I had a soundblaster live, and it came with an mt-32 Soundbank, I dont see whats the big deal.

Well, this is why I'm asking... If it's just sounds in the ROM then it's easy to get around without pissing Roland off... On the other hand, if there's instructions/commands in the ROM, then It's a matter of reverse engineering those commands without looking at Roland's documentation etc... I'm sure you could argue fair use under the DMCA for this type of reverse engineering: Other emulators have done this time and time again... loadable sound banks for the MT-32 may be considered unusable in their existing form, and with the pull away from gameport/MP-401 ports on computers, in favour of USB, this would make the hardware unusable with existing PC's.... but that's going to piss Roland off to no end, and in keeping with the author's wishes, we should try and piss roland off as little as possible... they've already opened up their GM sound banks to the likes of Microsoft and Apple to allow consistent Wavetable synthesis across all platforms... Not to mention that they have reluctantly allowed the emulator to exist...

I was just wondering if there was a way to build a PD ROM in a simple manner for personal use...

It's all just audio samples. Creating a public domain ROM to replace the one from the MT-32 was a thought we had but of course it would reduce the authenticity of the emulation.
And no, the SBLive does not have an MT-32 soundbank, it remaps channels from the MT-32 to General MIDI.

SB-Live's soundfont is a bit more than just mapping, but it's still a mere approximation.

Cheers,
V.

Has anyone actually replaced a Physical MT-32's default ROM with a new set of default samples? ie: not just loaded new sound banks, but physically replaced the ROM so that, in effect, on boot, the MT-32 had a different Native sound set? (Just curious). If so, would that ROM be available to the public?

Likewise, is the ROM dump size dependant (ie: The MT-32 knows that sample 24 is XXXX bytes large, and loops at points x and y for sustain) or is it dynamic (sample data has a header which points out loop points and sample length)?

No samples have header data. Their data lengths are all multiples of 4kB.

Yet another question, will the emulator allow, or can it be adapted, to load third party patches (Sysex/M32 files) without the ROM in order to create and dump a custom ROM?

Also, what is involved in creating your own patches without an actual MT-32?

The ROM contains PCM samples; custom patches may still involve PCM waveforms from the ROM (beside the "analogue"-ish squares and sawtooths that the MT-32 can also synthesize.) You can always provide a file as large as the ROM file that consists of 0's which would make the emulator "work" with silent PCM samples, but then I doubt you'd hear much (especially percussion instrument-wise.)

Cheers,
V.

Ahh, I see the problem now. Thanks... Essentially, the PCM samples(similar to a WAV file) are static(non-updatable), while loadable patches are actually instructions regarding length. frequency, depth,waveform type, etc... to apply to a specific PCM sample... correct?

so in effect, sysex patches do not contain samples themselves, only modifications to existing samples. Hence the word patch... This explains why I can't get WAV output from any Sysex librarian/editor. Essentially, someone needs an MT-32 (or emulator WITH a ROM) in order to make patches, because you are essentially hacking apart a WAV which is not on your computer.

Now, the legal and technical questions that come to mind... I'll understand if all or part of this post gets deleted... But they are questions from someone who does not own an MT-32, and is not willing to obtain a PCM ROM through illegal means...

In theory, if it's just mathematics applied to PCM Waveforms, if someone took a sysex patch, and a recording of a corresponding note of a patch being played, you could obtain the original PCM by reversing the mathematical process... even if the Sysex patch is third party, and in the public domain?

If this is the case, would it not be legal to create the PCM waveforms as a derivitave work of a song created with currently available freeware sysex patches? Or is that entering the realm of unfair usage and reverse engineering?

In other words, is it illegal to release a song containing nothing but unmodified PCM waveforms (through the use of Public Domain sysex patches), regardless of how horrible it sounds? because that is essentially a PCM ROM dump, correct?

As far as I know, users are given the right to distribute music made with an MT-32, without paying royalty to Roland....correct? and I, as a copyright holder am allowed to distribute my music, and allow other users to modify my work as they see fit... Who is the onus on, to make sure that my song doesn't get used as a ROM sample?

Yes, patches contain 0.000% PCM ifnormation, theyt just tell the LA synthesis chip inside the MT-32 which PCM waveforms and/or "analogue" (saw/square) waves to mix, with which parameters (duty cycle for the "analogue" stuff, time variant envelopes and band-pass filters, key-shift, fine pitch adjustment, etc.) in order to generate the "final' sound.

Yes, it is possible to have patches that isolate the individual PCM samples (even with the relatively nasty distortion introduced by the D/A and A/D conversions between the LA chip, which is digital, through the output jacks, analogue, and back into the computer, digital), but I think the very fact of using such a song (instead of the ROM) will be found objectionable by Roland.) Of course, one can always argue that the ROM can be "scrambled" enough to still sound almost like the original yet not be the original, but that's really pulling it by the hair since the "intention" of reverse-engineering would still be there. In other words, Roland is not stupid. 😀 And, in any case, the entire emulator is at stake, so fudging the ROM issue won't solve anything in the medium-long term.

Cheers,
V.

understood... I was only trying to find a way for me (and others) to get a working emulator without breaking the law... Unfortunately I am at the mercy of MT-32 owners to find a way... Although I did learn a little about how the device works, so it wasn't in vain... I love tinkering and finding how things work 😀