''KORG DS-10'' is a music creation program for the

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

that emulates the Korg MS range of

synthesizers A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

. Frequently people refer to the Korg MS-10, however the MS-10 is a single oscillator monosynth. The DS-10 adds sync which the

Korg MS-20 The Korg MS-20 is a patchable semi-modular monophonic analog synthesizer which Korg released in 1978 and which was in production until 1983. It was part of Korg's MS series of instruments, which also included the single oscillator MS-10, the ke ...

is lacking. It was released on July 24, 2008, in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, October 10, 2008, in

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, and November 4, 2008, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. A newer, DSi compatible version, entitled ''KORG DS-10 Plus'', was released in Japan on September 17, 2009, and in the United States on February 16, 2010. It doubles the number of synth and drum machines when played on DSi/3DS system. It also adds some minor new features for the standard DS. ''KORG iDS-10'' for iPhone combines a virtual analog synthesizer, voice synthesizer, and drum machine, inspired by the design of the ''KORG DS-10'' series.

Instruments

The DS-10 creates sound with two analogue synthesizer emulators, each with two Voltage-Controlled Oscillators (the Korg MS-10 had only one VCO). The VCOs feature a sawtooth, a pulse (with a non-modifiable pulse width), a triangle and a noise waveform. There is also a four-part drum machine that uses the same sound creation techniques as the synthesizers. The sounds made by each of the synthesizer emulators are modified using virtual knobs to change the value of standard synthesizer parameters such as

cutoff frequency In physics and electrical engineering, a cutoff frequency, corner frequency, or break frequency is a boundary in a system's frequency response at which energy flowing through the system begins to be reduced ( attenuated or reflected) rather than ...

and waveform shape. Additionally there is a screen where users can patch certain parameters to be modified by a

low-frequency oscillation Low-frequency oscillation (LFO) is an electronic frequency that is usually below 20 Hz and creates a rhythmic pulse or sweep. This is used to modulate musical equipment such as synthesizers to create audio effects such as vibrato, tremolo ...

, the

envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter (message), letter or Greeting card, card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one o ...

generator, or VCO2. Those new to Korg synthesizers may find the original Korg MS-10 Manuals useful in understanding the function of its components.

Interface

The user interface is mainly through the DS's touch screen with the cursors serving as a supplementary method of moving through the various interface screens. The primary method of navigating through interface screens is by switching the interface screen with the processing flow map and selecting which item to modify. Notes can be played using a 2 octave keyboard or through an interface that detects the X and Y position of the stylus on the touch pad simulating a KORG Kaoss Pad. The Kaoss Pad can also be used to modify volume and pan as well as being able to assign the X or Y values to any of the parameters that can be modified elsewhere. Users can record twenty-one sessions with sixteen different step patterns with either live input or through a step sequencer. These patterns can then either be selected live or sequenced with the song mode.

Effects

The DS-10 features a

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

flanger Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and ...

and delay parameter that can be applied to each synth or the drum machine individually or as a whole. In addition, each of the editable drum sounds can have a separate effect added to it in addition to the global effect.

Reception

Reviews of ''KORG DS-10'' have been generally positive, with 82/100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

and 85% on

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

. ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' gave the tool the lowest score (7.1/10), saying that "it isn't standalone, full-featured music software". However, other reviewers gave this tool very positive scores, citing that this software has great music-making potential. Devoted fans have set up dedicated communities centered on KORG DS-10.

Legacy

A follow-up title, '' Korg M01D'', was released for

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

via the

Nintendo eShop The is a digital distribution service for the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2, and formerly available via the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the Nintendo eShop served ...

in Japan in July 2013 and November 7, 2013, in North America and Europe. The title features all the sounds from the

Korg M1 The Korg M1 is a synthesizer and music workstation manufactured by Korg from 1988 to 1995. It is one of the bestselling synthesizers in history, selling an estimated 250,000 units. The M1 was widely used in popular music and stock music in the ...

and some of the sounds from the

Korg 01/W The Korg 01/W series are workstation synthesizers, the first of which debuted in 1991, and were intended to replace the M1 and T series. The workstation/ROMpler was based on AI² (Advanced Integrated Squared), an improved version of the AI (Advan ...

. In 2014, the ''

KORG DSN-12 , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, t ...

'' was released for the 3DS, focusing on "the user creating their own unique synth sounds from scratch". It features a "3D

oscilloscope An oscilloscope (formerly known as an oscillograph, informally scope or O-scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying voltages of one or more signals as a function of time. Their main purpose is capturing i ...

screen" which lets the user visualize their sounds.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Korg Ds-10 2008 video games AQ Interactive games Cavia (company) games DS-10 Music video games Nintendo DS games Nintendo DS-only games Nintendo games Single-player video games Software synthesizers Video games developed in Japan Virtual analog synthesizers Xseed Games games