The Usual Suspects release 88emu, a FREE Roland Sound Canvas emulator for macOS, Windows, and Linux

Developer Usual Suspects has released 88emu, a free Roland Sound Canvas emulator for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

The Roland Sound Canvas series expanded the General MIDI standard with its GS sound modules throughout the 1990s.

Roland’s GS-compatible sound modules offered more sounds/instruments, effects, and editing capabilities, starting with the SC-55 half-rack unit in 1991.

While the sound of early 90s MIDI instruments isn’t instantly appealing to everyone, the Sound Canvas series is considered a landmark development for a few reasons.

Besides introducing Roland’s GS MIDI extension, Sound Canvas modules shaped the sound of classic video games for generations.

Think of the heavy-metal-inspired, but unmistakably MIDI, riffs from the original Doom game, composed by Bobby Prince, who sadly passed away earlier this year.

If the sound of retro-gaming is your idea of heaven, 88emu is for you.

88emu brings together the sound of most modules from the Sound Canvas series, including the SC-55, SC-55mkII, and the SC-88 Pro.

emu88 is available as a standalone app for macOS, Windows, and Linux, and you can download it for free from The Usual Suspects website.

Like previous ROM simulators from The Usual Suspects, you’ll need the original ROM file.

If you have the relevant ROM, the app will provide instructions on installing it once you select the module/device you want to emulate.

The emu88 app features an interface that mirrors the SC-88 Pro hardware unit closely.

You can trigger sounds with a MIDI keyboard/device or import MIDI files for playback.

If you want to hear emu88 in action, Giulio Zausa, one of The Usual Suspects, put together a demo cranking out the sound of mid-90s sci-fi gaming with Overblow, the main theme from Night Slave.

In addition to being part of The Usual Suspects team, Giulio Zausa is the developer behind freebies like RdPiano (MKS digital piano emulation) and RRV-10 (80s reverb emulation).

Although emu88 is currently only available as a standalone app, a plugin version is in the pipeline.

Video game music has come a long way, and these days, video game scoring has emotional depth like never before. But there will always be a place for late 80s and 90s classics: Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and The Revenge of Shinobi (thank you, Yuzo Koshiro), Duke Nukem, and many, many more (feel free to add).