Instruments

Gloria uses the General MIDI set of instruments, commonly called patches. MIDI channels use the Program Change command to change instruments. The instrument change only applies to that channel. If you want to change the instruments on all channels then each channel will need its own Program Change command. By convention the default is to start each channel set to patch #0 (Acoustic Grand Piano). If there are no Program Change commands in the file then the entire song will play using Acoustic Grand Piano. All the same, it’s good practice to include a Program Change command at the start of each channel, even if you actually want Acoustic Grand Piano.

Keep in mind that at the start of every file the Gloria synthesizer is reset to Acoustic Grand Piano. Let’s say you start with a MIDI file that includes intro, main verse, bridge and final verse all in one file, and then split the file into multiple files (intro, main, second version). While the music was in one single file, instrument changes remained in place on each channel until the next instrument change. If the Melody on channel 1 was set to Flute in the intro, the main verse would continue with Flute. When split into multiple files, the intro file would contain the Flute instrument change but the main file would not. So on playback the song would start with the Melody set to Flute during the intro, and then abruptly switch to Piano at the start of the verse. Thus, when splitting a MIDI file into multiple files for Gloria (and when creating those files from scratch), be sure to include a Program Change command at the start of every channel for every file such that instruments are correctly carried over from one file to the next.

Changing instruments will affect new notes on the same channel following the change. It has no effect on notes currently playing.

MIDI editing software will typically add a Bank Select controller command ahead of the Program Change command. For example, instead of simply having Program Change: 19 (Church Organ), there will be Bank Select: 0, Program Change: 19 (Church Organ). Technically Bank Select 0 is correct. In practice Gloria ignores all Bank Select commands.

Some software (Reaper, for example) will always add a Bank Select command alongside the Program Change command. Delete the Bank Select afterwards to save space or just don’t worry about it.

Channel 10, Percussion, ignores all Program Change and Bank Select commands.

At all times the user has the option of making their own instrument choices while playing music on Gloria. They can change the instrument on a single track, on multiple tracks, or on the whole song. User instrument selections override any subsequent instrument changes within the MIDI files until the end of the song, and persist through all stanzas. Starting a new song (or stopping and re-starting the same song) reverts to using the instrument changes in the MIDI file. Pressing and holding the Play key while a song is playing will revert all tracks to the original instruments specified in the MIDI file.

Different instruments vary in overall loudness. Some instruments work well with others. Some combinations clash. Instruments with a well-defined attack, a punchy, almost percussive start to each note, work well on lead tracks such as Melody and Bass because they give good cues to the singers and help keep everybody on tempo. Instruments with gradual, mushy attack and release, the lead-in and lead-out of each note, are better suited to background tracks such as Accompaniment. Experiment with the instrument keys on Gloria to get a feel for how each instrument sounds. Hold down the Synthesizer key for three seconds to access an on-screen selection of any instrument within the General MIDI set, including instruments that can’t be directly selected using the normal instrument keys.

Most Gloria instruments mimic a real-world physical instrument, and in the real world most instruments are limited in the range of notes they can produce. A synthesized instrument can be played at any pitch, at least in theory. But you’ll get some strange results if you play high notes with a bass instrument such as a cello or bass guitar, or if you play low notes with a flute. You’ll get the best results if you keep to the ranges typical of each instrument.

The instruments from 81 to 104 are entirely artificial, so the names and sounds are somewhat arbitrary. Apply according to taste.

Here’s a table of the instruments available in Gloria. Note that patch numbers are sometimes started at 1. This manual uses the convention of starting the patch numbers at 0. The General MIDI instrument set extends to patch #127, but patches #120–127 are not implemented in Gloria.

