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FluidSynth(1) General Commands Manual FluidSynth(1) NAME FluidSynth - a SoundFont synthesizer SYNOPSIS fluidsynth [options] [ SoundFonts ] [ midifiles ] DESCRIPTION FluidSynth is a real-time MIDI synthesizer based on the SoundFont(R) 2 specifications. It can be used to render MIDI input or MIDI files to au- dio. The MIDI events are read from a MIDI device. The sound is rendered in real-time to the sound output device. The easiest way to start the synthesizer is to give it a SoundFont on the command line: 'fluidsynth soundfont.sf2'. fluidsynth will load the Sound- Font and read MIDI events from the default MIDI device using the default MIDI driver. Once FluidSynth is running, it reads commands from the stdin. There are commands to send MIDI events manually, to load or unload Sound- Fonts, and so forth. All the available commands are discussed below. FluidSynth can also be used to play a list of MIDI files. Simply run Flu- idSynth with the SoundFont and the list of MIDI files to play. In this case you might not want to open the MIDI device to read external events. Use the -n option to deactivate MIDI input. If you also want to deactivate the use of the shell, start FluidSynth with the -i option: 'fluidsynth -ni soundfont.sf2 midifile1.mid midifile2.mid'. Run fluidsynth with the --help option to check for changes in the list of options. OPTIONS fluidsynth accepts the following options: -a, --audio-driver=[label] The audio driver to use. "-a help" to list valid options -b, --bank-offset=[num] A positional flag that specifies the bank-offset for any Soundfonts following that flag. Can be specified multiple times. -c, --audio-bufcount=[count] Number of audio buffers -C, --chorus Turn the chorus on or off [0|1|yes|no, default = on] -d, --dump Dump incoming and outgoing MIDI events to stdout -E, --audio-file-endian Audio file endian for fast rendering or aufile driver ("-E help" for list) -f, --load-config Load command configuration file (shell commands) -F, --fast-render=[file] Render MIDI file to raw audio data and store in [file] -g, --gain Set the master gain [0 < gain < 10, default = 0.2] -G, --audio-groups Defines the number of LADSPA audio nodes -h, --help Print out this help summary -i, --no-shell Don't read commands from the shell [default = yes] -j, --connect-jack-outputs Attempt to connect the jack outputs to the physical ports -K, --midi-channels=[num] The number of midi channels [default = 16] -L, --audio-channels=[num] The number of stereo audio channels [default = 1] -m, --midi-driver=[label] The name of the midi driver to use. "-m help" to list valid op- tions. -n, --no-midi-in Don't create a midi driver to read MIDI input events [default = yes] -o Define a setting, -o name=value ("-o help" to dump current values) -O, --audio-file-format Audio file format for fast rendering or aufile driver ("-O help" for list) -p, --portname=[label] Set MIDI port name (alsa_seq, coremidi drivers) -q, --quiet Do not print welcome message or other informational output -r, --sample-rate Set the sample rate -R, --reverb Turn the reverb on or off [0|1|yes|no, default = on] -s, --server Start FluidSynth as a server process -T, --audio-file-type Audio file type for fast rendering or aufile driver ("-T help" for list) -v, --verbose Print out verbose messages about midi events (synth.verbose=1) as well as other debug messages -V, --version Show version of program -z, --audio-bufsize=[size] Size of each audio buffer SETTINGS The settings to be specified with -o are documented in the fluidset- tings.xml hopefully shipped with this distribution or online at https://www.fluidsynth.org/api/fluidsettings.xml . We recommend viewing this file in a webbrowser, favourably Firefox. SHELL COMMANDS GENERAL help Prints out list of help topics (type "help <topic>" to view details on available commands) quit Quit the synthesizer SOUNDFONTS load filename [reset] [bankofs] Load a SoundFont onto the SoundFont stack. If reset is 1 (which is the implicit default), all currently in-use SoundFont presets will be re-evaluated with the newly loaded SoundFont taken into account. Optionally, you can specify a non-zero bank offset for the new SoundFont. For example the command load soundfont.sf2 0 10 will load the soundfont.sf2 with a bank offset of 10 without re-evaluating the presets. unload number Unload a SoundFont. The number is the index of the SoundFont on the stack. fonts Lists the current SoundFonts on the stack inst number Print out the available instruments for the SoundFont. MIDI MESSAGES noteon channel key velocity Send a note-on event noteoff channel key Send a note-off event cc channel ctrl value Send a control change event prog chan num Send program-change message select chan sfont bank prog Combination of bank-select and program-change channels Print out the presets of all channels. AUDIO SYNTHESIS gain value Set the master gain (0 < gain < 5) interp num Choose interpolation method for all channels interpc chan num Choose interpolation method for one channel REVERB set synth.reverb.active [0|1] Turn the reverb on or off set synth.reverb.room-size num Change reverb room size set synth.reverb.damp num Change reverb damping set synth.reverb.width num Change reverb width set synth.reverb.level num Change reverb level CHORUS set synth.chorus.active [0|1] Turn the chorus on or off set synth.chorus.nr n Use n delay lines (default 3) set synth.chorus.level num Set output level of each chorus line to num set synth.chorus.speed num Set mod speed of chorus to num (Hz) set synth.chorus.depth num Set chorus modulation depth to num (ms) MIDI ROUTER router_default Reloads the default MIDI routing rules (input channels are mapped 1:1 to the synth) router_clear Deletes all MIDI routing rules. router_begin [note|cc|prog|pbend|cpress|kpress] Starts a new routing rule for events of the given type router_chan min max mul add Limits the rule for events on min <= chan <= max. If the channel falls into the window, it is multiplied by 'mul', then 'add' is added. router_par1 min max mul add Limits parameter 1 (for example note number in a note events). Sim- ilar to router_chan. router_par2 min max mul add Limits parameter 2 (for example velocity in a note event). Similar to router_chan router_end Finishes the current rule and adds it to the router. Router examples router_clear router_begin note router_chan 0 7 0 15 router_end Will accept only note events from the lower 8 MIDI channels. Re- gardless of the channel, the synthesizer plays the note on ch 15 (synthchannel=midichannel*0+15) router_begin cc router_chan 0 7 0 15 router_par1 1 1 0 64 router_add Configures the modulation wheel to act as sustain pedal (transforms CC 1 to CC 64 on the lower 8 MIDI channels, routes to ch 15) AUTHORS Peter Hanappe <hanappe@fluid-synth.org> Markus Nentwig <nentwig@users.sourceforge.net> Antoine Schmitt <as@gratin.org> Josh Green <jgreen@users.sourceforge.net> Stephane Letz <letz@grame.fr> Tom Moebert <tom[d0t]mbrt[AT]gmail[d0t]com> Please check the AUTHORS and THANKS files for all credits DISCLAIMER SoundFont(R) is a registered trademark of E-mu Systems, Inc. Feb 21, 2026 FluidSynth(1)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | SETTINGS | SHELL COMMANDS | AUTHORS | DISCLAIMER
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