MIDIField Guide

Files & Sounds

General MIDI

Spec: General MIDI MIDI specs

General MIDI (GM, 1991) standardized what a program number sounds like. Program 1 is always a piano and channel 10 is always drums, so a file plays back recognizably on any compliant synth.

GM1 requirements

  • At least 24 voices of polyphony (or 16 melodic + 8 percussive), allocated dynamically.
  • All 16 channels, each able to play a different program.
  • Channel 10 (9 on the wire) is reserved for percussion, using the key map below.
  • The 128-program sound set below, in that order.
  • Controllers: Modulation (CC 1), Channel Volume (7), Pan (10), Expression (11), Sustain (64), Reset All Controllers (121), All Notes Off (123). See Control Change.
  • Registered parameters: Pitch Bend Sensitivity (RPN 0), Fine Tuning (RPN 1), Coarse Tuning (RPN 2). See RPN & NRPN.
  • Channel Pressure (aftertouch) and Pitch Bend, with a default bend range of ±2 semitones.
  • Turned on by GM System On, F0 7E 7F 09 01 F7. See SysEx.

Program numbers are 1-based in docs, 0-based on the wire

The GM list and most synths number programs 1–128. The Program Change data byte is 0–127. "Program 1, Acoustic Grand Piano" is sent as Cn 00. The same off-by-one applies to channels: channel 10 is n = 9, so 99 24 64 is a kick drum.

Sound set

Programs are grouped in 16 families of 8. Wire values are shown in hex.

Piano 1–8

  1. 1 Acoustic Grand Piano 00
  2. 2 Bright Acoustic Piano 01
  3. 3 Electric Grand Piano 02
  4. 4 Honky-tonk Piano 03
  5. 5 Electric Piano 1 04
  6. 6 Electric Piano 2 05
  7. 7 Harpsichord 06
  8. 8 Clavi 07

Chromatic Percussion 9–16

  1. 9 Celesta 08
  2. 10 Glockenspiel 09
  3. 11 Music Box 0A
  4. 12 Vibraphone 0B
  5. 13 Marimba 0C
  6. 14 Xylophone 0D
  7. 15 Tubular Bells 0E
  8. 16 Dulcimer 0F

Organ 17–24

  1. 17 Drawbar Organ 10
  2. 18 Percussive Organ 11
  3. 19 Rock Organ 12
  4. 20 Church Organ 13
  5. 21 Reed Organ 14
  6. 22 Accordion 15
  7. 23 Harmonica 16
  8. 24 Tango Accordion 17

Guitar 25–32

  1. 25 Acoustic Guitar (nylon) 18
  2. 26 Acoustic Guitar (steel) 19
  3. 27 Electric Guitar (jazz) 1A
  4. 28 Electric Guitar (clean) 1B
  5. 29 Electric Guitar (muted) 1C
  6. 30 Overdriven Guitar 1D
  7. 31 Distortion Guitar 1E
  8. 32 Guitar harmonics 1F

Bass 33–40

  1. 33 Acoustic Bass 20
  2. 34 Electric Bass (finger) 21
  3. 35 Electric Bass (pick) 22
  4. 36 Fretless Bass 23
  5. 37 Slap Bass 1 24
  6. 38 Slap Bass 2 25
  7. 39 Synth Bass 1 26
  8. 40 Synth Bass 2 27

Strings 41–48

  1. 41 Violin 28
  2. 42 Viola 29
  3. 43 Cello 2A
  4. 44 Contrabass 2B
  5. 45 Tremolo Strings 2C
  6. 46 Pizzicato Strings 2D
  7. 47 Orchestral Harp 2E
  8. 48 Timpani 2F

Ensemble 49–56

  1. 49 String Ensemble 1 30
  2. 50 String Ensemble 2 31
  3. 51 SynthStrings 1 32
  4. 52 SynthStrings 2 33
  5. 53 Choir Aahs 34
  6. 54 Voice Oohs 35
  7. 55 Synth Voice 36
  8. 56 Orchestra Hit 37

Brass 57–64

  1. 57 Trumpet 38
  2. 58 Trombone 39
  3. 59 Tuba 3A
  4. 60 Muted Trumpet 3B
  5. 61 French Horn 3C
  6. 62 Brass Section 3D
  7. 63 SynthBrass 1 3E
  8. 64 SynthBrass 2 3F

Reed 65–72

  1. 65 Soprano Sax 40
  2. 66 Alto Sax 41
  3. 67 Tenor Sax 42
  4. 68 Baritone Sax 43
  5. 69 Oboe 44
  6. 70 English Horn 45
  7. 71 Bassoon 46
  8. 72 Clarinet 47

Pipe 73–80

  1. 73 Piccolo 48
  2. 74 Flute 49
  3. 75 Recorder 4A
  4. 76 Pan Flute 4B
  5. 77 Blown Bottle 4C
  6. 78 Shakuhachi 4D
  7. 79 Whistle 4E
  8. 80 Ocarina 4F

Synth Lead 81–88

  1. 81 Lead 1 (square) 50
  2. 82 Lead 2 (sawtooth) 51
  3. 83 Lead 3 (calliope) 52
  4. 84 Lead 4 (chiff) 53
  5. 85 Lead 5 (charang) 54
  6. 86 Lead 6 (voice) 55
  7. 87 Lead 7 (fifths) 56
  8. 88 Lead 8 (bass + lead) 57

