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 Standard MIDI File (.MID) and RIFF MIDI (.RMI) files since version 0.9.0.

Windows binary builds included MIDI support only in versions VLC media player from 1.1.0 through 2.0.8. Starting from version 2.1.0, support was dropped due to security issues.

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
• http://tubematedownloadforpc.com/

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 14.04 and derivatives 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.