195 lines
7.7 KiB
Markdown
195 lines
7.7 KiB
Markdown
<img width="634" alt="image" src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6141784/37062123-745e79f2-218d-11e8-8e30-30b3effeca70.png">
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Latest release: https://github.com/Birch-san/juicysfplugin/releases
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Demo track: [mp3](https://github.com/Birch-san/juicysfplugin/releases/download/1.0.5/Demo_track.mp3), [FLAC](https://github.com/Birch-san/juicysfplugin/releases/download/1.0.5/Demo_track.flac), [FLAC+compressor](https://github.com/Birch-san/juicysfplugin/releases/download/1.0.5/Demo_track_soundgoodizer.flac)
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# What
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juicysfplugin is a macOS audio plugin for playing MIDI music through a soundfont synthesizer.
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It's well-suited for making videogame music. If you have a soundfont of your favourite game, you can write your own melodies with its instruments.
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[JUCE](https://github.com/WeAreROLI/JUCE) is the framework for making audio plugins.
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[fluidsynth](http://www.fluidsynth.org/) is the soundfont synthesizer.
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**Mode 1: standalone application**
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juicysfplugin.app is a standalone application, for playing around.
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You can plugin your hardware MIDI keyboard, or play with the software MIDI keyboard. Or route MIDI messages into it from a virtual MIDI controller (e.g. the [macOS IAC Bus](http://re-compose.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1382244-setting-up-the-iac-bus-on-a-mac)).
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**Mode 2: audio plugin**
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juicysfplugin audio plugins are provided: VST, VST3, AU, AUv3.
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This means you can host it inside your DAW (e.g. GarageBand, FL Studio Mac, Sibelius…) to record the sounds you make.
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# Why
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I couldn't find a _free_, _easy-to-use_ macOS audio plugin for making music with soundfonts.
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# Install
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Latest release: https://github.com/Birch-san/juicysfplugin/releases
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**Download Release.tar.xz, open it to unzip.**
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Release contains:
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```
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juicysfplugin.app # standalone application, for playing around
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juicysfplugin.component # AU plugin
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juicysfplugin.vst # VST plugin
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juicysfplugin.vst3 # VST3 plugin
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```
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To install plugins, move them to the following folder:
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```
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juicysfplugin.component -> ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/juicysfplugin.component
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juicysfplugin.vst -> ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/juicysfplugin.vst
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juicysfplugin.vst3 -> ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/juicysfplugin.vst3
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```
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## Launch
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Now, you may do one of the following:
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- Open the standalone juicysfplugin.app
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- Load the AU/VST/VST3 into your favourite DAW (e.g. GarageBand, FL Studio)
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# Usage
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You must drag-and-drop a soundfont into the file picker.
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Here's some soundfonts to get you started:
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- MuseScore's [recommended soundfonts](https://musescore.org/en/handbook/soundfonts-and-sfz-files#list) (includes MIT, GPL, other licenses)
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- FlameStudios' GPL-licensed [guitar soundfonts](http://www.flamestudios.org/free/Soundfonts)
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I'll refrain from recommending specific General MIDI or videogame soundfonts, since the licensing and provenance are often unclear.
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## Keybindings
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Gain keyboard focus by clicking the plugin's keyboard.
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- Up-down arrow keys to switch preset.
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- Left-right to switch bank.
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ASCII -> MIDI keybinding is the same as FL Studio's:
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<img width="256px" alt="image" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/fl_resource/flkeychart.png">
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## Using the standalone .app
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Generally the .app will Just Work™, but if your audio setup is more bespoke, then you'll need to configure.
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Ignore the yellow warning about feedback. There is no feedback loop (because no audio is input).
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**Options > Audio/MIDI settings**
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<img width="256px" alt="image" src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6141784/37062230-bdb128b6-218d-11e8-985a-e9b2b5fd0bb2.png">
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**Set Output to Built-In Output**
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Or any output device that you can hear audio through.
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Input audio device doesn't matter. We only use MIDI as input.
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<img width="515" alt="image" src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6141784/37062266-d723c984-218d-11e8-9ded-9dc5eb701199.png">
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# Building from source
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Install XCode and XCode command line tools. Accept terms.
