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Korg’s DS-10 Nintendo DS Instrument is Getting International Release

Peter Kirn — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:04:15 +0000

Good news: the Korg DS-10, a Nintendo DS musical instrument (synth + drum machine + sequencer) based on Korg’s MS-10, is not going to be limited to Japan, despite what the publisher’s website says. From the DS-10 blog:

Hi there! my name is Tomi from AQI Inc.and I’ll be in charge of this product for international territories. For those of you out there wondering the release of DS-10 other than Japan, well, here’s a good news. YES, we will release DS-10 worldwide and currently we’re making an adjustment with each territory. So please be patient. Your support means a lot to us and we’ll keep you all with the latest update of the international release as soon as possible.

Via Matrixsynth.

Thanks to Mark Mathews for the tip!

Korg Stylus-Controlled Tablet Synth for Nintendo DS: DS-10

Peter Kirn — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:54:07 +0000

Before I start talking about the fact that there’s a full-featured, stylus-controlled, vintage-gear sampling, officially-sanctioned, drool-inducing Nintendo DS synth plus drum machine plus sequencer reimagining of the classic Korg MS-10 analog synth, ~~I have three words you really don’t want to hear:~~

~~“FOR JAPAN ONLY”~~

Correction: Despite what the website says, the DS-10 is in fact getting an international release!

Product info, specs, samples [AQ Interactive; English]

Blog [Japanese only]

Music sample

Via Music Thing and CDM comments (thanks, Thomas)

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Features:

Dual dual synths: Two patchable virtual synths, with two oscillators each
Drum machine: Four-part drum machines loaded with samples of the virtual synth
Sequencer: 2 synth tracks, 4 drum machine tracks, 16 steps
Effects: Delay, chorus, flanger
Input methods: Touch-control screen with real-time sound control, a keyboard screen, and matrix screen

As far as connectivity, you can “exchange sounds and songs and play multiple units simultaneously through a wireless communications link.” Now, if someone in the homebrew community were able to hack that, perhaps you could add MIDI compatibility, so you could use this alongside a DS running homebrew software, or perhaps bridge to hardware MIDI and plug in a Tenori-On. (See previous discussion of DSMIDI.)

AQ Interactive is a bona fide game development house and publisher in Japan. They haven’t exactly had a spotless record, producing Vampire’s Rain for Xbox 360, but they have worked on “Cry On” with Hironobu Sakaguchi (writer) and Nobuo Uematsu (composer) of Final Fantasy legend. (I think that game may have been delayed.) Update/revision: Cavia, the Japanese game house published by AQ, appears to be the actual developer of the engine and the title. They also worked on Cry On and the Dragonball Z DS game, along with various other titles. Nothing really related to a synth, but we’ll see how they do. (Not to be confused with Clavia, the synth maker!)

~~Take action~~

I can’t read the blog, but of course some of our readers can. So, Japanese readers, let us know when the blog says something about “giant mob of people with torches saying something about ‘international release’ and ‘implement open source homebrew MIDI’; don’t know what that means but we’re scrambling to do what they want.”

If you’re at Messe, AQ is apparently there (perhaps at the Korg booth). So, maybe not torches per se — maybe just feed them top-notch German beer until they put their arm around you, laugh, and start writing the international release plan on a napkin. (I’m sure the Germans are as eager to get this as us Americans.)

And if that doesn’t work …

Anyone familiar with the legality of, oh, CDM importing a whole bunch of these and shipping them around the world? (You’d need a DS capable of playing Japanese titles, of course.) Or we could just all meet in Tokyo this summer. Airfare sales anywhere?

Never mind! The DS-10 is going international; stay tuned for details!

Availability: July 2008

Pricing: 4,800 YEN (tax included), which works out to slightly less than US$50.

DScratch: Warp, Scratch, and Mess with Audio on Nintendo DS

Peter Kirn — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:44:19 +0000

Want a killer app for Nintendo DS music making? How about scratching, digitally downsampling, and transmitting MIDI wirelessly (for sync to other effects on a computer)? Yeah, thought you might be interested:

Features:

load .wav file or live-recorded audio
scratch
pitch control
FX “Retrig”
FX “DownSampling”
Midi OUT (wireless)
stylus control
NDSMotion control

I love the distinctive digital-sounding effects and the integration of visual feedback with stylus control. Version status is “pre-teta-alpha demo”, so use with caution, but it is freely available for download.

Protein: DScratch
Via Octatone on the CDM forums

Ready to put together a Nintendo DS music studio? Here’s some help:
Hacked MIDI Support for Nintendo DS: DSerial (that’s hardware MIDI)
DSMIDIWiFi Free Download: Turn Your Nintendo DS into a Wireless Synth and Controller
Mobile Music: Tracker for Nintendo DS, DS Homebrew Music Roundup

Two things I find amusing: one, that the music games built for DS haven’t been as much fun as homebrew music “tools.” Two, that there isn’t something like this as a built-in instrument in Ableton Live. Attention, developers, on both counts.