this "convention" which you all swear exists but which I don't have in any other of the DAWS that I own and they work fine.
There's all sorts of scope for confusion in this.
I think that the MIDI
protocol specification itself does not specify a channel for drums.
The General MIDI specifications do specify the channel(s), but GM2 states that it/they are defaults and can be overridden.
Add to that the various and not always consistent uses here of the words
track,
channel and
port and it's easy to understand why it's all so confusing.
From the GM1 specification:
The General MIDI system utilizes MIDI Channels 1-9 and 11-16 for chromatic instrument sounds, while Channel number 10 is utilized for "key-based" percussion sounds.
From the GM2 specification:
2.4 Melody Channels and Rhythm Channels
[required]
A Melody Channel is a Channel that can select timbres or sounds from the GM2 Sound Set. These timbres are Programs in Bank 79H/xxH (79H/00H, 79H/01H, 79H/02H, etc.).
A Rhythm Channel is a Channel that can select timbres from the GM2 Percussion Sound Set. These timbres are Programs in Bank 78H/xxH.
Any Channel can be used as a Melody Channel, including Channel 10. Channels 10 and 11 can be used as Rhythm Channels (see Bank Select). Channel 10 defaults to a Rhythm Channel and Channel 11 defaults to a Melody Channel.
[optional]
Any Channel can be used as a Rhythm Channel by sending the Bank Select message 78H/xxH followed by a Program Change message. GM2 scores that use this optional message may be incompatible with some GM2 devices.
In principle each of RealBand's 48
tracks can connect to a
MIDI port (or VST), which in turn offers up to 16
MIDI channels.
One could have 48 channels all controlling chromatic instruments, or 48 channels all controlling drums, or any mix in between. I don't understand here where "waste every 10th channel" happens.
I wonder a bit if another part of of the confusion here is the ability of VSTs like Kontakt to have one instance that supports multiple tracks. I guess that would force the same 16 channels to
port be used across the group of tracks sending to that one VST instance.
I do note that RealBand seems to presume Drums and shows that icon if the MIDI channel on any track even if that track is set to some other instrument patch. In view of the GM2 text above, I think that is probably wrong ... the icon should really be set from the patch, rather than from the MIDI channel number, or arguably and optionally with a user-supplied icon.
All of which may be informative, but I'm not sure that it resolves anything
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