Let's use the Atari ST midi port! Building and using an MT-32 Pi

[@EgoShredder]

The MIDI ports were the entire reason I got an Atari STE back in 1994, although I had seen and used them since the 1980s at friends places gaming. So yeah between 1994 and 2000 I was using Steinberg Cubase v2.0 with an extra MIDI OUT adapter on the modem port, and a Philip Rees Little 2M to give an extra MIDI IN on the main MIDI port. Flawless rock solid performance that desktop PCs and Macs could only dream of!

[@karolmarkiewicz5049]

This is amazing! I need to have it in my STE!

[@earx23]

The pi Mt 32 is truly awesome. Thank you for the cool demo. Also cool you DIYed that puppy. If I had any time at all I'd make sidecart, pi mt32, and stereo replay all rolled into one.

[@timcross3461]

Great way to showcase the ST and its MIDI capabilities! I never had an MT-32 either so I put together the emulator with a ClumsyMIDI DIY board a few years ago. I like the one you chose since it has buttons. Great job!

[@ecdhe]

BTW, the soundchip of the ST is a Yamaha version of the General Instrument AY-3-8910. Not a bad chip but it was released in... 1978! Besides the ST, it was used by the IntelliVision and Vectrex consoles, the MSX line of computers as well as a few British budget computers. The STE added an extra sampling channel.

[@powerofvintage9442]

It is fine, and I have loads of good memories of it...but the MT-32 is a leaps ahead of the ST and pretty much everything else (even Amiga's) for the time when it was actually used.

[@ecdhe]

@@powerofvintage9442 as you said, few ST users had a keyboard or an MT-32, and I was no exception. But some games were able to make really good use of this stock soundchip. Leatherneck for example had a kickass soundtrack.

[@madigorfkgoogle9349]

actually no, the STE adds one DMA Stereo PCM channel (two voices), with some little CPU time for mixing 2 Stereo channels (which means 4 mono voices), capable of 51KHz sampling rate, way beyond Amiga.

[@johantibbelin417]

An alternative for using mt-32 pi is using the munt emulator. It can be used both with Hatari and real hardware. I have been using munt on a Pi400 connected to a STE. It works well. But you need a classic midi interface of some kind connected to the Pi400. So Munt do the same thing in software and can also be used from Hatari. If you would like to try mt-32 stuff out before building anything.

[@DeadCat-42]

Well, I was about half finished with one I was going to build for you , but yours is much nicer (I didn't use a pcb I just made my own with a breadboard) I've been waiting for you to play Ultima IV with the mt-32 pi. Sierra games like Space Quest are great with MIDI, I made a list of MIDI ST games that support MIDI, posted on the forums somewhere. But I have another Idea and use for the parts that I think you'll like, I'm only going to leave this open as I'm far from finished with the project but I'll let you know when Its ready a(it will be an open source project) Also I have been working closely with Cryptodaddy on the Pi-storm. Progress on the STe is good, but the regular ST is having some issues.

[@j.tann1970]

If you want, you can plug the synth keyboard into the MT-32 Pi and you will have a Roland Synth sound from your synth without the cost of a Roland Synth. I use a MIDI Controller keyboard (does not produce sound itself) plugged into my PC which then passes the notes to the MT-32 Pi but I could plug the keyboard direct to the MT-32 Pi (if I had a plain MIDI cable instead of USB to MIDI) and turn the keyboard into a synth of sorts.

[@SpeccyMan]

My MIDI controller keyboard has USB and standard MIDI ports.

[@j.tann1970]

@@SpeccyMan same as two of mine. My largest one is USB only though.

[@GeorgesChannel]

Great video! Was lurking at a Roland MT32 for a while. Good and cheep alternative.

[@DesignedbyWill2084]

I had an MT32, wishing I had not loaned it out now. May have to get one of these.

[@ecdhe]

I remember at the time reading about the Sierra games being able to use the Roland MT-32 but I never got to hear them - until today! But it's surprising that Sierra decided to support this considering they used at most EGA graphics on their ST ports (they never bothered using the palette of the ST). As far as the Ultima series goes, my all-time favorite soundtracks are those from Ultima III (which is MIDI compatible on the Atari ST)

[@powerofvintage9442]

The Ultima III and IV midi outputs are good, but the Sierra games just took them to the next level.

[@RetroComputingReboot]

Really enjoyed that. Just getting the list of bits together myself now so I can build one 😊

[@powerofvintage9442]

It's definitely an easy and not too costly project....with cool results.

[@RetroComputingReboot]

@@powerofvintage9442 I'm guessing you have to modify the config file for the 128 x 64 display?

[@powerofvintage9442]

I believe the default was for the smaller display...I would recommend double checking. It is well documented within the cfg file.

[@SpeccyMan]

Start with the lowest profile components first - so resistors and diodes before capacitors!

[@powerofvintage9442]

Thank you!

[@bonno666]

Great stuff, I had an MT32 years ago. And your solder skills could be improved. :)

[@powerofvintage9442]

Thanks! Still working on my on camera soldering….hard to see what’s going on from a distance.

