Current fork changes:

• Left only CMake build for cross-platform compatibility (Windows/Linux are supported for now)
• Removed binaries from repo, added submodules instead
• Updated JUCE and fluidsynth to latest
• Changed build instructions section

What

juicysfplugin is a cross-platform audio plugin for playing MIDI music through a soundfont synthesizer.

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.

JUCE is the framework for making audio plugins.
fluidsynth is the soundfont synthesizer.

Supports SF2 and SF3 soundfont formats.

Supports the following MIDI events:

• noteon, noteoff
• 192 program change (this changes soundfont preset)
• pitch wheel
• aftertouch (key pressure)
• channel pressure
• default modulators as described in SoundFont specification 2.4
  • includes (among others): CC 1 modulation wheel is mapped to vibrato LFO pitch depth
• CC 71 Timbre/Harmonic Intensity (filter resonance)
• CC 72 Release time
• CC 73 Attack time
• CC 74 Brightness (cutoff frequency, FILTERFC)
• CC 75 Decay Time
• CC 79 undefined (being used as Sustain time)
• may support SysEx (untested)

Mode 1: standalone application

juicysfplugin.app (or .exe on Windows) is a standalone application, for playing around.

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).

Mode 2: audio plugin

juicysfplugin audio plugins are provided: VST, VST3, AU, AUv3.
This means you can host it inside your DAW (e.g. GarageBand, FL Studio Mac, Sibelius…) to record the sounds you make.

Why

I couldn't find a free, easy-to-use macOS audio plugin for making music with soundfonts.

Install (macOS)

Download Release.tar.xz, open it to unzip.

Release contains:

juicysfplugin.app  # standalone application, for playing around
juicysfplugin.component  # AU plugin
juicysfplugin.vst  # VST plugin
juicysfplugin.vst3  # VST3 plugin

To install plugins, move them to the following folder:

juicysfplugin.component -> ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/juicysfplugin.component
juicysfplugin.vst -> ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/juicysfplugin.vst
juicysfplugin.vst3 -> ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/juicysfplugin.vst3

Launch (macOS)

Now, you may do one of the following:

• Open the standalone juicysfplugin.app
• Load the AU/VST/VST3 into your favourite DAW (e.g. GarageBand, FL Studio)

Usage

You must drag-and-drop a soundfont into the file picker.

Here's some soundfonts to get you started:

• Fatboy (no specific license stated, but described as "free")
• MuseScore's recommended soundfonts (includes MIT, GPL, other licenses)
• FlameStudios' GPL-licensed guitar soundfonts

I'll refrain from recommending certain General MIDI or videogame soundfonts, since the licensing and provenance are often unclear.

Keybindings

Gain keyboard focus by clicking the plugin's keyboard.

• Up-down arrow keys to switch preset.
• Left-right to switch bank.

ASCII -> MIDI keybinding is the same as FL Studio's:

Using the standalone .app (macOS) / .exe (Windows)

Generally the .app will Just Work™, but if your audio setup is more bespoke, then you'll need to configure.

Options > Audio/MIDI settings

Set Output to Built-In Output

Or any output device that you can hear audio through.

Building from source (CMake)

Before build run git submodule update --init --recursive to checkout JUCE and fluidsynth sources.

Windows

CMake, Visual Studio with C++ should be installed.

Install vcpkg and pkg-config to be able to compile fluidsynth.

Add glib and libsndfile libraries via vcpkg.

Example: vcpkg install glib:x64-windows libsndfile:x64-windows.

Define PKG_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE and CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE env variables to let cmake find fluidsynth dependencies.

Run build scripts from scripts\win\. First build-fluidsynth, then build. Optionally post_build to copy binaries to dist fir.

For asio or vst2 support sdk headers should be placed to sdk dir. Read Steinberg license carefully before doing it.

Example:

Linux

Install the following packages if they are not installed:

sudo apt install clang cmake doxygen g++ gcc libomp-dev libsndfile1-dev libsystemd-dev libxslt1-dev make pkg-config libxrandr-dev libxinerama-dev libxcursor-dev libfreetype6-dev libasound2-dev

Run build scripts from scripts\linux\. First build-fluidsynth, then build.

MacOS and Android

Build scripts are not included, but you may take a look at github workflows as example.

Licenses

Overall, juicysfplugin is GPLv3.

See licenses for all libraries and frameworks.