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6. Appendix
HM About
GS
Format
Compatibility
With conventional MIDI sound generating devices, there have been numerous differences between one unit
and the next. Such differences include those in the numerical correspondence for the variety of sounds, the
manner in which they will sound, as well as the response they will provide when various controllers are
used. Even when considering products produced by the same manufacturer, one might observe that model
changes that have been unfettered by a strive for compatibility have on occasion unintentionaly resulted in
the obsolescence of earlier units.
After taking the above problems
into consideration,
Roland decided to strive for a higher level of
standardization in the way MIDI sound generation units will function. As a result, the GS Format was
created. You can now feel assured that any sound generating module that supports the GS Format, or an
instrument equipped with sounds sources supporting the GS Format, will provide a faithful quality of
expression when performing using an identical set of MIDI data.
Such devices will have the GS logo on the front panel, or other prominent location, making them easy to
recognize. Also, the GS logo will appear on any media (floppy disks, CD-ROMs) which contains song data
that was designed (follows certain guidelines) to be played using sounds sources supporting the GS Format.
As a result, song data supplied on media carrying the GS logo can be played (after possibly being loaded
first into a computer or sequencer) by any unit which carries the GS logo, and produce the same result. This
means that not only will sound modules no longer tend to become obsolete, but also that song data can now
more easily survive the passage of time, and might remain "fresh" enough to compete with whatever new
software comes out.
"GS", proposed by Roland, incorporates all of the recommendations outlined for GM
(General MIDI
System-Level |) which is explained in the next paragraph, and in addition extends the definitions in order
to provide for greatly enhanced handling of features and sounds.
What is "GM" ?
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