polynektar wrote on 2026-06-01, 20:03:

I've been listening to the "Free Rein" midi non-stop on loop, for days....it's so cool and relaxing. Love hearing new sounds coming out of the old mt-32. Programming new sounds is where the magic happens.

Glad you like it!

polynektar wrote on 2026-06-01, 20:03:

Do you plan on doing a lo-fi replacement for all the available instrument banks, like the MT-32-GM SysEx? I think that replaced 64, the max. That'd be so cool, i'd love to try old midis with those new lo-fi sounds.

Might be fun to do something like that. However, to work well with existing old General MIDI files it'd have to be reasonably tonally-compatible with the expected GM instrument maps... and even just creating custom drum sounds quickly eats into those limited memory timbre slots. One thing I do keep meaning to get around to working on is a set of somewhat GM-targeted patches that rely wholly on LA synthesis without using any of the device's PCM samples, to give a more analogue synth or 8-bit chiptune feel to old MIDI files. All of the above could also be achieved using soundfonts on a more modern MIDI device, but I prefer making old hardware do interesting things 😀

polynektar wrote on 2026-06-01, 20:03:

Also wanted to ask: is there a repository or some collection of MT-32 midis? I've seen old ones from Sierra games and such, but do any more modern midis exist for mt-32? Free Rein is the newest I've seen. I know it probably doesn't exist but I can dream 😀

There are a few examples online of modern music made using the MT-32, but I've not come across any downloadable contemporary MT-32 MIDI files. Even older MT-32 specific MIDIs aren't that easy to find. Other than the Sierra repository, there's a few at one site (including the awesome Dune II soundtrack in its entirety), and others can be found by searching for 'MT-32' on the MIDI Music Collection website.

EDIT- urls removed from my post; it just occurred to me that they might be construed as hosting copyrighted material without the original authors' consent.

Yeah, the 8-bit patches sound like a fun thing to try! Yea, that's why I like MT-32 also, cause basically it can use soundfonts. Would it be possible for MT-32 editor to take an audio wave file, and convert it to a similar sound for the MT-32? I know it's way more complicated than that, but just wondering if it could be possible one day? It'd be an easy way to create new "soundfonts" for the mt-32.

I've setup a new archive page, with midis I've converted to MT-32 midis. I was wondering if I can upload "Free Rein" there, in the "preservation" folder. The idea is that people looking for MT-32 midis have an easy place to find 'em. I don't have a lot now, but I plan to upload new ones often. Mostly conversion from midis extracted from videogames, which are not even GM. On archive, search for "Roland MT-32 - MIDI Music"

Oh and one more thing:
I've been adding LCD messages on the conversions I'm doing, but as you know, it requires complicated hex code to implement. I checked MT-32 Editor, but didn't find anything for this.

Would it be possible to add a tool that creates SysEx to display Text on the LCD display and control the length of time it displays? That's one of the fun things about the MT-32 😀

polynektar wrote on Yesterday, 22:35:

Yeah, the 8-bit patches sound like a fun thing to try! Yea, that's why I like MT-32 also, cause basically it can use soundfonts. Would it be possible for MT-32 editor to take an audio wave file, and convert it to a similar sound for the MT-32? I know it's way more complicated than that, but just wondering if it could be possible one day? It'd be an easy way to create new "soundfonts" for the mt-32.

This isn't possible; the MT-32 has a tiny amount of onboard ROM to store a limited number of short PCM waveforms. Whilst these PCM samples can be utilised in any custom patch, there's no way to replace them short of creating a custom ROM from scratch. If you're heading down that path, you might as well use another device that's designed for custom samples.

polynektar wrote on Yesterday, 22:35:

I've setup a new archive page, with midis I've converted to MT-32 midis. I was wondering if I can upload "Free Rein" there, in the "preservation" folder. The idea is that people looking for MT-32 midis have an easy place to find 'em. I don't have a lot now, but I plan to upload new ones often. Mostly conversion from midis extracted from videogames, which are not even GM. On archive, search for "Roland MT-32 - MIDI Music"

Yes, I shared it here using a permissive CC-BY-4.0 licence, so you're free to distribute the file as long as you credit me as its creator - https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-4.0.html#licenseText

polynektar wrote on Yesterday, 22:41:

Oh and one more thing:
I've been adding LCD messages on the conversions I'm doing, but as you know, it requires complicated hex code to implement. I checked MT-32 Editor, but didn't find anything for this.

