1.) TiMidity++ download & immediately install: http://sourceforge.jp/projects/twsynth/
2.) Airfont 340 soundfont download & immediately decompress zip-archive: http://soundfonts.homemusician.net/coll ... t_340.html
3.) SfArk download & immediately install: http://melodymachine.com/sfark.htm
After installation of SfArk run the program from the start menu, open the .sfArk-soundfont file which you've gotten from the Airfont 340-zip archive, and decompress it.
After decompression using SfArk, you have a file named "a340.sf2" - this is our soundfont for perfect sound in TiMidity++, our virtual MIDI-playing device for Win2K/XP/Vista.
Now go to the program directoy of TiMidity++ (e.g. C:\Program Files\TiMidity++). There's a directoy named "musix" - to this directory, you copy the a340.sf2, because in this directoy all soundfonts used by TiMidity++ are located.
To activate a340.sf2 as the only soundfont to be used by TiMidity++, again go to the program directory of TiMidity++. There you see the directory "bin", where you find the file "setwindrv.exe" - run that program. On the left you now see an area named "soundfonts & includes". That's where the active soundfonts are shown. On the right of the program, you see an overview with all available soundfonts you can choose from.
You now click on the soundfonts you see on the left (should be "A320U.sf2" and "piano-mgg.sf2") and click "remove". Our new soundfont we want to add is "a320.sf", this one should be available for selection on the right side. Click on it and then click "add". To save and activate our new configuration, click "save & quit".
(if TiMidity++ doesn't show "a340.sf2" for selection on the right side, by clicking on "directory (where your soundfonts are)" you can choose the directory where you've put your a340.sf2)
Now you've successfully configured TiMidity++.
To activate TiMidity++ to be used for playing MIDI-sounds in Windows instead of the cheap Microsoft synthesizer, we've got to finish the job with one last step.
Open the Windows control panel and double-click "Sounds and Audio Devices" (perhaps you first have to switch to classic view to see it). Under "Audio"/"MIDI music playback" change your standard MIDI device to "Timidity++ Driver". Confirm by clicking "Apply"/"OK". That's it - enough hacking your system config for today!
Note for Vista-Users: Here, Microsoft simply removed the option to choose a different MIDI-device - pretty stupid if you ask me, because Vista still supports switching MIDI-devices, it's just hidden somewhere in the depths of Vista. (that fancy Aero-graphics must have some disadvantages, right?)
A German fellow-countryman of mine with the unpronounceable name "Putzlowischt" has created a nifty tool to get back your freedom you've been used to from 2K/XP: Download the "Putzlowischts Vista MIDI-Mapper" from http://akkordwechsel.de/15-windows-vist ... di-mapper/ and extract the file you've found within the ZIP-archive to C:\Windows\System32.
When you start your Windows control panel, you now see "Putzlowischts Vista-MIDIMapper". (again, use classic view if you don't see it)
Here, you now choose "Timidity++ Driver" and confirm by clicking "Apply"/"OK". That's it!
You most easily hear the difference by playing a MIDI-music file (not a mobile ringtone, but something with a couple of instruments!). To realize what you've been missing before, switch back to the Microsoft's standard MIDI-synthesizer in the control panel and listen to the same MIDI again. I told you it's worth the hassle! One sounds like a Gameboy, the other like an orchestra.
Don't forget to choose "MIDI" as the standard audio device in ScummVM, otherwise all this work has no use for getting any better sound in your beloved game classics.
Another note here: All offered software has been checked as free of malware/viruses and is completely free for download and use.
However, I don't give any guarantee for what happens to your computer (e.g. if you delete your Windows-directory instead of copying a file into it! *G*)
If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me: j.schulz@nordwall.de
Have fun with it!
