7
Main Features
General MIDI
fig.0-1
General MIDI is a set of recommendations which seeks to provide a way to go be-
yond the limitations of proprietary designs, and standardize the MIDI capabilities of
sound generating devices. Sound generating devices and music files that meet the
General MIDI standard bear the General MIDI logo(
). Music files bearing the
General MIDI logo can be played back using any General MIDI sound generating
unit to produce essentially the same musical performance.
General MIDI 2
fig.0-2a
The upwardly compatible General MIDI 2 (
) recommendations pick up where
the original General MIDI left off, offering enhanced expressive capabilities, and
even greater compatibility. Issues that were not covered by the original General
MIDI recommendations, such as how sounds are to be edited, and how effects
should be handled, have now been precisely defined. Moreover, the available
sounds have been expanded. General MIDI 2 compliant sound generators are capa-
ble of reliably playing back music files that carry either the General MIDI or General
MIDI 2 logo.
In some cases, the conventional form of General MIDI, which does not include the
new enhancements, is referred to as "General MIDI 1" as a way of distinguishing it
from General MIDI 2.
GS format
fig.0-2
The GS Format (
) is Roland's set of specifications for standardizing the
performance of sound generating devices. In addition to including support for ev-
erything defined by the General MIDI, the highly compatible GS Format additional-
ly offers an expanded number of sounds, provides for the editing of sounds, and
spells out many details for a wide range of extra features, including effects such as
reverb and chorus.
Designed with the future in mind, the GS Format can readily include new sounds
and support new hardware features when they arrive.
203
* GS (
) is a registered trademark of Roland Corporation.
205
* Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
207
* Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
208
* Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
212
* PC-9800 Series is a trademark of NEC Corporation.
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* All product names mentioned in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respec-
tive owners.
