The General Midi Standard For The Budding Electro-musician
Below is a MRR and PLR article in category Computers Technology -> subcategory Web Development.
The General MIDI Standard for Aspiring Electro-Musicians
Overview
Aspiring MIDI musicians once faced a significant challenge: humans read musical notes using letters, while MIDI sound modules use numbers. For example, we might see "C sharp in the fourth octave," whereas MIDI assigns numbers. With the ability to play 128 notes, these modules range from 0 to 127. Confusion occurred when manufacturers assigned different numbers to the same notes. A C sharp in the sixth octave might be 61 on one module and 49 on another. This inconsistency led to chaos, especially when attempting to play compositions on different devices.
The Solution: General MIDI Standard
The General MIDI (GM) standard brought order to this musical chaos. It established that all GM-compliant devices must play an A440 pitch in response to MIDI note number 69. Every other note was standardized accordingly, ensuring consistency across all compliant sound modules, regardless of the manufacturer. This meant a note would sound the same on any GM-compliant module.
Drum Sound Standardization
Drum sounds were also standardized, with 48 MIDI note numbers designated for specific drum sounds. Channel 10 is reserved for drum sounds by default in MIDI, so when creating drum parts for your composition, using the GM codes on this channel will ensure compatibility and avoid unexpected surprises.
By following these guidelines, aspiring electro-musicians can focus more on creativity and less on technical difficulties, ensuring their compositions sound consistent across different platforms.
You can find the original non-AI version of this article here: The General Midi Standard For The Budding Electro-musician.
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