Roland XV-5050 Owner's Manual page 24

Playing Sounds
Issues not covered by the original General MIDI standard – such as how sounds are
to be edited, and how effects should be handled – are precisely defined in General
MIDI 2. Moreover, the available sounds have been expanded. General MIDI 2
compliant sound modules are capable of reliably playing back music files that carry
either the General MIDI or General MIDI 2 logo. In some cases, the conventional
form of General MIDI, which does not include the new enhancements, is referred to
as "General MIDI 1" as a way of distinguishing it from General MIDI 2.
What is a Performance?
With Performances, you can combine a total of up to sixteen separate Patches and
Rhythm Sets to produce complex, rich ensemble textures. In other words, a
Performance allows you to produce sixteen separate sounds with a single XV-5050.
A sound module that can simultaneously produce multiple sounds – such as the XV-
5050 – is called a "multitimbral" sound module.
What is a Rhythm Set?
A Rhythm Set is a group of percussion instrument sounds. Since these sounds are
not typically used for performing melodies, it's not necessary to play them at
different pitches across a keyboard. However, it is important to be able to play a
number of percussion instruments at the same time. A Rhythm Set lets you play
different percussion sounds by pressing different keys on your keyboard.
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