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This overview of the Synthesizer Panel includes:
Synthesizer Panel is a tool for the music synthesis process. It can be used for auditioning and experimenting with sounds, as well as monitoring sounds as they are generated by the internal software synthesizer. For example:
you can play the internal MIDI software synthesizer by playing a MIDI data file with Sound Player , and as you do, use Synthesizer Panel to monitor the presets that are being used by the synthesizer
you can drop presets or sound file icons into the 16 channel icon drop pockets, so that you can easily audition and compare them
you can drop preset bank directories or file icons into the eight bank drop pockets to compare and/or audition entire banks (see “Using Preset Banks”)
MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is a standardized digital language (and hardware specification) that enables computers and a variety of electronic musical instruments/devices to communicate with one another. Officially introduced in 1983, MIDI has come to offer musicians advanced avenues of creative sound and instrument coordination through computers.
The following books may offer useful background and supplementary information about working with MIDI:
The Musician's Guide to MIDI, by Christian Braut, SYBEX, Inc., 1994
The MIDI Manual, by David Miles Huber, SAMS, 1991
This document follows these conventions:
Links in italics launch a term definition. For example, click: MIDI device.
Red words indicate “launch links,” meaning that if you click them, they launch the tool that they name, for example: Synthesizer Panel .
The symbol “>” between a menu names menu items indicates a path to a menu choice. For example, “File > Open” means “Open the File menu and choose Open.”
Three different ways to access the Synthesizer Panel:
To open it immediately, double-click Synthesizer Panel .
From the Toolchest, select Find > Media Tools, then double-click the Synthesizer Panel icon.
To open it from the command line, type: synthpanel
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You can sample and compare individual preset sounds by pressing any of the 16 Play buttons in the Synthesizer Panel window. (You can also monitor a MIDI song while it is playing. See “Monitoring the Software Synthesizer” for details.)
By default, Synthesizer Panel starts up the preset that is currently loaded by the software synthesizer. By default, General MIDI is used, so the Acoustic Piano preset is loaded on all the channels (except channel 10, which is the percussion map). To assign different sounds to different channels, see “Selecting Presets and Sound Files.”
 | Note: Synthesizer Panel Play button cycles through notes C2 to C5 of a given preset or sound. You can use MIDI Keyboard to play other notes on the keyboard scale. To open MIDI Keyboard, double-click MIDI Keyboard . |
Preset (sometimes alternatively called voice, patch, or timbre) refers to one of many different types of sounds that can be assigned with Synthesizer Panel. For example, if you select the Marimba preset for channel 1, and then click the Play button, the sound of the note will resemble the sound of a marimba. Synthesizer Panel comes with many presets for you to choose. You can also use sound files instead of presets. Thirteen different sound file formats are accepted. When you load a sound file, a temporary preset is created—using the sound file as the sample.
To assign presets or sound files in Synthesizer Panel:
Select Sounds > Presets or Sounds > Sound Files.
Note: You can use a sound or preset file of your own instead of selecting from the Sounds menu. If you load a sound file that contains MIDI instrument information (see the aifc man page for an example) that info will be used by the temporary preset. If you are selecting a preset, choose from:
General MIDI Brings up an icon view containing 128 General MIDI preset icons. Includes sounds ranging from Acoustic Grand Piano to Gunshot.
Golden Analog Brings up an icon view containing a set of icons for synthesizer sounds with a character popular in the 1970s and 1980s.
Drag and drop the preset or sound file icon into any of the 16 preset icon drop pockets.
If desired, continue to assign presets or sound files to other channels.
 | Tip: You can increment or decrement the preset number in any field by placing the cursor in the field and using + and - keys on your keyboard. You can also place the cursor in a preset field and enter a new preset number. |
Synthesizer Panel provides a preset bank panel in its interface—to display this part of the interface click the Show Banks arrow button.
About Banks
A preset bank is a collection of presets that function together as a group. For example, the most common type of preset bank is a General MIDI bank, which consists of 128 presets plus a percussion preset. By default, the “GeneralMIDI SoundSetLevel1” bank is selected by Synthesizer Panel. The preset bank panel gives you an interface for easily accessing and selecting banks for use. General MIDI bank directories (file folders) and SoundFont2 bank files are currently accepted. To load banks into the preset bank section of the Synthesizer Panel, select any bank directory (folder) icon and drag it into the bank icon drop pocket.
| Note: You can replace one bank with another bank by dropping a bank icon on top of another icon in a bank icon drop pocket. |
Selecting Banks
When a preset bank is selected in Synthesizer Panel, that bank's presets are used by the software synthesizer. Click a bank number or a bank number radio button to select a bank.
| Note: When you select a General MIDI bank, the percussion preset for that bank is automatically loaded on MIDI channel 10. No other preset changes occur until you enter a new program number in a channel field or until a MIDI program change message is received. |
There several audio parameters setting you can control, including:
The Main Tune wheel allows you to tune the internal software synthesizer. The unit of measurement, as show in the Main Tune field, is a cent, which is 1/100 of a semitone. This is useful for tuning to another sound source that is difficult or impossible to tune—such as a piano or radio station.
Open the Main Tune by selecting “Synth Runtime Parameters...” from the Options menu. Drag the Main Tune wheel to the right to raise the pitch, or to the left to lower it.
The Volume slider controls the intensity of the sound generated by the internal software synthesizer. The unit of measurement is decibels. Move the slider to the right to raise the gain, or to the left to lower it. If you increase the value above 0 dB, the sound may become distorted during loud passages.
