Comparison of MIDI standards
This table provides summary of comparison of various MIDI enhancement standards by various parameters.
| MPU | MT-32 | GM | GS | XG level 1 | XG level 2 | XG level 3 | GM level 2 | XGlite | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry date | 1984[1][2] | 1987 | 1991 | 1991 | 1994 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2002 |
| Organization | Roland | JMSC (AMEI) MMA |
Roland | Yamaha | MMA | Yamaha | |||
| Minimum equipment requirements | |||||||||
| Simultaneous melodic voices | 8+ combined (up to 32 partials) |
16 | 16 | 32 combined | 64 combined | 128 combined | 16 | 32 combined | |
| Simultaneous percussion voices | 8 | 8 | 16 | ||||||
| MIDI melodic channels | 8 | 15 | 15[a] | 16 combined | 32 combined (on 2 ports) |
64 combined (on 4 ports) |
14 | 16 combined | |
| Rhythm/percussion channels | 1 | 1 (#10) | 1 | 2 (#10 & #11) | |||||
| Channel recommendations | #10: drums[3] | #1: melody; #2: melody (duet); #3: bass; #4: pad; #5: riff; #10: drums[4] |
|||||||
| Sounds banks available | |||||||||
| Melodic instruments | 128 | 128 | 226 | 480 | 1074 | 1149 | 256 | 360 | |
| Drum kits | 1 | 1 | 8 + 1 SFX kit |
9 + 2 SFX kits | 34 + 2 SFX kits | 35 + 2 SFX kits | 9 | 12 kits | |
| Drum sounds per kit | 30 | 47 | 61 | 72 | 61 | 53 | |||
| Controls available | |||||||||
| Special CC[b] | 2[5] | 6 (MT32+4) | 6 (GM) | ||||||
| Parametric effect CC[c] | 4[5] | 5 | 16 (GM+11) | 51 (GM+46) | 12 (GM+7) | ||||
| RPNs | 0[5] | 5[6] | 6 (GM+1) [6] | ||||||
| SysEx messages | 2 | 14 | |||||||
Notes[edit]
- ^ 16 with no drum kit.
- ^ Special CCs are CCs that don't correspond to the parameter of any particular effect. Most usually they represent special one-shot control commands for the device (these ones are usually represented by a button on a console), or used internally for bank selection, RPN or data entry, etc.
- ^ Parametric CCs (also known as continuous controller) correspond to the parameter of some particular effect (i.e. depth, strength, delay of effect, etc). Such CCs are usually represented by a rotating knob or fader in mixers.
References[edit]
- ^ MIDI INTERFACES FOR THE IBM PC, Electronic Musician, September 1990
- ^ David Trubitt (1993), Making Music with Your Computer, page 22
- ^ "GM 1 Sound Set". www.midi.org. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
- ^ "TheWhippinpost article on MIDI XG STANDARD". Archived from the original on 2017-02-06. Retrieved 2006-03-28.
- ^ a b c youngmonkey Roland MT-32 MIDI/SYSEX reference
- ^ a b "Table 3a: Registered Parameter Numbers". Control Change Messages (Data Bytes). MIDI Reference Tables. Specifications. MIDI Manufacturers Association. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
- Yamaha Corporation (1996). "Yamaha XG format specifications, v1.26" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-26. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
- Yamaha Corporation (1999-02-02). "Recommendations for producing XG song data, v2.00" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-26. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
- "Roland Sound Cards". Archived from the original on December 25, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010., an extensive guide to various models and their capabilities
- GM modules for the masses, a comparison article