The SCB-55 has 128 basic sounds (“Capital Tones”) that you can select using Program
Change messages. Each Capital Tone also has “Variations,” selectable using Bank Select
messages.
* There are some Variations that do not have a sound assigned to them. Check the TONE
TABLE (p. 14) to make sure there is in fact a Tone at the location you are selecting with a
Bank Select message (or else you will get no sound at all).
* The arrangement of the Capital Tones is the same as that for the 128 types of sounds in
the General MIDI System.
(5) Chorus and Reverb
Every Part in the SCB-55 can have chorus and reverb effects added to it, and the depth
of effects can be controlled in real time using Control Change messages.
(6) Changing Between Drum Sets
Part 10 is exclusively for percussion, using the Drum Set sounds. Drum Set sounds differ
from regular sounds in that a different instrument is assigned to each key. Say you have
a violin Tone selected: no matter what key you press, you get a violin sound. It may be
a different pitch but it’s still a violin sound. However, in a Drum Set, one key plays the
kick, one plays the snare, one the hi-hat, and so on. Percussion instruments don’t gener-
ally carry the melody and don’t need the pitch range of a violin, so we can arrange them
one-per-key and handle them all in one channel.
Drum Sets can be switched using Program Change messages.
* Although Program Numbers range from 1 to 128, there are nowhere near that many dif-
ferent Drum Sets on the SCB-55. If you try to select a Drum Set that doesn’t exist, you’ll
get no sound when you try to play. Check the DRUM SET TABLE (p. 19) to make sure
that the Program Change message you are sending corresponds to an actual Drum Set.
* The percussion instruments for Note Numbers 35-81 in the Standard Set (Program
Number 1) all have the same key assignments as the 47 percussion instrument types in
the General MIDI System.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Standard Set
Program Number
. . . 128
7
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