Furthermore, the factory presets that come with most MIDI instruments were not stored in any particular order prior to the introduction of GM.Īnother potential stumbling block is the drum and percussion part. In the case of programmable instruments, this kind of chaos is difficult to avoid because most users have their own system for storing their edited sounds.
MAN OF STEEL MIDI PATCH
However, if you play the sequence back on a friend's MIDI system, you may well find that all the sounds are completely wrong because the patches are not only completely different in sound, but any that are suitable are also stored in different patch locations.
That way, whenever you play back the sequence through the same instruments and modules, the correct sounds will automatically be called up with no intervention on your behalf. Normally, whenever you record a piece of music using a sequencer, you insert patch change commands at the start of the piece, and at any subsequent locations in the piece where a sound is required to change. This doesn't mean that all GM synths have to sound exactly the same, but it does mean that, for example, a piano preset on one machine must be in the same patch location as a similar piano preset on any other GM machine. In a nutshell, the aim is to allow a MIDI sequence recorded using one GM module to be played back on any other GM module without the need to remap patches, move drum note allocations or worry about running out of parts or polyphony. Specifically, General MIDI sets out strict rules for patch mapping, drum note mapping, multitimbrality and polyphony. Without getting in too deep, General MIDI is another stage of standardisation which has been added to the existing MIDI protocol to enable manufacturers to build synthesizers and synth modules that exhibit a specified degree of compatibility in certain areas. So, for the benefit of the uninitiated, what is General MIDI, or GM, as it is known to its friends?
Assigning appropriate sounds from a variety of non-GM modules takes time, and though a little judicious mapping can help here, a dedicated GM module makes life a lot easier. I confess that I tended to lean towards that way of thinking until clients started to arrive at my studio clutching GM MIDI song files which they wanted turned into usable backing tapes for their solo club gigs.
General MIDI-compatible equipment has been with us for two years now, but I get the feeling that most 'serious' MIDI users consider it to be some form of distracting and largely irrelevant 'consumer' addition. Over the years we've come to terms with MIDI's little foibles and eccentricities, and every time we seem in danger of outgrowing it, another chunk gets added to the protocol to further extend its power and usefulness.
Unlike many other of man's inventions, such as nuclear weapons, genetically engineered diseases and fast food (the last two may be considered interchangeable), MIDI was, on the whole, a good thing. Somewhere between the big bang and the death of the universe, man invented MIDI. GM is supposed to make your life easier - but what the hell is it all about? Paul White explains. More and more modules and keyboards are now General MIDI compatible.
0 kommentar(er)
