Soundbank contains a set of Instruments
* that can be loaded into a Synthesizer.
* Note that a Java Sound Soundbank is different from a MIDI bank.
* MIDI permits up to 16383 banks, each containing up to 128 instruments
* (also sometimes called programs, patches, or timbres).
* However, a Soundbank can contain 16383 times 128 instruments,
* because the instruments within a Soundbank are indexed by both
* a MIDI program number and a MIDI bank number (via a Patch
* object). Thus, a Soundbank can be thought of as a collection
* of MIDI banks.
*
* Soundbank includes methods that return String
* objects containing the sound bank's name, manufacturer, version number, and
* description. The precise content and format of these strings is left
* to the implementor.
*
* Different synthesizers use a variety of synthesis techniques. A common
* one is wavetable synthesis, in which a segment of recorded sound is
* played back, often with looping and pitch change. The Downloadable Sound
* (DLS) format uses segments of recorded sound, as does the Headspace Engine.
* Soundbanks and Instruments that are based on
* wavetable synthesis (or other uses of stored sound recordings) should
* typically implement the getResources()
* method to provide access to these recorded segments. This is optional,
* however; the method can return an zero-length array if the synthesis technique
* doesn't use sampled sound (FM synthesis and physical modeling are examples
* of such techniques), or if it does but the implementor chooses not to make the
* samples accessible.
*
* @see Synthesizer#getDefaultSoundbank
* @see Synthesizer#isSoundbankSupported
* @see Synthesizer#loadInstruments(Soundbank, Patch[])
* @see Patch
* @see Instrument
* @see SoundbankResource
*
* @author David Rivas
* @author Kara Kytle
*/
public interface Soundbank {
/**
* Obtains the name of the sound bank.
* @return a String naming the sound bank
*/
public String getName();
/**
* Obtains the version string for the sound bank.
* @return a String that indicates the sound bank's version
*/
public String getVersion();
/**
* Obtains a string naming the company that provides the
* sound bank
* @return the vendor string
*/
public String getVendor();
/**
* Obtains a textual description of the sound bank, suitable for display.
* @return a String that describes the sound bank
*/
public String getDescription();
/**
* Extracts a list of non-Instrument resources contained in the sound bank.
* @return an array of resources, exclusing instruments. If the sound bank contains
* no resources (other than instruments), returns an array of length 0.
*/
public SoundbankResource[] getResources();
/**
* Obtains a list of instruments contained in this sound bank.
* @return an array of the Instruments in this
* SoundBank
* If the sound bank contains no instruments, returns an array of length 0.
*
* @see Synthesizer#getLoadedInstruments
* @see #getInstrument(Patch)
*/
public Instrument[] getInstruments();
/**
* Obtains an Instrument from the given Patch.
* @param patch a Patch object specifying the bank index
* and program change number
* @return the requested instrument, or null if the
* sound bank doesn't contain that instrument
*
* @see #getInstruments
* @see Synthesizer#loadInstruments(Soundbank, Patch[])
*/
public Instrument getInstrument(Patch patch);
}