Hammond Sk PRO, Reference Manual

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Appendix
601
u GENERAL MIDI
t What Is “General MIDI?”
With the advent of the newer General MIDI (GM) standard, it is now easier for someone to connect two or
more brands of MIDI devices and use them. As an example, before General MIDI different manufacturers
assigned different program numbers to different sounds. If, for example, Program Number 4 is Strings on
a “brand X” MIDI device and Program Number 4 is Trumpet on a “brand Y” device, and you sent MIDI
Program Number 4 from a keyboard you were playing to each device, you would hear Strings from one and
Trumpet from the other. However, you wanted both units to play Strings.
The General MIDI addition to the original MIDI specification was created so that generic Standard MIDI
Files created on a sequencer or notation application may be played back on another device while preserving
the integrity of the original selection. It follows a standard that assigns 128 instrument sounds to specific
numbers. There are sixteen specific families or types of instruments and eight instruments within each
group. A separate group of percussion sounds is usually available on MIDI channel 10, and they are assigned
to specific notes on a MIDI keyboard.
GENERAL MIDI VOICE GROUPS
Piano Chromatic Percussion Organ Guitar
Bass Strings Ensemble Brass
Reed Pipe Synth Lead Synth Pad
Synth F/X Ethnic Percussive Sound F/X
NOTE: The General MIDI information is provided here to assist you when transmitting to a MIDI device such as
a sound module or synthesizer. The MIDI mapping of the SK PRO is “product-specific” and so is not compatible
with General MIDI.
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SK PRO Reference Guide