Roland SC-55ST: $400 MIDI Music Powerhouse from 1993

When it comes 90s PC game MIDI soundtracks, you can't really go wrong with a Roland Sound Canvas. And this lovely ST version of the SC-55 is a downright delightful choice! All those excellent SC sound samples in a clean, simplified package.
● LGR links:
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
● Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound:
www.epidemicsound.com
#LGR #MIDI #Music

[@HattmannenNilsson]

This video made me realise two things: 1. I think I actually prefer the General Midi rendition of Canyon 2. You seem to effortlessly produce beautiful shots. Even the shortest cutaway is always beautifully composed. You've gotten to the point where I as a viewer don't even notice just how well composed and put together every video really is, because you've found your "look" and everything just melds together seamlessly. Your videos are always a joy to watch and a high-point of the week.

[@LGR]

Thank you! Feels like I've found a nice groove over the past year-ish, so I'm glad it comes across on video 👍

[@ocno]

@@LGR Sound is absolutely spot-on as well. The overall look is excellent, I love your videos more and more! Thanks for all the work

[@mobydoux]

I agree.

[@Dragonfire511]

Those are the reasons i suscribed to LGR. Plus is my favorite KZbin Channel.

[@martomaster]

I was just thinking how good even the shortest B roll shots are :D

[@Richard.Linder]

I just love the absence of yellowing on these devices. Usually mixing a bunch diferent retro computer hardware results in a discordant mish-mash of beiges, yellows and tans. But in this setup of yours, it all just looks pristine.

[@karlstenator]

Richard Linder there’s a way to treat yellowed plastics that can bring them up looking new. Can’t remember which channel I watched that on though.

[@jerry855202]

@@karlstenator 8bit guy?

[@karlstenator]

@@jerry855202 yah, I think that was the one.

[@Vlad2319]

@@karlstenator 8-bit guy and the process is retro-brite.

[@FlintG]

Having something like this would have blown my mind as a kid back then lmao

[@dans6127]

It still blows my mind to hear some of my favorite classic games sound so good. So many memories but my PC never sounded even close to that good

[@FlintG]

@@dans6127 I wonder if it would make older game consoles sound much better though like maybe the super nintendo.

[@starquake1565]

It would also have blown your savings.

[@Bristecom]

@@starquake1565 Hey, it was the 90's... that's what credit cards were for! LOL

[@ToolNoQuarter1]

AlphaMax the super Nintendo has no Midi Output.

[@MapleMilk]

I need a vid on that Synth setup, LGR

[@AthenaNova1]

He did a video on his setup in 2017, the title is "LGR - 486 Upgrade! Building a MIDI Mountain"

[@gmp-aaron]

@@AthenaNova1 you know that this video is the setup for the 486 woodgrain pc. It is not NOT! the synth setup from 4:42 that he showed in this setup.

[@AthenaNova1]

@@gmp-aaron That's a good point! There's a need for an updated setup video with his current gear.

[@VenomRaven]

"G'WHERE IS IT??!!??!!?"

[@Gazdatronik]

Yes, he pulls back and displays that , and as a synth guy I'm like, WTF Clint give us some sugar.

[@ImeanFFS]

Even though modern PCs are far more pleasant to build and use, I have a soft spot for 90s PCs. Thumbing through Computer Shopper with it's adverts for clip art, dragging the crt monitor to LAN parties, the deafening sound of a dot matrix printer, the whooomp-click of de-gausing a monitor, cleaning mouse balls, memory managers, fan fold printer paper.....! Aaaaahhh! Those were the days!

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Just last year I discovered how pleasant it can be to to proper cable management with those old ribbon cables. Yes I do have a bunch of round cables, but the flat ones can basically be folded and fit through the slimmest gaps. I don't want back the back breaking weight of CRTs or fondling mouse balls, but I do enjoy the POST beep of a proper speaker, reaction times of CRTs and somehow even managing base memory in DOS.

[@OttosTheName]

4:46 Please open that musical can of worms :D (maybe on blerbs)

[@ebheron]

I second this!

[@kvnclay]

I third this!

[@devospanko]

Moar music! 4th!

[@zapp442]

Worms please!

[@NordiusOfficial]

Yes

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Dang that cowbell hits harddd!!!

[@frozenbean]

I had captions turned on, and the first thing I see is [thoroughly appropriate jazz]. Keep up the good work, Clint.

[@alexsilva28]

Damn it I keep forgetting to turn the captions on for these

[@AaronOfMpls]

:D Reminds me a bit of Technology Connections's outros -- "[ly smooth jazz]"

[@DukeNukem2417]

3:18 = that "WOODGRAIN" wipe....XD Of course, the rest of the video is awesome as well. Kudos for yet another job well done!