Synth Pad 89–96

  1. 89 Pad 1 (new age) 58
  2. 90 Pad 2 (warm) 59
  3. 91 Pad 3 (polysynth) 5A
  4. 92 Pad 4 (choir) 5B
  5. 93 Pad 5 (bowed) 5C
  6. 94 Pad 6 (metallic) 5D
  7. 95 Pad 7 (halo) 5E
  8. 96 Pad 8 (sweep) 5F

Synth Effects 97–104

  1. 97 FX 1 (rain) 60
  2. 98 FX 2 (soundtrack) 61
  3. 99 FX 3 (crystal) 62
  4. 100 FX 4 (atmosphere) 63
  5. 101 FX 5 (brightness) 64
  6. 102 FX 6 (goblins) 65
  7. 103 FX 7 (echoes) 66
  8. 104 FX 8 (sci-fi) 67

Ethnic 105–112

  1. 105 Sitar 68
  2. 106 Banjo 69
  3. 107 Shamisen 6A
  4. 108 Koto 6B
  5. 109 Kalimba 6C
  6. 110 Bag pipe 6D
  7. 111 Fiddle 6E
  8. 112 Shanai 6F

Percussive 113–120

  1. 113 Tinkle Bell 70
  2. 114 Agogo 71
  3. 115 Steel Drums 72
  4. 116 Woodblock 73
  5. 117 Taiko Drum 74
  6. 118 Melodic Tom 75
  7. 119 Synth Drum 76
  8. 120 Reverse Cymbal 77

Sound Effects 121–128

  1. 121 Guitar Fret Noise 78
  2. 122 Breath Noise 79
  3. 123 Seashore 7A
  4. 124 Bird Tweet 7B
  5. 125 Telephone Ring 7C
  6. 126 Helicopter 7D
  7. 127 Applause 7E
  8. 128 Gunshot 7F

Percussion key map (channel 10)

On channel 10, the note number picks the instrument. Program changes on channel 10 are ignored in GM1 (GS, XG and GM2 use them to select drum kits). Note names use the C4 = 60 convention (see Notes & Pitch).

NoteHexKeySound
35 23 B1 Acoustic Bass Drum
36 24 C2 Bass Drum 1
37 25 C♯2 Side Stick
38 26 D2 Acoustic Snare
39 27 D♯2 Hand Clap
40 28 E2 Electric Snare
41 29 F2 Low Floor Tom
42 2A F♯2 Closed Hi Hat
43 2B G2 High Floor Tom
44 2C G♯2 Pedal Hi-Hat
45 2D A2 Low Tom
46 2E A♯2 Open Hi-Hat
47 2F B2 Low-Mid Tom
48 30 C3 Hi-Mid Tom
49 31 C♯3 Crash Cymbal 1
50 32 D3 High Tom
51 33 D♯3 Ride Cymbal 1
52 34 E3 Chinese Cymbal
53 35 F3 Ride Bell
54 36 F♯3 Tambourine
55 37 G3 Splash Cymbal
56 38 G♯3 Cowbell
57 39 A3 Crash Cymbal 2
58 3A A♯3 Vibraslap
59 3B B3 Ride Cymbal 2
60 3C C4 Hi Bongo
61 3D C♯4 Low Bongo
62 3E D4 Mute Hi Conga
63 3F D♯4 Open Hi Conga
64 40 E4 Low Conga
65 41 F4 High Timbale
66 42 F♯4 Low Timbale
67 43 G4 High Agogo
68 44 G♯4 Low Agogo
69 45 A4 Cabasa
70 46 A♯4 Maracas
71 47 B4 Short Whistle
72 48 C5 Long Whistle
73 49 C♯5 Short Guiro
74 4A D5 Long Guiro
75 4B D♯5 Claves
76 4C E5 Hi Wood Block
77 4D F5 Low Wood Block
78 4E F♯5 Mute Cuica
79 4F G5 Open Cuica
80 50 G♯5 Mute Triangle
81 51 A5 Open Triangle

The hi-hats (42, 44, 46) form an exclusive group: a closed or pedal hat chokes a ringing open hat. Short and long whistle, guiro, and cuica pairs are often choked the same way.

GS, XG and GM2

GM1 left out bank selection, effects and most sound editing, and manufacturers filled the gaps in different ways.

StandardFromWhat it addsReset
GS Roland, 1991 Variation banks via CC 0, drum kits via program change on ch 10, reverb/chorus sends (CC 91/93), NRPN sound editing. F0 41 10 42 12 40 00 7F 00 41 F7
XG Yamaha, 1994 Banks via CC 0 and CC 32, many more voices, three effect blocks plus insertion effects, extensive NRPN and SysEx editing. F0 43 10 4C 00 00 7E 00 F7
GM2 MMA / AMEI, 1999 Standardized variation banks, 9 drum kits, extended percussion map (notes 27–87), more controllers and RPNs, MIDI Tuning, global effect parameters, 32-voice minimum polyphony. F0 7E 7F 09 03 F7

Bank select in GM2

GM2 selects sounds with Bank Select MSB (CC 0), Bank Select LSB (CC 32) and then Program Change, sent in that order. The bank change takes effect only with the next Program Change.

CC 0 (MSB)MeaningCC 32 (LSB)
79 (121)Melodic sounds. The default on every channel except 10.Variation number: 0 = the GM1 capital tone, 1+ = variations
78 (120)Rhythm (drum kit) bank. The default on channel 10; may be used on channel 11 as well.0
 
B0 00 79   B0 20 01   C0 04     ch 1: bank 121/1, program 5 → a variation of Electric Piano 1
B9 00 78   B9 20 00   C9 00     ch 10: rhythm bank, program 1 → Standard kit

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