What is it?

A Pi hat that adds MIDI, a screen and audio module to a Raspberry Pi. It's designed to work with the MT32-Pi software but it's easy to add soundfonts for General MIDI, Roland GS, or even Yamaha XG support.

This is the Pi Hat only, you'll need to add your own Pi (I have tested on 3, I believe it works fine on 4. It apparently also works on a 2 with some configuration and reduced sound quality but I haven't tried that). See the MT32-Pi project readme (link below) for details of supported Pis. I can optionally include an SD card containing the MT32-Pi software so you're ready to go.

Don't be put off by the name 'Clumsy', it simply refers to the fact that this design uses through-hole components. The PCB is by Andreas Zdziarstek and is designed to work with the MT32-Pi baremetal software by Dale Whinham. Links to the board and the software are below.

Why did you make it?

I wanted to make my own MT32 emulator, which I have done and I love it. I've made some more using my spare PCBs and components to offer to others who may want a built and tested MT32 emulator without the hassles and pitfalls of building an open-source project.

What makes it special?

The MT32 was built at a time just before MIDI was standardised and so it therefore has its own character. It has its own selection of sounds and special channel handling etc. Music is still being written for it today (the video below is one example). Many games had MT32 support. I've used my MT32-Pi with Day of the Tentacle and Indiana Jones/Fate of Atlantis via the SCUMMVM engine on a modern computer and a simple USB-MIDI cable.