Plugging into Korg DS-10

By Jeriaska . July 16, 2008 . 12:53pm

The Korg DS-10 is a six track synthesizer for the Nintendo DS, based on the classic Korg MS-10 model.  To publicize the ease of the music creation software in Japan, Nobuyoshi Sano of Drakengard (aka Sanodg of Ridge Racer) gave a YouTube demonstration on how the ability to tweak everything, from the notes, to the direction of the sound, its quality and length, can all be done using the stylus.  The software is currently being localized for release in North America by Xseed and was playable on the show floor of E3. 

While the title is light on text, a lot of the attention in the localization by Xseed has gone into translating the manual. Localization specialist Doh Whang has been demonstrating the software at E3, relating that the instructions that come with the game are fairly extensive, detailing each of the various the Korg DS functions in some detail.  While getting songs from the DS onto a computer or the internet might take some creativity on players’ parts, you can share files over Wi-Fi and even synch up as many as eight portable consoles for a jam session.

There are synthesizer and drum tracks included in Korg DS-10 that experienced and aspiring musicians can arrange to create electronic songs on the software. Notes can be determined either by entering them manually into the sequencer or by playing them in real time into a keyboard located on the touchscreen.   If you miss a note during the record function, you can go back and insert it by hand. You can also adjust everything that you see by touching with the stylus.  If there are knobs that need tweaking on the top screen, you can swap it out onto the touch screen and access it that way.  Different screens can be cycled between using either the L and R buttons or through the stylus.

Patch cabels allow you to change the channel by swapping chords, just as you would on the back of a synthesizer.  The same customizability is available on the drum edit screen for the drum tracks as for the keyboard.  There are eighteen save files total on the cartridge and sixteen patterns per save file.  Depending on how complex you want your songs to be, each save file can range from a single song to however many you can create given the size constraints.  

Moving back and forth between these compositional options allow for tweaking songs to their optimal settings.  If the results seem too rigid, there is a chaos pad that allows you to change octaves, note length, volume or pan from left to right just by sliding the stylus across the screen. Either by freely messing around or by making precise adjustments to the data, the title offers a degree of creative control that is largely unprecedented among videogames.  Korg DS-10 will be on sale at the end of the month in Japan.  Xseed is aiming on having the DS software available in North America sometime around October.   

Images courtesy of Xseed

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