The Best Sound for MS-DOS Games - Roland MT-32

[@BabyGrandOz]

The sounds of the MT-32 was one of the first projects I worked on after Eric Persing and myself created the initial factory sounds for the Roland D-50. I remember it being quite difficult due to the restricted architecture but a creative challenge none the less. In the end all the sounds were created by myself and a remarkable Japanese engineer.

[@nicolasjurado6]

That's awesome!

[@rogerwilco2]

Awesome.

[@DiAL033]

So, the "Doctor Solo" patch: a recreation of the iconic Doctor Who theme sound?

[@pedrocarvalho4999]

Cmon... Which D50 signature patch has a stack of pads that start in different tuning, than adjust with time?

[@trikronika]

You're a legend!!

[@LGR]

Still really want to get one of these someday, I've never had the pleasure of messing with an MT-32! EDIT: GOT ONE.

[@paddydoestech]

Feels Bad Man

[@awaitinginput2468]

It is a cool little gadget. I would love it if I can alos get one but I assume these would be hard to come by.

[@Resopheed]

I am also a sucker for retro PC audio (especially the Rolands

[@fargeeks]

oh shit hi lazy game review man

[@ajax700]

Maybe capacitors issue on the SCC-1 ? Did you get them checked? Also there are videos on YT of people got the SCC-1 working not connected to a PC.

[@CristalianaIvor]

when the sound card has more processing power than the pc you use for it, lol

[@StayMadNobodycares]

@@Username_-fm4lj uhhh....

[@z84c00]

and is more expensive too...

[@ChrisNova777]

When you thought you said something intelligent but Unfortunately that statement doesn’t make any sense

[@CristalianaIvor]

@@ChrisNova777 I didn't intent to say anything intelligent, it just was a funny remark. But ok, mr wise guy, enlighten me.

[@ParasiteEvel]

@@ChrisNova777 Yes im sure they were tying to be as intelligent as possible for a youtube comment. I wonder why some people act like if you say ANYTHING it has to be serious and have meaning. Even for a website comment that is pointless...

[@JorgeAraujo97]

It's amazing how MT-32 is still very relevant.

[@andyblue1991]

WOW! The sound differences are worlds away! Thats insane, and really made a difference for people!

[@Halterung01]

HOLY! This thing sounds good!

[@saurav9922]

dp vn03 really just sounds like a normal game music & not bitcrushed.

[@zUltra3D]

For its time, yes.

[@linksbro1]

The Secret of Monkey Island theme played through the MT-32... Everything is different now that I have experienced such MAJESTY~

[@astrosteve]

If you weren't alive in 1989, you can't possibly understand how mind-blowingly amazing the MT-32 sounded. I heard one in a store when it was set up as a demo and couldn't believe what I was hearing. It didn't seem possible for a computer game to sound that good. My father would never get a sound card of any kind, so I had to listen to PC speaker my entire youth and I was jealous of any sound card in general, but the MT-32 specifically.

[@turrican4d599]

I did prefer the sound of my Amiga 500 and later that of the Gravis Ultrasound EX.

[@mmasias]

100% agree: for the 80s guys that was mindblowing!!!

[@xfloodcasual8124]

when I heard it back then, it was more shocking than a graphics upgrade ega/vga etc.

[@anjinbeats]

I grew up playing DOS games on just the PC speaker, really blows my mind that the sound could have been this good.. might have to get hold of one of these bad bois

[@BlueBird-wb6kb]

Yeah its like everyone from that era was Cucked into having shit sound

[@daBuzzY90]

Look for the MT-100... Half the price for the same thing

[@DocTime56]

@@daBuzzY90 the mt-100 looks better, I wonder why it’s less than half the price on ebay

[@javimm77]

I remember when I got a SoundBlaster Pro back in the early nineties. I was amazed at what came from the speakers. I replayed every game I had just to listen to the music. Those were fun times!!

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Great work, buddy! Glad to see the module and the stuff I sent being put to good use. :D

[@LightyNourT]

Anders Enger Jensen You are awesome, man.

[@andlinux]

I love the 8 bit Keys remix on your channel. Great job for sending the device ;)

[@sithium2429]

Anders Enger Jensen Norge er best

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Ja, er vi ikke alltid det a? ;)

[@pinguliten]

I do hope you sent him a spare and still have a Roland midi stack.

[@philscomputerlab]

Nice seeing the Roland MT-32 getting some love :) It's truly amazing how awesome these old games sound. Sierra, Lucas and Origin made some of the best games to showcase the Roland.

[@dreamyuki]

hei phils

[@spidermcgavenport8767]

Watching your channel daily thank you Phil!

[@numanuma20]

We've advance since then. We have amazing virtual instruments that can fool even musicians.

[@Arunav100]

That Difference though, Roland MT 32 is epic

[@OAleathaO]

I always used to stare at the MT-32 in each month's issue of Sierra's _Interaction_ magazine. Unlike most kids that just wanted it for games I wanted one so I could also plug it into my MIDI keyboard. I finally got one about 4 years ago and, at least for me, it still hasn't lost its mystique.

[@r3cy]

I still buy redundant stuff that was on my 'must have!' list as a kid :D adulting ain't so bad.

[@happyebb]

Such fun, beautiful and memorable tech. I spent most of my childhood playing dos games using the pc speaker. One day a friend gave me his sound blaster 2.0 which was mono but the sound was amazing. I replayed all my games again and it made a a difference, breathing new life into them, more depth to offer. The Roland mt-32 was something I only got to hear in recent years, very impressive.

