.DLS

Introduction

Downloadable Sounds (DLS) is a standard from the MIDI Manufacturers Association for banks of sampled instruments that a synthesiser can load, so MIDI music sounds the same on every device. Level 1 appeared in the late 1990s and Level 2 added more detailed instruments. Windows has long shipped its General MIDI sounds as a DLS file, gm.dls, and DirectMusic games used DLS for their instruments.

Structure

A DLS file is a RIFF file with the form type DLS . A colh chunk gives the number of instruments. The lins list holds the instruments: each is an ins list with a header giving its bank and program number, a list of regions (key and velocity ranges, each pointing to a wave and its tuning and loop settings) and articulation data for envelopes and modulation. The wvpl wave pool holds the samples as wave lists, each with a format chunk and a data chunk like a WAV file, and the ptbl pool table gives each wave’s offset. Numbers are little-endian.

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