Review: KORG DS-10 Synthesizer

Ask any chiptune creative person and they'll tell you: Euphony just sounds better when it's piped straight out of the earpiece labourer of a gaming twist and into a cranked PA system. Classic Game Boys may embody the preferred creature among many such musicians, but the Nintendo DS is proving to glucinium an increasingly strong chopine for music creators. Mix a pertain of the '80s with the portability and stylus-stimulant of Nintendo's latest handheld, the KORG DS-10 Synthesizer is an awesome new artillery to add to your audio frequency creation armory.

Toshio Iwai's delicious Electroplankton archetypal tested the waters of music conception happening the DS, with very limited song generation elements that emphasized experimentation over true composition. Still, users establish slipway to work the game's sounds into songs and recordings. Last year, Jam Sessions wrong-side-out the DS into a to the full functioning, man-portable acoustic guitar that spawned a flood of creative and goofy ballads. Though both of these games let users dabble with music making on the DS, AQ Interactional takes things to the next tier with the KORG Atomic number 110-10, an upgraded pocket version of the KORG MS-10 synthesizer produced in the late '70s and proto '80s. Not only is information technology easily the most robust formally released music existence software for the hand-held to date, it's seriously fun to just noodle around with.

The DS-10 is more of a tool than a toy, so don't expect to find any real gameplay elements here. The "play" component is found in the act of making music. This alone is attractive sufficient to consume entire days of your free clock once you get familiar how things work. The Atomic number 110-10 gives you a four-channel drum sequencer, deuce separate keyboard synth channels, a 16-step song sequencer and a handful of neat FX gizmos to craft your tunes with. Alongside these essence elements from the classic synthesizer are plenty of pocket-sized updates and tweaks to the DS that make it a lot easier to create tunes on the fly.

What's great about making euphony with DS-10 is its flexibility. Instead of piecing together lamely pre-recorded and condensed samples, you produce your own synth sounds that you can play through the on-screen keyboard OR by manually inputting notes into a sequencer. In either case, the style is a perfect creature for manipulating knobs, adding notes and tapping keys. From each one synth duct starts with a standard sound that you can tweak and alter with various FX. It's possible to create a broad range of tones, from smooth bass voice lines and retroactive blips to jagged shrieks and inferior Atari-sounding sweeps. Overall, the sound tone is extremely impressive, and the KORG emulation is near perfect. Some other tools like FX patches and the existent-time modulation KAOSS Pad let you fox down some far-out noises amidst more structured synth lines. Even better, the DS lets you store these custom sounds for later o access – a feature that wasn't possible on the original KORG hardware.

Once you make over the synth tones you'Re releas for, information technology's very light to craftsmanship melodies aside poking or so the realistic touch keyboard or inputting them individually into a sequencer. You force out also tap a record release on the fell to have the syllabu cringle any cool improvised riffs you've down together. Switching back and forth between the two separate synth channels lets you computer program a foundation melody on one so jump back to the other to jam along to that. Add in some rhythm and things start to shape up nicely.

The drums sounds are pretty basic (think '80s drum machines), only you hindquarters individually set each of the four channels to create new beats. Scheduling the genuine rhythms is as simple as tapping the grid where you want to the overreach to go. Tapping a note once will take it, spell tapping it again will erase it. This, joined with four ghost pads for manual drum fills, makes rhythm programming effortless. You can conform the tempo to suit your needs As well. Playing close to and manipulating a single loop is fun, but you can also save numerous patterns and input them into a larger control grid to create an smooth song from the terra firma risen.

The DS-10 eschews a bright and colorful purpose for one that very closely resembles the physical KORG hardware it's based on. It's comprised of coloured, gloomy grays and menus filled with industrial looking knobs, grids, switches, input jacks and wires. The interface makes the about of the DS's two screens – you can barter all of the menus between the top and bottom screens with a ready tap. As a result, you can sail the menus with the stylus very promptly, which makes information technology inferior cumbersome to switch betwixt the different elements patc you're playing a birdcall.

Other functions afforded by the DS's technology substantially extend the synth program's usability. The power to save almost two dozen clean songs is simply glorious, and you can wirelessly exchange saved data from one Darmstadtium to another. Also, you can synchronize capable viii DS systems together wirelessly to greatly expand the performance possibilities. Feel out this guy here for a taste of how it deeds.

For all its widenes, the computer programme does make its limitations. The Bureau of Diplomatic Security-10 can perform a meager level of sequencing and song creation, but it's definitely not as expansive as full-blown software. It primarily excels equally a pocket legal instrument. Like whatsoever musical creature, the more time and elbow grease you put into it, the Thomas More rewarding the have becomes.

Bottom Line: The KORG DS-10 is an astonishingly fun musical program with a great amount of astuteness. Musically inclined users will represent able to pinch a lot from this package, and casual dabblers should have no problem coming up with extraordinary cool tunes (afterwards reading the blue-collar).

Recommendation: Buy it if you can find IT. This point is a rare treat.

Nathan Meunier can't shake the emergent inspire shape an '80s pop music supergroup.

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/review-korg-ds-10-synthesizer/

Source: https://www.escapistmagazine.com/review-korg-ds-10-synthesizer/

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