[@butwait]

I'm blown away by the difference....That is crazy..

[@stellarfirefly]

Back in the day, I was rockin' the Roland LAPC-1. For those unfamiliar, this was essentially an MT-32 but completely on an ISA daughterboard and thus housed entirely inside of the computer case. The sound, of course, was amazing and I was the envy of all my PC gamer friends, especially for MIDI-authored titles, e.g. Sierra Online titles.

[@stellarfirefly]

BTW, I recall that as time went on, the differences in music quality between the different titles became more and more significant, and amazing. I remember that Space Quests 4 and 5 had differences that sounded to me (at least, at the time) like night and day. This was because Sierra Online was more and more using major orchestral compositions with their music and thus using the MT-32/LAPC-1 hardware closer to its potential, while still "downgrading" it for PC speaker, Ad-Lib, etc. I really wish that you would've used those later titles as a comparison!

[@AndersEngerJensen]

SQ4 was indeed from the pinnacle of the Sierra composers' heyday. By 1990/1991 they had really started to explore the capabilities as well as the machines were now 286 and 386 by far, which could muster much better performances. Also Mark Seibert, Rob Atesalp and the others could use their musical education to a greater extent. The interesting thing about SQ5 sounds on the MT/CM modules, is that at this point the General MIDI was out and they wanted to cater for GM modules too. So in order to make the transition smoother and the difference between MT and GM modules, they created the now widely known GM patch bank for the MT modules, with some extra sound effects etc. If you load SQ5, you'll hear that the sounds are made similar to the GM layout, which meant that they didn't need to rewrite all the music for the GM version or vice versa. The other sound cards needed some extra work though, but usually it's removing parts and altering a little here and there to cater for the different response these sounds gave when playing. Rob Atesalp told me that he and most of the other composers really didn't care much for the GM setup. It was too constricting and less responsive than the MT with its all flexible layout and possibilites, albeit less authentic sound representation. We have to remember that in the early 90s, we were all about trying to recreate the natural instruments as good as possible - pianos should sound like pianos, guitars like guitars, violins like violins.. although, the technology at the time was still limited compared today's, so that's why GM modules and synths using PCM methods back then sounds harsh and quite lifeless. That's why the LA synthesis from Roland, was much more interesting for game composers - it was more flexible and allowed for much wider textures for them to create interesting sounds that conveyed what they needed to illustrate in their music and sound design. I too prefer the MT sound to the GM for this reason, and the fact that this was the first module I had for gaming in addition to my Sound Blaster Pro. The perfect marriage for DOS gaming :D

[@stellarfirefly]

I wholeheartedly agree, and thank you for the additional historical insight. I did not know that there was such a strong following for MT. I did notice the difference myself; I recall patching the LAPC-I a few different times to "general MIDI-ize it", but noticing the quality was greatly inferior. But, I just chalked it up to superior hardware and native advantage, and hoped that better patches would be available in the future.

[@CoolKoon]

"I was the envy of all my PC gamer friends" lol

[@rich1051414]

It's worth pointing out that the midi-cards only played music, you needed a separate sound card for the normal sound effects.

[@patrickmccauley4921]

Sometimes I wonder if I am only expanding on the vast library of useless knowledge I possess but the is really entertaining.

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

I've made a career out of filing away esoteric knowledge and skills which have a knack for coming in useful 15 years later 5 states away.

[@oaktadopbok665]

The true purpose of knowledge is to keep your brain amused!

[@th3yluvx4nny]

same, im probably never going to need to know this stuff

[@knightrdrx]

Yes I don't have many friends that would care but I do have one that will play links 386 with me still

[@knightrdrx]

Now..how much more did this cost compared to the soundblaster?

[@Davidevgen]

i never thought a dos game could sound as good as a ps1/n64 :P

[@austinreed7343]

And you can use soundfonts like Timbres of Heaven to make them even better these days.

[@eduardoavila646]

You never seen doom in the right hardware then...

[@mahjonglover3614]

it's the synthesiser playing live )

[@madfox2000]

with MT32 or SoundBlaster AWE32 this is easy.

[@kargaroc386]

@@madfox2000 AWE32's just a ROMpler

[@francisjo3]

I thought my Soundblaster was good - I would have killed for one of these!

[@megalonk._.9728]

At the time I’d imagine the Soundblaster was still really nice to have :)

[@gustru2078]

@@megalonk._.9728 Soundblaster / SB 16 we the most compatible and widely used sound cards in the DOS days. The easiest and cheapest way to have something that sounds ok.

[@Uzeless]

The SoundBlaster was an awesome soundcard, but if it was a 5, the MT-32 was an 11!!!!!!!

[@EberKlaushartinger]

@@Uzeless The Soundblaster was not as good as many think. It had many Problems. The only good Thing was that many Games had Support for it. That's all. There have been better sounding Cards like Gravis Ultrasound back then.

[@realtrisk]

I think it's pretty widely known that the reason the MT-32 lacks a convincing piano attack sample is that its first purpose, before Sierra and other companies used it for games, was as an add-on module for a Roland digital piano. Because convincing piano samples were expected to be already in the host piano, none were added to the MT-32. This is also the reason it defaults to midi channel 2, instead of 1, I believe. This was explained by Tom Lewandowski of Quest Studios, as his wife had the original digital piano and the MT-32 for its original purpose, to add sounds to the piano. He also showed one of the original ad flyers for the MT-32 that proclaimd it as an add-on for your new Roland digital piano.

