Hack a Day » nintendods

Nintendo DS homebrew music apps roundup

Eliot — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:15:00 +0000

The fine folks at remaincalm.org, who brought you the wireless mcu controller dsmcu, have put together a list of 24 homebrew music apps for the Nintendo DS. We’ve mentioned programs like Protein[DS] before, but the list has others like this monome emulator. If you notice anything they’re missing, let them know and they’ll be sure to add it in.

[via Waxy]

New Nintendo DS homebrew music apps

Juan Aguilar — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:15:00 +0000

The Nintendo DS homebrew scene is heading into a heavily musical interlude with a few new apps. This is good news for anyone who liked Protein DScratch but wanted more options and functionality. More information after the break.

The second is a program called dsmcu; it doesn’t make music itself, but is designed to control an external MIDI program or device via WiFi. As the name implies, it uses the mcu protocol to send and receive fader data, display live VU meters, control tracks and volume, and scrub. It is currently in beta and only works with Reaper and DSMI, but the developers are confident that they’ll get Logic and Pro Tools working with it soon.

We don’t expect you to use these as a substitute for Korg DS-10, the commercial Korg synth emulator for the DS. Rather, when used in along with it, these programs make the DS into a surprisingly potent tool for making and mixing music.

Midify now available

Juan Aguilar — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:00:00 +0000

The people at Division 6 have begun selling Midify, a board that add a MIDI port to an DS and many other Nintendo handhelds. The board has 12 outputs, plus two for power and two for the MIDI port. Configuration and mapping are also very simple. This is the same board that was used to add MIDI control to a microwave.

[via Matrixsynth]

Nintendo DS music creation

Juan Aguilar — Sun, 25 May 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Homebrew developer [yaarglafr] recently released this video of his Protein DScratch in action. You can download a demo version here. The program simulates DJ scratching on the DS with an intuitive interface much like the ones on the touchscreen turntables we discussed the other day. It works well with any of the major DS slot devices; just run a DLDI patch on it and you’re good to go.

Aside from what is demoed in the video, DScratch can record and scratch audio directly from the microphone. It also has the ability to send midi data via the DS’s wifi, which in turn can be used to control external MIDI apps. Dscratch also has NDSMotion support. The DS slot and GBA slot DS Motion accessories contain accelerometers and gyroscopes that generate different effects in DScratch when the DS is shook, tilted, and turned. It’s not required for DScratch to work, but it maximizes the app’s functionality.

If you can’t wait for a full version, you can get the Korg DS-10 cartridge. Instead of emulating a turntable, though, this software emulates a Korg MS-10 synthesizer. It can handle music creation and editing like DScratch, but it cannot do midi controlling via WiFi. For that, try DSMI, an open source software suite we covered back in 2006. It consists of software for the DS that controls and sends midi messages via WiFi to the server software on a computer, which in turn feeds it to any running MIDI software. Neither of these do exactly what DScratch does, but they should keep you busy until the full release.

Nintendo DS homebrew guide

Juan Aguilar — Wed, 21 May 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Running homebrew applications on the Nintendo DS is easier than ever these days, but if you didn’t get into the scene on the ground floor, knowing where to start can appear much more daunting than it actually is. The great thing is: you don’t need to crack open your DS and void the warranty. There are numerous peripheral options that handle this easily with no hardware mods required. DS Fanboy has served up a useful guide to the most popular peripherals and homebrew software. They explain the pros and cons of each peripheral along with the installation and uses of a few popular homebrew apps.

Already well versed in the homebrew arts? Then try some hacks we’ve featured previously, like building a serial interface or installing DSLinux and loading it with with software like this on-screen qwerty keyboard.