The General Midi Standard � For The Budding Electro-musician
0 views
Skip to first unread message
Bob Miles
Apr 19, 2013, 7:20:02 PM4/19/13
to publish-the...@googlegroups.com
*****************************************************************
Message delivered directly to members of the group:
publish-the...@googlegroups.com
*****************************************************************
Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Bob Miles
*****************************
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms
- You have permission to publish this article electronically in free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as the bylines are included.
- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence, porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in an opt-in email list only.
- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that contains the article to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=154013
- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of the URL where the article is posted to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=154013
- We request that you ask permission from the author if you want to publish this article in print.
The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as part of its Article Distribution feature ( http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT own this article, please respect the author's copyright and this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
*****************************
Article Title: The General Midi Standard � For The Budding Electro-musician
Author: Bob Miles
Word Count: 339
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=154013&ca=Computers+and+Technology
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=154013
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=154013
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
One of the problems once faced by wanna-be MIDI musicians was that humans read musical notes differently than MIDI sound modules. To oversimplify, we use letters to represent each note (�C sharp in the fourth octave, for example), and MIDI sound modules use numbers. Since most MIDI sound modules can play up to 128 notes, a MIDI sound module will number them from 0 to 127. The problems arose when different manufacturers started using different numbers to correspond with different notes. A C sharp in the sixth octave might correspond to number 61 on sound modules made by one manufacturer, and to a 49 on one made by another. We�re talking serious chaos here � imagine what it would do to your composition if you made it on a Roland and tried to play it on another manufacturer�s sound module. Even worse, some very disorganized manufacturers assigned different numbers to different notes even in the same sound module depending on which instrument you played. In other words, you just about needed a degree in computer science to figure it all out, and composing a song meant about 3 times as much grunt work as actual composing.
The General MIDI standard organized this musical chaos by decreeing that all GM �compliant patches must play an A440 pitch in response to a MIDI command that included the MIDI note number 69. All other MIDI note numbers were calibrated according to this standard so that the same note number would play the same note on any GM-compliant sound module, regardless of who manufactured it. Drum sounds were similarly standardized; with 48 MIDI note numbers standardized to correspond with 48 particular drum sounds. For those of you interested in a bit more detail, MIDI Channel 10 is reserved as the default channel for drum sounds. So as long as you pound out your drum parts using the GM standardized codes, and be sure to use MIDI channel 10 for the drum parts of your composition, you shouldn�t be in for any nasty suprises when you try to play your composition.
About The Author: �MIDI Music Guide� at http://midisoftwareguide.blogspot.com offers readers comprehensive information about MIDI based home recording software. See also http://midisoftwareguide.blogspot.com/2007/05/midi-mixers-what-they-can-do.html.
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=154013
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
Message delivered directly to members of the group:
publish-the...@googlegroups.com
*****************************************************************
Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Bob Miles
*****************************
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms
- You have permission to publish this article electronically in free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as the bylines are included.
- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence, porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in an opt-in email list only.
- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that contains the article to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=154013
- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of the URL where the article is posted to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=154013
- We request that you ask permission from the author if you want to publish this article in print.
The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as part of its Article Distribution feature ( http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT own this article, please respect the author's copyright and this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
*****************************
Article Title: The General Midi Standard � For The Budding Electro-musician
Author: Bob Miles
Word Count: 339
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=154013&ca=Computers+and+Technology
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=154013
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=154013
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
One of the problems once faced by wanna-be MIDI musicians was that humans read musical notes differently than MIDI sound modules. To oversimplify, we use letters to represent each note (�C sharp in the fourth octave, for example), and MIDI sound modules use numbers. Since most MIDI sound modules can play up to 128 notes, a MIDI sound module will number them from 0 to 127. The problems arose when different manufacturers started using different numbers to correspond with different notes. A C sharp in the sixth octave might correspond to number 61 on sound modules made by one manufacturer, and to a 49 on one made by another. We�re talking serious chaos here � imagine what it would do to your composition if you made it on a Roland and tried to play it on another manufacturer�s sound module. Even worse, some very disorganized manufacturers assigned different numbers to different notes even in the same sound module depending on which instrument you played. In other words, you just about needed a degree in computer science to figure it all out, and composing a song meant about 3 times as much grunt work as actual composing.
The General MIDI standard organized this musical chaos by decreeing that all GM �compliant patches must play an A440 pitch in response to a MIDI command that included the MIDI note number 69. All other MIDI note numbers were calibrated according to this standard so that the same note number would play the same note on any GM-compliant sound module, regardless of who manufactured it. Drum sounds were similarly standardized; with 48 MIDI note numbers standardized to correspond with 48 particular drum sounds. For those of you interested in a bit more detail, MIDI Channel 10 is reserved as the default channel for drum sounds. So as long as you pound out your drum parts using the GM standardized codes, and be sure to use MIDI channel 10 for the drum parts of your composition, you shouldn�t be in for any nasty suprises when you try to play your composition.
About The Author: �MIDI Music Guide� at http://midisoftwareguide.blogspot.com offers readers comprehensive information about MIDI based home recording software. See also http://midisoftwareguide.blogspot.com/2007/05/midi-mixers-what-they-can-do.html.
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=154013
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages