The SC-88 never died, and neither has genral midi! If a simple Roland GM plugin was made for Android devices and Ipads, I'm sure it would sell like hot cakes.
There was a Sound Canvas app for the ipad based on the SC-8820 but sadly Roland discontinued it. But Roland Cloud still has Sound Canvas VA which is the VST version.
The demo songs orborborb uploaded was what convinced me to buy a Roland SC-88, 88vl or even an SC-88 Pro just after xmas 2009. In January 2010 I was originally going to get the SC-88vl as there was one starting at a low bid but I was outbid so I ended up with a Roland SC-88 Pro in March 2010 although I did pay rather a lot of money for it at a winning bid of £300. The sounds on this are far more superior compared to my Yamaha PSR-295 keyboard, the original SC-88 still sounds fairly similar to the Pro version.
So this was used for N64 games? Some instruments, like brass, strings and percs, sound exactly like those used in Ocarina Of Time (well, with a much better quality).
There's something not right about the recording. There are missing instruments or wrong instruments in some of the demo songs. Did you use Roland's MPU-401 midi interface when you recored these demo songs?
The songs were recorded from an actual SC-88 (not 88pro or 8850 in 88 mode) using a modern successor of the MPU-401, Roland's UM-2 USB midi interface. The UM-2 has the two MIDI outputs required for playing these songs. If I remember correctly, only Skatey Eight did not require the additional channels from the second output. I made sure that the midi channels on both outputs were being received by the SC-88 before I made the recording. Except for Idaten, I haven't heard any of these songs played on another SC-88, so I can't be 100% sure whether they sounded as intended or were a little off. A video titled "Roland SC-88 Sound Canvas Demo MIDI files" has Idaten on it, but that version definitely sounds wonky, with a whistle in the background. Unfortunately, I can't do any further tests with my SC-88 because I don't have it anymore.
+Ethelin Wu, +rerolledDK I recently recorded and uploaded these demos in higher quality. Didn't compare them side by side but I'm pretty sure the instrumentation in rerolledDK's video is correct.
I think the Virtual Sound Canvas only supports the standard 16 midi channels. The SC-88 has two midi interface inputs for a total of 32 channels. All the songs except the two that you mentioned needed the extra channels on the second input.
Daniel Gregory (MusicWithDan), No, the Sound Canvas was rarely used in commercial game music. Keep in mind that the samples for these modules weren't recorded specifically for them. They're lower quality versions of sounds from professional Roland modules.
Well to be honest when it comes to midi brass and saxophones as I have heard so many people hate on Session Horns Pro by Native Instruments and the SWAM physical modelling VSTs I would much rather use my Roland SC-88 Pro than waste my money on an expensive sample library or VST. But instruments like electric guitars, basses and drums seem to be much easier to pull off with midi but I remember many years ago playing Duke Nukem I thought the end level music was actually played live by real musicians and thought the lead guitars sounded very convincing.
The Roland Sound Canvas VST is really good. Sounds EXACTLY like the real thing, and correctly emulates the SC-55, SC-88, SC-88Pro, and SC-8820. It's really a great plugin.
Sound Canvas is the name Roland came up with for their series of desktop general midi/GS sound modules such as this one. Back in the day these were a less expensive and space saving alternative to a rack-mount sound module especially for use in a home studio. They are still good as a fall-back or anyone who is starting out because you can get them second-hand quite cheap or you can get a couple of software versions of the SC-8820 as either Sound Canvas ios for the ipad or iphone or you can get Sound Canvas VA which is a VST version for use in any DAW like FL Studio or Cubase and SCVA only costs £80.
I have a Roland SC-88 ,I got it from my cousin...I only use it to enhance the vanbasco midi songs...now I'm not using it so much...I'm selling it...offer me a good price :)