To adjust the reverberation of the sound generated by the software synthesizer, choose Options > Synth Runtime Parameters... .
Use the Reverberation menu button to choose from:
| Off | Turns reverberation off | |
| Small Office | Produces reverberation effect similar to sound generated in a small, square room | |
| Medium Chamber |
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| Concert Hall | Produces reverberation effect similar to sound generated in a large room, such as a concert hall | |
| Cavern | Produces reverberation effect similar to sound generated in a cavern |
Use the sliders below the Reverberation menu button to adjust the reverberation decay time, tone (brightness), effects mix, and level.
| Note: Reverberation increases processing demands, so you may want to turn it off if other significant processes are running concurrently. |
To adjust the chorus, choose Options > Synth Runtime Parameters... . Use the Chorus Type menu button to select from these commonly used chorus types: standard, fast flange, or slow flange. You can also choose Off to turn off the chorus. The sliders below the Chorus Type menu button allow you to control parameters that define the chorus effect.
For channel-specific settings, click the More button in the upper right of the Synthesizer Panel window. This expands the window, opening up an area where you can use the Pan dials to alter the pan and the Volume and Expression sliders to alter the level and expression of the sound generated through each channel.
| Tip: You can increment or decrement numbers in any volume or expression field by placing the cursor in the field and using + and - keys on your keyboard. |
| Tip: The standard method for setting the volume of a MIDI channel is to use the volume slider alone, and set the Expression slider to its maximum value (127). The total volume will equal Volume/127 x Expression/127, so if either is set to zero, the result will be zero. |
You can use Synthesizer Panel to monitor the state of the internal software synthesizer. When you use Sound Player to play a MIDI data file, you can open Synthesizer Panel and watch the Channel and Preset Name columns to monitor what presets and channels are used by that file.
| Tip: A number of MIDI data files are included with your software. Choose Sounds > MIDI Songs to display a directory of files you can play with Sound Player. |
Each time a MIDI event is generated through a channel, a light flashes in the LED under the Channel column. Program change events cause the Preset Number and Preset Name fields to update to the new program number. The Preset Name column displays the name of the preset currently assigned to that particular channel. If the Pan, Volume, and Expression indicators are visible, you can also monitor changes to those settings as they occur.
Open Sound Player from the Synthesizer Panel Utilities menu. Refer to the Sound Player Help menu for instructions on Sound Player.
This section contains reference information on:
The MIDI menu includes the following commands:
| Input Interfaces | Allows you to choose the MIDI input generator, which could be the internal software synthesizer “Software Synth,” or the serial port connected to an external MIDI device. | |
| All Notes Off | Turns off all MIDI notes that are currently playing. | |
| Reset All Controllers |
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| Restart Synthesizer |
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| Synth System Reset |
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The Options menu includes:
Opens window for customizing the software synthesizer's behavior via its startup file. This allows customizing of parameters such as the number of audio output channels, the audio output device port, the maximum CPU usage, and the default General MIDI preset bank path. After you make the changes you want, click the Write .midisynthrc button. These choices will be maintained every time the software synthesizer is invoked. You can use this window to return to the system default settings by clicking Reset to Defaults. Clicking Re-read Configuration Files returns the settings to the most recent .midisynthrc settings. You may also want to refer to the midisynth(1) man page for more information.
Brings up the Run Time Parameters Panel, allowing you to set the Main Transpose, Main Tune, Reverberation, and Chorus parameters for the software synthesizer. These parameters are set by system-exclusive MIDI events, and will not affect external MIDI devices. Reverberation choices simulate four rooms of varying size. Reverb Decay Time, Tone, and Global Effects Mix ratio may be varied for each room type. The Global Reverb Level slider affects all the MIDI channels. See also “Adjusting Audio Parameters.”
The Sounds menu contains:
MIDI Songs brings up an icon view of MIDI file icons, which you can play with the Sound Player tool.
The Presets menu allows you to choose from three different icon views of presets. You can assign any of these presets to Synthesizer Panel. See “Selecting Presets and Sound Files.”
The Sound Files menu allows you to choose from four different sets of sound files:
| General MIDI Sound Set |
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| General MIDI Percussion Map |
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| Cycles | Brings up an icon view window containing single-cycle sound files commonly used in sound synthesis. | |
| Prosonus Sampler |
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See “Auditioning Sounds and Presets” for more information.
| Note: See Appendix C, “General MIDI Sound Sets and Percussion Maps” for a list of the General MIDI sounds and percussion maps. |
The Utilities menu contains these commands:
The Audio Panel command brings up the Audio Panel, which lets you adjust the audio parameters such as the volume (see “Adjusting the Volume”). Refer to the Audio Panel Help menu for detailed instructions on using the Audio Panel.
The MIDI Keyboard command brings up the MIDI Keyboard tool, which offers a whole range of notes for you use when sampling sounds. Refer to the MIDI Keyboard Help menu for instructions on using that tool.
This command launches Synthesizer Editor, an application for creating, modifying, and auditioning MIDI synthesizer preset files.
The Sound Player command brings up the Sound Player tool. Sound Player gives you Stop, Play, and Rewind control of a sound or MIDI file. Refer to the Sound Player Help menu for instructions on using that tool. If Synthesizer Panel is open and you drop a MIDI data file into Sound Player, you can use Synthesizer Panel to monitor the file's contents as it plays (see “Monitoring the Software Synthesizer”).
See “Adjusting the Volume” for information on this feature.
If you click on any button in the Play column of the Synthesizer Panel window, a note is played. The note corresponds to the preset assigned to that MIDI channel. See “Auditioning Sounds and Presets” for more details.