Korg XP3 patch mapping

[FrankD]

Tried to do some recording with a friend's Korg XP3(?) this weekend, and ran into a problem:

When playing back MIDI files in Cakewalk through the Korg, the patches don't get assigned to the right sounds, e.g., piano parts play on a bass sound, drums play on a piano patch. Also had problems with only one track playing at a time, not the whole sequence (not a problem with the solo button being on).

I've been using Cakewalk for about a year with another synth w/o problems, and am familiar with muting, soloing, and all the basic functions. I checked all the MIDI instrument settings I could find, but can't figure out what to tweak to get it straight, w/o having to manually assign each track for every song.

Is there something non-standard about patch mapping on Korgs, or is there a setting I've missed somewhere?

 

[FrankD]

That's what I figured, too. The XP3 is a recent synth, though, so I expect that it's GM compatible.

 

[foo]

Sounds like the Korg does not support the General Midi spec.

In the beginning, synth manufacturers put their sounds into banks, numbered any way they saw fit, and as midi hadn't been invented yet, each synth was an island unto itself, and it didn't matter if they all had different locations (Patch numbers) for similar sounds.

Several years ago, Roland and Yamaha (I think) created a standard location for the various sounds, so that all midi files could be played on any tone generator, and sound like they were supposed to. This standard location was called General MIDI.

Some of the more common locations for sounds in General Midi are:

Acoustic Grand Piano = Patch 1
Electric (Finger) Bass = Patch 34
String Ensemble 1 = Patch 49

If the synth you are using (the Korg) has (for example) Electric Bass in Patch 49, then your bass part is going to play with the String Ensemble sound.

As for the one part playing at a time - sorry, but I haven't a clue. )c:

foo