LGR - Roland Sound Canvas SC-55ST

I super often have the feeling with some midi devices that they stumble over the notes. And thus Roland does it too. Weird.

Ezydenias

Ahh, nice recordings and an excellent selection. Hadn't heard a bunch of those on a MK1 55 before!

LGR

😀/👍

LGR

From memory it sounded really good. Though it was the only module I had heard at that point.

Alyxx the Rat

Nice! Quite curious how that would sound compared to all the other more well-documented modules. Haven't yet found a GoldStar GS1000R but I've been on the lookout for a while.

LGR

Agreed! Although in this case, it's all pre-recorded and not synthesizing anything exactly. What makes these modules so fun though is that each of them use their own pre-recorded instrument sounds, so you end up with wildly different results from unit to unit.

LGR

My dad got a MIDI box back in the day. Not a Roland one (it was a GoldStar) but it sounded amazing. Most people think MIDI sounds like crap but back in the day, if you had a decent MIDI sound card it sounded pretty good.

Alyxx the Rat

I wish I would have been older during MIDIs heyday. The entire idea of how it's synthesized on the fly using instructions is so much cooler than a live recording of something like everything is in our current world of infinite storage and lossless compression.

Lost Vikings, still a super engaging game to play. Blizzard re-released it for free a few years back!

LGR

Glad to bring back some memories! Pretty sure every page on my first website in the 90s had a MIDI track autoplaying, haha.

LGR

Thanks! Heh, yeah I was doing impressions of them both while capturing without the voices turned on. Iconic performances.

LGR

Almost! Only 32kHz audio instead of CD's 44.1

LGR

Hehe, nice. I'm sure I'll be getting a whole buncha questions regarding that.

LGR

I find it's somewhat the opposite! I never actually played SQ until after starting LGR, and I was drawn to its style because it reminded of my own brand of humor and delivery.

LGR

I hope you recovered promptly!

LGR

SAME. Was stuck with the PC speaker until '97 myself, so MIDI was just magical.

LGR

Thanks!

LGR

Indeed! Also Blood and Age of Empires, many others I'm sure. Was always neat back then to find out a favorite game had two entirely different sets of music.

LGR

I was definitely all aboard that Redbook audio train back then, heh. In retrospect though, I wish MIDI had a bit more time to shine. So much potential for far more complex tunes on things like SC-88.

LGR

Certainly understand the sentiment. There's something to be said for ease of use combined with high usefulness and functionality.

LGR

And still so much more to cover!

LGR

Damn, wouldn't have predicted how much this video puts me in the mood for some Duke 3D... And awww man been so long since I've last enjoyed The Lost Vikings.

Malbeth

Back in the day, around 1999-2000, I was very active in the Microsoft 3D Movie Maker community. Used to do a lot with midi, as that or wav files were the only choices for sound. With dialup, file size was at a premium, and most sites wouldn’t share your animations if they ran over 10mb. This was in the day before exporting to video files was a thing, so everything was played in the proprietary format. Anyhow, just to say that I practically haven’t once thought about midi since then, but since it was a big part of what got me started as an artist circa age 12, this was very nostalgic for me. Thanks for this!

Steve Skafte

"Well that was a pleasantly understated credit sequence!" "I enjoyed the cheesy retro-ambience." "What the hell are you talking about, Max?" "Sam, either termites are burrowing through my skull, or one of us is ticking." When that snippet of the Sam & Max OST plays, I can actually hear their voices. That game's dialog is tattooed on my brain! Great work as always, dude!

RetroSwim

16 bit eh? Sounds perfect for ... CD quality midi?

JennaKay

You got me a huge smile at 4min46s. :-)

Laurent

Always love the enthusiasm in vids like this, it's infectious! Since Space Quest came up, and that bit about the one device doubling as weapon made me think on it - did you ever consciously take any cues from SQ's narration style for your own?

Valora Inverse

This entire video turned my face into the heart-eyes emoji

Peter Metzger

10/10

Myles MAN

Also, the older I get, the more I realize I need to replay EVERYTHING I played before 1998 (when I finally got a SoundBlaster), because yeah, I was able to play stuff, but the PC speaker sound deprived me from some seriously sick tuneage.

Clint, as always, showing the world the important content.

Cool synth studio!

Chris Jeter

I wonder how many people know Descent II has its own unique MIDI soundtrack given that its primary musical draw was its Redbook CD audio soundtrack? ;)

Kris Asick

MIDI files had such a distinctive sound, it feels me with nostalgia just hearing a few samples. It takes me back to that time I had my first sound card (SoundBlaster 8bits ISA) installed. I was kinda sad when Red book audio replaced MIDI in my PC games around 1998.

Frederic St-Georges

I might be in the minority but I actually prefer not having to press physical buttons. I would rather control everything with my mouse via software. A physical volume knob is all I really feel is necessary. And I highly doubt in a blind taste test I could tell the difference between 18 bit and 16-bit audio. Something can definitely be said about having the option to purchase a much cheaper device and get very similar audio results. It makes me think of how some people are purchasing new sound amplifying devices for hearing paired with their smart phones and using them as hearing aids because they cost around $300 instead of purchasing actual hearing aids that cost around $6000. Now that sound amplifying technology has got so good, it seems silly to get hearing aids when there is a much cheaper option that debatably sounds just as good based on the information I heard from someone who has tried both

Terry Lee

It's a little beauty! The Sound Canvas is a mesmerizing machine. I was lucky to pick up the regular MK1 a few weeks ago and the sound brings me such joy. I'm gradually recording classic DOS game soundtracks if anyone's interested: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8KAsc-cFyC-5pqh3cJRXRetiTqR-uWCP

briandemodulated

I seem to have missed out on all the good sounds, all I had was an sb16 (tho i thought that was amazing at the time!)

Blair Harrison

want

Blair Harrison

So much awesomeness with all that Roland sound gear.

Bryndal Dwyre

I love making videos like this for very similar reasons! Never had a MIDI-capable PC until 1997, so I only ever got a taste of what I was missing at computer stores or while visiting friends and relatives with more decked-out hardware. It all still feels so special somehow. My first website played MIDI files, haha.

LGR

I love seeing videos like this. My old 386 never had a sound card so during peak MIDI I only had a PC speaker. I didn't have a sound card until I got my second PC in 1997 by which time MIDI wasn't as much of a thing, though I still remember when websites would sometimes have MIDI songs play on load. This one site had the Star Trek First Contact title theme and it was amazing.

Typically just YouTube! Searching "Roland Sound Canvas MIDI" brings up a bunch of playlists. Here's 4 hours worth https://youtu.be/p_Wc3zU1C0Q

LGR

Man that thing sounds so good. Do you have any places you go to to stream midi music? Currently cooking while I was watching and it was helping me focus haha!

DFawlt Uzr

Glad you enjoyed that! It takes a decent amount of work though, just that little bit took me a couple hours to set up, capture video, record audio, align files, edit together, etc. So it's not likely since Blerbs exists solely for low-effort stuff. Perhaps in the future if I have enough leftover edited footage!

LGR

LGR Blerb idea, a longer video of you just playing audio from a number of games like you demonstrated like with Raptor, Rise of the Triad, Descent 2, etc. It's ASMR-like material for me. :)

Yes, with those glorious 90s drum samples.

LGR

Current day tech? You're on the wrong channel for that ;)

LGR

Great.... What about a video on how to enhance sound experience for all the systems today.. when you have PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Playstation, Nvidia Shield TV - all with HDMI output and only one loudspeaker set ? Is it possible ?

Kim Jensen

The glorious sound of the 90s