Additional instrument source formats for software synthesis; looping support

[peteroupc]

The following are suggestions I have to enhance FluidSynth's support for playing standard MIDI files (.mid):

• Optional support for MIDI software synthesis using additional instrument source formats besides .sf2, .sf3, and .dls (e.g., Timidity and UltraSound patches; .sbk; OPL2, OPL3, and other FM instrument banks). For background, see the projects libADLMIDI, libOPNMIDI, and OPL3BankEditor. SBK was also discussed in SoundFont 1.0 support? #742.
• Support for popular looping conventions seen in MIDI files, such as the RPG Maker convention.

EDIT (Oct. 9): Also, support usable seeking as described in: libsdl-org/SDL_mixer#519

[DaforLynx]

Seconded for looping points.

[derselbst]

It is up to the application to implement looping support for MIDI files. That's not fluidsynth's job. For instance, my player implements the N64 convention, while fluidsynth already provides the necessary API for doing so.

[derselbst]

Oh, and since fluidsynth is a SF2 synth, SF1 and other formats are out of scope. DLS is only supported as its synth model is widely compatible to SF2.