General MIDI Level 2

General MIDI Level 2 or GM2 is a specification for synthesizers which defines several requirements beyond the more abstract MIDI standard and is based on General MIDI and GS extensions. It was adopted in 1999 by the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA).

General requirements

* Number of Notes: 32 simultaneous notes
* MIDI Channels: 16
* Simultaneous Melodic Instruments - up to 16 (all Channels)
* Simultaneous Percussion Kits - up to 2 (Channel 10/11)

Parameters

Program and bank change events

General MIDI 2 compatible synthesizers access all of the 256 instruments by setting cc#0 (Bank Select MSB) to 121 and using cc#32 (Bank Select LSB) to select the variation bank before a Program Change. Variation bank 0 contains full GM sound set.

Melodic sounds

Piano

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
1	0	Acoustic Grand Piano
	1	Wet Acoustic Grand
	2	Dry Acoustic Grand
2	0	Bright Acoustic Piano
	1	Wet Bright Acoustic
3	0	Electric Grand Piano
	1	Wet Electric Grand
4	0	Honky-tonk Piano
	1	Wet Honky-tonk
5	0	Rhodes Piano
	1	Detuned Electric Piano 1
	2	Electric Piano 1 Variation
	3	60's Electric Piano
6	0	Chorused Electric Piano
	1	Detuned Electric Piano 2
	2	Electric Piano 2 Variation
	3	Electric Piano Legend
	4	Electric Piano Phase
7	0	Harpsichord
	1	Coupled Harpsichord
	2	Wet Harpsichord
	3	Open Harpsichord
8	0	Clavinet
	1	Pulse Clavinet

Chromatic Percussion

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
9	0	Celesta
10	0	Glockenspiel
11	0	Music Box
12	0	Vibraphone
	1	Wet Vibraphone
13	0	Marimba
	1	Wet Marimba
14	0	Xylophone
15	0	Tubular Bell
	1	Church Bell
	2	Carillon
16	0	Santur

Organ

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
17	0	Hammond Organ
	1	Detuned Organ 1
	2	60's Organ 1
	3	Organ 4
18	0	Percussive Organ
	1	Detuned Organ 2
	2	Organ 5
19	0	Rock Organ
20	0	Church Organ 1
	1	Church Organ 2
	2	Church Organ 3
21	0	Reed Organ
	1	Puff Organ
22	0	French Accordion
	1	Italian Accordion
23	0	Harmonica
24	0	Bandoneon

Guitar

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
25	0	Nylon-String Guitar
	1	Ukulele
	2	Open Nylon Guitar
	3	Nylon Guitar 2
26	0	Steel-String Guitar
	1	12-String Guitar
	2	Mandolin
	3	Steel + Body
27	0	Jazz Guitar
	1	Hawaiian Guitar
28	0	Clean Electric Guitar
	1	Chorus Guitar
	2	Mid Tone Guitar
29	0	Muted Electric Guitar
	1	Funk Guitar
	2	Funk Guitar 2
	3	Jazz Man
30	0	Overdriven Guitar
	1	Guitar Pinch
31	0	Distortion Guitar
	1	Feedback Guitar
	2	Distortion Rtm Guitar
32	0	Guitar Harmonics
	1	Guitar Feedback

Bass

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
33	0	Acoustic Bass
34	0	Fingered Bass
	1	Finger Slap
35	0	Picked Bass
36	0	Fretless Bass
37	0	Slap Bass 1
38	0	Slap Bass 2
39	0	Synth Bass 1
	1	Synth Bass 101
	2	Synth Bass 3
	3	Clavi Bass
	4	Hammer
40	0	Synth Bass 2
	1	Synth Bass 4
	2	Rubber Bass
	3	Attack Pulse

Orchestra Solo

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
41	0	Violin
	1	Slow Violin
42	0	Viola
43	0	Cello
44	0	Contrabass
45	0	Tremolo Strings
46	0	Pizzicato Strings
47	0	Harp
	1	Yang Qin
48	0	Timpani

Orchestra Ensemble

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
49	0	String Ensemble
	1	Orchestra Strings
	2	60's Strings
50	0	Slow String Ensemble
51	0	Synth Strings 1
	1	Synth Strings 3
52	0	Synth Strings 2
53	0	Choir Aahs
	1	Choir Aahs 2
54	0	Voice Oohs
	1	Humming
55	0	Synth Voice
	1	Analog Voice
56	0	Orchestra Hit
	1	Bass Hit
	2	6th Hit
	3	Euro Hit

Brass

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
57	0	Trumpet
	1	Dark Trumpet
58	0	Trombone
	1	Trombone 2
	2	Bright Trombone
59	0	Tuba
60	0	Muted Trumpet
	1	Muted Trumpet 2
61	0	French Horns
	1	French Horn 2
62	0	Brass Section 1
	1	Brass Section 2
63	0	Synth Brass 1
	1	Synth Brass 3
	2	Analog Brass 1
	3	Jump Brass
64	0	Synth Brass 2
	1	Synth Brass 4
	2	Analog Brass 2

Reed

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
65	0	Soprano Sax
66	0	Alto Sax
67	0	Tenor Sax
68	0	Baritone Sax
69	0	Oboe
70	0	English Horn
71	0	Bassoon
72	0	Clarinet

Wind

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
73	0	Piccolo
74	0	Flute
75	0	Recorder
76	0	Pan Flute
77	0	Bottle Blow
78	0	Shakuhachi
79	0	Whistle
80	0	Ocarina

