MT-32 in commercial movies / music

Chat about anything related to the QuestStudios Archive, Classic PC Games, MIDI, Etc.

Moderator: Quest Studios Archive moderators

Post Reply
farvardin
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:26 am

MT-32 in commercial movies / music

Post by farvardin »

hello,

While the D-50 was commonly used in the music industry, the MT-32, and probably the D-110 as well, seems to be seen less frequently. The MT-32 is infamous for the noisy DAC and the fact it was targetting the non professional market. Yet I've just found it was used in the composition of this rather famous music / film: The Big Blue (le Grand Bleu): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2lZbBLHB-I

A Yamaha DX-7 was used as well, and the MT-32 use didn't strike me, but I recognized a few sounds and effects anyway... (for example the "Ice Rain")

Do you know of other movies?
jaffa225man
Quest Studios Veteran
Quest Studios Veteran
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2015 6:26 pm
Location: Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

Re: MT-32 in commercial movies / music

Post by jaffa225man »

Sorry, I don't know of any. Although, I read once that the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV show used the D-50.

As far as the soundtrack to Le Grand Bleu you linked, I thought I heard the MT-32 Fretless Bass near the end, but I suppose most synths of that time may have sounded similar, so it could've been the DX-7.

There's also an early part that sounds like Warm Bell, which is one of the better unedited MT-32 sounds, in my opinion, but it uses all four partials, so it will easily use all thirty-two with eight notes playing simultaneously.

Thanks for making me aware of that! I never saw the movie though.
Spikey
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 151
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 4:11 pm

Re: MT-32 in commercial movies / music

Post by Spikey »

According to the man who performed the soundtrack live, Eric Serra used a Yamaha TX816/DX7 ("You should know that 80 to 90% of the Big Blue synth sounds come from the Yamaha DX7 with a lot of layering.") Plus: Emulator 2, the Akai S 950, the Kurzweil 1000 PX and the Roland MT-32.

https://en.soundlightup.com/news/the-bi ... part2.html
Spikey
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 151
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 4:11 pm

Re: MT-32 in commercial movies / music

Post by Spikey »

Very cool, farvardin! Thanks for sharing. I used to be big into movie scores and this is a good excuse to get back in. I would imagine the D-50 was the most commonly used, however the multitimbrality of the D-110/MT-32 means they would have been used too.

The Bob Siebenberg album "Heads Up - The Long Shot" used the MT-32, and the Tangerine Dream album "Optical Race" had a D-110 on it (and many synths!). Someone shared a clip on the Space Quest Historian Discord recently where you can hear the D-110 drums quite clearly.
Rick Wakeman (Yes) apparently used a D-110 on his solo/partial Yes-group album AWBH too.
farvardin
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:26 am

Re: MT-32 in commercial movies / music

Post by farvardin »

Heads Up - The Long Shot is quite cool music, I'll listen some more. I can understand even if the MT-32 is less powerful than the D-50 it could prove to be quite versatile. I suppose also it was easier for musician to prefer the D-110 which is also more practical than the MT-32 (I have both).

The optical race has some strong Roland sounds feelings in it! I've already listened to Tangerine Dream, but I didn't know this album which sounds more "modern" than the other I knew. It can be of great inspiration!
Post Reply