gbadev.org forum archive

This is a read-only mirror of the content originally found on forum.gbadev.org (now offline), salvaged from Wayback machine copies. A new forum can be found here.

DS Misc > dSTAR Sequencer Beta 8292006

#100725 - TheRain - Wed Aug 30, 2006 3:17 am

NOTE: dSTAR requires a self made MIDI cartridge. details on how to build one are at http://www.collinmeyermusic.com/dev/

dSTAR is the first MIDI sequencer for the Nintendo DS. dSTAR aims to be an x0x style sequencer
with unique music programming capabilities. With drawable modulation tracks and quick tap
beat entry, dSTAR takes advantage of the Nintendo DS's touchscreen to become a tactile
user experience. dSTAR is designed for live groove editing and pattern remixing.

Features added in beta 8292006
-6 Tracks, organized in pages, selectable from upper left on screen, or LEFT and RIGHT DPAD (track up/down).
-MIDI Channel assignment per page.
-16 Pattern save slots selectable (RIGHT TRIGGER + DPAD LEFT or RIGHT) pattern switching durring playback.
-Global save function using Chism's FAT library (RIGHT TRIGGER + START).
-Copy and paste from pattern slot to pattern slot (RIGHT TRIGGER + B for copy, RIGHT TRIGGER + A for paste).
-Groove feature- double speed and half speed while holding DPAD UP or DPAD DOWN respectively.
-Default pattern bank in dstarpatterns.bin file.

Features added in beta 8112006:
-3 drawable, freely assignable MIDI CC "Modulation Sequence" lines.
-1 note (beat) track with drawable per note velocity.
-"soft" keyboard for assigning notes.
-Individual track length for complex beat generation.
-"Play effects" allow reverse sequence play and jump back on the fly.

Download the zipped binary package http://www.collinmeyermusic.com/dsmidi/dSTAR/dstar8292006.zip

View the readme file http://www.collinmeyermusic.com/dsmidi/dSTAR/readme.txt
_________________
DSMIDI and dSTAR sequencer brought to you by TheRain
http://www.collinmeyermusic.com/dev/

#100732 - dXtr - Wed Aug 30, 2006 4:39 am

wow. sweet. :D
now I feel I finally have enough reasons to buy a real soundcard with good midi support ^^
_________________
go back to coding and stop screaming wolf :)

#100743 - TheRain - Wed Aug 30, 2006 6:52 am

Yah, it's kind of sad... but true, that only a pretty limited number of people could find a use for this because you'd have to 1. Have a DS, 2. know something about electronic music and 3. be willing to put together a MIDI cartridge to use it lol... But I'm having a lot of fun with it anyway ;) I hope eventually I will be able to integrate some synthesis into it so that it does not require MIDI to be useful to people and so that it can be used portably.
_________________
DSMIDI and dSTAR sequencer brought to you by TheRain
http://www.collinmeyermusic.com/dev/

#100789 - MiL0 - Wed Aug 30, 2006 4:25 pm

Would would be even better and perhaps easier(?) would be to transfer all the midi over wlan. Also, a sampler with some basic synth style controls might be easier to write rather than a proper synth perhaps?


anyway, good work - looks wicked

#100840 - tepples - Thu Aug 31, 2006 1:46 am

A synth is not hard. Look up resonant filters on musicdsp.org to see what makes a TB-303 tick.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

#100858 - TheRain - Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:45 am

tepples wrote:
A synth is not hard. Look up resonant filters on musicdsp.org to see what makes a TB-303 tick.


Thanks that's a really good resource. I just started learning DSP in school and it's pretty tough actually.
_________________
DSMIDI and dSTAR sequencer brought to you by TheRain
http://www.collinmeyermusic.com/dev/

#100882 - MiL0 - Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:20 am

tepples wrote:
A synth is not hard. Look up resonant filters on musicdsp.org to see what makes a TB-303 tick.


lol there's a bit more to it than dsp emulated resonant filters

Anyway, I'm a semi professional musician/producer who has dabbled with Reaktor/SynthEdit and I'd suggest it's not as easy as you'd think. I've also made a few subtractive synths before in VSTi format with a friend using the Steinberg VST SDK and it can take an incredibly long time to do even the most basic of synths. I'm not saying it's impossibly hard but surely it'd be easier to do a S&S (sample and synthesis) waveform sampler that actually uses the DS hardware? That way we're not wasting precious DS cpu cycles on emulating a little dsp synth when the cpu could be better used on the sequencer itself.

Anyway back to the wlan idea - I'd love to use my DS touchpad to control all my hardware/software synths and samplers over wireless... would be great for Live PA's as well.

#100903 - TheRain - Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:36 pm

I'm thinking about the MIDI over Wifi thing..... it's been discussed before and was found the UDP is the better protocol for this- if packet loss can be minimized. Even then, there may be audible latency. But I think I'll give it a shot and see what I can come up with.

thanks,

collin
_________________
DSMIDI and dSTAR sequencer brought to you by TheRain
http://www.collinmeyermusic.com/dev/

#100924 - 0xtob - Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:36 pm

Actually, after reading this post on createdigitalmusic.com, and especially this:
Peter Kirn wrote:
Now, we just need wireless MIDI for Nintendo DS. That or else I should take this as a sign that I can justify buying a PSP.

I became motivated to work on MIDI over Wifi too, but haven't started anything so far. I think that maybe the PC-side server of PSP to MIDI could be used. It's currently available for Windows, and the author has plans to port it to Mac.

Also: Basic DSP is really easy, but a synth that sounds good (avoid aliasing etc) is harder, especially given the mediocre CPU power of the DS.

Tob

#100967 - TheRain - Fri Sep 01, 2006 6:26 am

0xtob wrote:
Actually, after reading this post on createdigitalmusic.com, and especially this:
Peter Kirn wrote:
Now, we just need wireless MIDI for Nintendo DS. That or else I should take this as a sign that I can justify buying a PSP.

I became motivated to work on MIDI over Wifi too, but haven't started anything so far. I think that maybe the PC-side server of PSP to MIDI could be used. It's currently available for Windows, and the author has plans to port it to Mac.

Also: Basic DSP is really easy, but a synth that sounds good (avoid aliasing etc) is harder, especially given the mediocre CPU power of the DS.

Tob


I'll pm you my MSNIM and e-mail, maybe we can work on it together.

I know what you mean about good sounding DSP.... it's more than avoiding aliasing even, it's taste and experience too. I did an informative interview with someone at Korg and they said that most R&D people have a PHD and that's indicitive of the industry.... though the doors are more open now with the vast array of soft synths, I'd imagine.
_________________
DSMIDI and dSTAR sequencer brought to you by TheRain
http://www.collinmeyermusic.com/dev/

#100995 - tepples - Fri Sep 01, 2006 12:57 pm

0xtob wrote:
a synth that sounds good (avoid aliasing etc) is harder, especially given the mediocre CPU power of the DS.

Start with a band-limited impulse train (as seen in this article). Then if you can find the "blip buffer" pages anywhere, read about it.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.