GM–GS–XG quick reference

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This is a help page listing which MIDI messages can be used for common things across General MIDI, Roland GS and Yamaha XG.

General notes:

  • GS doesn't seem to have a publicly available formal standard, so the Roland SC-55mkII manual is used as a reference. Later Roland devices seem to use the SC-55mkII as the baseline for GS.
  • Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth only supports a tiny fraction of the GS features, despite the name.
  • XGLite only supports a subset of the XG features.

Symbol legend:

  • ❌ — Not supported (according to the standard; the device might still have it as an extension)
  • 👻 — Undocumented, but appears to work on some devices in testing
  • ⚠️ — Supported, but not useful
  • *️⃣ — Supported, but meaning is standard-specific or depends on other factors
  • ✅ — Supported
  • [88] — Supported only by Roland SC-88 and later (not part of basic GS/SC-55)

Control Change messages

Ctrl # Controller name General MIDI Roland GS Yamaha XG Notes
0 Bank Select MSB ❌ *️⃣[1] *️⃣[2] On GS, this selects variation instruments.
On XG, this selects banks. Common numbers:
  • 0 = most normal/melody instruments[2]
  • 64 = SFX voices[2]
  • 126 = SFX kits[2]
  • 127 = drumkits (sets part to drum mode)[2]
1 Modulation ✅[3] ✅[1] ✅[4] On GS and XG, this is Vibrato by default[1][4]
5 Portamento time ❌ ✅[1] ✅[5] Value 0 is shortest/fastest.[1][5] On XG, it is cent-linear.[5]
6 Data entry MSB *️⃣ *️⃣[1] *️⃣[5] (Used for RPNs and NRPNs)
7 Volume ✅[3] ✅[1] ✅[5]
10 Pan ✅[3] ✅[1] ✅[5]
11 Expression ✅[3] ✅[1] ✅[5] On GS, this is multiplied with Volume to control overall volume.[1]
32 Bank Select LSB ❌ ❌[1] ✅[2] On GS/the SC-55, this does nothing. But the SC-88 onwards use this to select maps:
  • 0 = default
  • 1 = SC-55
  • 2 = SC-88
  • 3 = SC-88 Pro
  • 4 = SC-8850/SC-8820

On XG, this selects extension instruments.[2]

