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Specification of General MIDI and Roland MT-32 patches
 

::|CONTENTS

  1. Patch List (channels 1-16 excluding 10)
  2. Patch List (channel 10 only)
  3. Channel 10 Percussive Instruments
  4. Roland GS extended patches
  5. 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)

 
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