First post, by Scythifuge
- Rank
- Oldbie
Greetings,
I want to use my 486 to compose music and generate FM sound effects as if it was 1990-1995. I have a Roland MPU-IPC-T ISA card/breakout box, a Roland MT-32 and a Roland SC-55 external units. I have various pieces of software and can seek to acquire other programs from the time period. I also use a modern PC with a Roland UM-ONE cable, and I use a Pentium III with Windows 98SE (and a CF card with a Windows 95 install,) doxbox, and 86box to emulate various PCs from the late 80s to Pentium 1 systems circa 1995. It has taken many years to accumulate all of these things.
I want to compose game music AND "professional" music as if I was putting together a rudimentary 1990s home recording studio based around the 486, using MS-DOS and WFW 3.11 (and Windows 9x on newer and emulated systems,) and the external Roland boxes (I also have the virtual Sound Canvas app through Roland's online app, and MUNT.) I found info for a keyboard / midi controller, the PC-180A, from 1995. For sound effects and whatnot, I am using a Sound Blaster AWE32 in the 486, an AWE32 PnP AND a Live! in the Pentium III, and can emulate whatever cards 86box supports.
What I am asking is for information on midi controllers / keyboards and period-correct apps which support both the MT-32 and the SC-55, and be able to use it on any retro system, real and emulated. I am researching the PC-180A, but haven't discerned whether or not I should acquire one. I am hoping for a midi keyboard from the era which I can use for this and other projects. I am googling what I can, though I am having a difficult time finding reviews, tutorials, articles, and docs from the era so that I can learn to create music and sound effects with these things as if I was a musician and/or sound effects guy for a game being made in the early to mid 90s. I like to use real and working hardware from the time period, though I will use emulation and virtualization when necessary. Ultimately, I bought access to a game engine which seems to suit my needs, so I want to create a game which looks and sounds like a game from back then (but with some modern QoL updates.)
A bonus question: Were there any home recording ISA or PCI cards from the early to mid 90s with multiple inputs/outputs? Many thanks!
-Scythifuge