Korg Synth for the Nintendo DS:

Posted By: Shagz
Date:

Another slightly older music story, but still pretty cool: someone's making a Korg-approved DS-10 synthesizer for the Nintendo DS. Pair this up with Protein DS and the more commercial Jam Sessions and you can have your own DS Orchestra!

I think the explosion of music-based software for consoles/portables in the last little while is interesting. On one side of the spectrum you have the fun arcade experience of rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero. On the other, you have simple to complex simulations of real world instruments that could become full-fledged professional tools with a bit of time, dedication and creativity.

It might be easy to dismiss these tools as "toys" (I alluded to this earlier), but in the right hands, I think real art can be made.

When it comes to software-based music making, I've eventually come to the conclusion that all these different apps are just different ways of doing the same thing: playing back recorded sound at the right time and effecting it. Digital music-making is basically sample-pushing, it's not like you're "playing" a computer like you "play" a guitar, physically making sound. Because you don't need a physical skill set to arrange samples, the technology has democratized the music making process, for better or for worse. (That's a different argument)

I digress...the point is that whether it's Cubase or ProteinDS, they're basically doing the same thing. As a digital music maker, it's up to you to figure out what interface, work flow and tool set works best for unlocking your inner creativity.

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