PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Beginners Forum Is there any software to convert VST libraries to sf2 soundfonts?

Like driving a screw in with a hammer instead of a screw gun/drill.
It'll work, but the results aren't quite the same.. they are all just tools in the toolbox.

Late to the discussion but I would recommend that you take the time to learn how to use a DAW. It's really not all that difficult. Certainly much easier than trying to convert files designed to work with a particular synth, into a file that can be read by another different program that uses a different file format.

You can still get Cakewalk for free and there are probably a few others that are free if it's only a "lite" version. If you are on a windows machine, and if you have Band in a Box, you have Real Band which is a rudimentary/basic DAW. I prefer Cakewalk. I'd think that you would get better sounding results using the synths designed to play the samples as opposed to trying to convert them into a different platform. The simple reason is that many of the samples in the better sounding libraries and even the cheaper ones are multi-layered samples. I'd imagine that soundfonts are mostly single layer. I used to use them and thought they were a great step up from using general midi. However,, while a step up from GM, they are certainly no match for the quality of today's most basic sample players and synths. Your player for the fonts isn't even capable of properly using the layered samples. We're talking about the overall quality of the sounds you're going to be hearing.

When you decide to take the step, there's a lot of knowledgeable folks here to call on for assistance.

I would add that Realband is not a basic as one might think. Especially for someone who does not have a ton of experience. Realband has just about every tool needed and then some it is just been build up from an older style DAW. If you used to a newer GUI or layout it may seem clunky but if you are not that familiar with the fancy stuff it is super capable you just need to learn it. Heck it is free with BiaB use it and learn it. Best part it opens BiaB files natively.

Oh RB developers!!! Add VST3 asap that is the missing ingredient!

Hi, and thanks for the post. I honestly would not object to learning a DAW, and I have heard of both Cakewalk and Band in a Box. The trouble is, I am 76 yrs old, semi-disabled, and even though I have close to 90 songs now on Musescore as sheet music adaptations and have become quite an expert in it, I can't actually read music. It is easy to write music ... just place 1 note at a time in a measure, one by one. I have perfect pitch and can do so quite well. Reading it, however, requires speed. I just don't have speed and never learned how. I suspect I am too old now to master speed reading. Consequently, when I am done adapting a piece of music to sheet music in musescore, the virtual "player" then plays the song beautifully, and I've gotten very good at it. I have hundreds of followers now.

That said, I am afraid of learning a whole new software program like Cakewalk or BIAB, or Sibelius or some other program. I know I could, but it would take me a LONG time and a LOT of effort. Frankly, I'm not sure I have the fortitude to tackle it, even with YouTube tutorials. I just feel too old.

Musescore has already come out with a big update called MS 4.3, which does read and load VST libraries. I just don't use it yet because it is missing some things regarding dynamics that I use all the time in a Musescore earlier version. Hopefully, the coders will fix the issue in a future update and I won't have to learn DAWs or Cakewalk or VST libraries, or ...

Thanks again for your encouragement, and thanks to all the others who have posted here as well.

It sounds like you don't have Band in a box. (BB) You might want to pick up a copy of the basic version for $130 and play around with it. It has a guarantee. If you don't like it, send it back and get a refund. This is a good company and they will refund the money. It's really not that hard to learn how to use. It might be the answer to your problems with composition. You said you are currently doing one note at a time. How would you feel about completing an entire song in 10 to 15 minutes? It's totally possible because I do that quite often. Once you get it done, you can change style, tempo, and key with the click of the mouse.
You're only as old as you feel.

Hopefully this helps you

Edit: you don't have to read any music to use this software to it's fullest advantage. A little bit of understanding music theory is helpful but not an absolute requirement.

Are you on Windows, Linux, or a Mac?

I use Windows, and I recall back when I was using older versions of Muse Score that I could install the JACK Audio Connection Kit (jack2), and this would allow MuseScore to stream MIDI output in a way that I could divert it back into a standalone instrument, or into a secondary host like bidule, or Kushview Element and then play the sounds in real time through whatever MIDI hardware or software instruments I like.

It was a bit weird to get working, but it worked, as Musescore 3 has special sockets and support specifically for jack2.

It seems like I might have needed a virtual MIDI port or two installed to help out with MIDI routing. I've always used loopMIDI on Windows machines.

To get jack2 working on a Windows PC...
If the audio device in your system does NOT have native ASIO drivers, then you will need a WDM>ASIO bridge. ASIO4ALL is a very popular option that works well for most users.

Years ago getting jack2 working could be pretty complicated, but I think the package is much improved these days. Easier to install, understand, and use.

Jack2 offers quite a few other perks as well. Think of it like a patch bay and audio matrix that allows you to route MIDI and Audio to and from any application that supports ASIO running on your system.

Example 1:
I could divert the MIDI stream straight into an external MIDI sound module or keyboard, such as my Roland Fantom XR.

Example 2:
I could launch the stand-alone version of software based instruments like HALion, Kontakt, Musio, or Opus. I could use the jack2 interface, and virtual MIDI ports to route a MIDI stream from Muse Score into the instrument(s). In this case you'll be limited to instruments that get base dynamic information from key-velocity, and do hair-pin dynamics via CC7. Note that many of the high end orchestra plugins these days expect every note to be accompanied via CC1 or CC11 event to get the initial volume/attack correct. Some might allow a way to toggle how dynamics work. Some might offer alternate 'General MIDI' patches/programs/instruments. Some might allow you to use simple scripts to work it out. Some are pretty ridged, and simply are not going to work well with Musescore 3's MIDI stream without some 'third party help'.

Example 3:
I could launch something like Bidule, Kushview Element, or even a full blown Tracking DAW, and host whatever VST plugins I like inside this. I'd instruct both Musescore, and the DAW to use the jack2 interface as the 'audio device'. From there I could stream both the MIDI and Audio from Musescore into the alternate 'host', and manipulate/mix it from there.

I used this approach years ago to play Muse Score through Garritan Libraries. In this case Bidule was essential because I needed to create some CC1 events in real time to get any 'dynamics' with this sort of Library. Muse Score was sending velocity information, but Garritan needs CC1 or CC11 too for string and wind instruments. So, I'd have Bidule read the velocity of each note and inject a matching CC1 event in real time for the instruments that needed this. It wasn't great, but it did the trick.