Paul Schreiber Passes, a Roland MT32 Emulator and the Pulsar 23 Becomes a Plugin – Synth Journal
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We mark the sad passing of Paul Schreiber, another synth designer and inspiration to many. And there’s great news for 90s PC gaming nerds!
We are now entering that quiet period ahead of Superbooth 2025, where companies generally go silent as they and we prepare for what we hope are many great new product announcements. It is, therefore, sad to fill that void with some sad news.
Synth Journal – March 27th, 2025
Paul Schreiber
The real legends in our community tend to sit in our periphery, for the most part, allowing their creations to do the talking whilst they move on to the next project with vim and vigour. Paul Schreiber was one such individual.
Sadly, on March 23rd 2025, Paul passed away suddenly. He had been dealing with some health issues and was about to go for routine surgery to set things straight, but he sadly passed before that could happen, which came as a shock to family and friends. Paul had even chirpily posted on social media just the day before.
Paul’s technical achievements date back a long way. He was involved with the Radio Shack TRS-80 computer and the Realistic Concert-Mate MG-1 synthesizer before creating his own range of 5U modules that formed the MOTM modular system, and countless Eurorack modules.
When not designing and building things, Paul could often be found sharing his knowledge and wisdom with others at lectures and seminars. His designs were legendary for their robust build quality and, above all else, distinctly gorgeous tones.
Just last year, he announced that he was bringing back his Synthesis Technology brand, in association with Analogue Haven. We can only hope that we might see some of the fruits of that labour at some point, but it is safe to assume that Paul’s contribution to the community will live on for a very long time.
All of us here at Gearnews would like to pass on our deepest condolences to Paul’s family and wide circle of friends at this sad time.
Serdashop TN32 Roland MT32 Emulator
Were you, like me, obsessed with gaming on PCs in the late 80s/early 90s? Also, were you, like me, frequently disappointed that the music in these games barely matched their visual splendour? Then, chances are, at some point, you invested in an external synthesizer device to deliver top-quality tunes, like the Roland MT-32.
I was a bit late to that game, but I ended up with a Roland Sound Canvas SC-88VL which blurred the lines between PC gaming sounds and a full-on proper synth. But if you truly wanted the best gaming experience, one of these modules was an absolute must.
That said, the MT-32 was a bit flaky as Roland cut a few corners to make it more appealing to cash-strapped musicians and gamers. Internally, it was based on the same Linear Arithmetic synthesis Roland used in the D-50, but don’t necessarily expect this to be a cut-price version of that classic!
Retro gaming trends have seen prices of the originals soar, but now you can have an emulator for a little over €100. With a Raspberry Pi at its heart, the TM32 runs an open-source bare metal kernel on a Raspberry Pi 3 or higher to deliver a faithful MT-32 emulation.
It supports General MIDI as well as the pre-GM MT-32 soundsets and also comes with a GS (Roland’s extended GM soundset) SoundFont. It comes ensconced in a custom case with a full-size MIDI In port as well as USB-C for power and a 3.5mm audio jack. There’s a small display with several small buttons to navigate the simple GUI.
Use it with your games or as a pocket-sized standalone, 128-note polyphonic, 16-part multitimbral synth. It’s a nostalgia trip that fits in the palm of your hand!
You can buy the TM32, pre-built and with a 32GB microSD card included, for €116 or just the device for €99. A 15-pin DOS MIDI interface to connect up to your vintage soundcard is also available for a small additional cost.
Hunt Instruments Pulsar 23 Bass Drum Plugin
SOMA’s Pulsar 23 is a much-loved and pretty amazing semi-modular drum machine from the incredible mind of Vlad Kreimer. It’s a deep, complex and stunning sounding device and Hunt Instruments have now taken the Bass Drum element from this beast and made it into a plugin!
This is 100% official and completely sanctioned by SOMA, taking Vlad’s original circuit drawings and shaping them into software. But they didn’t stop there. They added dynamic and chromatic triggering which means that the Pulsar 23 BD can now function as a bass instrument!
And in case you thought that they’d taken Vlad’s designs and just did what they liked with it, fear not as Vlad has personally tested and approved this plugin. Listen to some demos here…
Pulsar 23 BD is available for both Mac and PC in AU and VST3 formats and retails for €67.32, but is currently on offer at €38.05. You can buy it direct from Hunt Instrument’s website here.
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