Midi
| Module: fluidsynth | |
|---|---|
| Type | Codec |
| First VLC version | 0.9.0 |
| Last VLC version | 2.0.8 (on Windows) |
| Operating system(s) | all |
| Description | SMF files playback through fluidsynth library |
| Shortcut(s) | - |
Standard MIDI Files (SMF) contain sounds events that indicate the notes and instruments in a musical performance, but do not include the digital waveform of the audio. They usually have the extension .mid or .midi. To play a MIDI file, software has to synthesize the music, which usually requires reading digital samples of musical instruments from a large file.
Play .midi files in VLC
VLC media player can play MIDI since 0.9.0 on most platforms. On Windows, you need VLC media player 1.1.0 to 2.0.8. Starting from version 2.1.0, VLC media player dropped support for FluidSynth due to security issues (see this bugreport).
SoundFonts file
To playback .midi files, you need a SoundFont file (with extension .sf2). You can download them from either of these two places:
- http://www.schristiancollins.com/generaluser.php
- http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/fluidsynth/wiki/SoundFont
Configure SoundFont in VLC
You need to open VLC's preferences. The preferences window has two display modes called Simple and All. Choose the display mode called All, then go to Codecs, Audio codecs, FluidSynth.
You select the .sf2 file with the preferences select button. Due to a bug in the software it may ask if you want to replace the file you selected. Choose "Yes" to continue (your file remains intact).
Linux
If the FluidSynth codec is not shown in VLC's preferences, you have to install it as well as sound fonts.
E.g. on Ubuntu 13.04 it is in the vlc-plugin-fluidsynth package, while the fluid-soundfont-gs and fluid-soundfont-gm packages install some sound fonts in /usr/share/sounds/sf2.