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

Let's attempt to control ourselves now lol

[@rambo8wradio]

lmao I missed that. Thank you.

[@TheGuyWhoIsSitting]

DukeNukem2417 oh. I thought he did that wipe thing like he does on LGR foods.

[@MrMortull]

*2020, still playing DooM2 with the D-buttons and Ctrl* ...This man is incorruptible...

[@butre.]

if I'm actually playing the game I run it that way but i mostly speedrun it, using esdf and w and r for turn so I can sr50 more easily

[@tithund]

I still do this as well, but I use the left ctrl and alt instead, seems weird to do it like in this video.

[@lookoutpiano8877]

I prefer to use a racing wheel, myself.

[@dmer-zy3rb]

real pros used a flight joystick

[@MrMortull]

@@incumbentvinyl9291 You're quite right about the arrow keys, I guess I've just been corrupted by consoles. As for keybindings... most sourceports I know of default to the now-standard WASD setup with mouselook by default.

[@jesseeatsbrains]

4:43 HOLY SHIT PLEASE COVER THIS ON LGR! Fellow music maker here and would love to see what these old midi devices can do as far as music creation.

[@AvengerDK]

Yeah what The Hell. Almost rolled out of bed when I saw that setup. Need that video.

[@SpeedySPCFan]

Not sure if you're interested in someone else talking about it, but I have an entire video series on my channel called Sound Profile that's focused entirely on that. I've covered most Sound Canvas models, the MT-32, the Yamaha MU series, the Roland JV/XV/XP synths, the Korg Trinity, Korg NS5R/NX5R, and soon enough, the Roland JD-990 and SD-90!

[@HeadacheCentral]

@@SpeedySPCFan Yes. Speedy's Discord server's chock full of old MIDI devices and new ways to take advantage of their potential.

[@amber1862]

Music producer and VST developer here: LGR please listen to this guy! :)

[@TingFeng77]

Check his Twitter, he has posted a few creations on there, but no in-depth talk

[@reid3031]

Just wanted to say thanks, Clint! Your MIDI tower video actually inspired me to hunt down an SC-88 for gaming and I've actually been using it a lot for music production. Wouldn't have done that without your videos!

[@cubeflinger]

And that's why they've shot up in price 😅

[@Birugiru]

Clint! Greetings from Osaka. I'll let you know if I spot any more Japanese Roland stuff :D

[@d2factotum]

It's weird to say, but whenever I hear music from this era being played through a Roland, it always sounds wrong to me--because whenever I was hearing that music back in the day it would be through the FM synthesis on a Soundblaster card!

[@aceshighdueceslow]

I know the feeling, except instead of Soundblaster it was AdLib that I always had for DOS games

[@MrBogfrog]

At the time I distinctly remember preferring my Gus Ultrasound or Soundblaster over MIDI, so I don't think it's just nostalgia. That old General MIDI sample set sounds just as clinical and boring to me now as it did back then.

[@AaronOfMpls]

I know the feeling, @d2factotum . We had an actual Sound Blaster 16 in our old 486 machine, and that sound still defines 90s DOS games to me. The Sound Canvas sounds _too_ good!

[@JeremyLevi]

Coming from using an Amiga with decent sound capabilities for games to my first 486 with a SB2.0 I just assumed all PC MIDI sounded like absolute trash. It wasn't until years later that I realized it could sound decent, but only if you had the right (expensive) hardware.

[@dudowillowbottom8056]

I played the hell out of Raptor as a child. Loved to hear the music in this setup. Thanks for that. 😊

[@KalahiMd]

Seconded.

[@Sonyfreak]

You can get it on gog.com if you fancy another playthrough. :D

[@ezioauditoredafirenze8352]

"The fact that my impulse control is dangerously close to zero when it comes to retro Roland hardware from Japan" Priceless. Good one Clint 🤣🤣🤣

[@azzajohnson2123]

Ezio Auditore da Firenze his voice sells it!

[@ShaneOzouf]

Plus it was $40

[@ezioauditoredafirenze8352]

@@azzajohnson2123 Heh. Indeed. 😄

[@SoleaGalilei]

The montage of different games proving once again that you have impeccable taste!

[@DarkZenith]

You made my day with this video. Other than sam and max i knew and played through every game you demonstrated today. thank you LGR.

[@naddydatty]

The best part of my more-than-tedious workday is taking a moment to relax and get a nice dose of LGR. Thanks for the quality content, Clint. I need to get off of my butt, hunt down a Roland module and tracker my little heart out.