38 Data entry LSB *️⃣ *️⃣[1] *️⃣[5] (Used for RPNs and NRPNs)
64 Sustain
or Hold1[6]		 ✅[3] ✅[6] ✅[7] 0–63 = Off, 64–127 = On.[6][7]
65 Portamento ❌ ✅[6] ✅[7] 0–63 = Off, 64–127 = On.[6][7]
66 Sostenuto ❌ ✅[6] ✅[7] 0–63 = Off, 64–127 = On.[6][7]
67 Soft
or Soft Pedal[8]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[8]
71 Sound Controller 2
or Harmonic Content		 ❌ 👻[9] ✅[8] On XG, relative adjustment of filter resonance (64 is zero change).[8]
On GS, there is no documented support for it, but there is an NRPN.
SC modules from at least the SC-88VL onwards appear to respond to it anyway and behave like XG.[9]
72 Sound Controller 3
or Release Time		 ❌ 👻[9] ✅[8] On XG, relative adjustment of envelope release time (64 is zero change).[8]
On GS, there is no documented support for it, but there is an NRPN.
SC modules from at least the SC-88VL onwards appear to respond to it anyway and behave like XG.[9]
73 Sound Controller 4
or Attack Time		 ❌ 👻[9] ✅[8] On XG, relative adjustment of envelope attack time (64 is zero change).[8]
On GS, there is no documented support for it, but there is an NRPN.
SC modules from at least the SC-88VL onwards appear to respond to it anyway and behave like XG.[9]
74 Sound Controller 5
or Brightness		 ❌ 👻[9] ✅[10] On XG, relative adjustment of filter cutoff (64 is zero change).[10]
On GS, there is no documented support for it, but there is an NRPN.
SC modules from at least the SC-88VL onwards appear to respond to it anyway and behave like XG.[9]
84 Portamento Control ❌ ✅[6] ✅[10] Value is MIDI note number.[6] On XG, ignores Portamento Time (always 0).[10]
91 Effect 1 depth
or Reverb send[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[10] On GS and XG: Reverb send level[10][6]
93 Effect 3 depth
or Chorus send[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[10] On GS and XG: Chorus send level[10][6]
94 Effect 4 depth
or Variation send
or Delay send[11]		 ❌ [88][11] ✅[10] On XG: Variation send level.[10]
XGLite does not require variation effects to be supported.[12]
Not supported on GS/SC-55, but SC-88 and onwards use this for Delay Send Level.[11]
96 Data increment ❌ ❌ *️⃣[13] (Used for RPNs and NRPNs) (TODO: check this)
97 Data decrement ❌ ❌ *️⃣[13] (Used for RPNs and NRPNs) (TODO: check this)
98 NRPN LSB ❌ *️⃣[6] *️⃣[13] (Used for NRPNs)
99 NRPN MSB ❌ *️⃣[6] *️⃣[13] (Used for NRPNs)
100 RPN LSB *️⃣ *️⃣[14] *️⃣[15] (Used for RPNs)
101 RPN MSB *️⃣ *️⃣[14] *️⃣[15] (Used for RPNs)
Channel Mode messages
CC # Name General MIDI Roland GS Yamaha XG Notes
120 All Sound Off ❌ ✅[14] ✅[16] Standard but optional MIDI feature, not required by GM. Cuts off currently played sounds on the channel as soon as possible,[17] skipping the "release" part of sounds, unlike All Notes Off.[16]
121 Reset All Controllers ✅[3] ✅[14] ✅[16] (TODO: How does this affect RPNs and NRPNs?)
123 All Notes Off ✅[3] ✅[14] ✅[16] Standard but optional MIDI feature,[18] required by GM. This behaves like sending a "Note Off" (i.e. releasing) for all currently held keys; the release may be delayed by a sustain. (TODO: cite this bit)
124 Omni Off ❌ ⚠️[14] ⚠️[19] Standard but optional MIDI feature,[20] not required by GM. "Omni" means each part responds to all channels,[20] which is not appropriate for a GM synth, so changing to/from Omni mode is not possible. The message is treated only as an All Notes Off.[14][19]
125 Omni On ❌ ⚠️[21] ⚠️[19]
126 Mono On (Poly Off) ❌ ✅[21] ✅[19] Standard but optional MIDI feature,[20] not required by GM. On GS and XG, this message sets the part to monophonic mode and performs an All Sound Off.[21][19] GS and XG ignore the value in the message,[21][19] but note that it has a meaning in the MIDI specification!
127 Mono Off (Poly On) ❌ ✅[21] ✅[19] Standard but optional MIDI feature,[20] not required by GM. On GS and XG, this message sets the part to polyphonic mode and performs an All Sound Off.[21][19] GS and XG ignore the value in the message,[21][19] but note that it has a meaning in the MIDI specification!

RPN messages

RPN
MSB 		RPN
LSB 		(combined) RPN name General MIDI Roland GS Yamaha XG
0 0 Pitch Bend Sensitivity ✅[3] ✅[14] ✅[16]
0 1 Fine Tuning ✅[3] ✅[14] ✅[16]
0 2 Coarse Tuning ✅[3] ✅[14] ✅[16]

For software that needs a single number for an RPN rather than a separate MSB and LSB, you can just use the LSB.

NRPN messages

(TODO: add non-GS XG NRPNs)

If you are using software that only asks for a single number when setting an NRPN, e.g. FL Studio, use the "(combined)" number (calculated as MSB × 128 + LSB). Otherwise, specify the MSB and LSB separately.

Some NRPNs are for adjusting the sounds of individual drum instruments on a drum part/channel (e.g. channel 10 in General MIDI). To select the right NRPN, you need to know the key number corresponding to the instrument you want to edit. For example, Bass Drum 1 is assigned to the C key in octave 2 ("C2") in General MIDI, and C2 has MIDI note/key number 36. General MIDI#Percussion Map may be a useful reference for some common drum instruments.

