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CUBASE LE The included VST Instruments
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Universal Sound Module (USM)
The USM is a General MIDI compatible sound module. General MIDI
(GM) is a standard set up by the MIDI Manufacturers Association
(MMA) and the Japanese MIDI Standards Committee (JMSC).
It defines a standardized group of sounds and the minimum require-
ments for General MIDI compatible synthesizers or sound modules,
so that a specially prepared sequence or MIDI file that is sent to the
instrument via MIDI will play back the correct sound types, regardless
of make and model of the instrument.
MIDI identifies sounds by their program change number. Before the
General MIDI standard was introduced, the same MIDI program change
number often addressed totally different types of sound in any two syn-
thesizers or sound modules from different manufacturers, e.g. a flute
type sound in one instrument and a piano type sound in the other.
With the introduction of General MIDI standard compatible instruments
this changed. These instruments use the same program change num-
bers for the same types of instruments .
So, if the person that prepared a sequence or MIDI file wants the mel-
ody to be played by a “piano”, he can use a certain program change
command embedded into the sequence to automatically select a piano
sound in any GM compatible sound module. The GM standard, how-
ever, does not specify in great detail how that piano should sound. It is
simply assumed that the manufacturer reproduces an acoustic piano
within the capabilities of the instrument. A consequence of this was
that, depending on the GM module used, a song would sound very dif-
ferent, even though the instrument sounds were mapped correctly.