ds music apps
updated 21/apr/09 with new programs!
the nintendo ds is an excellent platform for homebrew audio software - here’s a mostly complete list of some of the excellent free and commercially available sound toys that are available for the platform.
bliptracker
by dan/remaincalm
drum machine & sequencer
(source code available)dsmcu
by dan/remaincalm
MCU-compatible mix controllerSeno
by A128
grid-based sequencer
groovestep
by bioroid
incredibly powerful sequencer/synthds-10
by korg
commercial sequencer, very good!
cellsDS
by Clone45
experimental lua sequencer
nitrotracker
by tobw
awesome tracker, just updated to v0.4!kaosDS
by tobw
converts touchscreen data into midi over wifi
Protein[DS]
(dscratch) by gorgull
![protein[DS]](/wp-content/dsapps/protein.png)
sample looper, scratcher, glitcher
dstep v2
by evil jed
cool looking sequencer
glitchDS
by Clone45
really powerful cellular automation sequencerrepeaterDS
by Clone45
stuttering sample player
midipad
by Benji7905
a better kaoss clone
toypiano
by Brian Grogan Jr
sampled piano
(source code available)
dstar
by therain
midi sequencer
monome ds
by GrizzlyAdams
monome emulation (midi control)
(source code available)
soundcells
by pakl
cool-looking experimental synth
(source code available)
ukulele
by pakl
sampled ukulele
dssynth
by evan morris
dsmi synth, looks interesting!
(haven’t tried it yet, source code available)
MIDI Jammer
by Andrew Buch
graphical midi tool
AXE
by tepples
chiptune solo! great fun
(source code available)
pulse ds
by tobw
psg midi synth
(source code available)
sampling keyboard
by tobw
kinda like a casio sk-1
(source code available)drummers v2
(haven’t tried it yet)
FUDI Kaos DS
(haven’t tried it yet)
knobs and sliders
(haven’t tried it yet)
drum me
sampled drum kit
strum me
sampled guitar
please leave a comment if i’ve missed any!
if anyone knows anything about the wireless protocol korg are using for that thing, can they please contact me? cheers.
June 25th, 2008 at 4:54 am
Good idea.
Here;s some I use:
drummersV2 (http://www.palib.info/Lien/index.html)
dsmidikeyboard (dsmidiwifi.tobw.net )
dstepV2 (http://www.soundpunk.com/index.php?topic=1340.0)
FUDIKaosDS (http://mccormick.cx/projects/KnobsAndSlidersDS/page/download)
KnobsAndSlidersDS (http://mccormick.cx/projects/KnobsAndSlidersDS/page/download)
MIDI-Jammer (http://www.andrewbuch.com/prog.php)
MIDIPad DS (http://forum.gbadev.org/viewtopic.php?t=13904&sid=1094d910f35a29c669fbaf17679f8aca)
PulseDS (dsmidiwifi.tobw.net )
June 25th, 2008 at 8:17 am
awesome, i’ll add those to the list tonight. some there i haven’t seen before. cheers!
June 25th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
[...] http://remaincalm.org/index.php/ds-music-apps [...]
June 26th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
wow great list!
here are two to add to it
SoundCells 1.00 Release and Ukulele DS 1.00
http://patryk.ndshb.com/
June 26th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
thanks for the tips - i’ve added most of those now
June 26th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
[...] remain calm » ds music apps - the nintendo ds is an excellent platform for homebrew audio software - here’s an [...]
June 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
What “backup module” is needed to use them?
Will a M3 DS Real work?
June 30th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
m3 real is an autopatching card so it should “just work”. probably.
in case it doesn’t, some people have had success by starting dsorganize first and running their homebrew apps from there.
i use the r4ds, so that’s the only one i’d personally guarantee - i know a lot of homebrew authors use this one to develop on, it’s quite reliable. i used to own a supercard cf and that also worked for most software (but it sticks out pretty bad).
June 30th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
PianoVero - I don’t have a source, but there should be a mirror download available at http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=39000 if you have an account.
On a side note, does this textbox not allow capital letters or is there something wrong with my browser/keyboard?
June 30th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Scratch that, apparently the capital letters appear when submitting the comment, though they appear lowercase when typing the comment in the first place.
June 30th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
ah - sorry about that. there’s a css rule that enforces lower-case.
i’ll add that other app in the next few days, thanks!
June 30th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
[...] Remain Calm has put together a comprehensive list of 24 music apps for the Nintendo DS. Some of the apps listed include sequencers, sampled instruments, turntable emulators, and mixing consoles. I personally can’t wait to fire up Protein[DS] and try out some touchscreen scratching on the perfectly good DS that has somehow been laying around my house unused for the past 9 months. [...]