[@ricsim78]

+realtrisk I did not know this, but it makes sense as MegaCrasherMusic said.

[@looneyburgmusic]

Definitely incorrect, according to Roland itself. The MT-32 was intended to be used by "bedroom" musicians as an inexpensive desktop synthesizer. The reason the included piano PCM attack sample is so weak is simple - memory prices in the 80's prohibited including a higher quality piano sample, even if only the attack portion. The MT-32 shares the same PCM sample set as the second generation Roland D-series synths, which the MT-32 basiclly is, minus the keys, full 8-part multi-timbral editing capability, and a few other features. And to make matters even worse, Roland also used the cheapest, noisiest, DACs they could possibliy get their hands on .

[@LeonDerczynski]

This would also explain the default 2-9 set of channels - one could just plug in the piano and go, without reconfiguring

[@BCSchmerker]

+realtrisk *Realistic piano synthesis actually had to wait* until Roland developed Structured Adaptive Synthesis as executed in the cost-minimal-object RD-1000, now overtaken in turn by Composite Object Sound Modeling.

[@theharper1]

I have a MIDI file of "Walking in Memphis" which sounds pretty good on the MT32 (or LAPC-1). Would it sound better on a dedicated piano? Of course. Of course channel 1 was set aside for the host keyboard, regardless of whether it was a piano or not. The MT32 was designed to provide an entire band accompaniment to the primary keyboard.

[@fen4554]

I know its a staple of the show, but never stop demoing old game tunes live on keyboard. It's a blast. :3

[@Evansmustard]

Holy crap. I wasn't even alive then but the sounds improvements blew me away today.

[@oliverhilton6086]

Wow, this thing looks cool as hell. I want one to plug into my 2017 rig **2 minutes of ebaying later** Never mind

[@mikeymcmikeface5599]

I am shocked that a "module" isn't a card but actually a module.

[@miawgogo]

There is always the MUNT emulator for the MT-32, its not going to be accurate, but ive read its close-ish

[@hellishcyberdemon7112]

Why not man, I'm guessing to expensive and or confusing

[@DASPRiD]

@@hellishcyberdemon7112 Around 150€ ;)

[@hellishcyberdemon7112]

@@DASPRiD holy shit thats alot for something that old

[@davideurenius5272]

Mind blown! How was I not aware of this back then. I had SoundBlasters! I feel cheated now. 😂

[@doom5895]

Most people didn't have gaming pc's back then

[@ImTheKingOfHyrule]

There's actually a good MT-32 emulator called Munt that is compatible with DOSbox. It was pretty great hearing Wing Commander with MT-32 audio for the first time.

[@ObiWanBillKenobi]

9:57 That music sample playing alone made me nostalgic for 1980s fantasy movies like “Labyrinth” and “The NeverEnding Story”!

[@chrismanuel9768]

That sounds beautiful. It's just the right blend between realistic and synthetic that it makes me nostalgic for the 80s

[@NeonYukon]

4:55 the transition to the PC speaker is just... omg lmao

[@ascentfevers]

yes lmao

[@mikeymcmikeface5599]

PC was always total garbage. At this time Amiga had 4 channels stereo built in. And no stupid manual selecting, IRQ and DMA retardation.

[@KuraIthys]

Eh. 4 channels stereo by having 2 channels each per side, which is idiotic. The PC survived through a combination of it having been IBM, making it popular in the business space, being standard hardware with nothing really proprietary in it leading to an explosion of clones, and that it was highly expandable, but remained compatible. Also the Amiga WAS good, but Commodore dropped the ball so hard that by the time the company collapsed the Amiga was starting to look like a joke. Not because it was bad, but because it had barely improved in a decade, while in that same time PC's had made huge strides in processing power, graphical capabilities, sound and multimedia. Stand still for long enough, and the competition is bound to catch up with you...

[@alritedave]

Lol. Poor PC speaker!! It's trying!!

[@3dmaster205]

@Gernot Schrader Not expensive at all; it was rather cheap in fact, it's because of lots of competition. The reason why the PC went from the video game laughing stock to the premiere video game platform in just two short years, is because of a reinforcing triangle. Video Game developers were willing to take the risk to push the hardware to its limits and beyond, video game players were willing to pay for the upgrades necessary to play those games, and the hardware to play them to their fullest, and the resulting demand had ever hardware manufacturer jump in competing for the dollars; resulting in prices coming down, more powerful systems being built and sold, and video game developers happily pushing the new systems to their max and beyond, and subsequent PC gamers buying the new ever cheaper hardware to keep up with the newest games. Thus in 1989 the PC was a video game laughing stock, by 1992 it was the premiere, most innovative and most forward progressing video game platform having pushed all the others to the side, and just one year later all of those other systems were... well, DOOMED. By contrast, when Commodore released the Amiga 600 and the 600 upgrade kit for the 500, all the parents and owners, went, "What? I have to buy a new Amiga in order to keep using it?" Commodore subsequently made the mistake of telling them, "No, no, all the software will continue to keep running on the 500." They couldn't actually guarantee that for third party developers, but it did effectively make Amiga developers stick to the 500, meaning the 600 only ever got a slight performance boost; no actually improvement in the games; and so the reverse of the triangle that boosted the PC into the stratosphere, made the Amiga stagnate and die. I would love to see the 8-bit Guy, LGR, and other retro games actually collaborate on a series of videos dealing with the build up to, and then this video game revolution, it's probably the most pivotal, most innovative, and most forward striding few yeas in video game history; the status quo of today, directly comes out of those years; and yet, apart from a few games or pieces of hardware released at point (and then it's only that specific thing) all the other videos are always about things before, or after these revolutionary years.