NRPN
MSB 		NRPN
LSB 		(combined) NRPN name General MIDI Roland GS Yamaha XG Notes
1 8 136 Vibrato Rate[13] ❌ ✅[6] ✅[13] Relative adjustment (64 is zero change)
1 9 137 Vibrato Depth[13] ❌ ✅[6] ✅[13] Relative adjustment (64 is zero change)
1 10 138 Vibrato Delay[13] ❌ ✅[6] ✅[13] Relative adjustment (64 is zero change)
1 32 160 Filter Cutoff Frequency[13]
or TVF cutoff frequency[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[13] Relative adjustment (64 is zero change)
1 33 161 Filter Resonance[13]
or TVF resonance[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[13] Relative adjustment (64 is zero change)
1 99 227 EG Attack Time[13]
or TVF&TVA Env. Attack time[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[13] Relative adjustment (64 is zero change)
1 100 228 EG Decay Time[13]
or TVF&TVA Env. Decay time[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[13] Relative adjustment (64 is zero change)
1 102 230 EG Release[22]
or TVF&TVA Env. Release time[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[22] Relative adjustment (64 is zero change)
24 key # 3072
+ key #		 Drum Pitch Coarse[15]
or Pitch coarse of drum instrument[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[15] Relative adjustment (64 is zero change)
26 key # 3328
+ key #		 Drum Level[15]
or TVA level of drum instrument[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[15]
28 key # 3548
+ key #		 Drum Pan[15]
or Panpot of drum instrument[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[15] 0 is a special value that applies random panning to each triggered note
29 key # 3712
+ key #		 Drum Reverb Send[15]
or Reverb send level of drum instrument[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[15]
30 key # 3840
+ key #		 Drum Chorus Send[15]
or Chorus send level of drum instrument[6]		 ❌ ✅[6] ✅[15]
31 key # 3968
+ key #		 Drum Variation Send[15]
or Delay send level of drum instrument[11]		 ❌ [88][11] ✅[15] On XG: Variation send level.[10]
Not supported on GS/SC-55, but SC-88 and onwards use this for Delay Send Level.[11]

System Exclusive messages

System Exclusive (SysEx) messages are required for advanced features like changing effect types, configuring controllers/LFOs, etc. There are a huge number of them and they are completely incompatible between standards, so they are out of scope for this article. The following are only a few essential ones:

SysEx (hex) Name General MIDI Roland GS Yamaha XG Notes
F0 7E 7F 09 01 F7 General MIDI Level 1 System On ✅ ✅ ✅ Sets module to GM1 mode and resets settings for all parts. Broadcast message addressed to all devices.
Note: some early GS devices (early SC-55 models) don't support GM and won't respond to this.
F0 41 10 42 12 40 00 7F 00 41 F7 GS Reset ❌ ✅ ❌ Sets module to GS mode and resets settings for all parts. Addressed to device 17 (default device number).
F0 43 10 4C 00 00 7E 00 F7 XG System On ❌ ❌ ✅ Sets module to XG mode and resets settings for all parts. Addressed to device 1 (default device number).
F0 41 10 42 12 40 1A 15 02 0F F7 GS: Patch parameters, Part 11 § USE FOR RHYTHM PART → MAP2 ❌ ✅ ❌ Sets part 11 (mapped to channel 11) to drums mode, using the 2nd set of drum parameters. Addressed to device 17 (default device number).
For XG, you can use a Bank Select MSB instead (see above).


References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Roland SC-55mkII Owner's Manual, page 90.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Yamaha XG Specifications, v 2.00, page 16.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 General MIDI System Level 1 Specification, page 2
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Yamaha XG Specifications, v 2.00, page 17.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Yamaha XG Specifications, v 2.00, page 18.
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 6.24 6.25 6.26 6.27 6.28 6.29 6.30 6.31 6.32 6.33 6.34 6.35 6.36 6.37 6.38 6.39 6.40 Roland SC-55mkII Owner's Manual, page 91.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Yamaha XG Specifications, v 2.00, page 19.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Yamaha XG Specifications, v 2.00, page 20.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Tested by the following users:
  10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 Yamaha XG Specifications, v 2.00, page 21
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Roland SC-88 Owner's Manual, page 7 - 22.
  12. ↑ See Yamaha XG Specifications, v 2.00, Attached Chart 1 pages 5 to 7 (all Variation/Insertion effects marked as optional for XGLite).
  13. ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 Yamaha XG Specifications, v 2.00, page 22
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 14.8 14.9 Roland SC-55mkII Owner's Manual, page 92.
  15. ↑ 15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11 15.12 15.13 Yamaha XG Specifications, v 2.00, page 23
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 Yamaha XG Specifications, v 2.00, page 24
  17. ↑ MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification 4.2.1, page 25.
  18. ↑ MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification 4.2.1, page 24.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 19.7 19.8 Yamaha XG Specifications, v 2.00, page 25
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification 4.2.1, page 20.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 Roland SC-55mkII Owner's Manual, page 93.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Yamaha XG Specifications, v 1.32, page 13 (omitted in v 2.00; by mistake maybe?)

See also

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