Whenever I talk to people around here who used to play DOS games back in the day, they only ever seem to mention either using a Soundblaster card, or the PC speaker. I never really even knew that GM was a big thing until I started posting here.

I *wanted* an MT-32 and couldn't afford one. Some time later I had a Yamaha XG device (it supported General MIDI too)...I loved its sound.
As for GM devices...MIDI is a specification for sending and interpreting messages, not a sound per se, what General MIDI entails is a standard numbering for programs (patches) (i.e an acoustic grand piano should always be first in a GM device) it is NOT limited to sound cards and is still in use today, from making music to controlling light rigs.
So...there.
For example, that lovely (and expensive!) modern synth sends (and receives) MIDI messages and, I *think* since I haven't used one for that long it supports GM
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/keyboards-midi … -80-synthesizer

bloodbat wrote:

As for GM devices...MIDI is a specification for sending and interpreting messages, not a sound per se, what General MIDI entails is a standard numbering for programs (patches) (i.e an acoustic grand piano should always be first in a GM device) it is NOT limited to sound cards and is still in use today, from making music to controlling light rigs.
So...there.

Gee thanks for that 😒. I think it can be inferred from the rest of my post that I'm talking about GM with regards to computer games, i.e. implemented in a sound card or an external module.

Back in the '90s they were rare indeed, at least around these parts. My uncle used to be a professional musician, and he was the only one I knew who owned Roland (and later, Turtle Beach) hardware... sure blew my mind when I first heard it in action.

My first soundcard back in '96 was Sound Blaster 32 (don't remember the exact model). I remember that father was choosing between it and Turtle Beach Tropez+ and finally chose SB32. No, I didn't know about MT-32 or anything other than Sound Blaster and Turtle Beach.

I also didn't know about those devices before getting involved here with DOSBox etc. Probably didn't pay attention before the first mt32 emulation steps were done. Of course I read about it in the setups but since I didn't have it I just didn't care 😀
Now I've got an MT32, a CM64 and an SC-55 😀

In 1990, when I was seriously into DOS gaming, (I think I was serious in it even before that, hehehe...), I and my friends used to hear reviews of mentioning how awesome the MT-32 sounded. All we could do was sigh "wows", "oohs" and "aahs" when we get together discussing about games, when we touch the topic of MT-32 music.

MT-32 was our dream, must-get component, those days. The budget was beyond our reach together, and it's impossible to convince our parents to get that module - a music making machine for PC gaming for $900++??? (local currency equivalent at that time).

After started working, I managed to get all these and more - in addition to the MT-32s, I got a CM-64 and CM-32L which I sold off, 2 CM-500s, one of which I sold off, and 2 LAPC-Is - one of which I sold off too. Still have 2 MT-32s, after selling one. Also have a SC-55 MKII.

I'm still awed by the Roland's LA synths after all these years.

I grew up with a 286 and later 386 with PC speaker. Spend my holiday savings (first job) on a Sound Blaster 1.5 and it was simply amazing. I'm from Europe and back in the day my main source of "knowledge" was PowerPlay, PCPlayer, Gamestar and other magazines. One reviewer owned a LAPC-I and would often mention it. The game sound options, installers, manuals and information on the box also easily made you aware of Roland. Sierra had order forms and marketing material about Adlib, Sound Blaster and Roland.

My first attempt to improve my sound was with a Spea Media FX which I got from Escom. What a crap card. The marketing blurb sounded so good, but it wasn't MT-32 compatible, just to the standard instruments, no FM support and Sound Blaster support was hit and miss with old games. It worked ok with later Sound Blaster + General MIDI games.

Sold it and invested quite a bit of money in a Sound Blaster 16 and Sound Canvas wavetable board (shipped from Vienna, as my town didn't have any speciality computer stores).

So yes, I played a lot of games with Sound Canvas music when they got released. Hence I prefer Sound Canvas myself as it sounds authentic and nostalgic at the same time 😀

MT-32 and CM units I was only able to experience recently. Well this is already a few years ago. I went nuts, purchased all the units, and why not, I have the money now. Funny story, I was in the UK for a while (early 2000s) and did buy a second hand MT-32 and MPU401AT for little money. Maybe 40 pound. I stored it in my parents attic and a few years back took it back to Australia.

