Introduction
SFZ is a plain-text format that describes a sampled instrument: which audio files to
play for which keys and velocities, and how to shape them. It was created by the
company rgc:audio in the 2000s and is now an open format supported by many free and
commercial samplers. The samples themselves are ordinary WAV or FLAC files kept
beside the .sfz file.
Structure
An SFZ file is made of headers in angle brackets, each followed by opcodes written as
name=value. A <region> plays one sample over a range of
keys and velocities. A <group> sets opcodes shared by the regions
that follow it, and <global>, <master> and
<control> set wider defaults such as the sample folder. Opcodes
cover the key range (lokey, hikey), the root note
(pitch_keycenter), velocity layers, loops, envelopes, filters and
round-robins. Comments start with //.
<control> default_path=samples/
<group> ampeg_release=0.4
<region> sample=piano_c3.wav lokey=c3 hikey=e3 pitch_keycenter=c3
<region> sample=piano_f3.wav lokey=f3 hikey=a3 pitch_keycenter=f3Links
Software
Developers
- sfizz – library that loads and plays SFZ instruments (C++)
Reference
- sfzformat.com – the community reference for SFZ headers and opcodes