[@TechnologySpotlight]

4:10 PC Speaker Voice Crack

[@RetroPCUser]

Technology Spotlight it's DOSBox that does that. Apparently, it's a major glitch. My real hardware never does that.

[@TechnologySpotlight]

Alright. I just found that strange.

[@PekkaLeppaluoto]

To hear a non-emulated PC speaker, here's a link to a complete Space Quest 3 PC Speaker Soundtrack: kzbin.info/aero/PLUa-WwS_7GQx_4ZlUV5D97IgLfcHJn_rT

[@nicholassternon5857]

Retro PC User damn I thought it was just a trill done on purpose

[@justahungarianguy]

Technology Spotlight when elecronics go into puberty :))))

[@Soundole]

Nice video, I never expected the difference between Sound Blaster and the Roland module to be so striking!

[@joedarkness808]

Roland released a ISA card version of the MT-32 called the Lapc1 normally if you were a gamer you would have a Lapc1 for music and a soundblaster for the effects ah the good old days

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Joe Darkness Correct, except it's called LAPC-I (i for IBM compatibles). They had a Japan only LAPC-N for the NEC 88s and similar. It was the CM-32L with the extra 33 sound effects on both cards. Very hard to come by these days though. :)

[@neilis2405]

It was actually pretty common back then for sound cards like the Sound Blaster to have a "Wavetable Daughter connector" where you could just attach a module that would takeover MIDI music duties from the soundcard. Creative made one called the Wave Blaster, Roland made another called the Sound Canvas, and there were a few others as well. I honestly can't remember the brand of the one I had but it was a lower cost competitor. Didn't sound quite as good as the Creative or Roland ones but it beat the pants off of regular FM sound.

[@JayBmusic]

It's remarkable how much influence Roland had on the General MIDI standard. Especially on the synth and pad sections. Many sounds were already present in the D50, such as Callilope, Chiff Lead, Fantasia, Rain Pad or Atmosphere. And the MT-32 is no exception, adding e.g. Echoes. Also, what I find interesting is playing old game music through modern high quality GM compatible devices. It makes them sound very surreal, because back then noone really cared for realism with game music.

[@AndersEngerJensen]

JayB Not so weird since it was spearheaded by them in the first place. And the MT-32's layout and number of sounds was the basis for the standard. :)

[@AndersEngerJensen]

MegaCrasherMusic Yes, but here we're talking about the GM standard, not MIDI itself in the first place.

[@BoDiddly]

Man! Talk about a time warp! I loved Space Quest III and the whole Space Quest series. I spend so many years playing that game. Another I played a lot was Leisure Suit Larry.

[@seancdaug]

Excellent choice for a demonstration. The intro to _Space Quest III_ played on an MT-32 is one of the greatest pieces of game music ever composed, IMO, and it's hands down my favorite piece of PC game music from the DOS era.

[@legatrix]

You might like the song 'Crushing Day' by Joe Satriani, I was trying to think of harmonically / stylistically similar songs and that's as far as I got...

[@JackBandicootsBunker]

That intro and The Secret Of Monkey Island one are by far some of the best PC tunes ever.

[@jamespowell7302]

Not even close to the best game music in the late 80's. Try out the music for "Blood Money" on Amega... kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZrQpmmCpdOqo7M .

[@jippalippa]

06:00 that's some seriously cool ambient music!!!!

[@IcicleFurry]

oh jeah! it's wonderful to listen to this... it's like it was produced before 2-3 jeahrs ago.

[@markusdauer6676]

The intro music gets better and better i kinda like it !!

[@Minecraft101ToonLink]

I have to agree with you! I love this intro theme sooo much! 😄

[@notinterested8452]

Ja the intro is amasing!

[@invghost]

0:00 11:27 Just for those who want to go back and see and it'll let you get back to where you left :p

[@muttBunch]

I’m 40 years old now. I remember playing all of the Sierra games as a kid and always seeing Roland on there and until I stumbled upon this video, I now know the awesomeness it outputs as I was stuck with SB back then

[@mtnshadid]

Piano (9:51) Fur Elise - Ludwig van Beethoven Atmosphere (9:56) Sorry Couldn't tell what is it However it's sound like a spain romantic guitar such (Spanish Romantic Flamenco Music Instrumental) Echo Bell (10:06) Carol of the Bells (Piano version Ex: David Hicken) Harpsichord (10:16) Something like opening of castlevania Closest i thought of : Vampire Music - Transylvania Ice Rain (10:24) Sorry Couldn't tell what is it, maybe he made it him self for the demo sake Squarewave (10:34) Journey - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) Note: He edit it a bit from his older video for the Casio CT-380 String Section 1 (10:49) No idea, need to hear more Warm Bell (10:59) i believe Carol of the Bells but slow piano with Warm Bell Tune

[@SobbleEntertainment]

Did you mean Harry Potter?

