So, the MSGS soundfont commonly floating around the net and linked on the Lyceum has some issues with bank layout. As such, it won't work correctly with GS-enabled MIDI files, and MIDI files which sound fine using the soundfont won't sound right on actual "vintage hardware", so to speak.

Ergo, it's irritating composing "direct" MIDI in a DAW with the unavoidable DAW > GS Wavetable Synth lag, and it's equally irritating composing "indirect" MIDI in a DAW using the BASSMIDI VSTi and the MSGS.sf2 file and having to constantly change bank settings before exporting the "actual" MIDI.

But this is not a thread for griping - no! Instead, it is an exciting thread for announcements, as I went ahead and fixed up the bank assignments (and also - most importantly, perhaps? - corrected the missing "w" in Pianos 1-3 and Honky-Tonk on bank #8).

DefenseMechanism is graciously providing hosting:
MSGS_Fixed.sf2

'
MSGS_Fixed.reabank

' (.reabank file for REAPER - allows you to select programs from dropdowns rather than memorizing Bank/Program numbers. Loosely based on joel Sampson's "Roland_SC55.reabank")

To be more specific, the issue with the original MSGS.sf2 is that - for whatever reason (backwards-compatibility with older Roland devices, I imagine) - in the actual GS spec, most of the programs/patches below #121 (Guitar Fret Noise) use banks 0 (default), then 8, 16, 24, and 32. Programs/patches between #121 and #127, on the other hand, use banks 0, then 1-9 (busy, busy program #126!). Sorta. Kinda. Except it gets a bit sloppy here and there. Exceptions are the spice that make rulebooks delicious!

The MSGS.sf2 file, on the other hand, simply maps everything to banks 0-9 as needed. So a program with four alternate sounds to choose from, like for instance, Program #5, E. Piano, has the alternate stuff mapped on banks 1, 2, 3, and 4, plus the original on bank 0. I mean, makes sense, and it's probably how I'd do it if I was creating everything from scratch. Unfortunately, this isn't how it was done when designing the GS spec, and it's not how the mighty Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth works.

Anyway, I moved everything to the appropriate banks, and verified everything with the Roland SC-55 owner's manual and my own Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth.

And just to make sure I kept my irritation levels at peak even as I slowly chipped away at the root cause of said irritation, I created all the necessary verification files in REAPER, whose default method of inputting MIDI control messages is not exactly un-cumbersome!

A few notes:
Patch #14 (Program #15: Carillon) belongs on bank 9, despite being non-SFX, with banks 1-7 skipped

Patch #17 (Program #18: Organ 5) belongs on bank 32, despite banks 16/24 both being empty

Patch #24 (Program #25: Nylon Gt.2) belongs on bank 32, despit bank 24 being empty

Patch #38 (Program #39: Synth Bass 101) belongs on bank 1, despite being non-SFX

Patch #52 (Program #53: Choir Aahs 2) belongs on bank 32, despite banks 8/16/24 all being empty

Patch #57 (Program #58: Trombone 2) belongs on bank 1, despite being non-SFX

Patch #60 (Program #61: Fr. Horn) belongs on bank 1, despite being non-SFX

Patch #80 (Program #81: Square) belongs on bank 1, despite being non-SFX

Patch #81 (Program #82: Saw) belongs on bank 1, despite being non-SFX

Patch #98 (Program #99: Syn Mallet) belongs on bank 1, despite being non-SFX

Patch #102 (Program #103: Echo Bell) belongs on bank 1, despite being non-SFX

Patch #104 (Program #105: Sitar 2) belongs on bank 1, despite being non-SFX


Anyway, grab the above file and rejoice in MIDIs sounding the same in foobar/BASSMIDI as they would on your uncle's badass Pentium 90 back in the day. (well, almost the same - if you're using the soundfont, it'll intelligently fall back to the default bank if the MIDI file tries to change to a bank without a patch. Real MSGSWS would just remain silent)

If anyone finds any remaining incorrect mappings, let me know and I'll fix it up.

could you do a proper solid and specify the ACTUAL banks for each patch? i'd REALLY like to update my reaper template so that it avoids screwy patch export once and for all! i can also edit the lyceum article, and i'm happy to host the updated .sf2 on my site. if you take a look at GM.reabank that comes with reaper by default in the Data folder, it doesn't work with MSGS at all - it would be great to create a .reabank file that actually works...

Yeah, GM.reabank seems geared towards GM2 (which isn't really backwards-compatible with GM-GS), and nothing really uses GM2. At least nothing in my wheelhouse.

Here's a REAPER .reabank file that should go along nicely with the fixed SF2. Drum patches are a little bit of a headache, I'll admit I haven't tested them, but they should maybe work? Let me know if there's something wrong with those.

MSGS_Fixed.reabank

(superseded, see OP or below)

And I can get you a raw list of the patch names themselves / banks therein if you still want that, for whatever reason.

this is great - thank you so much!!

links on my site:
MSGS_Fixed.sf2

MSGS_Fixed.reabank

Nice, updated the OP!

Here's an updated version of the .reabank - functionally identical, just has the "about" text cleaned up and a few stray lines of gibberish removed. Should hopefully be the last update for a while!

MSGS_Fixed.reabank

awesome! updated the file on my site as well

FYI the drum bank seems to be wrong - Bank 128 seems to not be valid since that byte should be 0 through 127. once changing to Bank 127 REAPER is happy though - is that the correct change that needs to be made?

edit: probably not - 0 is correct because this is only a one-byte parameter. see post #164151

It may be correct, yes - the drums were something I just straight copy-pasted from joel Sampson's SC55 bank.

If you want to send a sample MIDI that swaps between the drum banks I can verify it on real hardware.

I also added an MT-32 bank (from what I can gather, Munt just ignores the bank entirely, so you can stuff these anywhere convenient - I picked #126).

Here's MSGS_Fixed with MT-32 and the drums on #127.
MSGS_Fixed.reabank

another issue while i'm at it - i think some of the hi hats need to be in choke groups so that playing a closed hat after open hat mutes the open hat. i'm not sure of all the perc instruments which are in groups but it is maybe worth finding out?
edit: yeah in polyphone it's called "exclusive class" - i will try to find out which others are in such classes. my thoughts are that triangle open/mute should also be in a class. i'll try to find out more info on this too.

fyi for the .reabank what i ended up doing was just making a separate file for MSGS_Fixed_Drums and setting it to bank 0. i use it only on channel 10.

MSGS_Fixed_Drums.reabank

thank you two for this