Configuration

FluidPatcher keeps its global configuration in a YAML file, created automatically on first run.

Location

By default, the config file is stored at:

~/.config/fluidpatcher/fluidpatcherconf.yaml

You can override this location by setting the FLUIDPATCHER_CONFIG environment variable:

export FLUIDPATCHER_CONFIG=/path/to/myconfig.yaml

If the file does not exist, fluidpatcher will:

  1. Create the directory
  2. Copy in a bundled default configuration
  3. Populate default folders if they’re missing

FluidPatcher will work on most platforms without editing this file, but it's safe to do so.

Format

At runtime, the configuration is loaded into a single mapping called CONFIG. Most values are paths and global settings rather than musical behavior.

Key entries include:

Key Meaning
banks_path Directory containing your .yaml bank files
sounds_path Where SoundFont (.sf2) files live
midi_path Default location for MIDI files
ladspa_path Where LADSPA plugins are searched for
fluidsettings Raw FluidSynth settings passed through unchanged

FluidPatcher will expand file names using these paths, allowing short filenames to be used in banks and enhancing portability. Absolute paths can be used to override the config paths when desired.

If you omit banks_path, sounds_path, or midi_path, FluidPatcher fills in sensible defaults relative to the config file.

FluidSynth Settings

The fluidsynth section contains key/value pairs for FluidSynth settings. FluidSynth will work with the default values on most platforms, but a few useful settings are:

  • midi.autoconnect - If 1 (TRUE), automatically connects FluidSynth to available MIDI input ports. alsa_seq, coremidi and jack are currently the only drivers making use of this.
  • player.reset-synth - When playing a MIDI file and reaching the end of a song, all playing notes will be silenced and the synth reset, overriding settings in banks and patches. This is undesirable for FluidPatcher and should be set to 0.
  • synth.gain - scales the output volume of the synth. This can be in the range 0.0-10.0, but values above 1.0 will be clipped/distorted.
  • synth.polyphony - If too many voices are played at once (usually by sustaining lots of notes), the CPU may terminate audio while it catches up. This limits the number of active voices, canceling the oldest notes.
  • audio.driver, audio.<driver>.device - Allows setting the audio driver and device, if the default doesn't work
  • audio.periods, audio.period-size - These set the number and size of the buffers used for sending digital audio. Lowering these values decreases audio latency (the time between playing a note and hearing the audio), but too low and the sound card won't be able to keep up, producing stuttering/crackling audio.

Resetting Configuration

Delete the config file and directories:

rm -rf ~/.config/fluidpatcher

Next run will regenerate defaults.