Using fluidsynth (with examples)

1: Playing a MIDI file

fluidsynth --audio-driver=pipewire|pulseaudio path/to/soundfont.sf2 path/to/file.midi

Motivation

The motivation behind using this command is to play a MIDI file using a soundfont. MIDI files contain musical information such as notes, timing, and instrument data, but they do not contain actual audio. By using fluidsynth along with a soundfont, we can synthesize audio from the MIDI file and hear the musical composition.

Explanation

• --audio-driver: This argument specifies the audio driver to be used by fluidsynth. It can be either pipewire or pulseaudio, depending on the availability and preference.
• path/to/soundfont.sf2: This is the path to the soundfont file (.sf2) that contains the instrument samples. Soundfonts are used to emulate different types of instruments for MIDI playback.
• path/to/file.midi: This is the path to the MIDI file that we want to play.

Example Output

When running the command with the appropriate arguments, fluidsynth will start synthesizing audio from the MIDI file using the specified soundfont. The output will be the playback of the MIDI file, with the instruments defined in the soundfont.

Please note that the above command assumes that fluidsynth is installed and properly set up on the system. Additionally, the paths to the soundfont and MIDI file should be replaced with their actual paths on the system.