Dark Mode by Decktonic (Korg DS-10 album)

I've just been informed that Decktonic has dropped a new Korg DS-10 album. It's a bit different from my usual fare as Deck's stuff is beat driven to the core. So, expect a lot of drums and bass with leads hovering on top.

Check it out: Dark Mode by Decktonic. The best part is that it's free to download.

By the way, it's good to see those Korg DS-10 albums (still) being released.

The Haunted Mansion - Korg DS-10 Compilation

Lots of sound effects in this haunted mansion themed compilation. All tracks were made 100% on the Korg DS-10 with just enough post-processing to guarantee that they all are at the same average audio level.

I like those compilations, it's too bad there's not that much promotion around them though (huge buildup and then, poof). They would certainly deserve a tiny bit more recognition but that's the way it is, I guess.

Yeah, I didn't participate in this one but I can guarantee you that all who participated are very talented and their tracks certainly deserve a listen/download.

HarleyLikesMusic & DS-10 Dominator UK Tour in August!

Both HarleyLikesMusic (Harley Raine) and DS-10 Dominator (Rutger Muller) make music a little differently, all they use are Nintendo DS consoles which they create electronic music on and use them to perform LIVE! Do no under estimate the power of the music these guys can create on such a small piece of equipment. Prepare yourself for some mind blowing, raw, heavy, dirty and powerful electronic music.

HarleyLikesMusic - UK

DS-10 Dominator - Netherlands



---ROTHERHAM---
18th August, Nintendub Vs Subtitle, Pop Nightclub 10 PM Doors
(HarleyLikesMusic only)
FB Event

---EDINBURGH---
19th and 20th August, Ultrachip Festival, The Forest Cafe, Lots of events going on relating to chiptune and many amazing chiptune musicians playing this one throughout the whole weekend, check out the website for more info!
Ultrachip
FB Event

---LONDON---
26th August, DataBass, Carib Inn (formerly Windies Cove) 10PM Doors
FB Event - (Up soon)

---LIVERPOOL---
27th August, ChipFest 6, Bier Keller 8:30PM Doors
FB Event

Be prepared to have to re-attach your face.

A Journey Through Space - Korg DS-10 Compilation

My good friend Harley (aka HarleyLikesMusic) over at the DS-10 forum put together a space-themed DS-10 compilation called:

A Journey Through Space

It's worth checking out, me thinks. It's hosted at "the (friendly) archive", meaning, you can stream and/or download the 22 tunes on the album for free and quite painlessly.

There's one track of mine in there, called "Milky Way". As it is now and for future generations, it's an ambient track but it was not always one. "Milky Way" is actually a time stretched version of one of my early tracks (can't remember which one though). The time stretcher soft that did the deed is called Paul's Extreme Sound Stretch and let me tell you, it's worth every penny (relax, it's free). It's probably the kind of thing you do just once because the stretched tunes have a tendency to all sound alike. I really like the idea of recycling tunes though.

Oh yeah, the artwork (not bad, eh?) is from another good friend of mine, Chris Lody.

Korg DS-10 Save Manager Tool

There are actually two of them available, one that only works on pc windows, the other that should work on any platform that supports java.

Let's talk about the first one, written by KidQuaalude. This one works on pc windows only (from windows 95 to 7, I assume). Program loads up a .sav file and shows you the songs and the instruments that are in the .sav file. You can save any of the songs and instruments to your pc as individual files and, of course, you can load them up as well. Remember that a .sav file for the Korg DS-10 cart contains 18 songs and 24 synth patches.

KidQuaalude Korg DS-10 Save Tool

See the thread where it all started on the DS-10 forum:

[Windows] Korg DS-10 Save Tool

Now, since not everybody uses pc windows, somebody had to come up with something that would work on linux and/or mac (actually it works on everything that can run java). Well, here comes QauNuckShin (I think it's Swedish). It's pretty much the same idea as above so here comes the link:

Korg DS-10 Save Manager Tool

And, to be complete, here's the thread on the DS-10 forum:

[Multiplatform] Korg DS-10 Manager

With both of these, you need to be able to transfer the .sav file (saved data) from the Nintendo DS to you computer. One way of doing that is to use the NDS Adaptor Plus.

For both of these amazing tools, make sure you backup everything before manipulating your precious save files.

Now, what I really would like to have is something that exports a DS-10 song to a midi file. Would just need, for each channel and each note, the pitch, duration and velocity (volume). Don't care about the instruments, really. But, for that, I would really need to know the format of the Korg DS-10 .sav file (which is kinda why I am quite amazed/perplexed at how those two guys were able to write those tools). If you know, let me know! That would be a dream come true to be able to load a DS-10 track into a DAW like FL Studio, Reaper, Ableton Live, etc. Imagine being able to roughly compose a tune on the DS-10 and finish it up on a DAW. The best of both worlds!

NDS Adaptor Plus

This little marvel enables you to extract the .sav file (saved data) from any Nintendo DS cart and save it on your computer (has to be pc windows). It is basically a USB stick with a slot for the NDS cart. The interface is quite straightforward as you can either save (from the cart to the pc) or load (from the pc to the cart). The "Plus" means that it can handle newer NDS carts when compared to the plain old NDS Adaptor.

It's made in Hong-Kong by a company called EMS. Here's more info about it straight from the maker:

NDS Adaptor Plus

You can order it from here (I am sure there are other sources):

NDS Adaptor Plus at ConsoleSource

From what I've heard, it's quite reliable.