[@TukkOrdo]

I just wanted to say thank you, LGR. For making these videos and for educating everyone on these otherwise forgotten devices! It's nice to come home from a long night shift in the ER and watch some of your videos to relax and learn. Again, thank you so much, keep doing what you're doing!

[@DarthTella]

8:16 Yes! Descent II! That game has some of my favourite music in it. Both the MIDI and the Redbook music are phenomenal.

[@stevenclark2188]

Even the FM synthesis on Descent 1&2 was very good, you know given the synth soundtrack and all. I mostly played on a 16-bit Pro Audio Spectrum with the same OPL3 chip as the SB16 and Adlib Gold back in the day and it sounds impressive.

[@joe--cool]

I guess Clint was only showing off the music. So I will forgive playing Descent with a mouse. This time.

[@jakethreesixty]

8:56 What Clint says matches perfectly with how Max's mouth moves

[@tetsujin_144]

That's Sam

[@alextirrellRI]

Overall great video, Clint! I can't help but notice all the detail you've put into it. There's so much love and care in the way you present everything. I've often wondered if the fully featured models got any real use in studios--they are certainly presented that way.

[@texasrattlesnake31637]

Great video again Clint! Gained additional info on MIDI equipment thru this video! Looking forward to the next one! More power and God bless from the Philippines!

[@MontieMongoose]

My my, marvelous MIDI music makes me merry!

[@Chaos89P]

Very merry.

[@E5rael]

I highly approve your message for having all the words start with the same letter. That alliteration really pleases my brain cells. ^_^

[@marinacelada3246]

@@E5rael I think it was not casual.

[@ahandsomefridge]

Ahh the sweet soothing Roland sounds from the 90s. How comforting.

[@andrzejkatkov8597]

I was following your channel for 2 years and now you're telling me you also into synths! Now I love you twice as more! Cheers!

[@djnekroman]

No lie, I was just earlier today thinking about how much I always enjoy your videos about MIDI, and - lo and behold - a new one get thrown up! Perfect!

[@eluzai]

AHHHHGGGG, THAT'S THE NEW MINILOGUE! I'm freaking jelly man, with the new digital oscillator and sequencer and all.

[@IMN602]

5:35 been laughing at that all day now " MMM. THAT SOUNDED GOOOD"

[@CakePrincessCelestia]

Groovy!

[@1-ZombieMad]

Swedish fan from 92. You are THE Best. I Love watching your vidios. Make me warm inside when i see all thes nice things from before and some things that i played when i whas a kid :)

[@NowUndefined]

Always great seeing you geek out over anything Midi!

[@steamedauroraborealis8208]

8:56 I like how your voice syncs up with Sam's mouth.

[@bentsound]

Everyone of these things I've ever seen was so yellowy-brown with smoke and or UV damage. That thing is extremely pristine!

[@Markimark151]

I love your Roland MIDI equipment, my cousin had made custom ringtones for his Motorola phone from a Roland MIDI back in the early to mid-2000s!

[@radiosiesta]

Beautiful video. Midi music still fascinates me. These are classic music tracks and great Sound Canvas instruments. Thanks to you in a few minutes great nostalgia and return to younger years.

[@zacharystorman2718]

Clint!!!!!! We need a tour of yr synth station. My goodness.

[@TechnicolorMammoth]

At least an update, since it has grown since the MIDI mountain video back a few years ago.

[@hunterdavis3003]

Yes!!! Let’s hear some jams! Some industrial techno mixes!

[@Cheesus_Chrisp]

I agree. Please, Clint... a vid on your synth set up.

[@LGR]

@@TechnicolorMammoth It's unrelated to the MIDI Mountain, that's another beast entirely :) I just have more than one SC-55 mkII so there's one in each setup, heh.

[@marinacelada3246]

@@LGR May I ask you one thing: hiw much do you think one of these Roland machines can cost now?

[@NilsLorvick]

That Descent II music is pure MIDI awesomeness.

[@Dj3ndo]

Always love your content Clint!

[@mikehydropneumatic2583]

Man, you're set for the 90s! Great video as always.

[@tuncgurses]

Oh my god when i saw Raptor, i cried. I played that masterpiece so much back in the day...

[@StronkiTube]

When I see "MIDI" in the title of an LGR video, I am instantly preparing myself to listen to canyon.mid.

[@Chris_WG]

I love it! So true! Nice StronkiVods!

[@tomypower4898]

StronkiVods bight white said yes

[@thereallantesh]

I never had any MIDI equipment back in the day, but I always did love that sound. You really have some awesome retro equipment.

