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General Midi.nwcitree

This is the General Midi instrument patch list. Any GM compatible synthesizer should support these patch assignments, but the device may have to be configured for General MIDI use.

Code: [Select · Download]
\Piano
Acoustic Grand Piano=0
Bright Acoustic Piano=1
Electric Grand Piano=2
Honky-tonk Piano=3
Rhodes Piano=4
Chorused Piano=5
Harpsichord=6

\Chromatic Percussion
Clavinet=7
Celesta=8
Glockenspiel=9
Music Box=10
Vibraphone=11
Marimba=12
Xylophone=13
Tubular Bells=14

\Organ
Dulcimer=15
Hammond Organ=16
Percussive Organ=17
Rock Organ=18
Church Organ=19
Reed Organ=20
Accordion=21
Harmonica=22
Tango Accordion=23

\Guitar
Acoustic Guitar (nylon)=24
Acoustic Guitar (steel)=25    
Electric Guitar (jazz)=26
Electric Guitar (clean)=27
Electric Guitar (muted)=28
Overdriven Guitar=29
Distortion Guitar=30
Guitar Harmonics=31

\Bass
Acoustic Bass=32
Electric Bass (finger)=33
Electric Bass (pick)=34
Fretless Bass=35
Slap Bass 1=36
Slap Bass 2=37
Synth Bass 1=38
Synth Bass 2=39

\Strings
Violin=40
Viola=41
Cello=42
Contrabass=43
Tremolo Strings=44
Pizzicato Strings=45
Orchestral Harp=46
Timpani=47

\Ensemble
String Ensemble 1=48
String Ensemble 2=49
SynthStrings 1=50
SynthStrings 2=51
Choir Aahs=52
Voice Oohs=53
Synth Voice=54
Orchestra Hit=55

\Brass
Trumpet=56
Trombone=57
Tuba=58
Muted Trumpet=59
French Horn=60
Brass Section=61
Synth Brass 1=62
Synth Brass 2=63

\Reed
Soprano Sax=64
Alto Sax=65
Tenor Sax=66
Baritone Sax=67
Oboe=68
English Horn=69
Bassoon=70
Clarinet=71

\Pipe
Piccolo=72
Flute=73
Recorder=74
Pan Flute=75
Bottle Blow=76
Shakuhachi=77
Whistle=78
Ocarina=79

\Synth Lead
Lead 1 (square)=80
Lead 2 (sawtooth)=81
Lead 3 (caliope lead)=82
Lead 4 (chiff lead)=83
Lead 5 (charang)=84
Lead 6 (voice)=85
Lead 7 (fifths)=86
Lead 8 (brass + lead)=87

\Synth Pad
Pad 1 (new age)=88
Pad 2 (warm)=89
Pad 3 (polysynth)=90
Pad 4 (choir)=91
Pad 5 (bowed)=92
Pad 6 (metallic)=93
Pad 7 (halo)=94
Pad 8 (sweep)=95

\Synth Effects
FX 1 (rain)=96
FX 2 (soundtrack)=97
FX 3 (crystal)=98
FX 4 (atmosphere)=99
FX 5 (brightness)=100
FX 6 (goblins)=101
FX 7 (echoes)=102
FX 8 (sci-fi)=103

\Ethnic
Sitar=104
Banjo=105
Shamisen=106
Koto=107
Kalimba=108
Bagpipe=109
Fiddle=110
Shanai=111

\Percussive
Tinkle Bell=112
Agogo=113
Steel Drums=114
Woodblock=115
Taiko Drum=116
Melodic Tom=117
Synth Drum=118
Reverse Cymbal=119

\Sound Effects
Guitar Fret Noise=120
Breath Noise=121
Seashore=122
Bird Tweet=123
Telephone Ring=124
Helicopter=125
Applause=126
Gunshot=127

An alternate alphabetically adapted rendition of this list is attached.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #1 –
I'd STRONGLY suggest moving Timpani to chromatic percussion, whatever its numbering is. It's in no way a stringed instrument.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #2 –
This list intentionally uses the recommended GM1 Family names from the spec, so we are not going to change them or move them around.

See also:

General MIDI Level 1 Sound Set
http://www.midi.org/about-midi/gm/gm1sound.shtml

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #3 –
That may be the recommended, but it also makes it absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to find the timpanium. The Timpanium isn't anywhere near where anyone would look.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #4 –
G'day Adam,
Quote from: Adam Cuerden –
That may be the recommended, but it also makes it absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to find the timpanium. The Timpanium isn't anywhere near where anyone would look.

That's a fair call which is why the NWCitree facility is so good.  You can create your own itree and put any instrument into any grouping you want.  Of course the only thing you can't modify is the instrument number itself as that is defined in the general MIDI specification, not in NWC.
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #5 –
Aye, but should we really be making it difficult for new users? The groupings make the timpani highly obscured. That's a very bad thing in a default setting.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #6 –
You can get an octave of Timpani (F to F on the bass clef) on the percussion channel (10) if you select instrument patch 49.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #7 –
That's all very well, but the point was that the main itree puts it in the wrong place. (also, that's a somewhat eccentrically chosen octave.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Peter Edwards –
You can get an octave of Timpani (F to F on the bass clef) on the percussion channel (10) if you select instrument patch 49.
Doesn't it rely on which soundfont or other synthesizer you have connected? If I understand correctly, the "percussion channel" 10 is reserved for one of many drum sets, and the range you relate to is for tom-tom drums; at least F to D. Those are not really timpani replacements.

