Nintendo DS: Is that a music production studio in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
May 22, 2008 8:20 PM Subscribe
Looking for a new musical toy to supplement your current studio setup? You may already have a MIDI-via-WiFi-enabled* sequencer (1, 2)/drum-and-bass groovebox/audio sampler & scratcher/Mod Tracker in your pocket!
*a wired version is also available.
Videos of the software in use:
GrooveStep
Korg DS-10
DScratch (warning: may be a little loud)
NitroTracker: 1, 2
Compiled from Create Digital Music and other sources.
*a wired version is also available.
Videos of the software in use:
GrooveStep
Korg DS-10
DScratch (warning: may be a little loud)
NitroTracker: 1, 2
Compiled from Create Digital Music and other sources.
I have to say, my DS continues to impress me more than almost any recent gadget. I finally got an R4 and started playing around with homebrew - and it is incredible. Google maps on my DS, with an offline cache? OK, that's nice. But a really solid (pressure sensitive) paint program, which can email nice .PNGs to my buddies? Joyous.
I have nitrotracker too, but it intimidates me.
posted by freebird at 8:36 PM on May 22, 2008
I have nitrotracker too, but it intimidates me.
posted by freebird at 8:36 PM on May 22, 2008
Oh man, nitrotracker looks like fun. I've been looking / hoping / praying for a J2ME-based tracker for my mobile phone for ages, to no avail. Surely someone has to invent one?
posted by Jimbob at 8:50 PM on May 22, 2008
posted by Jimbob at 8:50 PM on May 22, 2008
I just assumed this was going to be about the iPhone, which I don'tOwn. But a DS, that I have! Fun fun funfun. Thanks for the links.
posted by davejay at 9:03 PM on May 22, 2008
posted by davejay at 9:03 PM on May 22, 2008
The Korg DS-10 thingy is neat, but man, I really wish they'd just go ahead and release an updated version of the MS-20 ala the new-style MiniMoog instead of all these MIDI controllers and softsynths and other geegaws that just use its interface. The MS-20 is one of the most sought-after classic analog synths ever made, and they'd make a killing. They seem to want to target "DJ Shithead" dilettantes with prosumer "groove box" shit like the ElecTribes that will go forgotten into a closet after a year or two instead, though.
posted by DecemberBoy at 9:14 PM on May 22, 2008
posted by DecemberBoy at 9:14 PM on May 22, 2008
There are plenty of good modulars being made today DecemberBoy. And if you must go semi-modular, why get a limited MS-20 when you could get this?
posted by Spacelegoman at 9:20 PM on May 22, 2008
posted by Spacelegoman at 9:20 PM on May 22, 2008
I've got a basic 2 VCO/1 VCF/2 VCA MOTM system, actually. I don't use it much, but I always wanted a modular and it's fun to play with. It's not so much the semi-modularity of the MS-20, though, as the sound. The MS-20 can do some of the fattest analog bass sounds known to man. You might have noticed that one of the available MOTM filters is a clone of the MS-20 VCF, and MS-20 VCF clones are a fixture in homebrew analogs (partly because the schematic is widely available, but also because they sound great).
Actually, I'm not even sure I'd buy one if Korg did rerelease them, as I already have more hardware than I use and I'm mostly into software now, but plenty of people would.
posted by DecemberBoy at 10:38 PM on May 22, 2008
Actually, I'm not even sure I'd buy one if Korg did rerelease them, as I already have more hardware than I use and I'm mostly into software now, but plenty of people would.
posted by DecemberBoy at 10:38 PM on May 22, 2008
DB, you might get a kick out of this: a modular synth the size of a small stack of CDs. And MIDI-compatible, too!
posted by lekvar at 11:05 PM on May 22, 2008
posted by lekvar at 11:05 PM on May 22, 2008
Hey ya'll I make all my music in NitroTracker.
Here is my linkz if you are interested.
It is a fun powerful little program.
posted by cloeburner at 7:00 AM on May 23, 2008
Here is my linkz if you are interested.
It is a fun powerful little program.
posted by cloeburner at 7:00 AM on May 23, 2008
Holy shit, this stuff is amazing. Now I just need to find my SD card reader for my DS. And find some way to get it to work on my network, with which I've been having a fair amount of trouble.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 7:37 AM on May 23, 2008
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 7:37 AM on May 23, 2008
I made a few of the samples bundled with DScratch -- Pierre Gorgull is an awesome guy, a skilled programmer, and solid interface designer. Cool to see this here on MeFi.
posted by fake at 8:32 AM on May 23, 2008
posted by fake at 8:32 AM on May 23, 2008
Colour me crotchety, but it just ain't a MIDI sequencer unless it's got ten or twenty layers of menus, a low-contrast two-line LCD screen, about half a dozen dead buttons, an obsolete and unpredictable disk drive, an inch-thick Engrish user's manual, and sorely incomplete MIDI implementation.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:50 AM on May 23, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 8:50 AM on May 23, 2008 [3 favorites]
Colour me crotchety, but it just ain't a MIDI sequencer unless...
Orbital ran all their live shows for the duration of their existence off of Alesis MMT-8s, which are exactly what you describe. They had to bring several of them to every show in the hopes that two of them would work reliably.
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:21 PM on May 23, 2008
Orbital ran all their live shows for the duration of their existence off of Alesis MMT-8s, which are exactly what you describe. They had to bring several of them to every show in the hopes that two of them would work reliably.
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:21 PM on May 23, 2008
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posted by danb at 8:35 PM on May 22, 2008 [1 favorite]