[@MikaelLevoniemi]

This video inspired me to install Munt with my dosbox for MT32 emulation. I'm glad i did, all the best classics sound soooo nice now. :D

[@redwillrise]

It seemed to me that I've heard some of these sounds in Black Metal before, so I was pleased to hear it came from Norway! Who knows, maybe it really is featured on an album or two... Mainly makes me think of Satyricon records

[@LotoTheHero]

That Roland MT32 is pretty impressive. I really like the sound on it! Thanks for the video, and thanks to the person who donated it for this video. :D

[@TheRealMMC]

I hear PC speaker: "meh." Tandy 3-voice: "well, ok." Soundblaster: "wow, that's pretty good!" Roland MT-32: "*chills* ok, wow. That is incredible!" It's amazing to hear the vast difference between the different sounds! 😮

[@troelshansen6212]

It also makes you appriciated how far we've come. We take a build in full fetched digital sound suite in the modern pc, but it was not always so. Even getting sound to work in the olden days was a major challenge in some cases

[@parasiteunit]

Used my MT-32 simply as a sound module. Ran from a 1040ST running Cubase. Put through a half decent external effect processor (Alesis MIDVERB in this case)... to add space, it was pretty nice.

[@niceanddestroyed]

You should listen to real soundtracks, not just intro sounds. Adlib soundtracks sound most of the time better than MT32 for various reasons.

[@TheRealMMC]

@@niceanddestroyed thanks for the suggestion! However, would you mind explaining your reasoning for why Adlib soundtracks sound better? I mean, I get that it has that classic 8-bit videogame sound to it, which a lot of people appreciate, but do you have any reasons other than that?

[@niceanddestroyed]

@@TheRealMMCMT32 sound doesn't win versus Adlib most of the time, because sounds were always the same and impossible to design from scratch. Soundtracks were also less elaborated most of the time probably for various reasons (sounds nice with less efforts, a Midi file to play was enough, that was not the most used soundcard, etc.). Listen to Monkey Island 2, Dune or King Quest V soundtracks for instance. They sounds better with the Adlib card.

[@RichardCyberPunk]

"Insert Buckazoid" made my day. I love easter eggs in hardware ROM chips. "Only external MT-32 and Space Quest !"

[@BenzaieLive2]

fascinating !

[@Chopy61]

I'd love to hear an extended version of this version of your intro music, it really is great!

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Chopy 61 I did his original theme in full version here: soundcloud.com/eox-studios/8-bit-keys-theme-mt-32-version Doing a full version of my remix on the other hand, is a huge undertaking. If I get enough time later, I might make an all MT/CM version of it. ;)

[@Chopy61]

Thanks Jensen!

[@chordpop6259]

I've been using the mt32 live for 10 years. wonderful little piece of junk. don't know if this was addressed in a previous comment but the upper voices can be displayed by holding down the volume button while pressing buttons 1/2/3 corresponding to parts 6/7/8. also, the reverb can be changed by holding down volume button and the button above it at the same time. used the mt32 in conjunction with a yamaha pss480 and a kawai ms470 for a live "children's" synth midi set up

[@synthacat2438]

He diddent mention the Editing Software for it.

[@RinoaL]

wow i never knew there was this much to be had with the MT-32, the step up in quality is amazing. i can see why people wanted one for their computers.

[@Minecraft101ToonLink]

I think this is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE 8-Bit Keys episode from 2016! 😂❤️🎧🎼

[@Celcius1]

After watching this video I went an located one of these's boxes for myself, and once it turns up on Friday, I'm gonna play all my favourite sierra games in the sound they were meant to have, many thanks for letting me know about this piece of vintage sound, it will sit along side my other Roland products quite nicely, I have a JV-1080 tucked away on my music desk.

[@NatiPerPerdereNPP]

I like the Tandy better than the Sound Blaster honestly... But the Roland mt-32 is outstanding!

[@shadowedgames134]

Aren't they just done by the CPU now? I think all the sound chip does now is output audio.

[@Alianger]

SB FM synth music sounds good if the OST was made with it in mind, try some of these: OPL2/YM3812: Fury of the Furries, Genpei War, Tyrian, MegaRace, The Legend of Sword and Fairy, Cobi Comi, Empire of the Angel II, Mad Paradox, Iron Blood, Ys II Special, Zyclunt/Blade Warrior (FM+samples) OPL3/YMF262: Wacky Wheels, Puyo Puyo Tsu (Compile, 1996), Dune (AdLib Gold), AdLib Gold Sample Songs, CyberSphere, Sorcerian Forever, Ant Man, Zone 66 (FM+samples)

[@daishi5571]

The MT-32 was all but useless for sound effects. However, it was a decent instrument/music player. It had low computer CPU overhead (it did all the work) good quality sound (even if I think sustain was overused) but it was limited by its soundbank. Costing almost $800 in 1987 (~$1700 after inflation in 2018) plus the cost of the midi card made this as/more expensive as some computers of the time. Not having a sound card paired with this would limit your in-game sound which sucked. Last thing although this is considered a MIDI device, as was noted in the video it's not a standard MIDI device. It is a precursor to general MIDI (the MIDI standard) as general MIDI was not yet standardized.

[@lcdmonitor1981]

Make MIDI great again

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Now, there's a presidential candidate we can all get behind! :D +1 vote!

[@SgtZaqq]

MIDI has always been great

[@lcdmonitor1981]

Liam Barnes all octaves matter

[@kilésengati]

It has always been great and got even greater with USB.

[@lcdmonitor1981]

I'm with PCM

[@NicenEasyuk]

such a roland sound. Very iconic. So many albums used these same pcm/synth combos. D-50 library patches in particular.

[@Admiral_John]

I can't decide what I like more; your music or the cable management you have going on in the background.

[@ScarlettStunningSpace]

These tracks sound so amazing! I would love to learn how to use this with various midi programs where you could use a midi input and it would visually display the notes you have just played such as MIDI Trail. Maybe do a video on that?

