LGR - Roland MT-32: Retro PC MIDI Music Revisited

I always wondered what they used to create the music for Sega CD games like Sol-Feace and a bunch of others...they all had that same feel to them instrument wise. Man, if the Genesis had this from the start, it would have been a way more awesome system...even though it had a shitty color palatte and no scaling.

EDIT: Nevermind, i just learned it was a Ricoh RF5C164 in the Sega CD.

Last summer I bought a CM-32L and CM-32P as a job lot on EBay. Although the CM-32L doesn't have a display or membrane
buttons it does have extra sound effects in the drum kit and the CM-32L was typically purchased with a CM-32P which adds
64 PCM instrument sounds from the Roland U series plus 1 slot for a U series PCM card. I like the lofi sound on the MT-32
and CM-32L, they were the most affordable and simple way of having LA Synthesis without all the drama.

Ah, the times when Roland sounded great...

This little machine is a true time capsule for writting late 80's/early 90's soundscapes. I really want to add this one to my midi studio now. Not sure but if I would trigger this one from a DAW would it listen to 8 different Midi channels just like my trusty Roland MC505 Groovebox?

Got a feeling this device can also can help to get close to those good ol' Konami arcade sounds!

How is the music studio doing nowdays?

If you want a hardware mt32 on the cheap check out the mt32pi project which makes a fully functioning mt32 out of a raspberry pi3 or zero 2w!

I purchased an MT-32 while I was in grad school (around 2003-ish), having been curious all those years how much I was "missing out on" in not having one. Having always had Creative Labs' cards...was absolutely FLOORED at the difference it made! Compared to the 5 or 6 generations of Sound Blaster cards I went through, just having the one MT-32 from the get-go would have actually SAVED me money in the long run (albeit, too much $$$ up front for my young self). Even in old EGA games (like Quest for Glory 2), the usage they got out of it as amazing and really enhanced the settings and mood. I also used the MT-32 as a synthesizer for Cubase and some audio software (for fun); it was clear how flexible the device was. Many years later, I recently sold it on ebay during the pandemic -- and I hope it went to a good home that fully enjoys it to this day. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it...even though technology by 2003 had far moved beyond its capibilities.

My google-fu must be weak, i still don't get why the MPU 401 and its interface card is needed to get the MT-32 working correctly.
What does the MPU 401 do that the MIDI interface on any early-mid 90s soundcard does? What does the (seemingly quite simple) ISA card that connects to the MPU 401 do? Is all this rig-a-marole just because the MT-32 is pre general midi?
Would an Atari ST with integrated MIDI ports also require some sort of additional interface?

this is mind blowing! wow.. so cool

TYRIAN I have been trying to remember this game for a long time thank you!

I literally gasped when I heard the Falcon 3.0 theme. I haven’t heard that track in nearly 30 years, and it never sounded that good.

The D50 is still an amazing synth. I didn't know these sound modules gamers used were based on those synths.

There is a MT32 emulation for Raspberry Pi made by the Brazilian guy in the Spectrum NEXT project, Victor Trucco!

Love it!

Fabulous ⚘

Ah, brings back all those... Erm... Hours ago?

I still have and sometimes use, the MT32. I also use an Atari Falcon 060 with CuBase Audio in my Music Studio ( Studio by name but its realy just part of my garage ).

I have all Retro kit and I have no intention of changing that setup unless it means adding more retro gear.

Keyboards & Sound Modules :-
Roland MT32, PCR30 and PCR50
Yamaha PSR450, DJX, CX1X, TG33, TG55, MU10, CBXK1B ( Bought in error hoping it was another XG ) , and MU50
Korg 05rW , X5DR
Kawai GMega
Technics KN750

Drum kits:-
Alesis DM5 ( Fullsize kit )
Yamaha DD50 ( Electronic sound ), DD55 ( better sounding ) and DD65 ( Drum kit but also has full GM playback Capabilities )

Annoyingly, many years ago, I had an MT100. This is pretty much and MT32 but with a Seuencer built in and a Floppy drive to save your stuff.

I remember being in love with a sound called DR SOLO

After many years, I found the MT32 for sale and I jumped at it, just for that sound, only to then realise that it was nowhere near as good as I remmeber!

Either that, of its a different sound on the MT32 that it is on the MT100? it was a sort of Stabby Bass sound.

Ah well, this sort of thing happens all the time I suppose. maybe I just remember it differently, but at the time, I was also using a really naff Casio that did NOT have touch responce as my one and only keyboard!

