I've been using PT for 14 yrs.(Still on Ver 10b which serves my purpose well) I really like it. I have also been using my SB Audigy 2 NX ext. sound card and sound fonts with PT.

That was windows 2000 and XP. Now with Vista (my old pc which is now a dedicated music pc) I use PT and midi files to create songs I vocalize to (and love the TC Helicon and all it's neat tricks).

My question is (not a PG Music problem) Creative Labs has dropped support for sound fonts after XP. Is there another way to integrate SF into Power Tracks?

Yes if the version of PowerTracks you use can accept VSTi instruments. The Plogue Sforzando midi instrument PG Music now uses plays Soundfonts. There are multiple GM compatible Soundfont libraries available on the internet.

PG Music sells +++ Coyote Forte DXI +++ which is a GM compatible soft synth.

PG Music also sells +++ Cakewalk's Music Creator 7 +++ which includes Roland's GM compatible TTS-1 soft synth.

+++ Sonar Home Studio +++ replaces Music Creator 7. It is the same price as Music Creator 7 and also includes the TTS-1 soft synth.

Jim, The VSTi instruments. The Plogue Sforzando midi instrument you mentioned is a new term to me. Please forgive my ignorance on this newer stuff, but I'm just looking to get away from my old way of working (my creations worked well on the older versions of everything).
I'm researching all these things that are new to me, but still a bit confused.

How do I go about getting VSTi and Plogue files and how to marry them to my Power Tracks? Is PT 17 a lot more refined? I am just doing basic stuff. Singing along with midi file (with decent sounding instruments) and taking advantage of the Pitch correction and harmonies PT has.

Thx, Bill [u][/u]

Jim shared several choices for General MIDI sound creation; however, if you want to use soundfonts that you already have (I have the creative 2MB, 4MB, and 8MB that use to ship standard with Creative cards - and for some reason the defaulted to the 2MB soundfont, which never made sense). Anyway, here are some soundfont alternatives (not comprehensive).

Synthfont allows you to load a soundfont (GM or otherwise) and use it as a VST, or as a standalone to play through.

I believe version 1 is free and version 2 is not expensive ($17 for a lifetime license).

You can also load a soundfont into the Sforzando VST that now ships with BIAB/RealBand (it will convert the format) and select patches there as well. I can't remember if it comes with PowerTracks or not (but if so, it would have to be version 2017).

You can also load a Soundfont using the Coolsoft Virtual MIDI Synth, which sets up a MIDI output port that acts like an external device and allows you to load soundfonts as your sound source. However, unlike a VSTi or DXi, you can't render directly to audio; you would need to record the output from your computer back into your computer (again, as you would do with an external synth).

I have a ton of soundfonts I've acquired over the years that I could probably share (I'll see about uploading them to DropBox sometime this week).

Thanks jford. I understand what your saying. I too have 2,4,8 MB Sf files from my Creative sound cards. I downloaded the free version of SynthFont 1 and it plays and converts midi music to wav file. It works quite well. The 1 MB SF file it is supplied with is excellent.

I can do that and then import it into Power Tracks and then start my vocals, but It would be most ideal to be able to have control over the midi music and vocal wav files at the same time for optimum control of balance and tone.

Bill

Look at the Synthfont site and look for the VSTSynthFont file. Then load the VST into PowerTracks so it is available to you. Then in Powertracks, you can either tell individual MIDI tracks to use VSTSynthFont, or you can make it your default MIDI sound source. When you open the VSTSynthfont interface, you can tell it which Soundfont file you want to use.

Then your MIDI tracks will play concurrently using the soundfont you want along with your audio tracks.

Let me know if that doesn't properly explain it.

j,
Thanks again for info. I did install the VSTSynthFont file into PT. I installed it in the PT folder in PROGRAMS where plugins where indicated. I'm still not sure what to do next. In PT I couldn't see any differences.

Bill

Bill, yes, PowerTracks 2017 (you called it 17) has many more features than what was released many years ago.

I was going to take a look at your problem and provide some screen shots, but realized that I'm not actually sure which version of PowerTracks (PTPA) you are running.

You say version 10b; however, there is a version 10 (released in 2005) and a version 2010 (released in 2010), which are not the same thing.

I do see that there was a 2010 Build 4b update released, but please verify the version you are running and I can probably help out when I get home from work this evening.

PTPA used version numbers up through v12, at which point the number switched to the year. I started way back when with v5 with all version in between up to 2017 now.

Please let me know and we can hopefully get you on the right track.

John, Yes I do have PT ver. 10 b from 2005. I guess maybe that's why I can't get the VST Synthfont to work? Thanks for spending so much time on my situation.

Bill

Hi, Bill -

And I just looked and it appears that VST/VSTi support was added in version 11, so you are one behind that.

