Config Files

Config files are (optionally) used when FluidPatcher is started (i.e. when an implementation creates a Patcher instance). They can store the root location of banks and soundfonts, the current bank file to load, and an arbitrary set of settings to pass to FluidSynth. Patcher updates currentbank in the specified config file when a new bank is loaded.

Config files are in standard YAML format. Very briefly, YAML is a text file format that stores data as lists (sequences) or key-value pairs (mappings) that can also be nested. Keys and values are separated by a colon (:), list elements are on separate lines preceded by a -, and indentation indicates the nesting level.

Config files have the following structure:

soundfontdir: [root path where soundfonts are stored {sf2}]
bankdir: [root path where bank files are stored {banks}]
currentbank: [last bank loaded {''}]
fluidsettings:
  [name1]: [value1]
  [name2]: [value2]
  ...

All values are optional. The Patcher will use the default values shown above if the settings aren't given or a config file isn't provided. A full list of fluidsynth settings is at fluidsynth.org/api/fluidsettings.xml. This can be useful for setting audio or MIDI drivers in the case that FluidSynth's defaults don't work, and can also be used to set your own defaults for Synth settings such as reverb, chorus, and gain.