Reader Damien Calloway lets us know that Korg M01D – a software M01 synth workstation for the Nintendo 3DS – is now available in the Nintendo eshop in the US & UK/EU.
Here’s what he has to say about Korg M01D:
I have tried it and I am very happy with it. All features appear to work as advertised, and it even includes a kaoss pad.
There is a midi export function as well, but the file name is hard coded, so you need to take care not to overwrite it if you didn’t want to.
Features:
- 8 part multi-timbral synthesizer with 342 sounds (max 24 voices)
- includes all of the original sounds from the KORG M1, selected sounds from the KORG 01/W and some all new sounds developed for the M01
- Master effects: Reverb and Delay
- 8 track/max 64 step sequencer for 1 scene/ up to 99 scenes
- Sound browser, Mixer, Keyboard
- Easy input “KAOSS” mode for notes, chords and drums using the touch screen
- Exchange song data with other Nintendo 3DS using Nintendo local wireless communication and via the Internet
- 3D viewing of M01D on the 3D Screen
Here’s the official video preview:
More info:
I made a melodic drum ‘n’ bass track with the M1D (non download version), worked quite well for me: https://soundcloud.com/ds10dominator/ds-dominator-futuregroove
That sequencer is so good!!!
I wish the Detune ltd would make another synth from ground up for 3DS. I’m begging you; please make 3DS-20!!!
nice sounds – glad to see more choice than just ipad for making music
If you are searching for an easy to use and portable music program (DAW) without all the bloat: this is it! What you get here for €25 is absolutely astounding. In my humble opinion it completely justifies buying a 3DS for either your first steps into music making, or to complement your existing studio setup. It can be a sketch pad for musical ideas, a Roland TR style drum machine (incl. swing function), a Kaoss pad, a sequencer with piano roll and MIDI file export capability, et cetera. In the past I’ve had a Yamaha QY100 for portable use, but this 3DS/M01D combi is just miles ahead. And it actually fits inside your pocket. The only thing you have to live with is that you won’t have full control over advanced synth parameters in M01D. For the sounds there’s only attack and release settings, no cutoff, resonance, LFOs and such things. With the drum kits you can adjust the level, tuning (-15 to +15) and panning from left to right. So, M01D is more geared towards composing than creating your own sounds. Although you can create some interesting new sounds by the clever use of the delay/reverb effect in combination with the regular parameters. If you are more into making your own sounds I would recommend Korg DS-10: a two part virtual analog (VA) synth with four part VA drum machine and various composing features. Or double the amount of VA elements if you have the DS-10 Plus version. Although DS-10 Plus is not available for European DS/3DS systems. DS-10 was developed for the original Nintendo DS but can be used on 3DS as well. If you team your 3DS up with something like a Mini Kaoss Pad 2, you can also add some lovely effects and can even record all your stuff in WAV format. Then you have a mobile studio with endless possibilities.
I’m hoping that Detune will continue their effort towards making these kind of programs, because they are an absolute blessing in a world of bloated DAWs and instruments with non-intuitive interfaces.
So far I’ve completed one track with M01D, titled “Beat ‘Em Up”. It’s inspired by the legendary Streets of Rage video game series.
https://soundcloud.com/wootson/beat-em-up
Thanks for your review; it has (probably) convinced me to go buy it later today unless I get sudden doubts when I’m about to press the “purchase” button. I didn’t really think about using my 3DS as a musical notepad when I saw M01D was released, but it struck me that it’d be perfect for that purpose; I carry my 3DS with me anywhere anyhow, so it’s a lot more handy than my laptop or Ipad.
…And there’s of course the additional bonus that your 3DS is able to play Pokémon Y or whatever else you’re into when you’re done for the day, I suppose.
I usually love all things Korg. Have tons of their products. I loved the DS-10 korg software for Nintendo DS but this software kind of sucks. I think they dropped the ball big time. Interface is sloppier, less options for modeling sounds and adjusting parameters. Less fx. Honestly, this should have been better than the much older synth software but it isn’t. Feel like I wasted 35$. Bummer korg! you dropped the ball on this one. Drum kits suck, sounds/presets suck and you can’t even tweak them. Lame.
Of course this is a different beast compared to the excellent DS-10 plus (which is an “analog” recreation like iMS-20 on the iPad) – M01D is a recreation of the (in)famous Korg M1, Korg’s legendary “music workstation,” whose tinny “dance piano” sound is heard on tons of tracks from the late 80s and early 90s.
If you appreciate this sort of thing – and maybe even if you don’t but you just want a crazy powerful music app which shrinks an 80s “music workstation” into the 3DS – then you have probably already bought it and are playing it right now!!
Actually I should temper my enthusiasm until I’ve had enough time to evaluate this thing completely. The problem of not being able to edit sounds would definitely be annoying – the M1 could actually be used as a synthesizer of sorts by combining PCM waveforms; you could do things like PWM by mixing square waves together.
OK, I think D’Angelo has a good point here: they dropped the ability to edit sounds via Korg’s “AI” synthesis, which was quite a useful thing. As far as I can tell, all you can do is change the base timbre, attack, and release of a sound. IIRC, the M1 could layer two sounds with separate pitch, filter, and amplitude envelopes (5-stage?) as well as LFOs/looped modulation envelopes.
I hope I’m wrong, but so far it looks like these editing features have been omitted from the M01D, which makes it a much less interesting M1 emulation – it has the sounds, but you can’t really change them other than changing the amplitude attack and decay. 🙁
Has anyone tried the MIDI export function yet, by the way? I haven’t heard much about it except for a few mentions, and if that works properly this could be a very useful little tool for noting down and testing out song ideas.
You can save the MIDI note data of all eight tracks into one single MIDI file to the SD card of your 3DS. However, you can’t have multiple MIDI files on your SD card at the same time, so you must export them one by one. This will only be a hassle if you made hundred songs and suddenly your neighbour comes at your door to ask for the MIDI files. LOL! Just be smart and save them on your computer directly after you finish a song! I could also import an M01D MIDI file into my Korg TR61 workstation. Although it does not default to General MIDI sounds, so you must reconfigure the sounds and the effects by yourself. It’s a little annoying for drum tracks (in my case), of which the notes must be manually transposed because the MIDI file triggers the wrong drum sounds. I believe the notes in the MIDI file are placed a full octave higher. There are multiple ways to overcome this extra work, for example by separately recording tracks (drum track 3DS, various sounds from other instrument(s). You can also import a MIDI file into a DAW and build a more advanced track from there on. It’s up to you how you threat all that note data, to integrate it into your workflow and to do something meaningful with it.
Is this Detune’s Korg M01? I bought that from Japan about three years ago and it functions exactly like an M1, along with sounds from the 01/W and EX-8000, and the KAOSS pad, all on chip rather than having to take up internal memory. Of course, it’s in Japanese but that only adds to the charm, and it makes you think. And it sounds good. I don’t know what anyone here would complain about. Doesn’t like the sound from 1/2″ speakers? That sounds like a case of great expectations.