Author Topic: Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...  (Read 30021 times)

The Skillster

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #25 on: 2004-01-08 22:09:40 »
Firstly the XG enhanced midi Goku7 is a hell lot better to listen to on the ears :)
that song is a long repition, that would drive anybody mad, but the XG one is nicer by far.
2ndly I do not like to see MP3s directly linked here  :evil:
3rdly Neither do tripod  :D  I should know, you probably have problems downloading that one.

Aaron

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #26 on: 2004-01-08 22:16:18 »
Hmm, I can't get those links to work.  Anyway, yeah, I don't think you should directly link to MP3s from the CD here.

The Skillster

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #27 on: 2004-01-08 22:19:17 »
Aaron your on fire, I have to say whats that 5 posts in 5 minutes, Im trying to play catch up...

Goku7

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« Reply #28 on: 2004-01-08 23:00:14 »
Quote from: The Skillster
Firstly the XG enhanced midi Goku7 is a hell lot better to listen to on the ears :)
that song is a long repition, that would drive anybody mad, but the XG one is nicer by far.


Thanks.  That's been just about the first piece of feedback I've recieved on that song from anyone with an XG synth, lol.

I suppose it can be repetitive.  Actually, the newest version is gonna have a pick slide near the end, but I'd also prefer to somehow get it recorded to mp3.....I swear, the irony of my situation makes me feel that I've been PWNED in this regard (the XG synth that exists physically on my card is not considered a recording source....usually you only run into that if the XG device is software). :P

Bluetank

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #29 on: 2004-01-11 03:43:26 »
i think tripod deleted those mp3s. i will find a better server to upload them. Sorry if u dun like mp3s linked here..

kkcazajeg

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #30 on: 2004-01-14 15:19:09 »
What do you think is the purpose of a "perfect" soundfont?
Should it simply sound like the PSone original and fix all the errors of the current release or increase the overall instrument sample quality?
The sound driver in the PlayStation version is not too great (I know it's a first generation title), sounds very synthy to me.
« Last Edit: 2007-11-09 14:28:07 by groupz »

xeriouxi

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I mean...
« Reply #31 on: 2004-01-14 16:20:08 »
Hi!

What I mean is that it should be identical as much as possible to the PSX version of FFVII... the way it was meant to sound!  :D

xeriouxi.

kkcazajeg

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #32 on: 2004-01-15 15:57:20 »
Don't get your hopes up. I know that creating a soundfont is a lot of work and I haven't done it before. But I'm willing to learn and will try my best to enhance the music.
« Last Edit: 2007-11-09 14:28:47 by groupz »

xeriouxi

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Right...
« Reply #33 on: 2004-01-16 11:13:09 »
Hi!

Right then... firstly I will need the original instruments used in the PSX version of FFVII. I have PSound to rip these... but there only seems to be about 70-80 if my memory serves me correctly. Is this right?  :-?

xeriouxi.

kkcazajeg

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« Reply #34 on: 2004-01-16 12:22:42 »
There are 74 instruments in the main bank and 6 choir samples. Most of the main instruments are very, very, very short. It should be the complete user sample collection of the PlayStation sound driver, but it's only 3 MB. Even the...well...let's call it "good" soundfont ff7.sf2 is 5 MB and the choir samples are not included.
« Last Edit: 2007-11-09 14:31:29 by groupz »

Goku7

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #35 on: 2004-01-17 00:25:32 »
Quote from: groupz
Yes, i think there are about 74 instruments in the main bank and 6 choir samples. These six really sound great, but most of the main instruments are very, very, very short. It should be the complete user sample collection of the PSX sound driver, but it's only 3 MB. 3 MB? Even the ... well ... let's call it "good" soundfont ff7.sf2 is 5 MB and the choir samples are not included in it.


Actually, the "good" ff7.sf2 soundfont that FF7pc was packaged with is 4mb, not 5....but that's just a technicality.

Anyway, don't diss the size of the PSX soundset.  Bigger does not always equal better.  The PSX samples are meant to be infinitely looped during sustained notes, and that's why they are so short.  That is also why the size is small.  Now, if you want instruments that have a sampled release in them, then the current samples are insufficient.  But you can still mimic that type of release by using the short samples and messing with their ADSR envelope values -- particularly the "Decay" value, if memory serves.

kkcazajeg

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #36 on: 2004-01-18 11:53:19 »
Will have to see which method sounds better.
« Last Edit: 2007-11-09 14:32:38 by groupz »

The Skillster

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #37 on: 2004-01-18 18:27:27 »
but u know i always thought the psx version was sounding more tinny and lower quality then FF7pc with a decent sized soundfont (50+meg) or yamahaXG.
Im not sure sounding like the psx version is really "perfect"

kkcazajeg

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #38 on: 2004-01-19 13:32:57 »
That's the issue I wanted to point out.
A prime example is "chu.mid" ("Fight On!") with the Yamaha XG SoftSynthesizer. It just sounds one hell of a lot better than with the PlayStation sound driver.
« Last Edit: 2007-11-09 14:34:59 by groupz »

xeriouxi

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Hmmm...
« Reply #39 on: 2004-01-20 09:41:08 »
Hi!

