DOSBox Staging and VirtualMIDISynth
- alexfrancis70
- Apr 20
- 3 min read
A guide to adding VirtualMIDISynth to DOSBox Staging. This guide briefly covers installation, configuration and usage. It should be an easy and straightforward process.
Why VirtualMIDISynth?
Although DOSBox Staging has a built in MIDI synth, fluidsynth, configurable through the DOSBox configuration file, there remain some minor MIDI issues. Trying out a new soundfont requires quitting the DOS app, setting a new soundfont in the config file and restarting the DOS app.
WIth VirtualMIDISynth some of these minor MIDI issues are resolved and the soundfont can be changed during playback which makes finding the optimum soundfont easier.
Obtaining VirtualMIDISynth and further info
The best place to obtain VirtualMIDISynth is from the CoolSoft VirtualMIDISynth page. In addition to download links, there is an introduction and main features list, FAQ's and troubleshooting guides, reference and links to other tutorials and usage guides. It's the one page for all VirtualMIDISynth info.
VirtualMIDISynth is free for personal use with a donation suggested for professional use. At time of writing the latest version is v2.13.9, which is the version used in this guide.
Installation
Once the appropriate installation package is obtained it only needs to be run to install VirtualMIDISynth under Windows 10. It should be a straightforward install and complete without issue.
Running for the first time
The first time VirtualMIDISynth is run, it should complain about a lack of soundfonts (none having been configured yet). It may also complain that the default shortcut keys (CTRL + ALT + m) used to open the VirtualMIDISynth MIDI mixer are already in use for something else.
Configuration
Configuration is mostly just telling VirtualMIDISynth about all of your soundfonts. To configure open the VirtualMIDISynth Configurator app. The first panel 'Soundfonts' is used to specify all the soundfonts on your system.
As I keep all my soundfonts in the same folder (as described in a previous article DOSBox MIDI) these were all added (as shown in the screenshot).
The button on the left hand side is used to toggle the soundfont to enabled (green) or disabled (grey).
Note, you can enable multiple soundfonts, but this isn't recommended as it can end up sounding like a weird din!
If you receive the warning that the MIDI mixer shortcut is already assigned, you can use the 'Shortcut' panel to change it to another key combination, (e.g CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + m).
Once happy, click 'Apply' to save the settings.
Soundfonts
The CoolSoft VirtualMIDISynth page also provides a fairly comprehensive list of soundfonts you may wish to try out.
DOSBox Staging Configuration
Configuring DOSBox Staging to use VirtualMIDISynth is straightforward. Firstly start DOSBox Staging, no special config is needed and you can use the default DOSBox Staging shortcut created during installation.
At the DOSBox prompt issue the command:
mixer /listmidi
to see all the midi devices DOSBox Staging knows about (as shown in the screenshot). They are:
'fluidsynth', the built in DOSBox Staging fluidsynth MIDI component.
'mt32', the DOSBox Staging component providing Roland MT32 and CM32L device emulation.
'win32' refers to MIDI devices available on your Windows machine. We can see there are two such devices:
Device '0', which is the newly installed VirtualMIDISynth.
Device '1', Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth which is a default MIDI device provided by Windows (but which doesn't sound great).
Note: the order of the win32 MIDI devices may differ to that shown.
Game Configuration
We now have the information required to allow a game to use VirtualMIDISynth. The following is a DOSBox Staging config fragment with the changes required:
[midi]
mididevice = win32
midiconfig = 0'mididevice' is set to win32 as the mixer command tells us VirtualMIDISynth is a Windows MIDI device.
'midiconfig' is set to 0, the device number for VirtualMIDISynth, as shown by the mixer command. Note: this may be different on your own machine.
Testing
Soundfonts can be changed as a game is running, useful for testing and finding the optimum soundfont for a particular game.
If you start a game which has been configured to use MIDI music (recommended to be run in a window rather than fullscreen, while testing), you can also open the VirtualMIDISynth Configurator app.
Within the 'Soundfonts' panel you can disable the current soundfont and enable a different soundfont. Click apply and shortly you should hear the effect of the new soundfont on the MIDI music!
Congratulations, you have successfully integrated VirtualMIDISynth with DOSBox Staging!
Happy listening!
Thanks for the idea! It's very interesting. I lost a lot of time figuring which sf2 should use for my games already and this will save me a lot of time