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

You are correct! Tyrian was specifically written on an Ad Lib and converted to the Loudness sound system by Andreas Molnar as well as MIDI spec for the MT-32, but the MIDI aspect was all translation into the MIDI standard and not intended for the original soundtrack instruments. In addition one song for Tyrian was written as a MOD file and also converted by Andreas. I love seeing Tyrian show up in so many Retro videos. Great info you have here. Thanks again LGR!

Funfact: Sierra didn't go half-assed when they debuted Roland support. They hired William Goldstein, a professional TV composer and electronics wiz, to do the music. He certainly wasn't a household name, but he was a legit pro composer and it was the first time a computer game had done that. Later, they also hired the keyboardist from Supertramp to do the soundtrack to Space Quest 3.

Great video, it shows what a night and day difference the right equipment can make. I'm on a perpetual quest to find the best conversions of MIDI music, I feel like different hardware and soundsfonts all have different pieces of the puzzle.

Great work Clint! You managed to cram in about everything I hoped you would say about the MT-32 in under 12 minutes! Only one word: Awesome! Pleasure to watch! :)

great video. the Amiga also supported the MT-32 (albeit in very limited fashion). i made a video about it if you were interested. cheers!

Holy shit, not even the Secret Of Monkey Island remastered version from 2009 sounds that good

"Just listen to some of these ..." *TURNS VOLUME UP* *CRIES TO BEAUTIFUL MIDI GOODNESS*

When you think about it, it's amazing that so many of these games had musicians that cared enough to program full songs.

MT-32 is so awesome! Thanks for spreading the word, more should know about it and enjoy DOS games at their best!

The link to 8-Bit Keys blew my mind. The Roland MT-32 on Space Quest!!! ARE YOU FOR FREAKIN' REAL??? That sound is UNBELIEVABLE!!! If you had that(back in the 80s), you must have been the one. No more 1-bit square wave PC Speaker noise. Too bad that all our sounds are now 24bit/192KHz 4K Ultra High Fidelity 10.1 Auro-3D Fully Immersive Surround Sound. **sigh**

I remember having a Roland General MIDI add-in card that installed on my Sound Blaster 16, this hardware predates that and I never saw one, but I do remember how much better music was once the add-on card was installed!

I was so happy to see Tyrian 2000 featured in this video. Many hours of my childhood were spent with the shareware version of that game! Another fun video, thanks Clint!

MT-32 vs FM synth is like the SNES vs Genesis of PCs. They both have their strengths, and good composition can make either sound superior.

That must have been quite frustrating for game music/sound creators. Create a rich sound track that (at the time) only a fraction of their customers could enjoy and the rests will have to settle for 'beep beep' music.

That Monkey Island track hit my nostalgia so hard that I physically recoiled... and now I have an urge to play Monkey Island again.

Clint, your channel is just downright excellent.

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.

great and very informative! enjoyed every bit of this awesome video 😊

lol the doom drums only thing was awesome. I wanna hear more of these with other games and other instruments.

Wow!!! The Monkey Island title screen on the MT-32 is just phenomenal

Wait... The 8-Bit-Guy AND LGR both got a MT-32 from Anders Jensen? How many of these does he have in storage?

Finally !! Have been waiting years for you to make a video of Roland MT-32 :) I used to own the Roland LAPC card which I bought in a Musical Instruments Store, which puzzled the store owner, as he asked me why a kid would fork out all this money just to play games with it :)

this the same guy who gave 8-bit keys his? does his channel music too? what a god damn trooper. big ups to this man!.

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.

"Background music is from Adventures of Willy Beamish" : thanks for the link to my video :) About the LA devices : there are 3 versions of the MT-32 : Rev.0, Rev.1 old, Rev.1 new. Only the latter has the phones jack and no 'buffer overflow' bug. This later model also introduce a preset duration for 'sustain' (with earlier models, composers had to stop the sustain or to use a fade-out to avoid 'stuck notes' ) -CM-32L is a MT-32 with 32 new sound effects, no screen nor buttons on the front panel. -LAPC-I is a soundcard. It's basically a CM-32L and a MPU-401 combined on an ISA card. -CM-64 is a CM-32L and a CM-32P (a 'patches' or samples module) in one only module. -CM-500 : combines a LA CM-32L and a GM/GS CM-300 (the CM version of the SC-55) in one module. Note that many european games have problems with the original MT-32. As PC MS-DOS games was a tiny market in Europe until 1991 (because Amiga and Atari ST computers ruled the marked), European developpers composed their music for MT--32 'new' or later models. So many european games have buffer overflow bug or stuck notes.

