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Synthesizer patch mapping |
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With the increasing storage capabilities of synthesizers, particularly with the more recent models where up to several thousand patches can be stored and even more on alternate storage facilities, some kind of order was necessary to actually find a required sound, much more so when performing live on stage. Some people used to create patch sheets with patch numbers that were required during each song, some others used electronic patch mapping, where a masterkeyboard would control patches in various synthesizers and preset all the MIDI interconnected keyboards within the previously determined synthesizer patch mapping. In 1991 the MIDI Manufacturers Association and the Japan MIDI Standards Committee got together to set the General MIDI standards. These General MIDI standards also defined the General MIDI instrument patch map, which was designed to meet mainly non professional requirements of musicians, defining primarily which sounds needed to be in a synthesizer or other keyboard to qualify for a General MIDI certification. While the General MIDI did apply to all synthesizers designed after the year 1991, not all manufacturers were interested in implementing the standard in their product. The GM standardized instrument patch map required sixteen families of eight instruments in each family, plus a |
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