Originally Posted By: Notes Norton
The only thing standard in GM are the patch numbers.

And yes, GM synths don't have every sound known to the synth world, but neither do no-GM synths. But GM synths do include the standard 127 voice GM set.

And no, all GM synths are not restricted to one sound for each of those 127 instruments.

My XV5050 has thousands of sounds and it included a GM bank. Same for my SD90. My Ketron has 4 banks, one of which is GMIDI - so please don't be spreading the misconception that GMIDI synths are limited to GM sounds.

There are good sounding synths with a GM bank and lame sounding synths with a GM bank. There are also good sounding synths without a GM band and bad sounding synths without a GM bank.

All GM specifies are common patch numbers for 127 patches - or twice that for GM2. Everything else is covered by the Standard MIDI File specs, and both GM and non-GM synths either include or don't include everything in the specs.

Agreed on all points.

HTH,

Pepe aka Lt. Kojak
Milano, Italy
https://soundcloud.com/theodore-kojak/tracks
Hy-Bro Test Sound Files