Many games do sound a bit weird with MT-32 and will always sound "best for me" with Sound Blaster as this is what I grew up with. But it's growing on me 😁

Coincidentally, my first purchase ever in ebay was a LAPC-I. Got it from Germany.

In my country, both MT-32 (or LA devices in general) and early GM PC devices were almost exclusively owned by musicians at the time. And they were only a handful. So cards and modules that could be used for PC gaming as well were rare as hens teeth. Average wages were about 1/8th of the western countries - as if you had paid 600 USD for an MT-32. As if you paid cca 800 USD now 😳

GM is on the menus for some of the early games that caught my attention, along with gravis ultrasounds etc - DukeNukem3D, Heretic, Hexen, Warcraft. That's as much as I knew.

I never noticed MT-32 on a game setup menu [or saw it on a games box] until fairly recently. Lemmings and Lost Vikings.

I was basically a Sierra's graphic adventure fan (among others), and used to see the Roland MT-32 displayed prominently in their install programs. Also was a great Origin fan - Ultima VI onwards, Martian Dreams, Wing Commander I & II - all played excessively more than I should, and always wondered how the MT-32 sounds.

There are 2 games that comes glaringly to my mind where I prefer the AdLib/FM sounds after "discovering" the MT-32 versions of them - Prince of Persia's music and Wing Commander I dogfight music and sound-effects. Somehow I just prefer the FM synth in these situations.

My parents bought me a Casio keyboard when I was about 7 or so. I was not very interested in playing piano then, but I did notice it had a General MIDI logo... And I had seen that name before in setup programs for games like Duke3D and Doom. So I took the supplied cable and hooked it up to the 486. That is when I first discovered the wonders of wavetable synthesis 😀

I will now forever remember Doom like this: https://soundcloud.com/oplawaai3/doom-e1m1-at … dooms-gate-high

Our first computer after the C64 was a Pionex 486 25sx in 1992. We got a sound blaster 16 CT2230 for it in 1993 and that is what we always used, the CT2230 was later transplanted into our first Pentium computer. Did not know anything about Roland hardware until when in 1997 Bobby Prince released a Doom sound track CD with the music done on a Roland Sound Canvas.
We never heard of such a thing and found all of the Doom and Doom2 tracks on line done in Sound Canvas and were amazed. I still prefer Opl3 when playing doom but the music for Doom2 level 31 is amazing as you can hear the "foot steps" in the track.

Did not know anything about MT-32 until the last couple of years. I got one last month, hooked up to a SB16 in a 386 after watching Mau1wurf's video and did the sierra sound patch and was blown away. I missed out on all this good stuff, I just never heard of it and no one I knew ever had one.

It was pretty hard not to be aware of MT-32 seeing it was always an option in game installs. That, and there was always some smartass kid at school who always had to rub it in that my SB16 was a piece of shit in comparison. I personally didn't get to hear an MT-32 in action until I discovered Quest Studios MP3 recordings years later. In some games it's much better. In others I prefer FM. Definitely NOT worth $600 1992 dollars.

As a fan of Sierra adventure games I had certainly heard of the MT-32 back in the early 90s. They mentioned it in their newsletter and catalogs quite often. As mentioned above, you could also see it listed as an option in nearly every game audio config screen.

I'm an owner of it now because they are easy to find and not as expensive anymore. Now, I can build the machine I could only dream of back then.

I'm glad to hear it wasn't just me! But even if I had heard of it, it would just have been another piece of hardware that I wanted and couldn't afford, so it's for the best anyway.

I'd never heard of them growing up either but I get the impression they may have been more popular in Europe or North America, compared to Australia.

I knew a couple of people with Gravis ultrasounds but that was a few years later. They mainly bought it for doom.

I think I had a Reveal SC600 as soon as they came out (Soundscape card rebadged) just for GM. Also picked up a Yamaha DBX50 late in the DOS era (and they were pricey). Most people that I knew back then had soundblasters or clones. So I was using GM when games supported it and a SB for digital affects. It was a decade later when I snagged a Gravis Ultrasound 1MB (and later an Ultrasound PnP) to play with.