Glad i bought one, just need to get it hooked up and test it

I ordered mine durect from Sierra….sounded awesome. Don’t have it anymore and looking to purchase one again 😀

LGR! What do you think on making a video recommending other retropc channels? I would love to hear it - PhilsComputer, Retromancave etc ♥

Always found it weird they completely dropped MIDI support in the late 90s. Obviously the switch to include PWM and red book audio with games made MIDI less relevant, but it's not like standard died or went away. MIDI's still used in the music industry in some form and yet you can't get anything for modern PCs to give you MIDI support - it's no wonder the Atari ST is still kicking around in some recording studios

I had one of these back in the day!
It was lovely for years. I had some unparalleled synthesis and gaming. It was such a joy. That plus Cakewalk plus a Korg DW-8000 and a Peavy amp, I had an AMAZING setup for the late 80s.
Then I upgraded to the Yamaha SY-77 and never looked back. :)
Those MT-32 samples were sometimes problematic though. They were often noisy and sometimes just bad. That said, it was so much fun and I miss it in my life.

Always find something good on LGR! THX!

I've got an sc mkII and I heard you can make it play mt32 format. Would be cool if it was true. Also what version of kings quest 4 is that? I've got the agi version and can not get it to play midi anything

Anders Enger Jensen! I was introduced to that name because Technology Connections has used his music to demonstrate audio playback of record players. Funny little connection there; nice of him to donate one of these amazing things to you.

I've

What if you have a Win98 machine with USB? Could you hook up the MT32 and have it work within Windows? Obviously not all Dos games will allow this but I'm curious if it will work this bypassing the need for the midi connectors.

I've never had any real experience with retro computers or games but even I got goosebumps when the King's Quest theme played on the Roland.

Space quest 3 as a kid blew my mind. When you lift off in the space ship the bass is epic. The quality of the Roland is top tier. Also some games could program special effects to the module so each game could sound totally different. Ahead of its time. Check out the intro song for police quest 2.

Best onboard sampler today? The Casio Privia 3000 keyboard for like $800, it has 192-note polyphony. Wish they never stopped making hardware samplers, but since Steinberg came up with the VSTi hardware develepment staggered and eventually everyone's just been using software. Imagine if top Roland engineers actually put their minds to make a GM sampler synth today.

lol MUNT. When are you going to do the CINCO midi file organizer. Have you than done a AWE32 btw.

Without MT-32 the concept of General MIDI would never come true. Because or MT-32, then Roland encouraged to advance it with the new foundation of General MIDI, Roland Sound Canvas series modules. And now Sound Canvas sounds are bundled in every Windows operating systems since Windows 98 with DirectX 7.0

naaaah... I like the PC speaker better.

Using MT-32 for dos games is like shooting mosquito with ICBM nuke. It sounds like advertising videos of game

Please do a follow up video with MiSTer FPGA and mt32-pi set up!

Please. I had PC speaker only. Still makes me cry.

I also spent 25 years thinking the LAPC-I was called he LAPC-1. I think this might have been the Mandela effect.

My father gave me one two decades away, thanks to Munt, I heard about his gaming capabilities, playing Frontier Elite II a lot these days, great experience... If you can only afford one device, this is the way, GM mode using Roland sysex is not that bad, better than the opposite, GM to MT32...

MT-32 was popular in late 80s Asian music particularly in SE Asia, China and Korea

I love my MiSTer and I'm building an MT-32pi to get midi with it, the Pi emulation honestly sounds exactly the same, if not a bit clearer, than real MT32 from all comparisons I've seen.

Nowadays, that is perfectly emulated by a software called MUNT, I use it a lot for DOSBOX

I want to note something interesting about Space Quest III's MT-32 sound effects and that a lot of them were recorded as soundbytes for Space Quest IV if you had a SoundBlaster (falling, the hiss of a door opening, both clicking and beeping buttons)

I feel the "couldn't afford the good audio options as a kid" SO MUCH! Thank you for fulfilling our common fantasy. I enjoyed it by proxy.

same .. i was thinking the same backthen it was so expensive for me 1300 bucks

Roland is just great at sounding, saying Roland already sounds good

The best use of an MT32 I ever saw was a friend who had an Amiga 500 with a TON of games that supported it.

It's the second time I've seen this video and it always seems great to me ... I don't understand how there are 68 people who don't like this video ... they don't know anything about old school videogames (retro).... Thanks for your videos my friend Clint I hope one day I can send you a Christmas gift

Angers Jensen GAVE you this? Geez louise. Not only is his music amazing but he's seemingly generous. Wish he would have gave me one ... even just to borrow. I was trying to re-score Tyrian 2K & 2 other classic games but need the real equipment to do it ....

I always had a soft spot for the Police Quest soundtracks. Jan Hammer did the score for Police Quest 3: The Kindred. The score is awesome. Some people might not know, but Police Quest 4: Open Season's score by Neal Grandstaff was in General Midi format and was intended to be played back on the Roland SC-55.