Roland GS, or justGS, sometimes expanded asGeneral Standard[1][2] orGeneral Sound,[1] is aMIDI specification. It requires that all GS-compatible equipment must meet a certain set of features and it documents interpretations of someMIDI commands and bytes sequences, thus defining instrument tones, controllers for sound effects, etc.
In addition to the simplerGeneral MIDI standard, GS defines 98 additional tone instruments, 15 more percussion instruments, 8 more drum kits, 3 effects (reverb/chorus/variation) and some other features.
TheRoland SC-55 was the first synthesizer to support the GS standard.
The GS extensions were first introduced and implemented onRoland Sound Canvas series modules, starting with theRoland SC-55 in 1991. The first model supported 317 instruments, 16 simultaneous melodic voices, 8 percussion voices and a compatibility mode forRoland MT-32 (although it only emulated it and lacked programmability of original MT-32) and gained explosive popularity.
In addition to the Sound Canvas series, Roland also provided GS compatibility in its own professional lineup through the JV-30 keyboard and the VE-GS1 expansion board for other JV-series instruments. In addition, GS compatibility is provided in theGM2 specification which Roland helped to create and actively supports.
Some other manufacturers attempted to be compatible to Roland GS, but could not use the GS trademark or samples. InYamaha XG synthesizers for example the GS implementation was called "TG300B mode". Dream S.A. used unlicensed samples of Roland GS instruments and was sued.[3]
The program in every individual bank will align with the 128 in GM's instrument patch map.The Sound Canvas used additional pair of controllers, cc#0 and cc#32, to specify up to 16384 (128*128) 'variations' of each melodic sound defined by General MIDI. Typically, cc#32 (Bank SelectLSB) was used to select a family (i.e. 1 -SC-55, 2 -SC-88 etc.) then cc#0 (Bank SelectMSB) was used to set a particular variation bank.
MIDI channel 10 is used for drums by default like in General MIDI, but they are accessible on any channel through the use of SysEx. Only 2 different drum kits can be used at a time. There are ten different kits in total:
Newer models ofRoland Sound Canvas and other GS-compatible Roland synthesizers features additional kits not included in the base GS sound set; these include kits based on various Roland drum machines such as theTR-909,CR-78 andTR-707, as well as various percussion kits comprising both traditional and modern percussions.
There were 16 additional drum notes that span Drum Kits 1 to 49:
Additional controller events included in SC-55 and SC-88 were:
There were messages that allowed the user to turn the GS mode on/off, to set effects processor parameters, to change EG envelopes etc.
Beginning in 1991, Roland introduced GS support in the majority of its consumer MIDI products.
| Synthesizers |
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| Electronic drums | ||
| Keytars | ||
| Grooveboxes | ||
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| Workstations | ||
| Sequencers | ||
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| Modules | ||
| Software | ||
| Amplifiers | ||
| Effects units | ||
| Organs | ||
| Boss effects | ||
| Founder | ||
| Other | ||