Sound Library |
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| A sound library is an essential component for midi recording. Sound libraries play the most important role in converting a midi file into an mp3 or wav. A sound library can be a soundfont (.sf2 extension), giga file (.gig file, for gigastudio only) an akai, halion, samplecell, unity file, and many others. As of now, there is no universal format, but I think the giga, akai, and halion formats are the most widely used. It makes sense with these many different formats that there is a converter. The two good programs that I know that can convert formats are CDXtract and Chicken Systems Translator. For example, you can convert an akai format into a giga format using either program, so gigastudio can read it. In fact, to make things even simpler, gigastudio has a built in converter, and can convert the popular akai format into their own giga format. |
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A sound library can be man made, or purchased from the gigastudio site, or a music store. The way to make a sound library is easier than you think. The only thing you really need is the sound you want to make, and a good microphone. For example, if you want to sample your own piano, you can create your own man made sound library, so that it can be read by gigastudio. It is a lot of work, and you have to record every note, or every other note on the piano 3 or 4 times (for the velocity layer) using a high quality microphone, and record it onto your hard drive. The resulting files will be wav files. You can create your own sound library with these wav files, using the gigastudio editor. After all, a sound library is nothing more than a series of wav files, mapped to a certain note, manipulated by the software sampler by being routed through the virtual midi port created by the software sampler which is used by the sequencer, and finally played through the sequencer as a result. This may sound confusing, but it really makes sense. Your sequencer will play your man made sound library, as long as your software sampler is loaded, your sound library is loaded, and your sequencer is loaded, with the software samplers virtual midi port selected as your midi device (you can choose this within the sequencer). Creating your own sound library sounds very cool, but in reality its not practical unless you have the instrument, great equipment, knowledge of filtering techniques, correct software in order to do the filtering, knowledge of the gigastudio editor, and time. It would be more cost effective to just buy a sound library in reality, unless you want to make one so you can sell it to other people. There are tons of sound libraries on the market, some are bad, some are average, and some are professional. The price range varies for these sound libraries, and here is a very basic cost chart of what you can spend: |
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| Type of Sound Library | Cost and Description | Program used to execute sound library |
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| Low end sound libraries (soundfonts) | $0-50 (Soundfonts can be found all over the internet, some are free, some cost a few bucks. These files are for amateurs who want midi to sound a bit better, but do not care enough about the sound quality to spend money on. Usually these types of people are hobbyists.) | Cakewalk, Gigastudio, Halion, Sound Blaster Live |
| Mid range sound libraries (bigger soundfonts, low end gigastudio, akai files) | $50-100 (these types of sound libraries are usually just good enough for a musican who wants to beat the traditional general midi sounds. It is a big leap forward, but still, not good enough for professional quality.) | Gigastudio, Halion |
| Professional Sound Libraries | $200-5000 (The lower cost professional sound libraries usually contain only one sampled instrument. For example, a good sampled piano will cost $200. A good sampled bassoon will cost $200. The higher cost professional sound libraries are the ones that contain it all. String ensembles, solo strings, woodwinds, mallets, percussion, and much more) | Gigastudio, Halion |