Can anybody tell me if they know of a General Midi Software module ? in the past I have used the Roland VSC-55 (software version of sound canvass) but I'm looking to do some solo work and want the most realistic sounding backing tracks I can get. IT would great if I had the sound making software in my laptop along side my sequencer software, so I can keep it all in the laptop. If such a beast dosen't exist can anybody recomend a good module (as naturla sounding as possible) that I can use for a sound source ?

Thanks - Pete

I don't know of any full fledged GM sound sets for soft synths. Sonic Reality has a couple for reason and they have Sonic Synth. Then there is Sample Tank. It's a sample player with a lot of samples.

I'm sure others will chime in.

First, if you want better versions of the VSC stuff and/or a good GM module then you should look at Edirol products (offshoot of Roland) here:
http://www.edirol.com/products/audio_index.html

Personally, the only GM-compatible softsynth I've found that I like better than the Roland VSC-series stuff is the Yamaha S-YXG50 XG softsynth that can be found here:
http://www.yamaha.co.uk/xg/html/midplug/m_mid8.htm

Either of those solutions will work and demos are available for you to try before you buy - which is important because GM softsynths are highly susceptable to latency (a delay between hitting a note on a midi controller and hearing the note) so using them for real-time sequencing can be a problem. For this reason it's often better to use a GM hardware module for sequencing, although you can use a softsynth for playback. One thing that can help reduce laptop audio latency is a freeware program called ASIO4ALL, found here:
http://michael.tippach.bei.t-online.de/asio4all/

I switched to XG from GM (better sounds and control IMHO though Yamaha is slowly backing away from this format seemingly) and use an XG-compatible keyboard for sequencing, then use a laptop with the Yamaha S-YXG50 softsynth for playback. I use my laptop when I play an acoustic piano to give me SMF backing.