Getting better sounds inexpensively

[Sherry C]

Hi Bob,

Originally Posted by keyboard_bob

I am a new Composer user. Is there a way to get better playback sounds with Composer? When playing the same midi file with Composer vs. Finale Notepad, the music sounds richer and fuller with Notepad than it does with Composer. I don't think this is a matter of soundfonts, since everything else is the same but the program used to play back the midi file. I am not interested in playing the file back with different software - I want to watch the notes scroll by with Composer as I hear the playback, particularly since Composer has such an excellent transcription of the music.

Thanks,
Bob

Actually Finale has it's own internal (and proprietary) soundfont set and audio engine, so the difference you're hearing is indeed between a soundfont (Finale's) versus your computer using the generic GS Wavetable (Notation's default), which is included in all Windows machines. The bonus for using Composer, though, is that you can easily use any MIDI device for playback, so it can be as good as you can afford

One of the easiest ways to incorporate soundfonts into your setup is that listed below regarding SynthFont (www.synthfont.com - free/donation).
Please also see the other information that I referred to - there's a lot there and hopefully something will prove helpful

ttfn,
Sherry