I have a couple of questions about using Sfizz in Ardour in Linux.
-Does it run okay in Ardour? any known issues?
-Instrument plugins like this can often use a good amount of CPU which makes them an issue if want to run multiple instances of them for different instruments. I don’t want to get into specs but has anyone experienced any issues with this?
-Another reason why I would like to try this plugin out is I am looking for as many D&D capable plugins to test in Ardour / other audio programs.
-Reason why I am asking, is I have not seen any compiled versions of this plugin available for Linux to be able to try out. My repo does not contain this and the Sfizz page does not appear to offer one. Does anyone know of any?
-Sfizz to me is lacking a couple of key features (such as global ADSR), I have seen that the features I am looking for have been requested a while back, so don’t think they are going to be added. Linux seems to be lacking in plugins like this. As mentioned in the past all soundfont players in Linux seem to be based on the same Fluidsynth application which does not have these key features either. Sfizz appears to be the only SFZ player / the furthest along available.
Does anyone know of any other options for virtual instrument plugins (SF2, SFZ, etc.) for Linux?
I know of a couple closed source alternatives, but was hoping for something open source if possible.
I also don’t want to have to wrap Windows plugins either.
Anyways would still at least like to be able to try Sfizz in Linux / Ardour.
Thank you to anyone who reads this and for any information shared.
No particular comment on sfizz, but be sure to checkout DecentSampler. You will find a large body of sampled instruments at pianobook.co.uk (sort by format). DS is free (gratis) but not libre. Dave Hilowitz, the author, is a good guy anyway.
@Schmitty2005
Ahh thank you I was always checking the github site, didn’t realize there were downloads on this main site.
@paul
That is funny you mention this, that is main one I was referring to / thinking of when I mentioned
“I know of a couple closed source alternatives”. I agree with everything you said above, very nice plugin and seems to be a very nice guy. I have seen this as well that Sfizz can apparently load DS instruments, I believe this is still true… Only thing not sure of is if you can edit the GUI / Parameters of DS instruments in Sfizz like you can in the DS plugin, probably not. If you could then could add things like ADSR but don’t think Sfizz can go that far. Anyways thank you for your response.
Lots of good advice here regarding Sfizz. When I started using Ardour about two years ago, one of the things I really wanted to do was incorporate orchestral soundfonts (Virtual Playing Orchestra etc) into my tracks. Sfizz worked well for me and still does. The only issue I’ve had is a) lack of features and b) the interface will not scale on a 4K monitor. So I can use it fine with a magnifying glass
So I’d been looking for an alternative to Sfizz for a while and recently came across ‘Corona’ from DiscoDSP. It’s a fairly basic synth BUT you can load soundfonts into it and play them with all the usual synth bells and whistles such as ADSR and effects. It’s a bit fiddly getting your soundfont files packaged into the right file format and getting them recognised in the source file picker but apart from that it works like a charm.
Right now I’m using Corona to make a really nice string pad using violins and viola ‘longs’ (sustained notes) using the ADSR controls to give it slow attack and release. Perfect for my project.
You can download a demo of Corona from them and try it out. It’s a nice looking VST with a stack of other features as long as your arm and way easier to use than Sfizz.
SFZ allows the file creator to specify gradients of parameter changes like this. A SFZ player using it’s own change of them would mess it up. That said, an SFZ file can expose these parameters to be changed in the player and Sfizz does work with that.
Here are some binaries for sfizz for various distributions Install package home:sfztools:sfizz / sfizz A mild warning, the LV2 has a bug that the vst3 version does not Sfizz live loads changed SFZ files when they are edited, which is a great feature but in the LV2 version, that causes the plugin to crash.
Wow, I didn’t know this only happened with the LV2… While trying to make my own SFZ drum kit, I experienced this bug over and over again. I should switch to the VST3 plugin.