[@mattiapassera5084]

This is just awesome, the kind of things that makes me want to buy EVERYTHING... Good job Clint, I totally love your "style" even the cup holder!

[@fonesrphunny7242]

4:49 ... that looks interesting. Why haven'T we seen this yet?

[@LGR]

Haven't had a reason to show it on LGR yet :) There's a bunch about it on my Twitter though.

[@romajimamulo]

@@LGR blerb it please

[@phazonlord0098]

Make some videos about that glorious setup on Blerbs then!

[@aziztcf]

@@LGR What the hell is that oscilloscopey CRT and why do I need one now?

[@IIIJFRIII]

Lol it looks like something from half-life, minus the music keyboard.

[@AndrewGistKlaxMaster]

LGR: Where canon.mid is heard more Than it was in the 90s. And also in better quality than most of us ever heard it to begin with.

[@miguelnglopes]

Thank you for generously and patiently sharing these weird and wonderful retrotoys with us!

[@DantheMexiCan]

I LOVE your reviews!

[@KrzysztofCygan]

1. Retro Man Cave interview: "The Voice of Duke Nukem, Jon St. John - Retro Tea Break" 2. Why there was no Monkey Island Theme?????

[@Spiegelgeist]

Gonna humbly and sincerely request you make an in-depth video about your updated MIDI setup, it looks amazing! P.S. 8850s are indeed big!

[@rejamrejam]

LGR always uploads right when I'm sitting down to eat, it's great

[@stephanieatronach4459]

First time with the captions on and I really appreciate how thoroughly appropriate that thoroughly appropriate jazz is.

[@PastoKage]

Beside missing the opening theme of Monkey Island, this is a neat video indeed.

[@ion-shivs]

I’d love to know how many people actually owned these MIDI devices back in the day... In my circle of friends that had PC’s in the early 90’s, (about 5 of us...) it was a big enough spend to finally get a Sound Blaster. I don’t think any of us even knew what these Roland MIDI devices were! I never fully understood what they were until recently. I don’t remember them advertised or seeing them in stores... And at those prices, nobody I knew would have been buying them if we did.

[@trevor_mounts_music]

Yeah....not once have I ever seen one of these in the wild. Not in the 90's/2000's, not ever. Even my dorky ass uncle who worked at best buy and lived in front of his PC didn't have one, and he had EVERYTHING! 😂

[@mobydoux]

Your videos are comfy. And I'm sure it's a lot of work and experience. But damn, the result is perfect. Thanks !

[@alvinsvent2785]

These videos are always so fun to watch-

[@gamer199x]

I'd be really interested in a video on your synth setup.

[@Breakbeats92.5]

I had a Roland XP-60 workstation to start off on. In terms of pre set sounds, Roland can't be beat.

[@reallyryan_]

These videos are so chill

[@TheLtData]

Awesome piece of kit! Enjoy!

[@mr-meek]

7:18 ROTT has the best OST ever.

[@IDHLEB]

It's criminally underrated.

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

Amazing game with excellent music. Lee Jackson was actually doing the music for ROTT while also doing full time customer service at Apogee.

[@IMN602]

Civ11 uses ROTT music in EVERY video

[@tgcv4444]

Indeed.

[@zackerypainter7881]

You should make a video over your synth setup! At least a blerb about it!

[@ClayMann]

I'd love that too. That brief glimpse, it looked amazing. I want to know all about it

[@FoxerTails]

I wasn't even aware Clint made music. Or at least interested in playing in general. I would love to see a video on it too.

[@nequests]

Exactly this. DO IT.

[@N64Guy]

I want a full video

[@paulvv5632]

Roland.. Best 90s music hardware period!.. Love these and how they sound.. I could no way ever afford these back then... Thanks for taking me back Clint! .

[@awdx4g63]

I LOVE THIS CHANNEL. BEST on my LIST

[@romajimamulo]

4:50 wait you have a synth setup?

[@AdventureVanMan]

Maybe we can see/hear more about it here or on LGR Blerbs?? 👍

[@dannowell269]

We NEED a video on this

[@alextirrellRI]

The one time I went on Twitter and saw his page, he had a little video using it.

[@nintenalex]

The synth bass is awsome on Vikings. Like your synth setup. Great to see its Y2K compliant.

[@Dishs]

serious nostalgia trip, thank u!

[@gc4397]

Oh my God, I love Raptor so friggin' much. I grew up with it as a kid and have so many fond memories of me and my cousins staying up late trying different weapons and trying to beat it in general. The music and gameplay were so amazing.

