ds music apps
the nintendo ds is an excellent platform for homebrew audio software - here’s an (incomplete) list of some of the excellent sound toys that are available for the platform.
bliptracker
by dan/remaincalm
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drum machine & sequencer
(source code available)
dsmcu
by dan/remaincalm

MCU-compatible mix controller
Protein[DS]
(dscratch) by gorgull
![protein[DS]](/wp-content/dsapps/protein.png)
sample looper, scratcher, glitcher
nitrotracker
by tobw
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awesome tracker, just updated to v0.4!
kaosDS
by tobw

converts touchscreen data into midi over wifi
sampling keyboard
by tobw

kinda like a casio sk-1
(source code available)
dstep v2
by evil jed

cool looking sequencer
glitchDS
by Clone45

really powerful cellular automation sequencer
repeaterDS
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)
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!
also keep an eye out for the korg ds-10, which looks great. 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!!
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Hey, Korg DS-10..
Download here..
watch here.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK1K_jJ08Rc
and learn about here..
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:41 pm
i pressed SPACE not ENTER, hadn’t finished..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rorBOzwR3Tc - watch
http://rapidshare.com/files/132824529/_2514_KORG_DS_10_Synthesizer__JPN___DiPLODOCUS_.rar - Download
tutorial is gone.. but google one..