When I said the 'perfect' SoundFont... I meant perfect in duplication from the PSX to the PC.  :D

As for the 'Decide the future of FFVII' poll for the SoundFonts... well the XG MIDI has been made... so how can that be deciding the future when it exists already?  :-?

xeriouxi.

The Skillster

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #40 on: 2004-01-20 12:26:58 »
well the soundfonts are close to psx already? they actually sound better though. the psx has less polyphono i feel

kkcazajeg

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« Reply #41 on: 2004-01-20 15:14:25 »
@xeriouxi: The problem is that the XG midi driver doesn't have the chorus in "One-Winged Angel" and I'm not exactly willing to play it without.
« Last Edit: 2007-11-09 14:38:40 by groupz »

The Skillster

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« Reply #42 on: 2004-01-20 21:47:07 »
cant we hack XG to be able to patch it in realtime memory and place the soundbanks we need, and make a custom OWAngel midi?
just a thought

Goku7

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #43 on: 2004-01-20 22:01:52 »
Quote from: The Skillster
cant we hack XG to be able to patch it in realtime memory and place the soundbanks we need, and make a custom OWAngel midi?
just a thought


You mean the XG midi files, or the XG synth itself?  If its the latter, you'll need to be able to hack the "sgpwav00.tbl" and "sxgwave2.tbl" files (in the case of the S-YXG70 at least, the XG50 seems to have differently-named files), as these are the files that should most likely contain the XG instrument samples/data.

Aaron

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #44 on: 2004-01-20 22:37:03 »
Heh, that'd be really cool... my current strategy is...

 - Use the S-YXG50 for the entire game.
 - Use the soundfont when I fight the last boss.

I dunno if it would be possible to add the voices to the S-YXG tbl file, but if anyone would like to try ... :P

Goku7

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #45 on: 2004-01-20 22:39:40 »
Quote from: Aaron
Heh, that'd be really cool... my current strategy is...

 - Use the S-YXG50 for the entire game.
 - Use the soundfont when I fight the last boss.

I dunno if it would be possible to add the voices to the S-YXG tbl file, but if anyone would like to try ... :P


All I can tell you about that, is that my version of Awave Studio (version 7.3) can't decode the files....perhaps the newer versions can?

kkcazajeg

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #46 on: 2004-02-18 20:15:50 »
I've listened to all the midis and figured out what sounds different from the PlayStation version. I'll get started on it soon.

@others: As far as I know it is not possible to change or add instruments to the table files - whether it's the S-YXG70 or the S-YXG50.
« Last Edit: 2007-11-09 14:40:31 by groupz »

Sukaeto

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #47 on: 2004-02-19 23:42:43 »
Not that this is at all relevant, but I updated the FF7 For SBLive! page (not the SoundFont, just the web page) recently.

I just figured I'd mention it because there was talk about writing a SoundFont loading FAQ for Win2k/XP a while back, and I'd totally forgotten I had instructions on that page until now . . .

Anyway, you can access it here:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/somedude41/

Mofokubik

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #48 on: 2004-02-20 03:58:32 »
Gah, haven't been here in awhile, just saw this thread and had to respond. I tried to get ahold of rubicant to get the newest version but I just can't seem to find him. I have a little older version of the ff7 soundfont I was working on if you want it message me. Someone other than me can finish it, seeing as how now I have a fulltime job to go along with school so barely any time to do anything other than eat sleep and shit. Gah, I just got home from work and I already have to sleep and start the meaningless cycle all over again. Anyway what's done is pretty far along, just some missing instruments and the need for the midi files to be a little rearranged. I still wish I could get ahold of rubi, he has the version with like 8 more instruments along with around 15 midi files completed. Bah!

dgp9999

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Creating the 'perfect' Final Fantasy 7 soundfont...
« Reply #49 on: 2004-02-20 11:15:55 »
Wow. I've totally been ignoring the Game Tweaking forum. This topic caught my eye. I've just upgraded to WinXP so I haven't had time - or the enegy - to install FF7 and mess around with patching and soundfonts and using the usless Audigy software in XP.

Yeah, Viena is cool. I've experimented with some soundfonts I use for all midis. Sounds amazing but they're ending up around 140MB though...

I'd love to see a Samuel's For FF7. I had started playing FF8 before I realised about the SF system in FF7 so I was using the XG SoftSynth. The FF8 Timber SF was what got me interested in the whole SF world. I was using the Timber SF in combination with a few all purpose SFs and FF7 was sounding beautiful.

::stares at his copy of FFX-2 PAL, waiting for college to be over:: Must...play.

I'll definately be checkin back here for updates. Oh and I have to listen to the samples from this thread when I get home.