A DLS format (from Downloadable Sound) is any of the standardized

file format A file format is a Computer standard, standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. It specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage medium. File formats may be either proprietary format, pr ...

s for digital musical instrument sound banks (collections of virtual musical instrument programs). The DLS standards also include detailed specifications for how

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, an ...

protocol-controlled music

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...

s should render the instruments in a DLS file. As a result, DLS can also be considered primarily a synthesizer specification and only secondarily a file format. The current DLS standards were developed first by the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group (IASIG), and then by the

MIDI Manufacturers Association The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) is a non-profit trade organization where companies work together to create MIDI standards that assure compatibility among MIDI products. The MMA is a U.S. organization established in 1985 by the original d ...

(MMA). Any future versions of DLS would be developed through the MMA working group process. The DLS specifications are published in English by the MMA and in Japanese by

Association of Musical Electronics Industry The Association of Musical Electronics Industry (AMEI) is an organization where companies work together to create the standards that assure compatibility among electronic musical instruments, particularly MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument D ...

(AMEI). The DLS family is closely related to the proprietary

SoundFont SoundFont is a brand name that collectively refers to a file format and associated technology that uses sample-based synthesis to play MIDI files. It was first used on the Sound Blaster AWE32 sound card for its General MIDI support. SoundFo ...

s format from Creative Labs. All versions of DLS to date are based on

sample-based synthesis Sample-based synthesis is a form of audio synthesis that can be contrasted to either subtractive synthesis or additive synthesis. The principal difference with sample-based synthesis is that the seed waveforms are sampled sounds or instrument ...

, however in principle the DLS file format could be used to represent instrument definitions for other sound synthesis techniques. "DLS" is an acronym for "Downloadable Sounds", and also the initials of DLS 1 project leader Dave Sparks of Creative Labs. To date there have been three major versions of DLS: * DLS 1: Basic single-oscillator synthesizer voice, for PCs and PC sound cards * DLS 2: Adds per-voice lowpass filter + other enhancements * Mobile DLS: Reduced feature set and memory requirements, for mobile phones DLS is supported by the music synthesizers built into Windows and Mac OS X. Creative Labs sound cards for PCs support DLS. Numerous software music synthesizer products support DLS either natively or as an import format. DLS has been incorporated into other standards. The MMA's Extended RMID format encapsulates DLS 1 or DLS 2 files with a Standard MIDI File using the RIFF ( Resource Interchange File Format) container technology. The MMA's XMF Type 0 and 1 formats encapsulate DLS 1 or DLS 2 files with Standard MIDI Files using the XMF (Extensible Music Format) container technology. The MMA's Mobile XMF format encapsulates zero or one Mobile DLS file and one Standard MIDI File using the XMF container technology. Mobile DLS is an optional media type in the 3GPP mobile phone standards starting from Release 6.

External links

Specifications for DLS 1.x, DLS 2.x, and Mobile DLSMMA list of DLS products and toolsElectronic Musician article on Downloadable Sounds

Official MIDI Standards Organizations

MIDI Manufacturers Association
(MMA) - Source for English-language MIDI specs

(AMEI) -Source for Japanese-language MIDI specs {{DEFAULTSORT:Dls Format Computer standards Video game music file formats Electronic musical instruments DLS format Music notation file formats Software synthesizers

See also

External links

Official MIDI Standards Organizations