June 30th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
[...] Link Read More Nintendo DS Homebrew GuideiPhone Firmware reveals some hidden apps for the futureHand-held Guide Dog Gets You Where You’re GoingKORG DS-10 Software Hits Nintendo DSRun Athletics Nintendo shoes lock in gamer status TAGS: audio, ds, homebrew, MIDI, music, nintendo, Software SHARE: Stumble Upon, Digg, del.icio.us, Reddit this, SlashdotSend to a FriendPermalink [...]
July 1st, 2008 at 3:55 am
remaincalm.org: Thanks for your reply.
July 7th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Hey all. This sounds fascinating, and I would love to get some of this stuff.
However I am fairly Tech ignorant, and have no idea on how to get or use these things!
Could someone give me an idea what it takes, or how I do it?
July 7th, 2008 at 7:36 am
rev, you need:
- a nintendo ds
- an r4ds cartridge with a micro-sd card (or equivalent - you can get these all over the place)
that’s enough for most of the above - you just extract the program you want to run to the micro-sd card, put it in the r4ds and run it from the nintendo.
some other ones require you to download a program to your pc called a ‘dldi patcher’, and double-click the music programs after you extract them to the micro-sd. http://chishm.drunkencoders.com/DLDI/ has a program linked here: http://chishm.drunkencoders.com/DLDI/downloads/DLDIrcSetup.exe that’ll do what you want if you’re using windows.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:09 am
Hi there, Cool post on ds music apps, I’m looking forward to reading more of your site.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:06 am
[...] DS Homebrew Instrument Roundup - An excellent roundup from remaincalm.org of homebrew audio software and sonic toys which allow musicians to turn the Nintendo DS into a cheap synth / sequencer / drum machine with an interesting input mechanism. [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
can’t get DS protein working on my dsxtreme card. it loads up but can’t get it going.have swaped drivers etc. anyone got idea what the story is? its suppose to work with my card. have spent hours messing with it but still no joy ;-(
July 8th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
have you extracted all the files on there to the correct location? check the readme files to make sure you’re putting everything in the right spot.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
yea think so. it loads up but nothing happens. i can load up sample,go into scratch mode but its like the samples dont load up. theres no wave on the screen. im just wondering really if it works with my card. its suppose tooo?? thanks for reply
July 8th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
have you done all of these steps? pay special attention to step 3, step 4 (it needs to be in /proteinds/ in your card!)
(from the readme on http://gorgull.googlepages.com/home2 )
1. unzip the archive
2. enter the “ProteinDS” directory
3. DLDI patch “ProteinDS.nds” file with your linker’s DLDI device patch (more info about DLDI on http://chishm.drunkencoders.com/DLDI/index.html)
–> 4. copy the whole “ProteinDS” directory at the root of your linker’s filesystem <–
5. place your own samples in “/ProteinDS/Samples/” directory
6. launch “ProteinDS.nds” on your DS
July 8th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
sweeet. i just started from scratch. didnt know u had 2 hole L & r buttens to get working. happy days cos been trying it for ages. cheers
July 9th, 2008 at 1:01 am
[...] collection of homebrew Nintendo DS music apps via Waxy. Source code available for some of them too. More: Nintendo DS [...]
July 9th, 2008 at 1:11 am
[...] collection of homebrew Nintendo DS music apps via Waxy. Source code available for some of them [...]
July 20th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
THX FOR THE APPS!
August 7th, 2008 at 6:53 am
wow this is amazing. Now i can make music where ever i go!
August 8th, 2008 at 4:29 am
[...] Remain Calm has a collection of home brew music making apps for the Nintendo DS. [...]
August 12th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
some of those look alright, but psp has better!
August 13th, 2008 at 8:45 am
well… psp has better sound quality and probably a bit more grunt. but my ds is pink, so i totally win. also, the touch screen is great for live stuff.
some of these programs are really good! there’s a couple of new ones i need to add as well (and the korg ds-10 is gorgeous).
August 17th, 2008 at 11:42 am
excellent! I just bought a ds yesterday after using psp music homebrew for about a year (it was a tough choice between psp and ds originally).. so anyway I saw this site and had to buy one because of the upcoming release of the ds-10, and all this great stuff!
so im thinking about buying a rds4, but I want to buy something that all of these programs should work on! whos got a lot of these and which card do you have?
August 18th, 2008 at 9:48 am
i use the r4ds to develop on and it works great with all of those apps. cheers!
September 4th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
hey guys…
i have a problem with the repeater ds…
apparently when i boot up the sampler it states,
‘unable to load sounds from sound file”
and i cant use it…
so pls guys…help me out here…
btw does the reapeater ds need midicables?
thanx!!
October 14th, 2008 at 7:37 am
omg I had no idea all these great music apps existed for DS !!!
Thx for the great post !
You can check out some more nintendo homebrew mods at my homepage
http://www.snesclassics.com/
October 17th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Can you apply any of these to the 1st version of the DS?
October 17th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Does anyone know of a hack for the 1st version of the DS that would make it double touch screen simultaneously? I have the option to switch touch screens between the 2 so I would assume you could make it happen at the same time.
