MIDI - complete noob questions

[smoore100]

I think BadMood also supports external MIDI?

[PhilC]

Ok, I admit this post is a little bit of a tease.

After seeing how keen the OP was at getting midi up and running and then MT-32 was mentioned somewhere along the way.

I dug out my old CM32-L and thought I'd show it some love. It's on test now playing monkey island theme :D

PXL_20240731_130635753.jpg

[BeigeFM]

Ok, I admit this post is a little bit of a tease.

After seeing how keen the OP was at getting midi up and running and then MT-32 was mentioned somewhere along the way.

I dug out my old CM32-L and thought I'd show it some love. It's on test now playing monkey island theme :D
PXL_20240731_130635753.jpg

Is the CM32 a variation of the MT or later?

Now the trouble is with vintage circuit boards like that is I have the urge to give them a good sniff. It may just be me. Perhaps I'm just odd. Love the smell of old kit. I'd be burying my head between those lovely bits of silicon and inhaling deeply lol!

It's fantastic how the old stuff survives for so long yet I have to replace a TV every 6 years...

I remember going on a search for Christmas presents when I was a kid and my parents had bought a brand new zx spectrum. People talk about a new car smell. Nothing like a freshly baked spectrum... My Atari was secondhand sadly never had the full experience but I more than made up for it this time I think!


The MT 120 has arrived but I'm stuck at work until late this evening. I hope I have time to grab a few beers on my way home so I can plug her in!

[PhilC]

Ok, I admit this post is a little bit of a tease.

After seeing how keen the OP was at getting midi up and running and then MT-32 was mentioned somewhere along the way.

I dug out my old CM32-L and thought I'd show it some love. It's on test now playing monkey island theme :D
PXL_20240731_130635753.jpg

Now the trouble is with vintage circuit boards like that is I have the urge to give them a good sniff. It may just be me. Perhaps I'm just odd. Love the smell of old kit.

I remember going on a search for Christmas presents when I was a kid and my parents had bought a brand new zx spectrum. People talk about a new car smell. Nothing like a freshly baked spectrum... My Atari was secondhand sadly never had the full experience but I more than made up for it this time I think!

Well it smells of flux, solder and half a dozen new caps so far. I put it back together and have been messing about with t ever since. I'll have to fetch my sound modules out next as my midi bug has now returned :D

[BeigeFM]

Did you notice any difference in sound quality with new caps? Or was it necessity due to a fault?

[PhilC]

Did you notice any difference in sound quality with new caps? Or was it necessity due to a fault?

The caps had developed a small leak, so even though they measured within tolerance I replaced them. I didn't really test it before replacing them to be honest. I was just happy it worked after.

I've got a Yamaha MU50 on the bench now and that sounds all good to me, then next up is my Korg 05R/W which I bought new back in the day. I've also got a Kawai K4 keyboard which I'll dig out and give some proper TLC when I make enough desk space for it.

I'll probably part with the CM32-L at some point as I prefer the format of the other sound modules.

[BeigeFM]

I recognise the Kawaii name from this video which I think really demonstrates the history and possibilities of the Atari

[JezC]

Oh no...what have you started there @PhilC ? :lol:

Now I'm looking at the Korg 01R/W and DX7s to my right...MU50, SC55 and FB01 stack to the left...then over at the SC8820, SC88 VL, Korg M1, Akai MX73 master keyboard & Kawai KC10 on the other side of the room.

Not to mention the MT32 (owned from new back in '87), TX7. Akai S2000, Akai X7000, D110 and (broken) SC880 currently in the garage...

I may have missed one or two of the collection out - apologies to any that I have!

(Maybe that plus the collection of BBCs, STs and PCs gives a hint why I don't put it in my signature ;))

I admit it, I have a problem... :roll:

Edit : Ah, yes...not to mention the Yamaha SW60, a couple of SW1000XG boards, an MU10, a pair of QY10s and a QY70 plus the Yamaha DSP Factory cards (and associated AX44 I/O interfaces)...

[BeigeFM]

Sounds like you both know your stuff and have some great kit to boot! Slightly embarrassing for me I hope you didn't notice me pushing the Yamaha pss-780 out of sight.

Ive only just learned what rompler is! Thanks Google!

What I want is cool crisps sounds and the ability to edit those sounds and I think that's what the MT32 does better than the Roland mt-120 rompler I've just bought.

Still... The sound has to be better than the pss-780 right? Right?

It's all going to go through computer speakers anyway for the time being lol so it's ok don't worry I'm not too disappointed to be late to this game.

[JezC]

Sounds like you both know your stuff and have some great kit to boot! Slightly embarrassing for me I hope you didn't notice me pushing the Yamaha pss-780 out of sight.

Some (especially my wife & kids) might say too much stuff...

Ive only just learned what rompler is! Thanks Google!

That's a relatively modern term, they were synths back in the day (and with the editors are quite flexible too).

What I want is cool crisps sounds and the ability to edit those sounds and I think that's what the MT32 does better than the Roland mt-120 rompler I've just bought.

Still... The sound has to be better than the pss-780 right? Right?

It's all going to go through computer speakers anyway for the time being lol so it's ok don't worry I'm not too disappointed to be late to this game.

The MT32 samples are a bit noisy too - would love a D50 or D550 but space/money/self-preservation have so far intervened (in the same way that the DX7/TX7 would be supplemented by a TX812 in an ideal world). I could go on but you get the idea.

I've deliberately omitted the rest of the music gear from the above list (a 4 track Yamaha tape-based system, a 4 track and 8 track Yamaha MD-based multi-track recorder plus the AW16G and AW2816 direct to disc recorders for example)...

When you are sure you have the basic setup you want, then you can look at the amp and speakers you want (but again the better kit here shows up any imperfections in the rest of the signal chain), so please be careful what you wish for.

Can I just mention again here that I am aware that I might have a bit of a problem here (slight understatement) - and I'm not trying to encourage anybody else to go down the same path that I have!