It looks like DX/DXi support was added in version 10, so you could get your MIDI to work with a DXi synth. For example, you could buy the Coyote Forte DXi Synth from PGMusic for $40. It won't be your Soundfonts, but if you were only using the Creative soundfonts, you'll find it will sound much better. That would allow you to hear MIDI and audio data concurrently in PowerTracks.

All that being said, you have missed versions 11, 12, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and now 2017. A lot has happened since then.

You can upgrade to just the basic PowerTracks 2017 package for $29. It costs more if you are interested in getting RealDrums content, but $29 gets you in the gate. You can check it out +++ here +++.

I would suggest upgrading to a newer version, if you are still interested in using PowerTracks. It will install the CoyoteWT DXi synth (which is not the same as the Coyote Forte). The CoyoteWT just wraps the MIDI sounds that come with Windows (which don't sound very good, but does work), so you'll have sounds very similar to what you get with I'd say the 2MB Creative soundfont. Be aware that the user interface will look different, but we on the forum will be happy to help you navigate that.

I'm assuming you aren't looking to invest a lot of money, based on your initial post (but could be wrong). There are other similarly priced options such as Cakewalk Music Creator 7, which comes with some pretty good MIDI sounds (not pro-level, but definitely usable. I would have recommended Sonar Home Studio; however, it requires Windows 8 or 10 to run. There is also Reaper at a similar price point.

Good luck and let us know.

John, Thx for the detailed info. I also did more in depth research and see what you mean about the newer version with the VST/VSTi support. I never had to deal with that before, because up till recently I was using Win2000 on an old 750 Duron pc (don't laugh, but it did work quite well over the years - didn't have a reason to upgrade).

I enjoy the vocal harmonizer and pitch correction in PT. (Invaluable)I did upgrade from ver 9 in 2005 when I discovered the pitch corr and harmonizer they added to PT 10. For $29 I think it's worth it to bring me into the present decade. There are a lot of features in these programs I never had reason to even investigate. I just vocalize with harmonies to midi files I've collected over the last 20 yrs.

I'll down load it today. I'll let you know about my success.

Cool, there's a lot of us here that can help out if you run into problems.

It would be real interesting to hear 'after thoughts' from someone upgrading PT from 2005 to 2017.
Do let us know what you think.

John, rharv,
I downloaded PT 2017 yesterday. Installed it in my Vista SP2. Took me a while to find out where some of my old controls are. A lot more professional/neater looking. It worked as well as my old version. Most of the drop down menus were the same. Getting used to the relocation of controls had me moving the pointer all over the place. I also installed the Real 3.0 drummer too.

John, It looks like it's using the MS GS wav table synth. (Not cool). Based on what you told me I guess it will never use SF like my old system? I downloaded the VSTSynthFont file.exe and executed it and installed it in the C:Programs/PT directory, like the instructions showed. The .dll for it did go into the PT Direct X plugins directory.
I don’t understand where or how to envoke this feature.
The sound I get from SynthFont Player with it’s built in measly 1 MB S Font file is superior to the ones from Creative.(2, 4 or 8 MB).
So bottom line, how do I use the VSTSynthfont File?

Thanks John,
Bill

First click the little dropdown arrow on the left end of a MIDI track and select Edit DXi synth

Click the drop down for the first of the four empty slots.
If the SynthFont is not present in the list;
Scroll to bottom.

Use Add Dxi to list and then browse (navigate) to that dll file you mentioned.

After that it should be available in the list.

To make all tracks use it (I'm not sure if it can do multiple MIDI channels/sounds)
you can try to insert it to replace the default one by selecting it as the Default DXi synth in the Prefs area.

If it doesn't work here you'll have to assign it to all the tracks using the right click menu or the little arrow.

Actually, you have to scroll to the bottom and add VSTi, not DXi, then find the Synthfont dll to do so.

Once you open the interface you should be able to load your favorite soundfont. Mine is the 31.9MB Reality soundfont.

'DXi' and 'VSTi' are used interchangeably in PT.

It's called default DXi synth, yet add VSTi (or vice versa) .. whatever
They should standardize on one or the other.
FWIW I use a modified Chaos (12 meg) SF. They are fun to tinker with, like the old samplers.

Thx a lot guys,
I have it. I have a sf bank working in PT 2017. I have all the instrument icons on each of the midi tracks. I've been making comparisons between the SF banks. Creative 4, 8 MB and the SynthFont SF 1 MB bank. To me the SynthFont 1 MB bank sounds more realistic than the others. I guess size doesn't always matter?

Just to throw one more confusing thing I've been dealing with into this whole mix, is I was also comparing (with the same set of headphones) PT 2017 on the Vista pc (3GB ram, 2.4 GHZ) which has the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX (USB external) hookup against my old dependable Win 2000 750 MHZ Duron processor with 512 MB ram and PT 10 (2005). The Win 2000 machine has my really old SB Live mp3+ internal card.