Would it be possible to add a tool that creates SysEx to display Text on the LCD display and control the length of time it displays? That's one of the fun things about the MT-32 😀

In MT-32 Editor, go into Options->System area settings. In the Text messages section there are two boxes where you can input up to 20 characters of text to be added into the SysEx file. When you dump a SysEx file to your MT-32, the first message will be displayed at the start of the upload, the second will be displayed at the end. You have the option to export a SysEx file containing only these text messages by unticking every other option in the 'Save system settings' box before clicking on Save. If you wanted messages to appear at a specific time in a piece of music, you'll need to embed these SysEx messages in a MIDI file using a MIDI sequencer that can handle SysEx.

Thanks for the reply!

I thought the waveforms could also be changed, since they are so tiny, but I guess not. I was thinking of the sound effects in sierra games, like "dog barking" and things like that. Did they just create those adjusting the parameters and included waveforms...that's pretty cool. I guess there's no way to automagically create things like that, just lots of manual work 😀

Regarding, the text display, that's perfect! I didn't realize that "System area settings" saved SysEx. I love how it shows up in the screen as you write. It'd be neat if the hex could display below or if there was a button to copy the hex (as it's being written), instead of having to save the Sysex and copy it from there. Just an idea...

Regarding the ammount of time of the text display, I meant the lenght of time it is displayed. On the MT-32 Old, the text quickly goes away since it gets replaced by the notes. I think "MT-32 new" roms don't do this, until you press a button. So what I've been doing, is spamming the SysEx text so that it stays on-screen longer (I do this before the song starts playing, so people can read the title of the song before it begins). Not sure if there is a better solution.

One more note: Free Rein causes a "buffer overflow" on my MT-32 Old. I extracted the SysEx, and sent it slower, thru Falcosoft Midi Player, and it didn't cause the overflow, then played the song. Not sure if anything can be done to prevent the overflow, otherwise.

polynektar wrote on Today, 17:24:

Thanks for the reply!

I thought the waveforms could also be changed, since they are so tiny, but I guess not. I was thinking of the sound effects in sierra games, like "dog barking" and things like that. Did they just create those adjusting the parameters and included waveforms...that's pretty cool. I guess there's no way to automagically create things like that, just lots of manual work 😀

Dog barking is a built-in effect in case of CM-32/64 ROMs. It can be found on channel 10 (drums) at note 100.

I actually meant the "Willy Beamish" dog barking, it plays when you walk the dog. It's pretty convincing, only on MT-32 Old. It's one of the WB custom sounds, along with many others.

That BARK/WHINE patch is mostly made up of a pitch-shifted version of the MT-32's Flute sound. The Sierra guys were very clever at exploiting the MT-32's built in samples.

polynektar wrote on Today, 17:24:

One more note: Free Rein causes a "buffer overflow" on my MT-32 Old. I extracted the SysEx, and sent it slower, thru Falcosoft Midi Player, and it didn't cause the overflow, then played the song. Not sure if anything can be done to prevent the overflow, otherwise.

Were you opening it in MT-32 Editor? If so, do you have the "Hardware MT-32 connected" option set in MT-32 Editor's Options menu? If that option isn't set, it assumes you want the SysEx data sent to your device as quickly as possible. This makes a full SysEx file load 3-4 times faster on later hardware or MUNT, but will overflow an original MT-32.

Yea, it's pretty amazing how Sierra could twist sounds to make into something else, like the Bark/Whine.

Ok, will try that, thanks! I was using Falcosoft Midi player, it usually works fine with midi SyesEx on my MT-32 old. Using the "Send/Receive SysEx" option, does allow me to limit the speed and prevent the overflow. Not sure if FSMP has a way to slowdown SysEx directly from the playing midi file...

I'll test on MT-32 Editor then, as you mentioned.

The MIDI file itself was created in Cakewalk SONAR, with an embedded SysEx data file from MT-32 Editor. It is quite a lot of embedded SysEx data to have at the start of a MIDI file, so any MIDI player you run it through will need to be set to limit its SysEx data output rate if you're playing on a hardware MT-32.

sfryers wrote on Today, 19:56:

The MIDI file itself was created in Cakewalk SONAR, with an embedded SysEx data file from MT-32 Editor. It is quite a lot of embedded SysEx data to have at the start of a MIDI file, so any MIDI player you run it through will need to be set to limit its SysEx data output rate if you're playing on a hardware MT-32.