[@juantakito9620]

I N S E R T B U C K A Z O I D

[@Stoney3K]

Makes me wonder if Sierra (or the Two Guys from Andromeda) were involved in the development of the firmware.

[@Mr.Maritime]

Nah, it’s a statement about their success. Translation: “Cha Ching!”

[@TheBandMan]

Stoney3K the computer could send some text data to the MT32 in addition to the MIDI data. The programmers took advantage and put some little Easter eggs there.

[@kargaroc386]

@@Stoney3K It's a MIDI sysex message I actually ripped the MIDI data with scummvm and alsamidi, and you can find the text in the midi file

[@racer927]

@@Mr.Maritime Their success thanks to Roger getting them out from the SS offices and to Sierra On-Line on Earth. Poor guy gets no credit.

[@pylon2144]

So thats why the intro music sounded so sick

[@HexenStar]

Wow! Not in a million years could i imagine that the difference would be so great. I always thought that this was the same sound as the one when you chose MPU-401 in the game's audio setup, with the rest being just semantics. Now, i see that i was as far from the truth as i could get... This device is so good - that it's worth having today, if you are into oldschool games, or just want to shred some vintage synth solo! Thank you very much for this demonstration!

[@Penfold8]

This by far has been my favorite episode! I find myself coming back to this video every other month.

[@RolingRandom]

This brings back memories to my gravis ultrasound ace add-on card. It rocked! For midi it was better than my soundblaster awe32 and was was actually supported by a lot of games :)

[@customsongmaker]

As a Japanese engineer, I created all the sounds for the Roland MT-32 (along with the help of another guy who used to work with Eric Persing).

[@cessposter]

Funny thing his comment is above yours

[@customsongmaker]

Day of the Tentacle was inspired by my sound design, since I captured many of the samples from live-action tentacle hentai.

[@cessposter]

@@customsongmaker what the fuck

[@customsongmaker]

@@cessposter - respect my culture

[@TheRealLF2]

Cap? Btw tell me the names of the team (must include you for proof)

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

Holy crap that sounds AMAZING. What the hell!? That’s so amazing. Oh my god! I’m mindblown! I need to get one of these for these I set up an old DOS PC to play this old games.

[@paulhuhtala4541]

Holy crap. I could only imagine what it would have been like to rock out with an MT-32 in the DOS era. Great video!

[@BloodyIron]

I'm 5:42 into the video and the MT-32 sounds like the future. Holy crap have I been missing out for retro! Must get one...

[@emiel333]

The Roland MT 32 really sounds awesome. Its sound has a lot in common with the Sony soundchip which is used inside the Super Nintendo.

[@MilesPrower1992]

@Raposa Vermelho with the mt-32?

[@chochix]

Awesome video man! congratulations! greetings from Argentina!

[@MikaelLevoniemi]

Using Munt for emulation in dosbox is really easy. Install the software, google for MT32 roms (need two, one PCM and one Control), tell munt where the roms are (activate them in munt), while munt is running run dosbox and use command 'mixer /listmidi' to check Munts device number (most likely it's 1) and add that to dosbox config file where midiconfig is like 'midiconfig=1'. And you're done. All the MT-32 jokes in sierra games come up too - even jones in the fast lane has some.

[@JamisCasusa]

I spent hours trying to "connect" dosbox to munt without success. Thanks to you, finally it worked :D

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Or you can install a Soundfont MIDI softwaresynthesizer and load some Multisamples into it. This way you can get the sound of any Soundcard you want that has been turned into a SF2 file.

[@MikaelLevoniemi]

Does it support Roland specific sound transfer from games to the simulated device? MT-32 is much more than just a general midi device.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

I'm not sure. Maybe not because that would be a different standard. I don't know if the MT-32 uses a SF2 SysEx MIDI Dump when receiving soundsets from the game. I suppose it is just a list of presets and groups, rather than dedicated sounds and samples. I haven't seen a virtual MT-32 yet. However you might use a Roland V-Synth for that as there was a selection of V-Synth Cards for it. One was turning it into a D-50. And who knows, maybe there was a MT-32 card for it as well. But on the Software side for a PC, I haven't seen anything coming from Roland yet. Eventhou LA Synthesis should not be too hard to emulate these days.

[@MikaelLevoniemi]

Munt is a virtual MT-32 driver, it can function with different versions of MT32 (like CL32 or MT100) operational roms. While these devices can indeed function as general midi devices, they song quality is crap compared to "native" MT-32, not just because LA synthesis, but the musicians ability to choose their own samples or effects which they can then upload to the device for playback.

[@psovegeta]

I always learn something new from the 8-bit guy. This makes me really want to get into vintage computer gaming but the oldest PC I have is a HP Pavillion from 2001. I also have the C64 mini but I do have a midi keyboard I would love to try this out.

[@theharper1]

The sound set on the MT32 and later on the Sound Canvas evolved into the "General MIDI" sound set. As others have mentioned in the comments, Roland made sound card versions of the MT32 (LAPC-1) and Sound Canvas (SCC-1). The sound cards made the job of interfacing a lot easier, since no MIDI cables were required. I think you'll find that the chips you identified as ROMs are actually the custom LA synthesis chips. One or more may be a programmable array, so it's similar in some respects to a EPROM except that you're storing a circuit in it rather than code for the CPU. If you really want to hear some cool audio from a DOS game with an LAPC-1, try DOOM or the Wing Commander games. The problem with a pure external MIDI module is that it won't give you the recorded audio of a game like Wing Commander. I still have an MT32, and I used to have an LAPC-1. The important part about the ability of the MT32 to respond to multiple parts on different MIDI channels was the ability to have different instruments on different channels - so it ends up sounding like a whole orchestra. It also has built-in reverb which makes the sound a lot more realistic.

