Commercial MIDI files from this era usually contain two separate, parallel renditions of the same musical piece: a more detailed 10 channel rendition of the piece (on MIDI channels 1-10, channel 10 being percussion) for higher capability MIDI reproduction hardware (like the ones demonstrated in this video), as well as simplified 4 channel instrumentation of the same musical piece (MIDI channels 13-16, channel 16 being percussion) intended for lesser capability hardware (e.g. the very common 4 channel Yamaha OPL series FM synthesizer chips, on AdLib and later SoundBlaster cards). Software of the era (e.g. Windows MIDI mapper) was set up so, that by default, either the first or the second group of was played - depending on the capabilities of the hardware actually present in the computer - the other group was muted. This resulted in a situation where launching a MIDI file would automatically play the full or the simplified rendition of the musical piece, without any interaction from a user. The two groups were never intended to play simultaneously; therefore playing all channels (both channel groups) of such a MIDI file is, conceptually, wrong; however it is technically possible (as demonstrated in this video), since the MIDI technology of this era itself does support 16 channels, and capable MIDI hardware of the era (the modules demonstrated above) was able to play all 16 channels; separating the channels into two groups was just a very common convention, but not an absolute rule. The most widely adopted convention - called General MIDI - does specify channel 10 to be percussion (all other channles default to a piano sound, but can be later instructed by the MIDI file to use a different sound), and this is what the first channel group was modeled after. The convention for the second (smaller) group of channels (with channel 16 being percussion) however was tailored to lesser capability hardware (most commonly seeing use in gaming on personal computers), and therefore it was not followed by higher end hardware (such as the ones featured in this video). The result of the factors above means that playing the music from all channels together results in channels 13-15 musically doubling some of the parts/instruments from channels 1-9 (perhaps even with a different instrument sound or a modified composition than in the original channels, since musical tradeoffs need to be found to fit 9 channels/instruments of music into just 3 channels/instruments - selected from a much more limited set of instrument sounds to begin with), and what is usually most noticeable is that channel 16, which is originally intended to be the percussion for the simplified channel group (and therefore not specifying an instrument), now ends up playing monotone musical nonsense on the default instrument of channel 16: piano.
Thanks for this detailed explanation. I had no idea about any of this, and this explains the extra instrument voices being heard as people had mentioned earlier in the comments. I can now clearly see the two different "renditions" shown, right there, in the Cakewalk display of the MIDI file.
Pleasure. Yes, once explained, it is very obvious visually. For further elucidation you might want to showcase how the full rendition on a high end hardware compares to the reduced rendition on the same high end hardware, and thirdly, to the reduced rendition on the original (lesser) hardware it was intended for.
Commercial MIDI files from this era usually contain two separate, parallel renditions of the same musical piece: a more detailed 10 channel rendition of the piece (on MIDI channels 1-10, channel 10 being percussion) for higher capability MIDI reproduction hardware (like the ones demonstrated in this video), as well as simplified 4 channel instrumentation of the same musical piece (MIDI channels 13-16, channel 16 being percussion) intended for lesser capability hardware (e.g. the very common 4 channel Yamaha OPL series FM synthesizer chips, on AdLib and later SoundBlaster cards). Software of the era (e.g. Windows MIDI mapper) was set up so, that by default, either the first or the second group of was played - depending on the capabilities of the hardware actually present in the computer - the other group was muted. This resulted in a situation where launching a MIDI file would automatically play the full or the simplified rendition of the musical piece, without any interaction from a user. The two groups were never intended to play simultaneously; therefore playing all channels (both channel groups) of such a MIDI file is, conceptually, wrong; however it is technically possible (as demonstrated in this video), since the MIDI technology of this era itself does support 16 channels, and capable MIDI hardware of the era (the modules demonstrated above) was able to play all 16 channels; separating the channels into two groups was just a very common convention, but not an absolute rule. The most widely adopted convention - called General MIDI - does specify channel 10 to be percussion (all other channles default to a piano sound, but can be later instructed by the MIDI file to use a different sound), and this is what the first channel group was modeled after. The convention for the second (smaller) group of channels (with channel 16 being percussion) however was tailored to lesser capability hardware (most commonly seeing use in gaming on personal computers), and therefore it was not followed by higher end hardware (such as the ones featured in this video).
The result of the factors above means that playing the music from all channels together results in channels 13-15 musically doubling some of the parts/instruments from channels 1-9 (perhaps even with a different instrument sound or a modified composition than in the original channels, since musical tradeoffs need to be found to fit 9 channels/instruments of music into just 3 channels/instruments - selected from a much more limited set of instrument sounds to begin with), and what is usually most noticeable is that channel 16, which is originally intended to be the percussion for the simplified channel group (and therefore not specifying an instrument), now ends up playing monotone musical nonsense on the default instrument of channel 16: piano.
Thanks for this detailed explanation. I had no idea about any of this, and this explains the extra instrument voices being heard as people had mentioned earlier in the comments. I can now clearly see the two different "renditions" shown, right there, in the Cakewalk display of the MIDI file.
Pleasure. Yes, once explained, it is very obvious visually. For further elucidation you might want to showcase how the full rendition on a high end hardware compares to the reduced rendition on the same high end hardware, and thirdly, to the reduced rendition on the original (lesser) hardware it was intended for.
Hands down the Ronald SC-88 VL sounds the best !
The Korg had the best feel overall. The Roland has the most detail. The Yamaha has great lows.
Agreed. They all excel in different ways!
Get the Korg if you want that Seinfeld Korg M1 tone I guess. haha
The bass definitely has that Seinfeld feel.
@@andystandysNot as accurate as the M1 tho. Btw, I wonder if the same original sound from the M1 appears in the Trinity or Triton synths?
Also, the Roland and Yamaha ones doesn't glide the lead synth as expected
for me, it's:
1. SC-88VL
2. NS5R
3. MU80
I do like the SC-88VL!
The Roland and Yamaha modules have their overall pitch bending values set too high.
I'll have to look into that. I thought I had reset all the units to factory before I did these.
I don't know if it's a mistake from the MIDI or the cards but it hears in a lower volume a piano duplicate of the drum track
On which module?
@@andystandys In fact, in both three of them.
@@FukiMakai I can hear it, now that you point it out. Near the end of the song...
@@andystandys Its more audible during the beginning.
It is actually another drum track not assigned as drums but piano instead