[@ClassicTrialsChannel]

Some professionals are still using the Atari ST because of the Midi

[@j.tann1970]

Your first example could have been better. You turned on the keyboard after the music had started being sent to it which means it would have missed the patch messages to tell it what instrument sounds to use (assuming the game sent them). EDIT: It's the same when you got the MT-32 running with Ultima 4 and switched to Synth mode. The MT-32 sounded better because it received the patch information but the Synth mode reset to MIDI instrument 1 which on the General MIDI standard it uses is a piano so all the notes were using a piano even when they are meant to be a brass instrument etc. because the Synth did not get that patch information to say what instruments to use on each MIDI channel.

[@SpeccyMan]

It would probably have also missed initial SYSEX messages as well.

[@james5583]

Lovely 😍 will all games sound better? 😃

[@powerofvintage9442]

That's the tragic part, only a relatively small number of games took advantage of the midi capability. Those that did though have some amazing results.

[@Xenon0000000000001]

I was wondering if it would be possible/practical to fit one of these internally? I presume the MIDI signals and power supply could come directly from the ST motherboard, and then it would just be a matter of mixing the output with the existing stereo output on the STE?

[@james5583]

That would be handy.

[@powerofvintage9442]

With the right hardware design capabilities, I'm sure someone could figure it out.

[@snarkdluG]

Exxos H5 board contains header to add a waveblaster add-on module on the motherboard. It then mixes in the MIDI sound with the normal YM2149 sound.

[@StarlancerAstro]

I don’t know that bad setting sounded like a bad ass metal riff

[@powerofvintage9442]

Lol....at the time, I was actually just excited I was getting audio output :)

[@krupkaj]

it is a pity Lucas adventures do not play MIDI music on the ST.

[@madigorfkgoogle9349]

If you run the ScummVM I think it plays via MIDI, I never tested it.

[@danielktdoranie]

Who would you recommend that provides an Atari ST refurbishment and upgrade service? I have an Atari ST 1040 STF that I would like to upgrade it as much as possible, well past common sense and economic viability 😂

[@powerofvintage9442]

First off, where are you located? In the US, I'd say the best is Wizztronics. From what I understand they are still doing Atari work (and have done so since Atari was new). In Europe / UK, I'd suggest checking out the Exxos forum and see who responds. I'm by no means an expert, nor professional, but I've gotten quite a bit of stuff working / upgraded on my own and others' ST's (I'm probably up to 50 or so including multiple RAM and accelerator upgrades.) Based in the US here if you couldn't tell from my accent.

[@zoranmarinkovic4706]

Use flux please 😊

[@Conradlovesjoy]

Do you or anyone offer Ram upgrade as a service?

[@powerofvintage9442]

Different ST's have different levels of difficulty in upgrading the RAM. Send me a message to my channel email. I do repairs and upgrades at cost in general, but before I commit to anything, I like to know what I'm getting into :)

[@Conradlovesjoy]

@@powerofvintage9442emailed. Thanks!

[@Conradlovesjoy]

@@powerofvintage9442I sent you a message

[@ByetTony]

Try karate kid ;-)

[@madcommodore]

MT32 and other fixed soundfont library cards are not what creative people used FYI, MT32 etc produce wedding band quality sound at best due to lack of ability to change the instrument sounds available. Really only for nostalgic DOSers not musicians who used stuff like Ensoniq Mirage and other proper synths.

[@powerofvintage9442]

Agreed, my point was that midi ports in general (not the MT-32) were used extensively by professionals. This video was about using them for games..with this device 😁

[@SpeccyMan]

This "creative person" at least knows that, since etc. is an abbreviation, it should be properly punctuated! Proper synths, eh?

[@magicroomstudios]

I actually used a MT-32 for composition as a pro composer in my very early years briefly - initially till I could add more instruments to my collection - then went to a Sound Canvas - then samplers to add sound capability. I did sell my MT-32 at some point but recently acquired another one for nostalgia - and also learned the Sound canvas does not 100% emulate one...no custom patches are supported. I assume a virtual pi version supports all the things and emulates the various MT-32 versions?

[@DesignedbyWill2084]

You could edit your own sounds on the MT32, you had to do it through sysex data. I had written an editor to adjust all the settings. It was a subset of the D-50 sounds and algorithms.

[@madcommodore]

@@powerofvintage9442 Ah, I missed the point Doh!. Yes the ST was, and probably still is due to the zero lag OS on it, one of the best tools for professional use due to all sorts of software right up to SMPTE time code compatible setups for movie studio soundtrack work professional level. For people on a budget I would suggest an Amiga 1200 and some MIDI software on it so it can be used as a 56khz quad DAC sampler via MIDI and a 'dumb keyboard' to play the notes. Probably about 600 bucks all in for a home music studio inc the cost of the Atari too. You can always load in the standard MIDI instrument sound library on a sampler but not vice versa was just my point.

[@CandyGramForMongo_]

Nice hack. Get some flux. 😂

[@SpeccyMan]

All modern solders contain flux.

[@CandyGramForMongo_]

@@SpeccyManAnd sometimes you need more.

[@atari1040]

So ST had 3 voices + 1 noise generator + 64 (128?) midi voices |-) But world decided tu waste computer memory for storing samples... and created AMIGA 😛