I truly think the old SB Live has a somewhat better quality sound than the Audigy . Anyway - (I used the same midi files, same SF bank).

back in the late 90's I had a C Labs AWE32 card in win 98 and to me that was even better yet. But, the AWE32 used 16 bit ISA buss slot which is now ancient.

Thanks again, Bill

Bill, I suggest you do a search for the 31.9 MB Reality Soundfont, download, and install it as your default. I think you may be pleasantly surprised.

John, I did downloaded the 31.9 Sf bank. It sounds great in my Win 2000 PC.

Now that it's a .SF2, how can I get it in PT 2017 without the support of the creative SF bank manager?

Bill

If you are running Synthfont, for example, just load PowerTracks, load the Synthfont VST on a track, and then open the Synthfont interface. From there, you should be able to select your default soundfont. Just select the 31.9MB Reality font file and that's what it will use. Using soundfonts with a VSTi soundfont player doesn't have the internal memory restrictions that the physical sound cards do. And even if you have a Creative sound card, the VSTi soundfont player will play whatever soundfont you throw it separately from what's loaded into the Creative soundfont bank. The difference is you are running through the VSTi, not the computer's soundfont-enabled MIDI port.

I hope that made some sense. If not, I can probably send some screen shots later this evening.

John, Thx so much for spending so much of you time helping me. I think a light bulb just went off in my head with this concept. The Synthfont VSt is basically a conduit to bypass the soundfont bank manager I no longer can use with my newer OS.
You are right, the 31.9SF does have some extra hi-qual,realistic sounds to it. I experimented and kept checking the quality from the other SF banks and it is super.

somehow I was able to get the 31.0 Realty SF bank to hook up with PT. I loaded it in Synthfont and used the down arrow on 1 midi track in PT to choose the option.

Does the SynthFont program have to always be active when using PT?

How can I always be sure I'm using the 31.9 SF bank everytime I boot my PC and boot PT?

Also, if you could send those screen shots just for reference it would be great.
I have been capturing all the text we have been replying with also for reference.

Thx, Bill

Here you go. Hope this helps. Once you finish, your selected soundfont, played through Synthfont, should be your default MIDI player. Then any MIDI data will use that soundfont and the track assigned instrument (don't forget to select appropriate MIDI channels as well) by default.

And a few more screenshots...

Hope the above helps.

John, I did get to the last screen shot you uploaded with 39.1 Reality Sf bank in the display. I exit that screen by the RED X upper right of window and my screen hangs up and has that whiteish cloud over it. and i have to reboot. Task magr just hangs forever. How else might I exit that screen?

I hope I'm not being too much of a pain.

I am making progress. One difference I'm noticing is My VSTSynthFont.dll file is in the PT directory like the original instructions showed, but yours is showing in the SynthFont Folder.

SynthFont player does show I'm using the 39.1 Reality bank also.
I tried minimizing the DirectX/VST window and my song plays well in PT.

When I go to exit PT, I get App error (ptw.exe) and it hangs up with whitish screen and I have to turn power off. When I go back into PT the Coyotte stock SF is now back in the list. If I continue to use Coyotte everything seems fine (Shut dn etc,)to use 39.1 SF Do I need to re-choose 39.1 SF bank every time I use PT?


Any other thoughts?

Thx again,
Bill

Hmmm, I'll take another look this weekend, but you are definitely on the right track.

Try this (just a hunch and as a test)
Once you selected the default synth in the Options area (before changing anything inside SynthFont) close out of that window AND PT.

Re-open PT, then try to make the rest of the changes.

If it crashes before you can successfully configure it, try moving the dll file to where John has his dll, then in PT, remove the synth from the list, close out, open again and relocate the synth in the new location .. maybe certain default files get saved to a given location and that is causing the issue (could be anything from permissions to compiled locations).

And by the way, all my VST/VSTi DLL's are located in a central place, using my own file structure to separate out 32-bit from 64-bit, etc.

Even if they get installed in different places, you can move the DLL's.

John, rharv,

Thanks for all the intense help and ideas. None of these changes and procedures work. However, PT 2017 works perfectly with the Coyotte/WT. and it does act like a OK S.bank. The new version of PT 2017 definitely has some decent new features that are a big help and I'm glad I upgraded. I did try reinstalling PT 2017- to no avail.

I can get by if I use Synthfont 1 (with 31.9 Reality SF) and save the midi as a wav file (volume and bal can be set in Synthfont) and then import it into PT. or use my old win 2000 machine that handles all Sf. I guess I was just trying to get 1 old Vista pc to do it all.Maybe Vista is the problem?

I did gain 2 things through all of this: pt 2017 - big improvement and 039.1 Reality SF Bank, the best I've ever heard.

Thanks again Guys for all your time.