Welcome to the User Manual of Polyphone! You will learn here how to use every feature of the software. If you need more help, or if the reading of these pages puts you off, you may find assistance in the forum, with tutorials, or on YouTube (special thanks to Polyphone users for their useful videos). Extra information can also be found in the annexes.
Home screen
The first screen of Polyphone is basically made of 3 parts:
- a left part, containing a file history and shortcuts;
- a right part, dedicated to the soundfont repository;
- a top area, containing tabs and a menu.
Left part
Opening a soundfont
Three ways for opening a soundfont:
- a click on Open soundfont opens a file browser, the allowed file to select having the extension sf2, sf3, sfArk or sfz (the different formats are described here);
- a click on New soundfont opens an empty soundfont, everything is to be done from scratch;
- a double-click on a soundfont from the history re-open it.
When a soundfont is open, a new tab appears with a soundfont editor inside.
Shortcuts
Three buttons are located at the bottom of the left part:
- Documentation: open a web browser for reading the Polyphone documentation.
- Forum: open a web browser with the URL of the Polyphone forum.
- Settings: open the settings of the software in a new tab.
Right part
Online repository
A click on the button Online repository opens a tab with the soundfont browser.
Daily soundfonts
Every day, 5 random soundfonts are displayed here. This is made for inciting people discovering new soundfonts. Double-clicking on one of them opens a new tab with the corresponding soundfont description.
Search
It is possible to write a keyword here for searching specific soundfonts and the results will be displayed in the soundfont browser.
Top area
Tabs
The tabs provide a quick access between:
- the home screen (first tab — always open),
- the editor of an open soundfont,
- the software settings,
- the soundfont browser,
- a soundfont description from the repository.
Menu
The menu, located in the top right corner, contains general functions and is described here.