SoundFont required?

[soundog]

I am getting to dabble in sending a Standard MIDI file .mid to a drum sound module and a synth bass. The SLM manual says to first load a SoundFont file. My understanding is that a SoundFont file can contain sampled sounds. So .... do I need a SoundFont file if I am only wanting to send MIDI note info to external sound modules? Will Set List Maker work OK without a SoundFont file?

[arlo]

No, you only need a SoundFont file to render the sound directly on your tablet or phone.

To render the sound on your tablet or phone, you would attach the MIDI file to a song.

To send the MIDI data to another device to render the sound there, you would attach the MIDI file to a MIDI preset.

More info is in "TO PLAY MUSIC FROM A STANDARD MIDI FILE" and "TO SEND DATA FROM A STANDARD MIDI FILE" on this page:

https://www.bandhelper.com/tutorials/sending_MIDI.html

[soundog]

Thank you. Very helpful link, also!

[soundog]

"To render the sound on your tablet or phone, you would attach the MIDI file to a song.
To send the MIDI data to another device to render the sound there, you would attach the MIDI file to a MIDI preset."

I have each of these cases working individually. But what if I want to render the bass on my tablet (via soundfont) and send the midi drum notes to an external module? I tried attaching the same midi file to both the song and to a midi preset, but it seems to then only send to the soundfont bass.

[arlo]

I think you would need to split that file into two files, one containing the bass part and one containing the drum part. Does that make sense?

[soundog]

Yes, that fixed it. However, how can I create a single "button" that appears on a layout that would initiate both bass and drum midi files so they play in sync?

Thanks again. Almost there...

[arlo]

You could set the Start Recording and Send MIDI layout actions to the same trigger (Song Selection, Song Second Selection, etc).

[soundog]

All working nicely, thanks ...