Latest DS Synths & Applications – Seno DS & TonesynthDS

A rundown of the latest music related homebrew for Nintendo DS: Seno DS and TonesynthDS.

Starting with TonesynthDS, a work in progress showing a lot of potential. Using basic waveforms, volume and modulation options like AM and ring modulation it does create some very warm sounds very usable in everyday productions. Load these samples in Ableton’s sampler or just chop them up using the arrangement view and you’ll have some original sounds not found in today’s sample packs. The only downside is the lack of an option to save your work. But, that will be fixed in an upcoming update as it still a work in progress. (Looking forward to that update!!)

Get your copy and the latest updates on the development at: TonesynthDS

Seno DS aims to be a whole DAW in itself, offering the option to create riffs, mix the volume and change parameters like ADSR and monophony, polyphony and trigger settings, LFO and the ability to transpose sounds. It’s looks aren’t as slick as, for instance, Nitrotracker, but it gets the job done and feels very reminiscent to the Playstation classics, “Music” and “Music 2000″.

To be able to use my Nitrotracker sample-kits in Seno DS, they have to be converted to mono first… So, I decided to save you all the hassle. Check out my downloads for more information. (How to load them up in Seno DS will also be explained there.)

Get it at: Seno DS

My new toys – Roland MC-303 & TR-606

With some help from my love I purchased these. She and her friend helped me order these on the web and they were waiting for me on my arrival in Japan the seventh of September.

Roland TR-606

Roland MC-303

Both are such cool machines to work with and both hold some surprises when playing around with them. The TR-606 is fully analog and the MC-303 is a rompler, meaning the TR-606 uses oscillators and modulation to create it’s sounds and the MC-303 gets it’s sounds from a memory bank. A lot of great vintage sounds can be found inside.

KORG DS-10 Plus

A much wanted and sought after video-game application for Nintendo DS, KORG DS-10. AQ Interactive released a new version version for both DS and DSi just short of a month ago; KORG DS-10 Plus.

This version promised a few improvements over the original when played on the normal Nintendo DS, but the main core of the application is in the DSi version. The same game-card can be used for both systems and the DSi version is fully backward-compatible, meaning that when linking up the systems for multi-play, both “games” will sync-up it’s tempo and thus you can still use your old version to create tracks on multiple DS’s. For more on it’s features, I’m gonna let Denji Sano do the talking in his Keynote: Take it away Denji!

Allowing up to four DS to be synced. When used wisely, like say, via à 4 channel mixer, one could create a very interesting song created on four separate KORG DS-10’s, all running in sync. The DSi version features the same stuff you already knew from the original DS version, but, everything in dubbles. Twelve instead of six channels, four instead of two synths, eight instead of four drum-tracks and so on. When used with the new DSi “Dual-mode” this would mean, technically, you could have 8 KORG’s all synthesizing in tune and in time with each other. That’s some bang for your buck! Unfortunately, I don’t have a DSi yet, so I could not test the DSi features myself.

I ordered KORG DS-10 Plus on Amazon, costing me only ¥3150. But expect retailers (if sold in a store at all… Remember how many shops sold DS-10?) to squeeze about €45,- out of your wallet, or I guess, about $50,-. So I recommend ordering the application via the good ol’ internet. Remember that this is a Japanese release, and so the manual will be in Japanese. If you want an English manual, you’ll have to wait for Q1 2010 for an American and European release. But if you already used the original version and read the original manual, you won’t find any surprises in this installment.

Circuit Bending

Things i love about the Academy of Popculture; Circuit Bending.

Yesterday’s
guest, Jan Dijkstra, was one of the most fun colleges i have followed
yet. (Don’t worry Fer Abrahams and Buutvrij, i didn’t forget you guys.)

Jan Dijkstra is a teacher by day, but a genius circuit-bender in
his spare time. His favorite machiner-bending involves toys. Like the
V-Tech ‘Start Smart’, a small computer to help kids learn about
language and simple math. Furbys And music-instument like toys. Use
your imagination, as there are many of these.

To help further explain Circuit Bending (in case you dont know), I’ve embedded this short clip from Youtube.
“What is Circuit-Bending?”

More about Jan Dijkstra:
Leeuwarder Courant (Dutch)

Other pioneers in circuit bending:
Reed Ghazala (Dubbed the ‘father of Cicuit-Bending’, though, the roots of circuit-bending go even further back.)
Peter Blasser (Interview about the ‘Shinth’)

Other useful links:
GetLoFi
Wikipedia