x, --remove[=bool]
65              Remove  the  optional  samples  previouly  loaded via -b option.
66              Otherwise, all new samples are simply appended.
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68       -N, --increment[=bool]
69              Do not clear samples even with the absence of -b  option.   How‐
70              ever,  this  option  is  not  exclusive  with -x option. If both
71              options are specified, and the memory full error is  encountered
72              during  loading  fonts,  sfxload  will try to remove samples and
73              load the fonts again.
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75       -b, --bank=number
76              Append the sound samples on the specified  bank.   Without  this
77              option,  all  present  samples  in the driver are removed before
78              loading the new fonts unless -N option  is  specified.  Usually,
79              this  option  is  necessary to load user bank, typically in bank
80              one.  For example,
81                        % sfxload synthgm.sbk
82                        % sfxload -b1 surprise.sf2
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84       -l, --lock[=bool]
85              Lock the font.  The locked font is no longer removed via  remove
86              option (-x) even if it's loaded together with -b option.
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88       -C, --compat[=bool]
89              Use the old (v0.4.2) parameter calculations.
90
91       -A, --sense=sensitivity
92              (Only valid on compatible mode)
93              Set  sample  attenuation  sensitivity.  This option controls the
94              sensitivity of initial attenuation parameter of each  instrument
95              defined  in  SoundFont  file.  In the program, each parameter is
96              calculated from the value divided by this number for the  origi‐
97              nal  value.   The  number  1.0  means  that the original initial
98              attenuation parameters would be used.  Generally, smaller number
99              makes  drum  sounds louder.  (I think "-A 2" would be similar to
100              Windows sounds.)  The default  value  is  10.   Note  that  this
101              option  changes  also the default attenuation automatically (see
102              below).
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104       -a, --atten=attenuation
105              (Only valid on compatible mode)
106              Set the default attenuation level.   This  option  controls  the
107              minimum  attenuation  of  the sample.  The parameter is given in
108              raw digit number for AWE driver, that is, in 8/3 dB unit.  Since
109              --sense  option  changes  the default attenuation automatically,
110              specify this option later  from  --sense  option.   The  default
111              value is 32.
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113       -d, --decay=scale
114              (Only valid on compatible mode)
115              Set  the  scale  of envelope decay time.  Default value is 50.0.
116              Sounds decay fast  when  larger  number  is  set.   The  ver.0.3
117              sfxload uses 54.8.  If you want to keep the same sound, use this
118              number instead.
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120       -M, --memory[=bool]
121              Display the left memory size in DRAM on the AWE32 card.
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123       -c, --chorus=percent
124              Specify the effects of chorus.  The value is in percent, from  0
125              to  100.   The  default is unspecified.  This value may be over‐
126              written by MIDI control messages.
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128       -r, --reverb=percent
129              Specify the effects of reverb.  The value is in percent, from  0
130              to  100.   The  default is unspecified.  This value may be over‐
131              written by MIDI control messages.
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133       -B, --addblank[=bool]
134              Add 48 size of blank loop on each sample  data.   Usually,  this
135              option  is  not necessary.  Most of soundfont files are designed
136              well for enough blank loops for each sample.
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138       -L, --extract=source[:map]
139              Extract and load only the specified preset(s).  This  option  is
140              usually  employed by drvmidi.  The preset is given as same as in
141              virtual bank file.
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143       -v, --verbose[=level]
144              Increase or set the verbosity level.
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146       -q, --quiet
147              Don't show error messages, equivalen with --verbose=0.
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149       -V, --volume=percent
150              Specify the total volume of sounds, provided  in  percent.   The
151              default volume is 70%.
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153       -P, --path=path1:path2:pathN
154              Specify the search path list.  The sound files are searched from
155              path1, path2, and so on.  This overrides both  the  system  path
156              and environment variable SFBANKDIR.
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VIRTUAL BANK FILE

160       The  virtual  bank  file  is a list of presets treated as one soundfont
161       file.  The syntax of virtual bank is as follows:
162                      # comments
163                      source:map[:soundfont [preset-name]
164                      source:map[:soundfont [preset-name]
165                      ...
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167       The first and second items are the source and mapped  presets,  respec‐
168       tively.   The  former  is the existing preset in the soundfont, and the
169       latter is the actual preset loaded on the sound driver.  The preset  is
170       described by the following three values,
171                      preset/bank/keynote
172       If  bank  and  keynote  are  omitted, bank 0 and keynote -1 (meaning to
173       search all keys) are applied.
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175       The third item is the name of soundfont file.   The  file  is  searched
176       from  the  prescribed search-path.  The remaining arguments are ignored
177       in sfxload.
178
179       If the soundfont name is omitted, sfxload loads it as  preset  mapping.
180       It just behaves like a symbolic link of file opposing to copying of the
181       file.  Any sample data is not referred at this time, but searched first
182       when the note is played.
183
184       A couple of special commands can be used together with the virtual pre‐
185       sets above.  default command is used to specify the  default  soundfont
186       file.   Any  other  presets which are not defined in the virtual preset
187       lists are loaded from this default font.  For example, in the following
188       virtual  bank,  2mbgmgs.sf2  is used except for standard drumsets which
189       employs drum.sf2:
190                      0/128:0/128:drum.sf2
191                      default 2mbgmgs.sf2
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193       Another special command  is  include  command.   This  simply  includes
194       another virtual bank file under the current position. For example,
195                      default standard.sf2
196                      0/128:0/128:drum.sf2
197                      include xgsfx.bnk
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199

SYSTEM RESROUCE FILE

201       The default option arguments can be stored in the system resource file.
202       There are two files loaded as default.
203                 $HOME/.sfxloadrc
204                 /etc/sfxloadrc
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206       The syntax is as follows:
207                 fontname -options..
208       The first argument is soundfont file name for each option.  The remain‐
209       ing  arguments  are identical with command line options.  The font name
210       default is used for default options for all sound fonts.   The  default
211       options are overridden by specific options or command line options.
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213       For  example,  to  set default chorus level 20 except for synthgm font,
214       you can write a resource file ~/.sfxloadrc like that:
215                 default   --chorus=20
216                 synthgm --chorus=0
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ENVIRONMENT

221       SFBANKDIR
222              Search path for sound files.  The current  directory  is  always
223              searched at first.
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SEE ALSO

227       drvmidi(1)
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231       Copyright (C) 1996-2003 Takashi Iwai.
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233       The  AWE32  driver and utilties are free software; you can redistribute
234       them and/or modify them under the  terms  of  the  GNU  General  Public
235       License  as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
236       of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
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240                               January 22, 2003                     sfxload(1)
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