The only downside is the sound quality is so much higher quality than the game graphics there there's a little bit of feeling of there being a mismatch.

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 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.

I had a similar childhood of wandering around music shops. When I was learning to play piano, I would regularly go into the shop just to play the Roland synth which at the time was over £1000. I dreamed about that thing. Fast forward to my thirties, and I bought one. I actually wrote a whole musical on it which was performed in London two years ago :)

There's a reason why the Atari ST became the MIDI controller of choice for many. Excellent choice Atari :)

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

That MPU-IPC 8-bit card is a freaking unicorn. I've been hunting for one for ages. Nice score! I've used my MT-32 with my soundblaster 16, and it does work, but using it with DOSbox and the USB->midi adapter works really solidly. Sierra had awesome support for the MT-32, and I've found that I've gone through most of my game library and played through the older games just to hear the soundtracks. Great video, Clint!

As someone who grew up playing DOS games, I spent a fair amount of time as a kid wondering over all the different graphic and audio options, and your channel has officially cleared up the last of those old mysteries for me. Good stuff, as always

Thank you for always expanding my mental rolodex with your wonderful compendium of computers & their corresponding counterparts~ Your videos inspired me to actually get off my ass & fix up these old machines I've got laying around!

Awesome video, Clint! Hearing Monkey Island on the MT-32 gave me serious chills.

This would have blown my mind as a kid!!! Awesome job Clint!

Thank you for pronouncing Timbre correctly.

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

+LGR *Many PCI sound cards packed MIDI hardware.* Creative Technology supported MIDI in the Sound Blaster line up through the SB0350 Audigy2 ZS, which could use a buffer-isolator for the on-card 15-pin header or alternately the optional SB0250 I/O Drive. The last external multitimbral synth that Roland built for the PC market is the SC-880 rackmountable GS/General MIDI 2 sound module, which supported direct EIA-574 communications with the host 'puter.

This is weird synchronicity i was messing around with Roland MT-32 emulation last night and was wondering if LGR has ever done a video on the subject and blow me when i check you posted an hour before, freaky stuff!

Man, this is such satisfying content. I can't help wanting to continue to thank you, Clint, which is why I have no problem giving you some of my money each month! Keep it up, mate!

The MT-32 is by far the best way to enjoy the music from the first Space Quest game (best sound of any version of the game period)

That. Was. Fascinating! I regularly watch you but this is a new favorite! I grew up always wondering what the MT-32 was on all those install screens. PS. -- Years ago you commented kind words on my Jill of the Jungle music cover -- at the time I don't think LGR was even fully up in running (2009). But a great honor to hear the kind words

Holy crap you just help me remember the first PC game I ever played when I was little. It was Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. I could never remember the name

In "Boxer" app for Mac (it is free Dosbox emulator, the most easy and intuitive to use GUI) they even made a special place for Roland sound emulation - it graphically added with adding ROMs and also makes messages showing like original Roland display.

Clint!!!! I'm so happy you covered this!! :D I've been wanting to buy one of these or the SC-55 for AGES, i really want to make some music with it!

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!

So glad I picked my MT-32 up before retro youtubers started covering this device. Prices shot up virtually overnight now that there is a renewed interest in this beautiful little machine. If you can't get your hands on one, look up SC-55. It has an MT-32 emulation mode. Another cheap option for pure SC-55 are sequencers with built-in synthesizers, such as SD-35. They show up online periodically and often sell for under $100.

Very interesting. Keep up the great work man, I love your videos!

Oh wow. That is a huge jump from PC speaker. That really awed me. But it also reminds me how much ultimate PC gaming can cost, even back in the early 90's

I got one in 1990, second hand. I still have it and occasionally still use it. I've never used it for games though - I use it purely as a synthesizer. I played it, and other modules, from an A-80 MIDI master keyboard, through an AKAI note splitter (which meant I could get four-part polyphony from it while only gobbling up one MIDI channel). Using that set-up I could get awesome drone bass sounds from this, along with some pretty good 80's synth sounds, by combining up to four of its sounds at once. This only got more or less retired July 2017 when the A-80 got replaced by an RD-2000 Stage Piano.

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?

You dont know how long iv been waiting for you to do a video about this :D

Good to hear Willy Bemaish in MT-32 in the background sir!