October 19th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Jo-Jo is a slut. BUY THE DS-10.
October 19th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
whoa, sorry about that - i didn’t realise someone had posted a ds-10 download link there. have deleted the comment now, cheers.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:47 am
[...] for use with Nintendo DS - ds music apps [via [...]
November 4th, 2008 at 10:08 am
[...] roundup of homebrew music applications for use with Nintendo DS - ds music apps [via [...]
November 5th, 2008 at 11:58 am
[...] Lite balla program till NDS Onsdag, November 5th, 2008 | Film, TV & Musik | admin Spanish French German Chinese ArabicBulgarianChineseCroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishFrenchGermanGreekHindiItalianJapaneseKoreanPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSpanishSwedishFinnishEnglishKorean Show Original Lite balla program till NDS http://remaincalm.org/index.php/ds-music-apps [...]
November 6th, 2008 at 2:24 am
Also check out GrooveStep for the Nintendo DS which is available at http://www.groovestep.com
November 6th, 2008 at 9:07 am
cheers for the link. i’ve been a bit slack, there’s a whole bunch of new audio apps i need to get listed on here - will do that on the weekend or something.
November 21st, 2008 at 7:05 pm
[...] For a comprehensive list of Nintendo DS Music applications, head down to Remain Calm’s very definitive list. [...]
December 4th, 2008 at 9:13 am
[...] happily use them for homebrew. There are a lot of great programs out there; here’s a list of 24 apps that are dedicated to music creation. You can run Linux on it too. It’s as easy as copying a file to a flash drive. If you have a [...]
December 4th, 2008 at 11:45 am
[...] happily use them for homebrew. There are a lot of great programs out there; here’s a list of 24 apps that are dedicated to music creation. You can run Linux on it too. It’s as easy as copying a file to a flash drive. If you have a [...]
December 8th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Thanks for these. I have been wondering about DS-10 back up and wondering about wi-fi. However I think there is another way. The DS-10 is quite a capable programme and I have been having a lot of fun with it. Looking forward to playing with some of the homebrews soon.
Look forward to any new homebrew apps you may have found !
December 10th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
[...] happily use them for homebrew. There are a lot of great programs out there; here’s a list of 24 apps that are dedicated to music creation. You can run Linux on it too. It’s as easy as copying a file to a flash drive. If you have a [...]
December 15th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
[...] Korg DS-10 is niet de eerste muzieksoftware voor de DS. In het homebrewcircuit circuleren al veel geluid- en muziekprogramma’s. Ik heb zelf al veel plezier gehad met Nitrotracker, een oldskool Fasttracker-kloon voor de DS, en Protein, een soort van virtuele scratchdraaitafel. Voor deze software heb je dan weer wel een flashcard nodig. En er zijn meer voorbeelden. [...]
December 28th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Muy buena la idea, estos programillas me van a ir de lujo para trastear en la playa
January 13th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I can’t find the official link, but this “DS Drum Machine” (TR-909) looks promising…
http://dl.qj.net/index.php?pg=12&fid=5368
January 13th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Great page! Keep up the good work!
January 13th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
the tr-909 looked great, but disappeared a LONG time ago. doesn’t run on any modern flash cards, either. bliptracker does a lot of what that one does, though.
January 13th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
OH! You MADE bliptracker! lol Silly me… I’ll have to check that out! I love how music can be made “on the go” with the ds! Drum machines and trackers in our pockets…two decades ago this would have blown people’s minds… tracking in DOS and all…
January 13th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
yep. i still like the korg ds-10 one the best though. every now and then i still miss my train station because of it.
when i get a chance, i’ll be adding a few more to this, notably groovestep, which is definitely worth checking out as well: http://www.groovestep.com/
January 13th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
well i should probably get to bed… but see if these are any good…
http://www.groovestep.com/
(sequencer of sorts?)
January 13th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
heh! Groovestep was on my mind as well…
February 3rd, 2009 at 7:02 am
k, updated with a couple i’d left out. please let me know if there are any others!
February 8th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Awesome!!! I’ve been looking for a list like this!!! I tried nitrotracker, but no sound comes out, any ideas?
February 8th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
nitrotracker needs to have WAV samples loaded or it doesn’t do anything. chuck a couple of smaller drum samples on there and go nuts, it’s an excellent app.
April 11th, 2009 at 10:11 am
coooooooooooool!!!!!!! drum kit!!!!!!! thanx
April 21st, 2009 at 9:59 am
this Seno thing looks pretty cool…
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:59 pm
God dag! Kan jag ladda ner en bild fran din blogg. Av sak med hanvisning till din webbplats!
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Pixelh8 has released his apps as freeware. Be aware they need a GBA cart to run though.
Music Tech Pro Performer
http://pixelh8.co.uk/software/
Going to pick up a slot 2 device soon and give this a go.