Talk:Roland MT-32

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[edit] Monotonic bit?

"in the original MT-32 by dropping bit 14 (the highest monotonic bit) and shifting the remaining bits to the left, reducing the effective resolution to 15 bits"

Trying to translate this article and I'm wondering what exactly "the highest monotonic bit" means. Also, how does that double the volume? If a 16-bit sound signal's sound floor is -96dB, you'd exceed digital maximum in 10 bits if each bit doubles the sound. Davhorn 14:42, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

The "highest monotonic bit" is the the highest non-sign-carrying bit. Bit 15 carries the sign; bits 14 to 0 carry the absolute amplitude. Shifting by one bit to the left (while keeping the sign bit) is the same as multiplying by two. We're talking about linear amplitude values here, not logarithmic decibel values. - NewRisingSun 19:46, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. Now it makes sense :) Davhorn 21:01, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Copyright status of MT-32 samples

Fair use#Common misunderstandings suggests that Roland failed to properly claim copyright over the MT-32's sound samples. Does this mean they are considered to be in the public domain? The Emulation section of this article seems to be referring to this in the short mention of Munt's legal "squabble", but fails to report on what the resolution was. Pimlottc 13:03, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

The current legal status of the samples is that they are without a doubt, copyrighted in any country that respected the Berne Convention at the time the samples were fixed (Mid 1987). Ordered list of those who adopted the Berne Convention here: List of countries party to the Berne Convention by date of entry into force. As the United States adopted the Berne Convention Treaty in 1989, a ton of laws were put in place regarding the copyright status of national and international works in the United States. Roland failed to demonstrated that they had a copyright on the samples using any of the American provided remedies. However, their Cease and Desist against the emulator's authorship is without prejudice, meaning if they ever get bored and want to come after those involved, they can and will.

Ultimately, however, in the United States, the EFF is working hard to strike down compliance with the Berne Convention on the grounds of it being unconstitutional. The United States Constitution requires the copyright term to be finite in definition. Under the Berne Convention, the United States is generally required to respect the copyright terms of other countries. This effectively includes others with Perpetual copyright. This fact, in and of itself, renders the Berne Convention document in violation of the Constitution. If the EFF is ever successful, this would make the MT-32 ROM samples indisputably within the Public Domain in the United States. - Canadacow 06:48, 2 July 2006 (UTC)