The term used to describe a MIDI instrument capable of playing different sounds, or multiple TIMBRES, simultaneously.
having the ability to produce many different musical timbres (sounds) at once.
More than one instrument sound ( Timbre) may be played at the same time. Most modern synthesisers, samplers and sound cards have this capability. A musical device that is not multitimbral is said to be Monotimbral.
The number of simultaneous instruments or patches that can be played at the same time as layered or stacked sounds, split across the keyboard in zones or on independent MIDI channels. This allows for ensembles of instruments to be played from within one synth. Most digital synths and many analog string/ensemble synths are multitimbral.
Capable of making more than one tone color (timbre) at the same time. A typical multitimbral tone generator can play, for example, the brass, piano, and violin parts all at once.
An electronic musical instrument may be multitimbral, which means it can produce two or more timbres (also called sounds or patches) at the same time. Instruments which may be multitimbral include synthesizers, samplers, and music workstations.