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Ensure [brew](https://brew.sh/) and `libfluidsynth` are installed:
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```bash
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# --with-libsndfile is optional; it adds support for SF3 format
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brew install fluidsynth --with-libsndfile
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```
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Install [JUCE](https://shop.juce.com/get-juce) 5.3 in `/Applications`.
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We expect to find JUCE headers in `/Applications/JUCE/modules`.
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(Optional) To target VST3, install Steinberg [VST3 Audio Plug-Ins SDK](https://www.steinberg.net/en/company/developers.html).
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We expect to find a folder `~/SDKs/VST_SDK/VST3_SDK`.
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(Optional) Install IntelliJ AppCode if you prefer it to XCode.
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Open `juicysfplugin/Builds/MacOSX/juicysfplugin.xcodeproj` in XCode (or IntelliJ AppCode).
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Build & run the "juicysfplugin - Standalone Plugin" target.
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## Testing VST/AU plugins inside an audio plugin host
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You'll notice that the schemes for [VST, VST3, AU, AUv3] targets are configured such that "Run" launches the executable `AudioPluginHost.app`. This lets you run the audio plugin as though it were hosted inside a DAW.
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I recommend building (e.g. with XCode) the simple Audio Plugin Host that comes with JUCE Framework:
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`/Applications/JUCE/extras/AudioPluginHost/Builds/MacOSX/AudioPluginHost.xcodeproj`
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Then symlink `/Applications/JUCE/AudioPluginHost.app` to the built `AudioPluginHost.app` (because that's where I told the Run configuration to look for AudioPluginHost.app):
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```bash
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ln -sf /Applications/JUCE/extras/AudioPluginHost/Builds/MacOSX/build/Debug/AudioPluginHost.app /Applications/JUCE/AudioPluginHost.app
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```
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# Dependency versions
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Known working with:
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- macOS High Sierra 10.13
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- XCode 9.3.1
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- JUCE Framework 5.3
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- VST3 Audio Plug-Ins SDK 3.6.9
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- fluidsynth 1.1.11
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# Making portable releases
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Follow the steps in [Building from source](#building-from-source) to output a product to the build folder.
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The .app, .vst (and so on) that you build will only work on a computer that has brew fluidsynth installed.
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If you want to build a _truly portable release_, you'll need to _bundle libfluidsynth and all its dependencies_ into your product.
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```bash
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cd juicysfplugin/Builds/MacOSX
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# first check that you have a Release or Debug product in the `build` directory
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# bundles `juicysfplugin/lib` libs into the products you created,
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# relinks your executables to use their bundled libs
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./relink-build-for-distribution.sh
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# follows symlinks, archives Release and Debug folders as tar.xz
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./archive-for-distribution.sh
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```
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Note: Release **and** Debug flavors _both_ output targets [VST, VST3, AU] to the same location: `~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/$TARGET/juicysfplugin.$EXT`.
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Whichever flavor you built _most recently_, wins.
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The way I provide archives of _both_ build flavors is by archiving one, building next flavor, then archiving that (i.e. I build serially, not parallel).
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But probably people only care about the Release flavor anyway.
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# Licenses
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Overall, juicysfplugin is GPLv3.
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See [licenses for all libraries and frameworks](https://github.com/Birch-san/juicysfplugin/tree/master/licenses_of_dependencies).
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# Questions
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## Windows/Linux/Android/iOS version?
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No _big_ barriers. The source code and all its dependencies are cross-platform. The main friction is setting up a dev environment, and learning how to link dynamic libraries on that OS (i.e. we need to link to libfluidsynth).
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Some thoughts that come to mind:
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- Bundling libraries portably is far easier on Windows than on macOS
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- Just throw a dll next to the executable
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- .NET assembly binding can be debugged using [fuslogvw](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/tools/fuslogvw-exe-assembly-binding-log-viewer)
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- Windows already has plenty of free, nice soundfont plugins
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- It's probably pretty hard to bundle fluidsynth into mobile apps
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- Bundling would be easier if I used static linking
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- Static linking is hard |