In the old days, using MIDI files that were programmed by someone other than yourself was somewhat of an interpretive nightmare. A person could spend hours on one MIDI file trying to determine which sounds to use and in which octave register those sounds needed to be. Dealing with drum note assignments were even more hair raising. MIDI files written using Yamaha devices assigned the Bass Drum to note A1, while Roland generally assigned the Bass Drum to either B1 or C2. Other manufacturers had their own unique set of drum note assignments making the whole process of sharing or purchasing MIDI files cumbersome and often frustrating.
Then along came General MIDI to try and clear up the mess. And it has done a decent job, but still, it left some loose ends. So what is it? And why is it trying to control everyone's lives?
General MIDI (referred to as GM from here on) defines which sounds will be used in the GM sound bank by any manufacturer that builds a GM synthesizer or sound module. The octave registers will be the same from device to device, the program numbers assigned to the sounds will be the same, and the drum note assignments will be consistent (at least in the Standard Drum Kit). Certain MIDI controllers allow the programmer to set up a mix that sounds somewhat the same on all GM sound modules and keyboards. We use the original Roland Sound Canvas to program our mixes. This is an antique by today's standards but we've found that if we can get a good mix on this device then the mix will probably sound pretty good on any other GM sound source (except low end sound cards and synthesizer software).
Unfortunately, many of the sounds in the General MIDI specification are not that good and some important sounds were left out, such as a pedal steel guitar. So we have to make do with the sounds that are allowed. However, you may have better sounds in other banks of your sound source and there is a way to call them up on most newer models of synthesizers and modules. The controllers you need to do this are listed below.
Controller Sample Value #0 0 #32 0 PC 1 These three controllers set up the desired sound for each part. Controller #0 is for assigning the bank of sounds (the GM tone bank is 0). The manual for your particular device should have a listing of all available sounds and their respective bank numbers. Controller #32 is part of the bank selection message and it's value will often be 0, but you need to check the specifications for your particular unit to determine what the value needs to be. PC is the Program Change message, and it's value will be something between 1 and 128. Once again, you should be able to find this information in the manual for your device.
A particularly disappointing thing about GM modules to us is that not all GM devices have a drum kit for brushes, or if they do have a brush kit the note assignments are different from the Roland specification (which, as mentioned above, is what we use). We tend to want to use brushes in a good number of our MIDI files and it's always a worry whether the end user will be able to hear what we programmed or whether the user will hear something totally dissimilar. If you have any problems with the drums tracks in our MIDI files please let us know. We'll work with you on this still troublesome topic.
The thing to remember about General MIDI is that it does allow the user of MIDI files to get a good idea as to the musical, sonic and mix intent of the programmer.
Feel free to contact us by e-mail at info@miditunes.com or leave a message in the guestbook if you have any questions or comments about General MIDI, or even if you have questions or comments about any or all things musical. We look forward to hearing from you.
