::|CONTENTS
- Patch List (channels 1-16 excluding 10)
- Patch List (channel 10 only)
- Channel 10 Percussive Instruments
- Roland GS extended patches
- See Also
When composing for different sound modules outside of the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth (the expected rendering module for the
MIDI format), one thing that you will notice is that more often than not there will be differences between timbre assignments, particularly when a sound module was built prior to the creation of the MIDI standard. This article will cover the differences between the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth and the Roland MT-32 (which can be emulated via
Munt), particularly as a demonstration of what sounds one module can do that the other cannot, as well as showing proof that a General MIDI submission is incompatible with the MT-32 (and vice versa) without extra modification.
The patch list will follow this format and will be broken every 8 patches for easier organization:
Patch #
GS Wavetable
Roland MT-32
GS Category
MT-32 Category/Categories
1
GS Patch Name
MT-32 Patch Name (# of partials*)
*A partial is the amount of layering one patch has; more partials more often than not leads to a more luscious timbre at the expense of polyphony
Patch List (channels 1-16 excluding 10)
Patch #
General MIDI
Roland MT-32
Piano
Piano
1
Acoustic Grand Piano*
Acoustic Piano 1 (4)
2
Bright Acoustic Piano*
Acoustic Piano 2 (2)
3
Electric Grand Piano*
Acoustic Piano 3 (1)
4
Honky-tonk Piano*
Electric Piano 1 (3)
5
Electric Piano 1*
Electric Piano 2 (2)
6
Electric Piano 2*
Electric Piano 3 (2)
7
Harpsichord*
Electric Piano 4 (1)
8
Clavi
Honkytonk (3)
Chromatic Percussion
Organ
9
Celesta
Electric Organ 1 (3)
10
Glockenspiel
Electric Organ 2 (3)
11
Music Box
Electric Organ 3 (2)
12
Vibraphone*
Electric Organ 4 (2)
13
Marimba*
Pipe Organ 1 (3)
14
Xylophone
Pipe Organ 2 (3)
15
Tubular Bells*
Pipe Organ 3 (2)
16
Dulcimer
Accordion (2)
Organ
Keyboard
17
Drawbar Organ*
Harpsichord 1 (4)
18
Percussive Organ*
Harpsichord 2 (2)
19
Rock Organ
Harpsichord 3 (1)
20
Church Organ*
Clavi 1 (3)
21
Reed Organ
Clavi 2 (2)
22
Accordion*
Clavi 3 (1)
23
Harmonica
Celesta 1 (4)
24
Tango Accordion
Celesta 2 (2)
Guitar
Synth Brass and Bass
25
Acoustic Guitar (nylon)*
Synth Brass 1 (2)
26
Acoustic Guitar (steel)*
Synth Brass 2 (3)
27
Electric Guitar (jazz)*
Synth Brass 3 (2)
28
Electric Guitar (clean)*
Synth Brass 4 (2)
29
Electric Guitar (muted)*
Synth Bass 1 (2)
30
Overdriven Guitar
Synth Bass 2 (2)
31
Distortion Guitar*
Synth Bass 3 (2)
32
Guitar Harmonics*
Synth Bass 4 (1)
Bass
Synth 1
33
Acoustic Bass
Fantasy (3)
34
Electric Bass (finger)
Harmonic Pan (3)
35
Electric Bass (pick)
Chorale (3)
36
Fretless Bass
Glasses (2)
37
Slap Bass 1
Soundtrack (4)
38
Slap Bass 2
Atmosphere (4)
39
Synth Bass 1*
Warm Bells (4)
40
Synth Bass 2*
Funny Vox (1)
Strings
Synth 2
41
Violin*
Echo Bell (3)
42
Viola
Ice Rain (3)
43
Cello
Oboe 2001 (2)
44
Contrabass
Echo Pan (2)
45
Tremolo Strings
Doctor Solo (2)
46
Pizzicato Strings
Schooldaze (2)
47
Orchestral Harp
Bellsinger (2)
48
Timpani
Square Wave (2)
Ensemble
Strings
49
String Ensemble 1*
String Section 1 (4)
50
String Ensemble 2
String Section 2 (3)
51
SynthStrings 1*