None of the known Midi Players "limit" the SysEx data output rate inside a Midi file since they should not do such a thing. SysEx messages/events like any other Midi messages have a timestamp (delta time) inside the Midi file that indicates the exact time when the SysEx message should be sent. Since the order and timing of messages can be critical for proper working no sane players change the order/timing arbitrarily.
Properly programmed Midi files usually set at least ~50 ms delay after reset-like SysEx messages and about 5/10 ms delay after regular SysEx messages.
So the timings that define when the SysEx messages have to be sent to Midi devices should be altered in the sequencer/editor.

Falcosoft wrote on Today, 20:12:

Properly programmed Midi files usually set at least ~50 ms delay after reset-like SysEx messages and about 5/10 ms delay after regular SysEx messages.
So the timings that define when the SysEx messages have to be sent to Midi devices should be altered in the sequencer/editor.

That's interesting to read. I've never noticed any issues using various versions of Cakewalk/SONAR with a hardware MT-32, so I'd always assumed it was up to the player to figure out what to do with large blocks of SysEx at the very start of a MIDI file. I stand corrected 😀

sfryers wrote on Today, 20:36:

Falcosoft wrote on Today, 20:12:

Properly programmed Midi files usually set at least ~50 ms delay after reset-like SysEx messages and about 5/10 ms delay after regular SysEx messages.
So the timings that define when the SysEx messages have to be sent to Midi devices should be altered in the sequencer/editor.

That's interesting to read. I've never noticed any issues using various versions of Cakewalk/SONAR with a hardware MT-32, so I'd always assumed it was up to the player to figure out what to do with large blocks of SysEx at the very start of a MIDI file. I stand corrected 😀

If SysEx message timings were the concern of Midi players then none of the LCD display messages could work together with tunes on the MT-32 😀
These messages can only work since the Midi file define the exact timing when the SysEx messages should be sent so they can be displayed together with the tunes.
There is no conceptual difference between large and small SysEx message blocks. Also there is no difference between SysEx messages on the beginning and in the middle of a track. They work exactly the same way.

Interesting info.

Loading the SysEx just by itself, but slower, shouldn't cause an issue, right?

Another note: my MT-32 hardware is the "old" version, which is more susceptible to the "buffer overflow" errors.

polynektar wrote on Today, 20:47:

Interesting info.

Loading the SysEx just by itself, but slower, shouldn't cause an issue, right?

Another note: my MT-32 hardware is the "old" version, which is more susceptible to the "buffer overflow" errors.

It depends on what the SysEx messages are exactly doing. So called "initializer" SysEx messages that are prerequisites of the track (e.g. contain instrument definitions) usually can be loaded without problems from a separate .syx file before the playback of the Midi file.
But e.g. in case of effect modifying or LCD display SysEx messages that are only valid for an exact part and time of the track there is not much sense to send them before playback for obvious reasons...

Yea, I meant the "initializer" SysEx, thanks!

BTW, here is an example well programmed MT-32 Midi file that demonstrates the above practices:
1. It contains large amount of initializer SysEx messages right at the beginning but it delays the individual SysEx messages properly. Actually it takes 8 seconds to send them all.

2. It uses precise timings for LCD display messages (that are interleaved with normal Note On/Off messages) during the playback of the tunes. It delays the LCD messages exactly by 0.1 sec achieving a marquee like scrolling text.

Those are some interesting examples.

I've just been doing some digging into the behaviour of Cakewalk/SONAR to understand why bulk SysEx data in MIDI files has never been an issue for my MT-32. According to documentation I found at https://legacy.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge … ystem-Exclusive, its default behaviour is to insert a 60ms pause between blocks of SysEx data, which can be tweaked by editing an .ini file. The documentation specifically cautions against using SysEx messages of more than 100 bytes in the middle of a sequence due to the likely impact on playback timing. Although I can't see any of this mentioned in the documentation for the modern SONAR release, the default behaviour seems to be the same as the legacy versions, as my hardware MT-32 shows no overflow errors during SysEx loading.

I guess it's just been a lucky coincidence that it's always been my go-to MIDI software! I'll have to try playing my track on various other players/sequencers to see how they behave in comparison.

Falcosoft wrote on Today, 21:32:

The attachment bk3_303.rcp.zip is no longer available

That's a cool piece of music, too. It'd fit in really well with the Descent soundtrack!

sfryers wrote on 54 minutes ago:

Falcosoft wrote on Today, 21:32:

The attachment bk3_303.rcp.zip is no longer available

That's a cool piece of music, too. It'd fit in really well with the Descent soundtrack!

Yeah, I like it too 😀
Some corrections: The LCD display messages are actually on track 11 and not on track 2 so the 2nd screenshot illustration is wrong... Sorry, I was in a rush and did not pay enough attention.