Since NWC2 can present instruments in custom trees, the question is rather if the default tree should be according to the GM standard or some adapted version that sorts certain instruments differently: timpani either under Chromatic Percussion or Percussive (depending how melodic you find it), string ensembles and synth strings under Strings (perhaps fiddle even), bagpipe and harmonica somewhere under winds (although neither sorts well under Brass, Pipe nor Reed). NWC2 already comes with four ITrees: classic (everything in one long list), default (the one we're discussing), general MIDI (identical?), sample (example).

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #9 –
I believe there about six drumsets, and you select which one with the instrument patch. Patch 49 gives Timps in the range I quoted.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #10 –
Here are the normally accepted drum kit assignments, but it's not guaranteed, as patch #1 is the only kit specified by GM Level 1.  Each vendor may implement additional drum kits, but most adhere to the below generally accepted standard for compatibility purposes.  As you can see, #49 is the orchestral kit.  You would have to look up the documentation for your specific sound module/soundfont/soundcard to see which instruments are actually implemented within the kit, but hopefully this will help a little.  Jazz fans like to use #41, as well, which uses brushes instead of sticks on the snare (and other) drums.

1 Standard Kit - the only kit specified by General MIDI Level 1
9 Room Kit - more ambient percussive sounds
17 Power Kit - more powerful kick and snare sounds
25 Electronic Kit - emulations of various electronic drum machines
26 TR-808 Kit - analog drum kit similar to Roland TR-808
33 Jazz Kit - nearly identical to the Standard kit
41 Brush Kit - many brush sounds added
49 Orchestra Kit - a collection of concert drums and timpani
57 Sound FX Kit - a collection of sound effects
128 CM-64/CM-32L - the standard MT-32 Drum Kit

Hope this helps,

- John
John

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #11 –
The default instrument tree should not make anything difficult to find. Thios program is not made for people who know MIDI numeric assignments, it's made for musicians.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #12 –
\Percussion Map (Ch. 10)
Standard=0
Brush=40
Orchestra=48
SFX=56

Simply add the last part for Percussion map.

The other sets, depend on your sound system.  You may add on your use.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #13 –
I agree...timpani have no strings, and should therefore be regrouped accordingly.
 

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #14 –
I understand why it makes more sense elsewhere, but the General Midi specifications have been set in stone for 23 years now.  Changing it may make it easier for newcomers, but would confuse everyone else.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #15 –
What if we start petitioning and have as many old users as we can sign their names to say that they would rather the timpani be grouped with the chromatic percussion? I understand where you're coming from, but consider the fact that we all think it's a bug that's going to get worked out in later versions...and it would only take a couple of times before people would get used to it...after all, I just go to the list and hit 'T' until it shows Timpani...I just wish I could find it easier. That list could be alphabetized and it would solve all the problems in the world, you know?

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #16 –
Well see, that's the iffy part here.  Such a change would only affect NWC.  It wouldn't do a thing for the other bunches of programs and hardware out there that have Timpani where it's at.

Then again, most of us probably don't use anything but NWC anyways as far as midi goes, so it might not be that big of a deal.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #17 –
An alphabetically adapted alternative to the standard GM1 instrument tree is now attached. As stated previously, you are free to create and organize your own instrument tree to deal with your specific needs.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #18 –
HAving Timpani in a funny place was fine in NWC1. But in NWC2, the use of instrument trees means you can't just hit T to find timpani, and it's counter-intuitive to open up non-percussion groups searching for it.

Even people who know midi aren't going to click on a strings label in search for Timpani, for goodness' sake! It's a situation where the additional features are making a former non-problem into a problem.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #19 –
Maybe we can resolve this "Wandering Timpani" problem with:

1.  Accept that GM1 made a mistake1 all those years ago, but that we're stuck with it.

2.  Realise that we don't have to have GM1 as the default itree, but can have something much better organised with fewer instruments - possibly a "simplified midi", without all the variations of <insert_disliked_instrument_here>.  And maybe some other itrees standardised by NWC - for example: basic örchestra, basic concert band, big band.

But it's really not all that hard to create your own itree.

Cheers,
Ewan

1  Maybe it wasn't a mistake, but the best solution available at the time.

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #20 –
Excuse me to bother you but i have a very important question for you. I've built NWC iTrees before nonetheless, i was wondering if it's possible or what symbols i would use in a text editor to make iTrees that would in general midi assign two instruments simultaneously per staff therefore i could give the new instrument my own name which is really 2 at the same time. I was thinking for example: 001 + 002=Aura, though i do not think the + sign is correct syntax. My e-mail is:Luzideussavant@yahoo.com. I await patiently fellow nwc user administrator.
Kyrie ix 236++=K k-squared....

Re: General Midi.nwcitree

Reply #21 –
Quote from: Kristoval –
if it's possible or what symbols i would use in a text editor to make iTrees that would in general midi assign two instruments
It is not possible. For any 'note on' message, MIDI allows only one patch per channel. Synths can have multiple voices per patch, but that is beyond the scope of NoteWorthy.
Registered user since 1996