String Section 3 (2)
52
SynthStrings 2
Pizzicato (3)
53
Choir Aahs*
Violin 1 (3)
54
Voice Oohs
Violin 2 (2)
55
Synth Voice
Cello 1 (3)
56
Orchestra Hit
Cello 2 (2)
Brass
Strings (ct'd) and Guitar
57
Trumpet
Contrabass (2)
58
Trombone*
Harp 1 (3)
59
Tuba
Harp 2 (2)
60
Muted Trumpet
Guitar 1 (2)
61
French Horn*
Guitar 2 (2)
62
Brass Section*
Electric Guitar 1 (4)
63
SynthBrass 1*
Electric Guitar 2 (3)
64
SynthBrass 2*
Sitar (4)
Reed
Bass
65
Soprano Sax
Acoustic Bass 1 (2)
66
Alto Sax
Acoustic Bass 2 (1)
67
Tenor Sax
Electric Bass 1 (2)
68
Baritone Sax
Electric Bass 2 (1)
69
Oboe
Slap Bass 1 (3)
70
English Horn
Slap Bass 2 (2)
71
Bassoon
Fretless 1 (4)
72
Clarinet
Fretless 2 (2)
Pipe
Wind 1 and 2
73
Piccolo
Flute 1 (4)
74
Flute
Flute 2 (2)
75
Recorder
Piccolo 1 (3)
76
Pan Flute
Piccolo 2 (2)
77
Blown Bottle
Recorder (2)
78
Shakuhachi
Pan Pipes (3)
79
Whistle
Saxophone 1 (4)
80
Ocarina
Saxophone 2 (3)
Synth Lead
Wind 2 (ct'd)
81
Lead 1 (square)*
Saxophone 3 (2)
82
Lead 2 (sawtooth)*
Saxophone 4 (1)
83
Lead 3 (calliope)
Clarinet 1 (3)
84
Lead 4 (chiff)
Clarinet 2 (2)
85
Lead 5 (charang)
Oboe (2)
86
Lead 6 (voice)
English Horn (2)
87
Lead 7 (fifths)
Bassoon (2)
88
Lead 8 (bass + lead)
Harmonica (2)
Synth Pad
Brass
89
Pad 1 (new age)
Trumpet 1 (3)
90
Pad 2 (warm)
Trumpet 2 (2)
91
Pad 3 (polysynth)
Trombone 1 (3)
92
Pad 4 (choir)
Trombone 2 (2)
93
Pad 5 (bowed)
French Horn 1 (3)
94
Pad 6 (metallic)
French Horn 2 (2)
95
Pad 7 (halo)
Tuba (2)
96
Pad 8 (sweep)
Brass Section 1 (4)
Synth Effects
Brass (ct'd) and Mallet
97
FX 1 (rain)
Brass Section 2 (3)
98
FX 2 (soundtrack)
Vibraphone 1 (3)
99
FX 3 (crystal)*
Vibraphone 2 (2)
100
FX 4 (atmosphere)
Synth Mallet (1)
101
FX 5 (brightness)
Wind Bell (3)
102
FX 6 (goblins)
Glockenspiel (2)
103
FX 7 (echoes)*
Tube Bell (4)
104
FX 8 (sci-fi)
Xylophone (1)
Ethnic
Mallet (ct'd) and Special
105
Sitar*
Marimba (3)
106
Banjo
Koto (2)
107
Shamisen
Sho (4)
108
Koto*
Shakuhachi (4)
109
Kalimba
Whistle 1 (2)
110
Bag Pipe
Whistle 2 (1)
111
Fiddle
Bottleblow (4)
112
Shanai
Breathpipe (3)
Percussive
Percussion
113
Tinkle Bell
Timpani (2)
114
Agogo
Melodic Tom (1)
115
Steel Drums
Deep Snare (2)
116
Woodblock*
Electric Percussion 1 (2)
117
Taiko Drum*
Electric Percussion 2 (2)
118
Melodic Tom*
Taiko (3)
119
Synth Drum*
Taiko Rim (1)
120
Reverse Cymbal
Cymbal (2)
Sound Effects
Percussion (ct'd) and Effects
121
Guitar Fret Noise*
Castanets (2)
122
Breath Noise*
Triangle (2)
123
Seashore*
Orchestra Hit (4)
124
Bird Tweet*
Telephone (1)
125
Telephone Ring*
Bird Tweet (1)
126
Helicopter*
One Note Jam (4)
127
Applause*
Water Bells (3)
128
Gunshot*
Jungle Tune (4)
*Has additional sub-patches on different banks
Patch List (channel 10 only)
Patch #
GS Wavetable
1
Standard
9
Room
17
Power
25
Electronic
26
TR-808
33
Jazz
41
Brush
49
Orchestra
57
SFX
*Roland MT-32 only has one drum patch
Channel 10 Percussive Instruments
Channel 10 in both MSGS MIDI and the MT-32 is reserved for percussion only. For simplicity, only the Standard drum patch is shown here. As mentioned above, MSGS offers several alternate drumkits as well, most of which alter the core "drumset" sounds while leaving the auxiliary percussion sounds intact. (Orchestra and SFX are the exceptions to this rule.)
