Raspberry 3B+ | HiFi Berry DAC+ Pro | FluidSynth | MIDI keyboard

README.md

DRAFT guide for DIY synth: Alesis V61 + Rapberry 3B+ + HiFi Berry DAC+ Pro

Probably 99% compatible with most synths

Setup fluidsynth

sudo apt-get update -y
sudo apt-get install -y fluidsynth

Create or edit a fluidsynth config file and save it to /etc/default/fluidsynth.

Run fluidsynth as a daemon

sudo cp /usr/lib/systemd/user/fluidsynth.service /etc/systemd/system

Compare your /etc/systemd/system/fluidsynth.service with provided fluidsynth.service

Enable and start service

sudo systemctl enable fluidsynth
sudo systemctl start fluidsynth

Setup HiFi berry

Configuration files

Create asound.conf and save this file to /etc/asound.conf:

Modify /boot/config.txt according to HiFi Berry instructions

REFERENCES

• hifiberry configuration
• MIDI keyboard latency with fluidsynth
• How to build a digital piano using a Raspberry Pi and MIDI Piano controller
• Running Fluidsynth on a Raspberry PI Zero W
• Low latency tips
• play midi on linux

asound.conf

pcm.!default {
  type hw card 0
}
ctl.!default {
  type hw card 0
}

config.txt

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
#dtparam=audio=on

# Enable HiFi Berry DAC + Pro
dtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplus

# Disable EEPROM from loading during startup
force_eeprom_read=0

fluidsynth

# Mandatory parameters (uncomment and edit)
SOUND_FONT=/usr/share/sounds/sf2/FluidR3_GM.sf2

# Additional optional parameters (may be useful, see 'man fluidsynth' for further info)
OTHER_OPTS='-C0 -R0 -r48000 -o audio.periods=8 -o audio.realtime-prio=80 -o synth.cpu-cores=4 -o midi.alsa.device=hw:1,0,0 --audio-driver=alsa --midi-driver=alsa_raw  --gain=3 --chorus=no --audio-bufsize=64'

fluidsynth.service

[Unit]
Description=FluidSynth Daemon
Documentation=man:fluidsynth(1)
After=sound.target

[Service]
EnvironmentFile=/etc/default/fluidsynth
EnvironmentFile=-%h/.config/fluidsynth
ExecStart=/usr/bin/fluidsynth -is $OTHER_OPTS $SOUND_FONT
#ExecStartPost=/bin/bash -c 'while true; do aconnect -o | grep "FLUID Synth" >> /dev/null && break; done; aconnect 20:0 128:0'
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target