[@jaykayenn]

Back then, I hooked up my PC to a Korg i3 via MIDI Blaster. It changed my life. Especially with LucasArts games.

[@thedave1602]

Oh Tie Fighter and Xwing! so much fun.

[@thedave1602]

After watching a Tie Fighter video using the Roland MT-32, i'm blown away. Had no idea it could sound that good. Been watching other games i remember being played on Roland, wow. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGmtlpqPhrWGi5I

[@UnderSkys]

You should do separate m-32 music covers :) that was amazing!!!!!

[@funkbungus137]

I got here on accident and was like "Holy shit 8-bit guy has another channel" I'm quick on the draw.

[@ronbaldwin6382]

Was one of the programmers on that game. Interestingly enough, I had the honor to incorporate the music and sound effects in addition to other programming. Fantastic team of people. Thanks for the bit of nostalgia.

[@vlgi]

It's amazing that these compositions were so amazingly scaleable, from basic bleep bloops to crazy midi sound scapes, I only ever got to sound blaster pro levels, but the mt 32 is mind blowing, the way it changes the whole immersion of those games is amazing.

[@thygod]

Wow, that MT-32 sounds awesome. Way better than I'd figure was capable at the time. The nostalgia feels that hit with the SoundBlaster samples, though...

[@AlexOjideagu2]

How do you think 80's synth music and dance was made?

[@ihalloway]

10:06 ... I`m having an EARgazm ... goosebumps ...

[@thingsiplay]

The best part of the video (audio). Loved it aswell.

[@eduardosanchez7827]

I remember having a Sound Blaster AWE32 with something like 2MB of RAM and I could load different sound libraries to enhance the sound on many games

[@RyanGoolevitch]

It was fun to play with the module sounds after a sierra game had re-programmed all their custom instruments in the module. I also recall dozens of disks of replacement SYSEX patch disks with banks and banks of completely new sounds you could upload to it.

[@khatdubell]

Like you, i always wanted one of these growing up. Hearing it now, for the first time, it makes me sad to know how much better the sound in my games could have been. The sound from the roland is amazing.

[@wwjjdj]

Love the MT-32, and loved this video! Still really looking forward to seeing you clean up that Atari ST and show off some of it's MIDI sequencing capabilities ;)

[@NerdlyPleasures]

A pair of nits to pick starting at kzbin.info/www/bejne/eH7Qd5apYsRnrpY Parts 6-8 are adjustable by the MT-32's front panel by pressing part buttons 1, 2 or 3 and holding down the master volume button. Also, when reassigning the parts to MIDI channels, the assignment goes from 2-10 to 1-8 and 10. MIDI Channel 9 becomes the hole instead of MIDI Channel 1. The drum part always stays on MIDI Channel 10.

[@IronFairy]

This is also probably the reason they start from channel 2 as a default, since channel 10 has to be drums and it only had 8 other channels they had to start from 2 if they wanted to contiguously use the the channels.

[@NerdlyPleasures]

Channel 10 doesn't have to be drums in pre-General MIDI devices, although it makes things easier when it is when trying to run music composed for General MIDI devices on an MT-32. Channel 1 is typically the default channel for mono-timbral MIDI devices like keyboard synthesizers, so not using Channel 1 complements them. The MT-32's built in piano patches left a little to be desired.

[@lopes4263]

4:41 THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL

[@heimbk1]

Saw this on my recommended and had to watch it. Boy this brings back memories! My friend had a Tandy PC in the 80’s, the first time I heard it I couldn’t believe how good it sounded. I had to have better sound on my PC. This is what drove me to buy an MT-32. Made playing games back then so much better! I think I played all of the Sierra games with it. Wish I still had it now. Great video, thanks for bringing back good memories.

[@ckfvideo]

This takes me way back to when making electronic music was HARD! So many boxes and cables. Man, how far we've come. And what a great demo. Thanks for the video. As nice the the MT-32 sounds the Tandy 3 voice is undeniably a classic.

[@jukpulfer]

the boss chip next to the ram was most likely an effects processor btw

[@jukpulfer]

probably part of the reason why is sounds so good

[@mima85]

For sure it is the effect unit.

[@adam872]

Absolutely correct. The Roland units had some nice effects in them and they sweetened the sound considerably. Everything else sounded second rate by comparison.

[@jukpulfer]

agree. take the reverb, it just sounds so much better than a regular synth simply because it doesn't sound flat or dead

[@dongyeunkim6767]

How many sounds do you want? Roland : Y E S .

[@xenonfx3411]

its a small amount

[@dongyeunkim6767]

@@xenonfx3411 But thousand times better than simple chiptunes

[@TheFranZowsky]

Tandy 3-voice sounds like Sega Master System to me :)

[@Tanzim-Kazi]

FranZowsky7 Me too.

[@creato938]

Maybe Tandy could use PSG as well.

[@thealternativej7994]

Just...without the noise channel.

[@SpeedySPCFan]

Because it uses a PSG like the Master System.

