Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
windows soft synth and live midi input
I'm using a windows 10 pc and I want to use a soft synth on it that will play directly from a live midi input signal. I've tried virtualmidisynth but that will only seem to play from a midi "file" whereas I want the pc to act as a sound module for a live midi signal coming in. I have an externa; sequencer connected to the pc by midi cable. thanks for any advice
Comments
A great "free" vst host is Reaper.
Some great free vst synths you can find at U-he.
If reaper seems to complicated at first, you can also look for vsthost.
I recommend getting a "VST Host" to handle the incoming midi and send it to any VST plugin synth that suits your purposes. It's been a long time since I did anything on Windows, but NanoHost is free and used to work well for me.
There's more information on VST host options here: https://hiphopmakers.com/best-free-vst-host-applications.
Once you have a host there are thousands of free VST synths you can load into it. https://www.kvraudio.com is a great place to start looking.
On the other hand, you might want to get yourself a full-on DAW. That's a whole other subject though.
thankyou for the responses here. unless i'm mistaken I'm getting the impression I can't go directly from a an external sequencer to a soft synth on my pc. there has to be a program in between the two. I've tried cakewalk but that was a nightmare and the results were awful. I need something simple to bridge the gap between the incoming midi signal and the soft synth. I don't want to get bogged down in a technical nightmare and to avoid that I've even been thinking of a hardware sound module to bypass the whole soft synth thing. I'll check out the links provided in the meantime and thanks again.
And there are a few softsynths that are free and come with a standalone version:
Surge for example https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/
thankyou I installed surgeXT from the link you gave and it did make sounds directly from the midi input signal (which was encouraging) but they were really weird noises - not GM midi instruments at all. maybe i'm doing something wrong and I'll check on the forum to see if this synth can load a bank of midi sounds which is what I actually need.
I believe Surge models a general analog synth, similar to a Moog Model D, Roland Juno, Prophet, etc. It may have presets configuring a wide variety of synth sounds, some of them very strange.
If you're looking for a GM MIDI player, that's entirely different. You might look for a "rompler" that can play soundfont (sf2) files. There are several free GM sf2 files. Such a soundfont player might be built-in to an available DAW app.
I overlooked that you wanted a sound module, and not a real softsynth. That is something different. Sound modules usually use soundfont (sf2) or other kind of samples to create the sounds of a whole GM orchestra. And softsynths like Surge mostly represent a single synthesized instrument that is controlled by a single MIDI channel.
Could you please change your title to include (Windows)? As the OP, you can do this. This site is loosely focused around the Audiobus app and the Apple iOS devices that can run it, so this is a bit off-topic. That's not bad, but it is different.
done
ideally what I'm looking for is a windows based GM midi sound module that will work directly from a midi unput signal and not have to have a DAW or some other software in between - if such a thing exists.
There is no need for standalone , just get a free simple vst host (nanohost , savihost) which where made for running VSTs as standalone , then you can route midi easily
Check tx16wx sampler that can import sfz/sf2 sound libraries , or xpand 2 if you see it on sale for 1$ or free (comes usually and as bundle with hardware)
Combining a Windows soft synth with live MIDI input opens a world of creative possibilities for musicians. The synergy allows real-time expression, enabling dynamic adjustments and improvisations. Whether crafting intricate melodies or experimenting with textures, the seamless integration enhances the music production process, fostering a rich and immersive sonic experience.