Monday, February 02, 2009

How to: Sync Something to NDS Korg DS-10


Okay so this is quite similar to a method for synchronising something to Trippy H - as in, the basic concept is the same.

So the idea is basic. This is a very quick and dirty way of getting some sync going. This is still very much a work-in-progress and it is something I will be developing further in the very near future.

You will need:
• Computer running your favourite music software (that can accept MIDI clock messages)
• Audio input on your computer
• Max/MSP 5 or Max/MSP 5 Runtime (the runtime can be downloaded for free)
• The Max/MSP patch, which can be downloaded here: http://milkcrate.com.au/_other/downloads/max_patches/DS_Sync/
• 2 x Nintendo DS / Lite consoles
• 2 x Korg DS-10 cartridges

Method:
• Boot up and sync both Korg DS-10 carts. Load up your favourite song on one. For the other, simply load up a pattern where there is a kick or a snare hit on every crotchet beat - this is our clock DS-10.

• Launch your favourite music app that can accept a MIDI clock signal. Connect the audio output of the clock DS-10 to the computer. Launch the Max/MSP patch. Activate the audio DSP in the Max/MSP patch. Route the MIDI data from the MIDI out object along a virtual MIDI path to the music app.

• Hit start in the Max/MSP patch to start the sync. Hit stop to stop the sync.

This is all very unstable - you need to quit any CPU intensive tasks for example - and it's only good enough to show some sort of working example. However, as I said I will be working more on this soon and the quality of the sync will improve dramatically (hopefully). This method is not yet recommended, but I thought I would show how I did it so far, that's all.

Demo video is here: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=BqYVvJuxH5w

4 comments:

dyLAB said...

nice work, when we did a 4 person ds-10 jam we synched by ear..
have a look at http://acidboxblues.blogspot.com for our jam..
have you tried using a KP3 to auto sync and then send the midi out of that?

Sebastian Tomczak said...

I wish I had KP3 :(

michael nervous said...

this is great! I posted it to http://allthingskorgds10.blogspot.com/

Maria said...

This won't succeed in reality, that is exactly what I think.