[@coopssouthard6490]

The Adlib sounded like the sega genesis

[@Mozartkugel]

As kids we played all those games as well. First we only had the internal speaker option available, some time later my brother purchased a sound blaster card and it was mind boggling how much more atmosphere was transported by better game sound and music! Some additional time later I got my hands on a GeneralMIDI compatible Casio keyboard, using a MIDI synthesizer application on Win 3.1 to create my own MIDI tracks. My brother claimed that connecting the keyboard to the PC and starting a game with Roland sound option (something we never chose since we were the typical sound blaster users) should play the game music via my MIDI keyboard while making use of its wide range of voices and instruments. I was sceptical at first. The game we chose to try it out was Monkey Island and.. man, we got goosebumps! The sound was so rich and so much more powerful than I could have imagined. That Caribbean flair of the intro music - I new the melody since I had played through the game several times before. But this was literally something else, a totally different experience and a whole new dimension of awesomeness. It was a defining moment in my childhood that had a very lasting impression on me. Your example from 12:30 brought this feeling back again. Thank you so much! You’ve just earned yourself a new sub.

[@NaptownClassic]

Been watching your channel for a while now. Using Space Quest 3, and describing it as one of your favorites made me subscribe. Sorry it took so long. I'm just a little choosy about what I sub to. I'd played video games for years, but Space Quest 3 was the game that made me fall in love with the hobby, and my uncle had a Roland MT-32 that he let me play it on. That only happened once, but I was hooked. My father couldn't afford a fancy set up but he saw how much I loved the game, so a few weeks later we wound up with a PC (I was too young to know which) and an orange monochrome monitor. I think my father thought I was ashamed of this, or that he had somehow failed in this purchase decision. I wish I could go back and tell him it meant everything to me. Anyway, thanks for this video, and all the others!

[@MaxiZamac]

What a fantastic piece of hardware. Thanks to the MUNT emulator, we can enjoy it's sounds with classic DOS games

[@samuelfreeman5483]

6:37 "this contains and Intel 8090 cpu" does that mean theoretically you could run the C/PM operating system on in?

[@AidenOcelot]

Jeez the MT-32 sounds beautiful!

[@walterarresse6598]

WOW!!! The Difference! Back in the days, it must've sounded like a real band, playing at your house! I've always wanted one. I think it's time. I've been thinking about putting a DOS PC together.

[@LifeOnHoth]

The background music on your videos are so enjoyable, it makes me all warm and fuzzy :P

[@flyingace1234]

There is something trippy about seeing Space Quest with such high quality sound.

[@iNuchalHead]

"If I'm late, I won't get to test the drums."

[@marviosantos]

These were cut down Roland D-50's, which were the flagship keyboards by Roland at the time, no wonder they sound so great. That's when the sound was so far ahead of the graphics it's a little "off-putting", as you had professional level sounds with CGA graphics!

[@looneyburgmusic9939]

The MT-32 is a Second Generation "LA" synth, like the D-5/10/20/110... Semi-professional at best, especially if you consider that the MT-32 had terrible DACs that put out more noise than music...

[@marviosantos]

Jesus dude, these were meant as a computer MIDI devices, no need to get all snobbish and start talking about signal to noise ratios, like I said, just compare the level of the graphics to the sound; The sound was light years away already, PC's of that time didn't need anything better, one could even say it was overkill... I have a studio myself, would I ever use an MT32 for recordings? Of course not, but as a device for a computer which could only display 16 colors at a time it was absolutely amazing!

[@MJ-uk6lu]

Ironically, now PC games have pretty good graphics and just some very lazy sound effects. There's no A3D, EAX, just some lossy mp3s.

[@700gsteak]

@@MJ-uk6lu Blame creative and dolby for the stifling of the multi channel and 3d sound industry.

[@MJ-uk6lu]

@@700gsteak That's not what I do. After all in MT-32 times everyone wished to have ability what we have now. The complete freedom to make any sounds we want. Once this stuff became available to everyone and came onboard, it was just matter of time, when those effects will just die out. Why make effects, when you can record them? Anyway, in terms of music, lots of great songs could be created when we broke MIDI barriers. Sure there was analog way of doing that, but when it went digital, things changed forever. Plus, those sound cards were pain in the butt to make all of them compatible with games. I'm grateful that they are gone, but I'm also at the same time could say that it was better in old days. But that saying is just appreciation of what was the best, not something I would want to completely experience myself everyday. Also, EAX wasn't all that great. Will not say anything about A3D for now. I tried far Cry with era accurate EAX hardware and honestly the difference to me wasn't very great. I tried UT 2004 too and meh. Not impressed either. yet it's delightful to see how much effort has been made to make all those things. Now we have far better ways of making sounds to sound awesome without all that mess. That's perhaps the innovation I like the most, making existing technology and making it more functional or easier to use. I don't blame Creative at all, because i have tried their modern hardware and it certainly helps a bit in making sounds to sound better. It's admirable that they are still trying and are still in business. Plus their speakers are absolutely amazing and cost very little. Their speakers from 14 years ago are lightyears behind. Can't comment on Dolby as I never really cared about them in particular and never actually seen it do anything significant except noise reductions in tapes. I'm pretty sure we aren't talking about tapes here, so I can say that I know nothing about Dolby in PC audio. But I have seen Dolby Atmos in Windows 10 settings. Not sure what it does, but at least they tried to do something.

[@tuupola]

There was also something called Gravis Ultrasound in early 90's which was not exactly MIDI but offered similar playback quality. I used to have GUS while my friend had the MT-32. Both were awesome.

[@travistaylor3186]

Excellent video, love your channels. You explain these things so well, and your voice is pleasing to listen to, I'm a huge fan Roland midi keyboards and the MT-32. they're literally my childhood wrapped in black. Seeing your keyboards on the wall made me setup my two Rolands.