[@KoutetsuSteel]

I thought for sure your next video was going to be a Sims 20 year anniversary video.

[@LGR]

I've already done a retrospective on it, I still stand by it :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKTSk2Nsop6jlZY

[@KoutetsuSteel]

@@LGRThat's true!

[@RudeMyDude]

please do a vid and your synth setup, from what i've seen on twitter, that rack is insane!

[@ohlosha]

i fudging love you do a video on all your sound gear :)

[@RetroGamingWithEdgarRivera]

😍😍😍 That looks and sound awesome my friend.

[@anilingus]

Step one: Upvote. Step two: Watch the video.

[@u0aol1]

Well hello there, this little sucker is going to be my afternoon nap video.. Afternoon naps are good. Update: I went driving instead of napping. Driving is also good.

[@heliosss69]

ok

[@davidfrischknecht8261]

Seeing some of those game clips really brings me back.

[@bgtubber]

This thing sounds spectacular! 🎶🎧

[@DaveFu]

"In a world where people hate paying more than 300 for a GPU......there was......"

[@bigperfect]

5:43 "digital ROM-based sampler, or Rompler" I can't believe this is an actual term

[@ChristianKoehler77]

It is. The term was commonly found in 1990s keyboard/ synth magazines.

[@mpc1mil]

RAPTOR!!!! sorry its been a minute. I remember searching the CD-ROMs of all the programs that came with my Gateway 2000 and finding demos . Terminal velocity was my jam

[@ChairmanMeow1]

Dude, you're getting REALLY good at cinematography and editing.

[@pedrodiegooro]

I didn't know MIDI was a porn category...

[@TechnicolorMammoth]

Welcome!

[@amiel3159]

Esto llegaba en la epoca de menem?

[@poikochan87]

3:18 WOODGRAIN? :D

[@briangriffin5701]

If your electronics were in fake woodgrain in the 70's you were a straight pimp.

[@dowsa1234]

Sounds so good!

[@macstar8317]

Another great vid! As well as an MT-32 I also have the SC-8820 (basically a cut down SC-8850). The SC-8820 has MT-32, SC88/88 Pro and SC55 maps built in. Well worth getting one to add to the collection if you can as they're not expensive.

[@toxictrumptube7763]

USB: „Midi what??“

[@chillhour6155]

Amazing how decades old audio technology can hold up for such a long, it just feels so authentic in listening, also Waves of nostalgia all over the place for me

[@theproletkulttn]

When you mentioned your synth setup, I thought, in vain, a simple setup, not crazy. Maybe a korg monologue, maybe 1 or 2 basic synths, then I saw that minulogue xd and that shot of your setup. My mouth is agape and I have a whole new respect for you my dude. From one synth guy to another, what a wonderful revelation, and I would love to see the rest of your setup, if there is one. Either way, it is awesome that you have one at all.

[@phodon129]

I was doing something on my other screen but when that Descent 2 sample came on I had to stop and take notice. Hot *damn* that sounds amazing!

[@notyoursavior78]

I have to agree there. How was that just midi music? That was breathtaking!

[@DefiantComrade]

Great to see stuff that I missed during my childhood.

[@benoitvedrines4109]

Friday's best moment. Love from France :)

[@mattjazzml]

Haha! I remember this. These were THE sounds back then. I still have one.

[@hobbified]

I know lots of composers were working with Roland, but after seeing your previous MIDI synth shootout I realized I just really like the way Yamaha sounds. I have an MU80 now :)

[@user-gh5hi6fb4t]

Yeah, DosBox didn’t dream of that ... =) Thank you for the video!!!

[@MadMatty72]

Great video

[@DereckLunar]

First time I see your Synth setup. I don't know anything about it but damn it looks badass!

[@peterb8015]

As it was cheap and available in my country I went for a Casio GZ-50M which does very much the same thing but in a package that looks like an external amiga drive case, which I like. A lot. Thanks for the midi love Clint.

[@halloweenfiend666]

You actually do a very good Duke impression. I've noticed from multiple videos!

[@esper86]

this is the real nostalgic stuff! think i've still got some of those old Roland speakers somewhere! I'd love to hear the OST to "Blue Force" again on that thing.

[@JornLavoll]

Beautiful sounds

[@jeebusmcchrist]

This entire channel is amazing to the point where if I'm drinking on a Friday night and I see a new upload, I throw it in my bookmarks toolbar between all my most visited websites and label it "LGR NEW VIDEO" so I know it's there when I wake up. Can't waste a new LGR video on a drunken viewing. See you in like twelve hours.