4 ms·

I first learned about Roland because of their partnership with Sierra On-Line and the MT-32. I remember Scott Murphy (Space Quest co-creator) told a story abou

I first learned about Roland because of their partnership with Sierra On-Line and the MT-32. I remember Scott Murphy (Space Quest co-creator) told a story about the first time Roland came to hear how Sierra was using the MT-32. They were blown away by the full musical scores they sequenced (Space Quest 3). He thinks they were expecting Space Invaders like sound effects.

ewmailing 10y ago
A little more context for those who don't know the history of music in PC gaming, Sierra was the first major company to push hard on PC sound cards. They partnered up with Roland and Adlib to promote and sell their cards so they could take advantage of them for their games. Wikipedia citation: King's Quest IV was the first commercially released game for PC compatibles to support sound cards instead of only the standard built-in speaker. Sierra took it seriously and hired professional musicians to kick off their effort. Hollywood composer William Goldstein (Fame) was hired to compose King's Quest IV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19r6RnReAf4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19r6RnReAf4 Supertramp drummer, Bob Siebenberg, composed the Space Quest III soundtrack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxEP05TtOfE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxEP05TtOfE
- Nuzzerino 10y ago
  Wow, and I still remember how captivating the intro cutscene music was in KQIV!
- jeffwass 10y ago
  Yeah, they really did put a lot of effort in supporting a variety of scattered audio and video options back in those days. Kings quest IV, as well as Hero's Quest I, both specifically supported my Casio keyboard. Multi-channel MIDI output using different instruments which they mapped correctly, and even some of the built-in sound effect channels for effects like flowing water or bird chirps. Same with video, I had a Tandy which had its own proprietary video mode of 320x200 resolution in 16 colours, which was specifically supported you most Sierra games, along with the generic CGA and EGA modes. Tandy also had a proprietary 3-channel sound mode which was supported, though the MIDI via my external keyboard sounded way better.
  - Narishma 10y ago
    It wasn't that proprietary. It's the same 3-voice TI PSG used in the IBM PCjr, TI 99/4A, BBC Micro and various other computers, consoles and arcade machines of the time.
    - jeffwass 10y ago
      Was the programming interface the same? Curious because I recall "Tandy" being a specific sound option at the time.
- colmvp 10y ago
  On that note, I'd just like to say Sierra was one of my favorite game companies as a kid, especially the King's Quest series. On the one hand, I'm glad that Roberta and Ken Williams have lived a pretty awesome post-Sierra life traveling the world on a boat, but the kid part of me wishes they had continued creating games.
Hydraulix989 10y ago
Video demo of the MT-32 playing Space Quest songs (plus a hardware teardown at the end): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMmFcs-_4x4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMmFcs-_4x4
satori99 10y ago
I had one of these connected to my Roland electric piano in the early nineties. I was amazed to discover I could connect it to my PC's soundblaster ISA card via its joystick port with a MIDI adapter cable and have an amazing soundtrack to Space Quest. It even displayed "Insert Buckazoid" on its one line, 20 char VF display.
- ewmailing 10y ago
  Here's a picture of the infamous "Insert Buckazoid" :) http://www.midimusicadventures.com/queststudios/mt32-resource/docs/ http://www.midimusicadventures.com/queststudios/mt32-resourc...

ewmailing 10y ago

A little more context for those who don't know the history of music in PC gaming, Sierra was the first major company to push hard on PC sound cards. They partnered up with Roland and Adlib to promote and sell their cards so they could take advantage of them for their games. Wikipedia citation: King's Quest IV was the first commercially released game for PC compatibles to support sound cards instead of only the standard built-in speaker. Sierra took it seriously and hired professional musicians to kick off their effort. Hollywood composer William Goldstein (Fame) was hired to compose King's Quest IV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19r6RnReAf4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19r6RnReAf4 Supertramp drummer, Bob Siebenberg, composed the Space Quest III soundtrack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxEP05TtOfE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxEP05TtOfE

Nuzzerino 10y ago
Wow, and I still remember how captivating the intro cutscene music was in KQIV!
jeffwass 10y ago
Yeah, they really did put a lot of effort in supporting a variety of scattered audio and video options back in those days. Kings quest IV, as well as Hero's Quest I, both specifically supported my Casio keyboard. Multi-channel MIDI output using different instruments which they mapped correctly, and even some of the built-in sound effect channels for effects like flowing water or bird chirps. Same with video, I had a Tandy which had its own proprietary video mode of 320x200 resolution in 16 colours, which was specifically supported you most Sierra games, along with the generic CGA and EGA modes. Tandy also had a proprietary 3-channel sound mode which was supported, though the MIDI via my external keyboard sounded way better.
- Narishma 10y ago
  It wasn't that proprietary. It's the same 3-voice TI PSG used in the IBM PCjr, TI 99/4A, BBC Micro and various other computers, consoles and arcade machines of the time.
  - jeffwass 10y ago
    Was the programming interface the same? Curious because I recall "Tandy" being a specific sound option at the time.
colmvp 10y ago
On that note, I'd just like to say Sierra was one of my favorite game companies as a kid, especially the King's Quest series. On the one hand, I'm glad that Roberta and Ken Williams have lived a pretty awesome post-Sierra life traveling the world on a boat, but the kid part of me wishes they had continued creating games.

Hydraulix989 10y ago

Video demo of the MT-32 playing Space Quest songs (plus a hardware teardown at the end): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMmFcs-_4x4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMmFcs-_4x4

satori99 10y ago

I had one of these connected to my Roland electric piano in the early nineties. I was amazed to discover I could connect it to my PC's soundblaster ISA card via its joystick port with a MIDI adapter cable and have an amazing soundtrack to Space Quest. It even displayed "Insert Buckazoid" on its one line, 20 char VF display.

ewmailing 10y ago
Here's a picture of the infamous "Insert Buckazoid" :) http://www.midimusicadventures.com/queststudios/mt32-resource/docs/ http://www.midimusicadventures.com/queststudios/mt32-resourc...