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MIDI KEYBOARD CMK-2 APPENDIX-F GM-MIDI SOUNDS
CMK-2 Manual 1.5.doc 2009 CLASSIC ORGAN WORKS 61
CLASSIC MIDI KEYBOARD
CMK-2-1
13. APPENDIX F:
GM-MIDI SOUNDS
MIDI Sound Sets
General MIDI [2]
The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) developed General MIDI (GM) to provide a standard relationship
between commands and sounds generated by synthesizers. A serious problem developed as the number of MIDI device
manufacturers grew. Every manufacturer associated a different command to a different sound. Users were confused
when they used a command to play a piano sound but ended up with a different sound. To alleviate this confusion, the
MIDI Manufacturers Association dictated that commands termed ‘Patch numbers’ would be the standard reference to a
sound. A ‘Patch Map’ shows Patch numbers and their respective sounds. In addition, since MIDI transmits using MIDI
channels, every MIDI sequence begins by assigning a MIDI channel for each sound that is transmitted. This
assignment is termed ‘Program Change’.
In addition to standardizing the mapping of patch numbers to their respective sounds, the General MIDI protocol
defines a set of capabilities for General MIDI instruments. Included are a General MIDI Sound Set (patch map), a
General MIDI Percussion map (maps percussion sounds to note numbers), and a set of General MIDI performance
capabilities (number of voices, MIDI messages recognized, etc.).
MIDI channels 1-9 and 11-16 are used for chromatic instrument sounds while MIDI channel 10 is used for ‘key-based’
percussion sounds. Furthermore, the 128 program numbers are grouped into related sounds sets. For example, program
numbers 1-8 are for piano sounds, 25-32 are guitar sounds, etc. (a chart is shown on the next page). A note number
indicates the pitches of the sounds. Note numbers on the ‘key-based’ percussion sounds of MIDI Channel-10 represent
different percussion instruments. It should be noted that although sounds may have the same label, they might not
necessarily produce the same sound from different manufacturers’ equipment. The sound output depends on the way
the sound was made, which is not standard (an ‘Acoustic Grand Piano’ will sound different depending on the way the
sound was made). Only the patch numbers and their labels are standardized.