The General MIDI spec as a whole doesn't include sounds below Acoustic Bass Drum (0-34) or above Open Triangle (82-127), but MSGS does include a few more sounds, which are listed.
Note #
General MIDI
Roland MT-32 (# partials)
0-26
Unused
Unused
27
High Q
Unused
28
Slap
Unused
29
Scratch Push
Unused
30
Scratch Pull
Unused
31
Sticks
Unused
32
Square Click
Unused
33
Metronome Click
Unused
34
Metronome Bell
Unused
35
Acoustic Bass Drum
Bass Drum (1)
36
Electric Bass Drum
Bass Drum (1)*
37
Side Stick
Side Stick (1)
38
Acoustic Snare
Acoustic Snare (1)
39
Hand Clap
Hand Clap (1)
40
Electric Snare
Electric Snare (1)
41
Low Floor Tom
Floor Tom (1)
42
Closed Hi-Hat
Closed Hi-Hat (1)
43
High Floor Tom
Floor Tom (1)*
44
Pedal Hi-hat
Pedal Hi-hat (2)
45
Low Tom
Mid Tom (1)
46
Open Hi-hat
Open Hi-hat (2)
47
Low-Mid Tom
Mid Tom (1)*
48
Hi-Mid Tom
High Tom (1)
49
Crash Cymbal 1
Crash Cymbal (2)
50
High Tom
High Tom (1)*
51
Ride Cymbal 1
Ride Cymbal (1)
52
Chinese Cymbal
Unused
53
Ride Bell
Unused
54
Tambourine
Tambourine (1)
55
Splash Cymbal
Unused
56
Cowbell
Cowbell (1)
57
Crash Cymbal 2
Unused
58
Vibraslap
Unused
59
Ride Cymbal 2
Unused
60
High Bongo
High Bongo (1)
61
Low Bongo
Low Bongo (1)
62
Mute High Conga
Mute High Conga (1)
63
Open High Conga
Open High Conga (1)
64
Low Conga
Low Conga (1)
65
High Timbale
High Timbale (1)
66
Low Timbale
Low Timbale (1)
67
High Agogô
High Agogô (1)
68
Low Agogô
Low Agogô (1)
69
Cabasa
Cabasa (1)
70
Maracas
Maracas (1)
71
Short Whistle
Short Whistle (2)
72
Long Whistle
Long Whistle (2)
73
Short Guiro
Vibraslap (3)
74
Long Guiro
Unused
75
Claves
Claves (1)
76
High Woodblock
Unused
77
Low Woodblock
Unused
78
Mute Cuica
Unused
79
Open Cuica
Unused
80
Mute Triangle
Unused
81
Open Triangle
Unused
82
Shaker
Unused
83
Jingle Bell
Unused
84
Bell Tree
Unused
85
Castanets
Unused
86
Mute Surdo
Unused
87
Open Surdo
Unused
88-127
Unused
Unused
*duplicate sounds with no apparent difference
Roland GS extended patches
Note: Your synth needs to be switched into GS mode for you to be able to use Bank CC MSB (Control Change Most-Significant Bit), otherwise it will be ignored. To reset any compliant synth into GS mode, send the following SysEx message (hexadecimal): F0 41 10 42 12 40 00 7F 00 41 F7
Patch #
MSB
Patch Name
Notes
Piano
1
0
Piano 1
8
Piano 1w
16
Piano 1d
Dampened sound
2
0
Piano 2
8
Piano 2w
3
0
Piano 3
8
Piano 3w
4
0
Honky-tonk
8
Honky-tonk w
5
0
E.Piano 1
8
Detuned EP 1
Has a brief detune effect
16
E.Piano 1v
0 MSB w/ quicker decay
24
60's E.Piano
60s sounding Electric Piano
6
0
E.Piano 2
8
Detuned EP 2
Has a detune effect
16
E.Piano 2v
0 MSB w/ quicker decay
7
0
Harpsichord
8
Coupled Hps.
Subtly dampened
16
Harpsi.w
24
Harpsi.o
Subtly softer sounding
Chromatic Percussion
12
0
Vibraphone
8
Vib.w
13
0
Marimba
8
Marimba w
15
0
Tubular-bell
8
Church Bell
0 MSB w/ much slower decay
9
Carillon
Organ
17
0
Organ 1
8
Detuned Or.1
Has a detune effect
16
60's Organ 1
Octave higher, slightly brighter
32
Organ 4
18
0
Organ 2
8
Detuned Or.2
32
Organ 5
Slightly punchier Drawbar
20
0
Church Org.1
8
Church Org.2
16
Church Org.3
Slightly airier
22
0
Accordion Fr
8
Accordion It
Slightly airier
Guitar
25
0
Nylon-str.Gt
8
Ukulele
16
32
Slightly louder
26
0
Steel-str.Gt
8
12-str.Gt
16
27
0
Jazz Gt.
