GM, GS and
XG inside MIDI Locator
MIDI Locator
distinguishes between the MIDI mode of a loaded MIDI sequence
and the current MIDI mode in your device as a result of MIDI events
which arrived at the MIDI input of it. If you don't start
a fresh loaded sequence and don't send anything to your MIDI device,
both has nothing to do with each other. So you have two little
information windows in the lower part of MIDI Locator's
application window :
Different controller
and instrument names in GM, GS and XG mode
In GM, GS and XG mode are some MIDI controllers which have the
same internal controller number, but different meanings. In addition
some controllers are only available in XG mode, some only in GS
and XG mode but not in GM mode.
Another difference is the amount of instruments in your MIDI output
device :
GM mode only offeres 128 different instruments, reachable by a
program change event.
MIDI editor with open
Databyte 1 combo box for selecting instrument program
GS and XG mode offer much more instruments, but because a program
change event can only address 128 instruments, two additional
controller events manage further choices :
Event controller with Databyte 1 bank LSB and event
controller with Databyte 1 bank MSB. To make these
controller names visible, you have first to enter a Sysex event
which selects GS or XG mode.
MIDI editor with two
controller events : Bank MSB and LSB
So you select an instrument in GS and XG mode with three MIDI
events :
Controller event bank MSB with a selected bank between
0 and 127
Controller event bank LSB with a selected bank between
0 and 127
Program change event with a selected instrument between 0 and
127
MIDI editor with open
Databyte 1 combo box for selecting instrument program
The values of MSB, LSB and program together address one of thousends
of instruments.
E.g. if you address a specific instrument with the following 3
event values : MSB 1, LSB 0 and Program 2, then this unique three
byte address selects an instrument which could have a different
name in GS and XG mode.
If you build a MIDI sequence with the intention to be run in one
of the three MIDI modes, MIDI Locator will help you in
showing only controller and instrument names with their meaning
of that MIDI mode.
MIDI Locator watches all MIDI events currently existing
in your sequence, which determine to which MIDI mode it belongs.
If you have only GM events, MIDI Locator is thinking you
make a GM file, if you have only GM and GS events, your file is
supposed to be a GS file. One single XG event leads to the determination
of a XG file.
Because a sysex event with a MIDI mode reset itself belongs to
its kind of file mode (GS reset = GS file, as long as no XG specific
events occur), the first thing you should do when creating a new
file is to insert a GM, GS or XG mode reset. Therefore select
inside the MIDI editor an event with the statusbyte sysex
and the correct mode reset.
If you don't insert any MIDI mode reset, MIDI Locator supposes
your file to be a GM file, if no GS or XG events occur.
Example :
Maybe you want to create a GS file. MIDI devices in GS mode don't
understand the XG controller Brightness. If this controller
is inserted in a GS file, it doesn't hang up your device, but
at least stuffs your MIDI channel with unused bytes, unnecessarilly.
If you have inserted your GS mode reset and now go to add a controller
event watch the possibilities of controller types :
GS controller in the
MIDI editor
You see that the name of controller 74 is (not sup. in GS mode)
(74). This is the Brightness controller, which is unusefull
in GS mode.
Because till now your file is still a GS sequence (yet, you haven't
selected controller 74) such XG controllers are titled not
supported.
If you now select it, you have choosen a XG controller for your
sequence. That makes your sequence to a XG sequence (watch the
small information window Your File).
And now open the controller types again :
XG controller in the
MIDI editor
Now all XG controller names are filled with text !
Because your file is now a XG file, the GS mode sysex event is
wrong. Please insert the correct XG mode reset at the beginning
instead of the GS mode reset.
Because MIDI Locator has to play all events in your file
like they are created by author, it doesn't exchange a wrong mode
reset. And a wrong mode reset can lead to wrong or unused controller
settings.
Please always take a look at the window Current device mode
while playing a sequence and confirm that your device switches
to the mode which is shown at Your file.
Mode depending instrument
names :
As soon as you determine a specific mode by a specific MIDI event
of it, MIDI Locator also shows instruments with names of
that mode.
The MIDI
editor always shows the relevant instrument and controller names
of the MIDI mode and bank selection which would be active when
playing to this point. It does not show the name of the mode which
is selected at your MIDI device, randomly.