Patch #	Instrument	Gloria Details
0	Acoustic Grand Piano	Refined
1	Bright Piano	Same as #0
2	Electric Grand Piano	Refined
3	Honkytonk Piano	Refined, two voices
4	Electric Piano 1	Refined
5	Electric Piano 2	Refined, two voices
6	Harpsichord	Refined
7	Clavinova	Refined
8	Celesta	Refined, long release
9	Glockenspiel	Refined, long release
10	Music Box	Refined, long release
11	Vibraphone	Refined
12	Marimba	Refined, long release
13	Xylophone	Refined, long release
14	Tubular Bells	Refined, long release
15	Dulcimer	Refined, long release
16	Drawbar Organ	Refined
17	Percussive Organ	Two voices
18	Rock Organ	Refined
19	Church Organ	Refined
20	Reed Organ	Refined, three voices
21	Accordion	Refined, two voices
22	Harmonica	Refined
23	Tango Accordion	Same as #21
24	Nylon Guitar	Refined
25	Steel Guitar	Refined
26	Jazz Guitar	Refined
27	Clean Electric Guitar	Refined
28	Muted Electric Guitar	Refined
29	Overdriven Guitar
30	Distortion Guitar	Same as #29
31	Guitar Harmonics
32	Acoustic Bass	Refined
33	Fingered Bass	Refined
34	Picked Bass	Refined
35	Fretless Bass	Refined
36	Slap Bass 1
37	Slap Bass 2	Refined
38	Synth Bass 1
39	Synth Bass 2	Refined
40	Violin	Refined
41	Viola	Same as #40
42	Cello	Refined
43	Contrabass	Refined
44	Tremolo Strings
45	Pizzicato Strings	Refined
46	Orchestral Harp	Refined, long release
47	Timpani	Long release
48	String Ensemble 1	Refined
49	String Ensemble 2	Refined, long release
50	Synth Strings 1	Refined
51	Synth Strings 2	Refined, two voices, long release
52	Choir Aahs	Refined
53	Choir Oohs
54	Synth Voice	Refined, long release
55	Orchestra Hit	Two voices
56	Trumpet	Refined
57	Trombone	Refined
58	Tuba	Refined, two voices (stereo)
59	Muted Trumpet
60	French Horn	Refined, two voices (stereo)
61	Brass Section	Refined, two voices
62	Synth Brass 1	Two voices
63	Synth Brass 2	Refined, two voices (stereo)
64	Soprano Sax	Refined
65	Alto Sax	Refined
66	Tenor Sax	Refined
67	Baritone Sax	Refined
68	Oboe	Refined
69	English Horn	Refined
70	Bassoon	Refined
71	Clarinet	Refined
72	Piccolo	Refined
73	Flute	Refined
74	Recorder	Refined
75	Pan Flute	Refined, two voices
76	Blown Bottle	Refined
77	Shakuhachi
78	Whistle	Same as #79
79	Ocarina	Refined
80	Square Lead	Refined, two voices
81	Whisper	Refined, two voices
82	Calliope	Two voices
83	Chiffer	Three voices
84	Charang	Two voices
85	Voice Lead	Refined
86	Fifths Lead	Two voices
87	Bass + Lead	Two voices
88	Daybreak	Refined
89	Warm	Long release
90	Polysynth	Refined
91	Reflections	Refined, two voices, long release
92	Bowed Glass	Two voices, long release
93	Back Home	Refined
94	Halo	Refined, two voices
95	Sweep	Four voices, long release
96	Rain	Two voices, long release
97	Soundtrack	Two voices (stereo), long release
98	Crystal FX	Refined, two voices (stereo), long release
99	Atmosphere	Refined, long release
100	Brightness	Two voices, long release
101	Darkness	Two voices, long attack & release
102	Echoes & Drops
103	Sci-fi FX	Refined, two voices, long release
104	Sitar	Refined, long release
105	Banjo	Refined
106	Shamisen
107	Koto	Refined, long release
108	Kalimba
109	Bag Pipes	Refined, two voices above note #85
110	Fiddle	Same as #40
111	Shanai	Refined
112	Tinkle Bell	Long release
113	Agogo
114	Steel Drums	Refined, long release
115	Woodblock
116	Taiko Drums	Long release
117	Melodic Tom
118	Synth Drums
119	Reverse Cymbal	Two voices below note #55