8
Hawaiian Gt.
28
0
Clean Gt.
8
Chorus Gt.
0 MSB w/ slower decay
29
0
Muted Gt.
8
Funk Gt.
Less plucky funk guitar
16
Funk Gt.2
Slightly quieter
31
0
DistortionGt
8
Feedback Gt.
32
0
Gt.Harmonics
8
Gt. Feedback
Feedback (or fading sine)
Bass
39
0
Synth Bass 1
1
SynthBass101
Dampened, minimal decay
8
Synth Bass 3
Slighly twangier
40
0
Synth Bass 2
8
Synth Bass 4
16
Rubber Bass
More dampened, minimal decay
Strings
41
0
Violin
8
Slow Violin
0 MSB w/ brief attack
Ensemble
49
0
Strings
8
Orchestra
0 MSB w/ quicker attack
51
0
Syn.Strings1
8
Syn.Strings3
Brighter, minimal attack
53
0
Choir Aahs
32
Choir Aahs 2
Brass
58
0
Trombone
1
Trombone 2
Smoother and airier
61
0
French Horns 2
1
Fr.Horn 2
Slightly muted
62
0
Brass 1
8
Brass 2
63
0
Synth Brass1
8
Synth Brass3
Minimal attack and decay
16
AnalogBrass1
0 MSB w/ minimal decay
64
0
Synth Brass2
8
Synth Brass4
More stringy timbre
16
AnalogBrass2
Muted, yet more pronounced
Synth Lead
81
0
Square Wave
1
Square
Stand-alone square wave
8
Sine Wave
Stand-alone sine wave
82
0
Saw Wave
1
Saw
Stand-alone saw wave
8
Doctor Solo
Softer layered saws
Synth Effects
99
0
Crystal
1
Syn Mallet
Soft, piano-like timbre
103
0
Echo Drops
1
Echo Bell
Brass-like timbre
2
Echo Pan
Brass-like timbre w/ decay
Ethnic
105
0
Sitar
1
Sitar 2
0 MSB w/ slight portamento
108
0
Koto
8
Taisho Koto
Softer, decays more pronounced
Percussive
116
0
Woodblock
8
Castanets
117
0
Taiko
8
Concert BD
118
0
Melo. Tom 1
8
Melo. Tom 2
Slightly pitched down
119
0
Synth Drum
8
808 Tom
9
Elec Perc.
Punchier drum sounds
Sound Effects
121
0
Gt.FretNoise
1
Gt.Cut Noise
2
String Slap
122
0
Breath Noise
1
Fl.Key Click
Clickity clack clack
123
0
Seashore
1
Rain
It's raining! It's pouring!
2
Thunder
THUNDERSHOCK
3
Wind
A nice, dark breeze a-blowin
4
Stream
That's quite a loud creek
5
Bubble
Memories of blowing into drink
124
0
Bird
1
Dog
BARK BARK BARK
2
Horse-Gallop
The cavalry coming by horse!
3
Bird 2
A single chirp
125
0
Telephone 1
1
Telephone 2
A digital ring ring ring
2
DoorCreaking
A very loud door creak
3
Door
Way to slam the door, kiddo
4
Scratch
The sound of scratching
5
Wind Chimes
Chimes blowing in the wind
126
0
Helicopter
1
Car-Engine
Startin' your engines
2
Car-Stop
Skiddin' to a halt in your car
3
Car-Pass
Cars zoomin' by everyday
4
Car-Crash
A puny car accident
5
Siren
Ambulance comin' through!
6
Train
A humble train comin' through
7
Jetplane
A jet plane passin' by up above
8
Starship
A starship casually passing by
9
Burst Noise
Can't get a signal...
127
0
Applause
1
Laughing
A-HA-HA-HA-HA...
2
Screaming
AAAAAAAH
3
Punch
PAWNCH
4
Heart Beat
The sound of your heart
5
Footsteps
Footsteps knockin'...
128
0
Gun Shot
1
Machine Gun
YATATATATATATATATATATATA
2
Lasergun
PEW PEW PEW
3
Explosion
A puny KABOOM
See Also
Roland MT-32 Owner's Manual (archived)
