# Playing MT-32 music

Many games from the late 80s and early 90s supported the Roland MT-32 Sound Module to play rich, vibrant MIDI music.

Boxer emulates an MT-32, but needs MT-32 ROM files to enable the emulation. Boxer can also play MT-32 music through your real MT-32 if you have one, with no ROMs required.

## Adding ROMs to enable MT-32 emulation

Boxer’s MT-32 emulation requires MT-32 ROMs that are not legal to distribute. Boxer doesn’t come with these, so you’ll have to find and download the MT-32 ROMs yourself.

The ROMs come in two parts: a “Control ROM” named something like `MT32_CONTROL.ROM`, and a “PCM ROM” named something like `MT32_PCM.ROM`. Boxer needs both of these ROMs.

Once you’ve got the PCM and Control ROMs:

1. Open Boxer’s Audio Preferences panel.
2. Drag your MT-32 ROMs into the panel. Boxer will import them and enable MT-32 emulation.
3. Set up your games to use “Roland MT-32” (or “LAPC-I”) for music, if they support it.
4. Enjoy the dulcet sounds of your youth!

## Playing music through your real MT-32

If you’re lucky enough to own a real MT-32, then you can play DOS game music through your MT-32 directly.

1. Connect your MT-32 to your Mac using a USB-to-MIDI adapter. Ensure the MIDI IN and MIDI OUT ports on the MT-32 are both connected, and that the MT-32 is turned on and plugged into your speakers.
2. Set up your games to use “Roland MT-32” (or “LAPC-I”) for music, if they support it.
3. When a game plays music meant for the MT-32, Boxer will pipe the music to your real MT-32 automatically. That’s all there is to it!

Boxer will play General MIDI music through your Mac’s regular sound output, not through the MT-32: music composed for General MIDI would sound wrong if played back through the MT-32.

If Boxer does not detect your MT-32 automatically, you can force the game to use your MT-32 by adding some settings to its configuration file. This is for advanced users only: if Boxer doesn’t detect your MT-32, contact me with the details of your MIDI setup so I can improve Boxer’s autodetection.

### Further reading

- Choosing a sound card
- An (incomplete) list of games that support the MT-32