Synth Lead

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
81	0	Square Lead
	1	Square Wave
	2	Sine Wave
82	0	Saw Lead
	1	Saw Wave
	2	Doctor Solo
	3	Natural Lead
	4	Sequenced Saw
83	0	Synth Calliope
84	0	Chiffer Lead
85	0	Charang
	1	Wire Lead
86	0	Solo Synth Vox
87	0	5th Saw Wave
88	0	Bass & Lead
	1	Delayed Lead

Synth Pad

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
89	0	Fantasia Pad
90	0	Warm Pad
	1	Sine Pad
91	0	Polysynth Pad
92	0	Space Voice Pad
	1	Itopia
93	0	Bowed Glass Pad
94	0	Metal Pad
95	0	Halo Pad
96	0	Sweep Pad

Synth Sound FX

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
97	0	Ice Rain
98	0	Soundtrack
99	0	Crystal
	1	Synth Mallet
100	0	Atmosphere
101	0	Brightness
102	0	Goblin
103	0	Echo Drops
	1	Echo Bell
	2	Echo Pan
104	0	Star Theme

Ethnic

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
105	0	Sitar
	1	Sitar 2
106	0	Banjo
107	0	Shamisen
108	0	Koto
	1	Taisho Koto
109	0	Kalimba
110	0	Bagpipe
111	0	Fiddle
112	0	Shanai

Percussive

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
113	0	Tinkle Bell
114	0	Agogo
115	0	Steel Drums
116	0	Woodblock
	1	Castanets
117	0	Taiko
	1	Concert Bass Drum
118	0	Melodic Tom 1
	1	Melodic Tom 2
119	0	Synth Drum
	1	808 Tom
	2	Electric Percussion
120	0	Reverse Cymbal

Sound Effect

Patch Number	Bank Number	Instrument Name
121	0	Guitar Fret Noise
	1	Guitar Cut Noise
	2	String Slap
122	0	Breath Noise
	1	Flute Key Click
123	0	Seashore
	1	Rain
	2	Thunder
	3	Wind
	4	Stream
	5	Bubble
124	0	Bird
	1	Dog
	2	Horse-Gallop
	3	Bird 2
125	0	Telephone 1
	1	Telephone 2
	2	Door Creaking
	3	Door Closing
	4	Scratch
	5	Wind Chimes
126	0	Helicopter
	1	Car-Engine
	2	Car-Stop
	3	Car-Pass
	4	Car-Crash
	5	Siren
	6	Train
	7	Jetplane
	8	Starship
	9	Burst Noise
127	0	Applause
	1	Laughing
	2	Screaming
	3	Punch
	4	Heart Beat
	5	Footsteps
128	0	Gun Shot
	1	Machine Gun
	2	Lasergun
	3	Explosion

Drum sounds

These are the same patch numbers as defined in GS. Drum bank is accessed by setting cc#0 (Bank Select MSB) to 120 and cc#32 (Bank Select LSB) to 0 and PC (Program Change) to select drum kit.

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

Additional percussion notes

These are the same GS drum notes and span Drum Kits 1 to 49:

27 High Q 28 Slap 29 Scratch 30 Scratch 31 Sticks 32 Square 33 Metronome 34 Metronome

82 Shaker 83 Jingle Bell 84 Belltree 85 Castanets 86 Mute Surdo 87 Open Surdo

upported Control Change messages

(Some messages are optional)
* Bank Select (cc#0/32)
* Modulation Depth (cc#1)
* Portamento Time (cc#5)
* Channel Volume (cc#7)
* Pan (cc#10)
* Expression (cc#11)
* Hold1 (Damper) (cc#64)
* Portamento ON/OFF (cc#65)
* Sostenuto (cc#66)
* Soft (cc#67)
* Filter Resonance (Timbre/Harmonic Intensity) (cc#71)
* Release Time (cc#72)
* Brightness (cc#74)
* Decay Time (cc#75) (new message)
* Vibrato Rate (cc#76) (new message)
* Vibrato Depth (cc#77) (new message)
* Vibrato Delay (cc#78) (new message)
* Reverb Send Level (cc#91)
* Chorus Send Level (cc#93)
* Data Entry (cc#6/38)
* RPN LSB/MSB (cc#100/101)

Supported Registered Parameter Numbers (RPNs)

* Pitch Bend Sensitivity
* Channel Fine Tune
* Channel Coarse Tune
* Modulation Depth Range (Vibrato Depth Range)
* RPN NULL

Supported Universal System Exclusive (SysEx) messages

* Master Volume
* Master Fine Tuning
* Master Coarse Tuning
* Reverb Type
* Reverb Time
* Chorus Type
* Chorus Mod Rate
* Chorus Mod Depth
* Chorus Feedback
* Chorus Send to Reverb
* Controller Destination Setting
* Scale/Octave Tuning Adjust
* Key-Based Instrument Controllers
* GM2 System On

ee also

* Comparison of MIDI standards

External links

* [http://www.midi.org/ MIDI Manufacturers Association] (MMA)
* [http://www.borg.com/~jglatt/ MIDI Technical Fanatic's Brainwashing Center]
* cite journal
last = Smithers
first = Brian
title = General MIDI Redux
journal = Electronic Musician
url = http://emusician.com/mag/emusic_general_midi_redux/index.html