Casio CZ-101 for Atari ST games

[Serblander]

I was looking at finally experiencing the fabled good music found in the Sierra On-Line games on the Atari ST's. As i understand it, for this i would need either a Roland MT-32 or a Casio CZ-101. Having looked at Oz ebay (and international) i could not find any Roland modules, but several Casio CZ-101's. So my question is, how good IS that particular Casio unit? Does anyone here have any experience with it for the games (or other use)? Would it be worth getting and how much is it worth?

 

Any help or tips on this would be greatly appreciated, especially a list of all games that take advantage of it.

[atarian1]

I was looking at finally experiencing the fabled good music found in the Sierra On-Line games on the Atari ST's. As i understand it, for this i would need either a Roland MT-32 or a Casio CZ-101. Having looked at Oz ebay (and international) i could not find any Roland modules, but several Casio CZ-101's. So my question is, how good IS that particular Casio unit? Does anyone here have any experience with it for the games (or other use)? Would it be worth getting and how much is it worth?

 

Any help or tips on this would be greatly appreciated, especially a list of all games that take advantage of it.

 

I just looked up the Roland MT32 on eBay and found one available in the UK. It looks like there aren't many available right now. It was a popular unit from an international company like Roland so I'm sure it was released worldwide.

 

I started out with a Casio CZ-101 and I would NOT use it to play Sierra games unless it's all you can afford or obtain. It's like listening to the ST soundchip except with synthesized samples. No sampled drums, percussion, decent instrument samples, sound effects, multitimbral (more than one instrument playing at the same time) features. The difference is like night and day. In other words, get the Roland MT-32.

 

See my previous post here for a list of games.

[+poobah]

Had a CZ-101 back in the day, I'm fairly certain it has a very limited number of voices.

I seem to recall that getting reduced if you use certain sound generation schemes, or go for polyphonic tones.

It was an inexpensive midi keyboard back then, so there's a lot of 'gotchas' in the design.

[Serblander]

I was looking at finally experiencing the fabled good music found in the Sierra On-Line games on the Atari ST's. As i understand it, for this i would need either a Roland MT-32 or a Casio CZ-101. Having looked at Oz ebay (and international) i could not find any Roland modules, but several Casio CZ-101's. So my question is, how good IS that particular Casio unit? Does anyone here have any experience with it for the games (or other use)? Would it be worth getting and how much is it worth?

 

Any help or tips on this would be greatly appreciated, especially a list of all games that take advantage of it.

 

I just looked up the Roland MT32 on eBay and found one available in the UK. It looks like there aren't many available right now. It was a popular unit from an international company like Roland so I'm sure it was released worldwide.

Thanks for the info. I am in contact with the seller from the UK to see what can be done about International shipping. Thanks for your heads up anyway.

 

I started out with a Casio CZ-101 and I would NOT use it to play Sierra games unless it's all you can afford or obtain. It's like listening to the ST soundchip except with synthesized samples. No sampled drums, percussion, decent instrument samples, sound effects, multitimbral (more than one instrument playing at the same time) features. The difference is like night and day. In other words, get the Roland MT-32.

Wow, that's a surprise for me. Thank you VERY much for the insight. I'm definitely looking at the Roland now (and it looks sexier too ) but certainly hope its cheaper (MUCH much cheaper) than the CZ 101. All the one's i've seen so far are @ AU $400. No thanks. Not just to experience some better in-game music.

 

See my previous post here for a list of games.

Already have. Thanks.

[Serblander]

Had a CZ-101 back in the day, I'm fairly certain it has a very limited number of voices.

I seem to recall that getting reduced if you use certain sound generation schemes, or go for polyphonic tones.

It was an inexpensive midi keyboard back then, so there's a lot of 'gotchas' in the design.

Hey poobah, thanks for sharing. I wouldn't mind picking one up on the cheap to muck about with but certainly not going to at the prices i've seen so far. I just hope i can get a cheap Roland for the games experiences, then i'd be happy (i hope).

[Noelio]

OMG! I cannot believe that I haven't thought of in game music via midi on the ST! I've been asleep for 20 years!

 

Man alive! I've never thought of trying out my midi gear during game play! It's probably the one thing I never forget to turn off when not in use, so not even by accident could I have known.

 

SMACKING FOREHEAD REALLY REALLY REALLY HARD! But happy that there's yet another surprise from ol fuji.

 

Thanks for the heads up!

Edited June 11, 2009 by Noelio

[krupkaj]

It is a pity that LucasArts' games doesn't support midi music. I tested my MT-32 with a PC version of Monkey Island and it is great.

[Forrest]

I have a CZ101. It was interesting to play with, and you could generate some interesting sounds - but it's a different technology than the Roland MT32. The Casio can generate various wave forms, and you can apply different effects to those waveforms. The Casio CZ101 can play up to 4 notes at once.

 

By comparison, the Roland MT32 has hundreds of sound samples, and a drum kit built-in. Much higher sound quality and it can faithfully reproduce the sounds of many instruments, but not as customizable as the CZ101. The Roland can play a LOT more notes at once - somewhere around 20 if I remember correctly.

[Mark Wolfe]

You could also use the Roland D-110 which is a rackmount module, although it came in a keyboard version, and it was the later iteration of the MT-32 but with more sounds but still the same general midi layout which the Sierra games need.

 

I see the MT-32 all the time on ebay but musically speaking, if you were to use it today in a recording, I think you'll get more use out of the CZ-101, especially if you do some of the bent circuit mods available for it. There are editor librarians for all of these synths for the atari and mac and you can go in and fiddle with the sounds and edit them.

 

btw: there are virtual general midi synths you can run on your pc or mac that will provide pretty much the same thing as the MT-32. there's probably even a virtual MT-32, I know there is a virtual "Roland Sound Canvas" that is very good.

 

here is just one I found using google: http://www.artworxinn.com/alex/downloads.htm

Edited June 11, 2009 by Mark_Wolfe

[Forrest]

Regarding MT32 emulation - Apple has included the full Roland Sound Canvas instrument set into QuickTime since version 3, released in 1998. The Sound Canvas is an updated version of the MT32. More info here QuickTime wiki