First post, by canadacow
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Just a quick update to keep everyone informed... I've started the process in making a licensing agreement with Roland with regard to the use of their ROM. I sent them a fax the other day and this is what they replied with: (My original fax is at the end of their letter)
Dear Mr. Beeler: […]
Dear Mr. Beeler:
We have received your August 4, 2003 fax (copy attached) concerning your
desire to license the various samples contained on the Roland MT-32
product. Specifically, we understand that you wish to create a software
emulator of the Roland MT-32 for game purposes that will be released into
the public domain.I will refer your inquiry to Mr. Mike Kent, Roland's Manager of Technical
Relations. However, please note that Mike is currently on vacation for the
next two weeks. I will ask Mike to address this matter with you when he
returns from his vacation.Thank you for your patience.
Very truly yours,
Jun Yamato
General Counsel
Roland Corporation U.S.August 4, 2003
Roland Corporation, U.S.
5100 S. Eastern Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90040-2398Dear Sir or Madam:
Hello. I am writing to you to request permission or legality information
regarding the use of the Roland MT-32's Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)
samples contained in the hardware's (MT-32) ROM. My understanding is
that these are copyrighted, and I would hope that we could come to an
agreement with regard to the fair use of the PCM samples in my work.
Specifically, my intended use is for the creation of an MT-32 emulator
in software. This project is Open Source and will be released into the
public domain. I am completing this project to fill a void within the
gamer community that enjoys playing old games in the manner with which
they were intended to be played. As the Roland MT-32 was a very popular
piece of hardware during the years of 1987-94, many games were written
to specifically support it. Until now, no MIDI hardware or software has
been able to accurately emulate the unique sound of the L/A synthesis
and PCM samples used by the Roland MT-32. My work on such a project
thus far has demonstrated a great deal of feasibility with modern
hardware. To maintain accuracy in emulation, however, the PCM samples
from the original MT-32 are required. Ideally, I would like to be
granted permission to incorporate these samples directly into my
emulator, but would be happy with any assistance you could give me.
Thank-you for your time and I look forward to your response.Sincerely,
Dean Beeler
So, nothing as of yet (and nothing for the next two weeks), but atleast they responded.
On other fronts, I've started a new sourceforge project at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mt32emu. I've created this specifically to enlist programmers to help with the transformation from DosBox to actual driver code.
As for that new update... well, as always, I like to have each one represent a milestone in emulation quality, so the lag time is me trying to get it sound just that much closer to the real thing.