Things to Keep in Mind

Gloria can synthesize up to 42 voices at once. In a common scenario the Melody, Alto, Tenor and Bass tracks are playing one note each. The Accompaniment track is playing four notes and the Percussion track is playing four drums (or cymbals, maracas, etc.). At one voice per note, that’s a total of 12 voices. However, each voice usually continues to play after the note has ended. The release portion of the note trails off even as the next note begins, so at the very least there are now 24 voices playing: the current set of notes plus the remains of the notes that went before. And notes often overlap, even when there’s only one note per track, adding to the total number of active voices.

Some of the instruments are synthesized with more than one voice, as noted in the table above. Each note uses two voices (or more) when playing with one of these instruments. Now the example above is using 16 voices for eight notes, plus four for percussion, for a total of 20 voices. Include the overlap from the previous notes to get 40 voices playing at once. So you see how quickly you can reach the limit.

Some of the instruments have a longer than usual release (two seconds or longer), as noted in the table above. The release phase is the part of the note that continues to sound after the note has ended. Think of a bell continuing to ring after it has been struck, or a guitar string continuing to vibrate after it has been plucked. Notes with a long release continue to use a voice long after the note has ended, while other notes come and go. So instruments with a long release are more taxing on the system than others.

Gloria uses various tricks to get around this problem. About half the percussion instruments can be replaced outright by other percussion instruments (eliminating the overlap) without the listener noticing. If there are no free voices Gloria will cancel the quietest voices, the ones that have had the most time to trail off into silence, that contribute the least to the overall sound. Again, the listener doesn’t notice.

Some of the instruments create a stereo sound, as noted in the table above. They have a different but complementary sound for the left and right audio channels on the Line Out connector. The stereo audio is mixed into one mono channel when using the built-in speaker (Gloria only has one speaker), but you can enjoy the full stereo effect when using headphones or when connected to an external stereo system.

Most of the instruments are marked “Refined” in the table above. Those instruments have been individually tailored and fine tuned to work well with Gloria music. The few remaining instruments have not been tested in live accompaniment. You may use them, of course, but you may want to evaluate their suitability before committing to active use.

Percussion

These are the percussion instruments available in Gloria. They are played from channel 10.

Note #	Percussion Instrument
27	Laser
28	Whip
29	Scratch Push
30	Scratch Pull
31	Stick Click
32	Metronome Click
33	Metronome Click 2
34	Metronome Bell
35	Acoustic Bass Drum
36	Bass Drum 1
37	Side Stick
38	Acoustic Snare
39	Hand Clap
40	Electric Snare
41	Low Floor Tom
42	Closed Hi-Hat
43	High Floor Tom
44	Pedal Hi-Hat
45	Low Tom
46	Open Hi-Hat
47	Low Mid Tom
48	High Mid Tom
49	Crash Cymbal 1
50	High Tom
51	Ride Cymbal 1
52	Chinese Cymbal
53	Ride Bell
54	Tambourine
55	Splash Cymbal
56	Cowbell
57	Crash Cymbal 2
58	Vibraslap
59	Ride Cymbal 2
60	High Bongo
61	Low Bongo
62	Mute High Conga
63	Open High Conga
64	Low Conga
65	High Timbale
66	Low Timbale
67	High Agogo
68	Low Agogo
69	Cabasa
70	Maracas
71	Short Whistle
72	Long Whistle
73	Short Guiro
74	Long Guiro
75	Claves
76	High Wood Block
77	Low Wood Block
78	High Cuica
79	Low Cuica
80	Mute Triangle
81	Open Triangle
82	Shaker
83	Sleigh Bell
84	Bell Tree
85	Castanets
86	Surdu Dead Stroke
87	Surdu