Man...over 500k subs...that's insane! I remember first subbing when you had under 1k subs, which was way before the epic beard too! So nice to see worth while channels growing this much. Keep on keeping on man. Keep on keeping on.

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.

my friends brother is a superb musician/composer. he had a whole stack of gorgeous midi boxes of magic, gorgeous gorgeous sounds.

Loved the video and REALLY loved the Willy Beamish intro music :-)

I didn't know anything like this existed. Figured "oh, I guess the beepboops might sound a little better", but that was truly amazing to hear.

Wow, when it's a game that takes advantage of it specifically, the MT-32 sounds amazing! I definitely would still go with Yamaha FM synth though... mostly due to my undying love for the SEGA Genesis and it's YM2612 sound chip. It's big brothers included on PC sound cards of the day shared that similar sound which has always been appealing to me. That might be something you'd find interesting Clint, there are some folks have modded the Genesis with higher end sound chips from the same family that are closer to or the same as the ones used on Ad-Lib cards. Makes games like Sonic sound even more amazing.

Ah, the best thing ever for old computer games. I, myself, have a Roland MT-32 (my dad purchased that back in 1987) hooked up to my Packard Bell for games from the PC Speaker to MT-32 and GM as well. I have the following installed in my PC as of now: 1. PC Speaker (squeaker) 2. Lo-Tech Tandy Compatible 3. Aztech Sound Galaxy NX Pro (SB Pro, Sound Things, Sound Source, OPL3 FM) 4. Music Quest MPU401 clone card I purchased back in October last year on Amibay.com for my MT-32 I also have a Roland SC-55 MK1 hooked up to my SS7 PC with the Joystick to MIDI adapter that allows me to hook up a joystick to my PC, and a Yamaha TG-100 hooked up to my Yamaha CLP-500 piano. If I come across either a Roland SC-88 or a Yamaha MU80 with MIDI cables and PSU, I'm planning on hooking either of them up to my Packard Bell for GM support for both MS-DOS and Windows games (like Doom, King's Quest VI: Heir today, gone tomorrow, King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride).

Always find something good on LGR! THX!

The music at the start. It's Willy Beamish isn't it? Really cool old DOS game. Review it Clint! You must have it?

Ultima VII (parts 1 & 2) has fantastic MT32 support.

it hit the music portion and I kind of hit the zone. This thing sounds FREAKIN' GOOD. Thanks for reviewing, and thank Andres for donating!

Nothing beats waking up to an LGR vid in the morning!

Each kind of synth has their own use, be FM, sampler, analog, additive, and so forth. It's just the manner of how you use it. Still though, this tickles my music producer senses. Love the vid LGR!

Tyrian! Awesome soundtrack, great game. :)

7:16 That DOOM DRUMS bit was SICK. Seriously, that's some Metal awesomeness going on there.

8-Bit Keys brought me here, it's cool to see you bring him up in this video

I really love just how clear the sound is.

Ahhh, the dream machine of the 80s for PC gamers and amateur musicians alike. Essentially a rack synthesizer, the legendary MT-32 was too expensive for the "common mortals"; most gamers thought it was a sound card, because they never had the chance to actually see this thing. Nevertheless, this piece of technology art still sounds great, even today. It took me 17 years to finally listen to the intro music of Monkey Island played by this beast. Well, it could be worse, I guess. Thank you Clint!

why is your voice so god damn buttery smooth?.... WHY IS IT SO COMFORTING?!

Watching your vids after a science test is always relaxing

You don't know how long I've been waiting for LGR to make a video on the MT-32. Wonderful job, man!

And now you've got me wanting to dig my ancient MT-32 out of the box and hook it back up to my computer, then fire up some old games in DOSbox and have at it... I remember so many games that had such good, emotional soundtracks on the MT-32. Sierra games in particular were amazing, along with Ultima 7.

If I had this when I was a kid back then, it would certainly blew my mind. For the first couple years, I was playing pc games without sound at all because sound card was considered a luxury item and we couldn't afford it. It wasn't until 1995 when we first got our Yamaha OPL3-SA sound card. Imagine hearing sound for the first time on your old favorite games, it was like playing the game for the first time all over again.

Thank you for this, LGR! I've had an original MT-32 for some 15 years, and it still sounds awesome IMO.

I had a soundblaster 2.0 when growing up and still drooled over the MT-32....

