Gotham Cathedral (Goodbye MT32) by High_Treason

Well, this is the last thing my MT32 will ever do. It wasn't easy to put together, the display doesn't work and nor do the buttons. The FX unit is dead and the module does not respond to controllers, SysEx messages or much of anything else.
This is evident at the end where the original has a downward pitch bend, which my MIDI does have but the module ignores. I had to cheat with the drums as a result and use Vegas to shift the pitch - not much of an issue as most of the tracks have had this done because the MT32 is not in tune with even itself; G4 on the bass patch registers a very high Db4 on my tuner (Almost E4). The tuning range of the module is limited at the best of times but without the buttons or MIDI controls working I was stuck with it. Therefore the best I could do was to move the track to the closest note (B4/C4) and do the best I could in Vegas to make up for the remainder. Thing is, they all do this to some extent, so it isn't just my broken module (though it is far worse). How the hell they let it out the door is a mystery - or it would be, except Roland typically make things the worst way possible with the lowest grade components they can find and never seem to test anything properly before shipping it out to the masses.

Roland's MT32 is essentially a D110 in a box with no keyboard. How they ever hoped to do well with such a horrible technology is a complete mystery to me, but for whatever reason it seems that any device with their logo was hand crafted by Jesus to some people... Well welcome to the real world dimwhits! This module SUCKS!

In fact, it is quite possibly the worst synthesizer I have ever used. It is up there with it's D-series siblings as well as the E-MU Proteus, Yamaha DX100, Korg M1, Roland SoundCanvas and the Roland JP series as a synthesizer I do NOT want to meet ever again. I am glad I finally got a half decent song out of it and can now finally commission it to the trashcan.

I have no idea what the random blip of notes are near the start of the track. It seems to be coming from that problematic bass track. I am NOT AT ALL HAPPY with the track anyway but the module is in no state to record it again so I just have to cut my losses and roll with it how it is. You can see in the image how it is, yes the wiring is fine but the screen and MIDI LED are stuck in this position. Occasionally a few pixels wake up and the module seems to lock up. Also, only a few channels were working so this is multi-tracked.

I may have a go at doing this on the Korg. I may also remove the old Korg stuff as I found that it had problems and can sound a lot better than it did in older recordings due to worn-out components in the analog output circuitry that have since been replaced.