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What are General MIDI sounds?

What are General MIDI sounds?

General MIDI (GM) is a defined standard set of 128 Patches adopted to make sound modules more compatible. The 128 Patches appear in a specific order. As examples, Patch number 1 on all GM sound modules is always the sound of an Acoustic Grand Piano and Patch number 25 is always a Nylon String Guitar.

How many General MIDI sounds are there?

The General MIDI standard includes 47 percussive sounds, using note numbers 35-81 (of the possible 128 numbers from 0-127), as follows: 35 Acoustic Bass Drum. 36 Electric Bass Drum.

How many patches does General MIDI require?

128 Patches
A standard was set for 128 Patches which must appear in a specific order, and this standard is called General MIDI (GM). For example, Patch number 25 on a GM module must be a Nylon String Guitar.

What MIDI note is middle C?

Middle C is MIDI Note Number 60. This can be C3 or C4, or even C2 or C5. There is no defined standard or convention. The MIDI standard only says that the note number 60 is a C, it does not say of which octave.

What is a sound module for MIDI keyboard?

This is a premium acoustic piano module that features un-looped data carefully sampled from world renowned acoustic pianos. If you’re using an external MIDI keyboard, your playing dynamics will shift between various levels of sampled data, responding to your touch and expressing your sound with a rich dynamic range.

What does a MIDI sound module do?

Sound Modules Explained Popular digital keyboards included a module version in their lineup (usually rackmountable), which could connect to a main keyboard via MIDI. This format lets keyboard players travel light, while dramatically expanding their sound selections.

When was General MIDI invented?

The MIDI specification was published in August 1983. The MIDI standard was unveiled by Kakehashi and Smith, who received Technical Grammy Awards in 2013 for their work. In 1982, the first instruments were released with MIDI, the Roland Jupiter-6 and the Prophet 600.

Why are there 128 MIDI notes?

Midi technically goes from 0-127, giving it 128 unassigned values. The maximum value that can be expressed by one 7 bit byte is equal to 2 to the power of 7. This provides us with a total of 128 values that can be assigned. This is the reason that Midi goes to 127 and not any higher.

Can MIDI sound good?

For instruments that don’t have too much individual-note shaped articulation such as Piano, Organ, Oboe, etc., midi usually sounds really good without too much fiddling around.