Always great to have some new LGR content, just what I needed to cheer me up! Thanks Clint! :)

As a long time owner of a Roland TD-12 drum-kit/module and TD-20 module, I'm really happy to see this. From my experience, Roland hardware never comes cheap, user controls can be complicated as hell, but in the hands of a master, it's one of the best audio hardware companies.

I had one of these in a cupboard for about 10 years before I realised actually what it did. I received it with a bunch of other music stuff, and I just couldn't work out what it did. So glad I kept it as playing DOTT now with the MT-32 is an incredible experience!

A few years ago I was able to pickup a MT-32 and a SCC device and I'm so glad I did. Sierra really supported the heck out of it and some of there games sound amazing when using said device.

SoftMPU really is a lifesaver. For soundtracks I've gotta recommend Firehawk and Rob Hubbard's masterful shredding on the Ski or Die intro song. Great video \o/

I forgot how much I drooled over this as a kid and yet I had no idea why. I often had Apple machines. I still think of the Roland name fondly.

Ironically, the founder of the Roland company died today at the age of 87. RIP

Aww, that sweet MT-32 sound , especially in Monkey Island, and the old Sierra games. I've got an MT-32 at home as well, but I haven't configured or tested if it works (yet). First I need to assemble a "retro" gaming PC - or find a USB-MIdi interface that works together with the MT-32 , so I can use it with my newer machines and DosBox. Great video!

Cracking video as always. I always loved the Monkey Island theme, it sounds much more cinematic than many others to me.

Just got one recently myself, and now they're blowing up on RU-vid. :-) Good to see these things getting some love. They sound great even today, and especially for their time. So, next up - Sound Canvas?

I love this neat little device, Clint. Thanks for showing it to us!

It's so cool that you're enjoying it so much, and it's also in pretty good shape (functionally speaking), that Anders guy must really love you! But seriously now Clint, I'm going to be honest to Christ about this, DO NOT overuse your MT-32 and if you do ALWAYS mind your indoor temperatures and the ones on the unit! I got burned (figuratively) because of my negligence, and unfortunately the second unit I bought from Japan was in a similar state to my first one. Basically, hardware failure from overheating is a serious concern, you notice when some notes eventually seem to miss (not trying to sound alarming here, there are other non-dangerous reasons the notes might miss) but what happens is that the channels (internally known ad partials) start to break down because either the pins melt or because something inside the LA chip screws up (I'm very knowledgeable about how the unit operates, but very ignorant on the physical, hardware side). I also downloaded a library of custom sounds and a librarian to make them, let me find it and post it here soonish, it runs on 3.1, and it's lots of fun to be had!

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.

I'll stick with Munt on a current PC playing old games through DOSbox.

I've been waiting for you to cover this for a long time. And I've always wanted to get one, especially for those Sierra soundtracks. Great video as always.

Nice pic of the JX-3P at 0:48. That's the synth I use!

Holy shit that was incredible. I can't believe it could get that good. I have a relatively nice 5.1 system and the MT-32 had such depth in its audio.

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.

willy beamish music at the beginning and end of video? nice review, I always wanted one of these, just seems so damn cool.

I have a Roland JD-800 from 1992. I can sympathize with the nostalgia of Vintage Roland sound. There such a great warmth and a certain grit to the sound!

Great video, thanks. When you said that as a kid you always thought Roland MT-32 would be a sound card and not an external MIDI module, maybe you were thinking of Roland LAPC-1? LAPC-1 was basically Roland CM-32L + MPU-401 interface on a full-size ISA card. I had LAPC-1 back then, yes it cost an arm and a leg but it was great. I later sold it for a good price and bought an used CM-32L (which is an external module like MT-32) so that I could use my new Roland SCC-1 General MIDI sound card as well (SCC-1 acted as the MPU-401 interface card for CM-32L, so i got the best of both worlds for different games). CM-32L/LAPC-1 had some extra sound effects etc. compared to the MT-32, they were almost fully compatible with each other, but not quite. It goes so that some "Roland games" were made specifically for MT-32 (like Heart of China, most old Sierra games), while some were made for CM-32L/LAPC-1 (Ultima Underworld 1-2 etc.). The older games were for MT-32 and newer for CM-32L, usually. Usually you could hear the difference in sound effects, e.g. the cow moo in Heart of China is correct only the the original MT-32, while on Ultima Underworld you hear the correct swimming sound effect only on CM-32L/LAPC-1. I still have the CM-32L in my cupboard, but frankly I don't use it anymore, thanks to Munt being so good nowadays. I guess I should really sell the CM-32L, if it still has value...