Gameboy - Palm - GP32 - PSP - DS - Etc
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Mobile Music Machines Gameboy - Palm - GP32 - PSP - DS - etc. (David Steinberg / Dorkbot NY / september 3rd 2008) Mobile : works on batteries, headphone output Can be used alone to make music Not too expensive Platforms (non-exhaustive and vaguely chronologic list) Yamaha QY series Roland PMA5 Nintendo Gameboy Palm OS PDA GamePark GP32 and GP2X Sony PSP Nintendo DS Apple iPhone Yamaha QY series Portable ‘music workstations’ (arrangers/sequencers) 1990 : QY-10 1992 : QY-20/22 1994 : QY-8 1997 : QY-70 2001 : QY-100 Yamaha QY series Good news everyone : QY10 and QY20 (at least) can be circuit bent... (mod by Thom Uliasz / Burnkit 2600) Roland PMA-5 Released in 1996 “Personal Music Assistant” Portable General Midi synth/arranger/sequencer MIDI input/ouput Boring ? Nintendo Gameboy Released in 1989 118 millions Gameboy/GBC sold Cheap, available everywhere, everyone loves it... Excellent gameboy musical scene here in NY : Bit Shifter, Glomag, Bubblyfish, Nullsleep, etc. Gameboy Camera Released in 1998 Official Nintendo Product Music “game” included, a bit limited but fun... Nanovoice/Nanosynth Simple “visual” additive synthesizers based on a Java application (Javoice) Written by Oliver Wittchow and Julian Rohrhuber in 1998 Nanoloop 1.x Visual synth/sequencer developed by Oliver Wittchow Uses the Gameboy hardware Intuitive visual interface, lots of possibilities... Developed in 1998 Sold since 1999 (beta) / 2000 Little Sound Dj (LSDj) Tracker for the Gameboy, inspired by the Atari/Amiga/etc. trackers developed by Johan Kotlinski (Role Model) Very powerful, continuous development since june 2000 Sold as a ROM ($2 + donation) 8Cylinder Gameboy music apps developed by Pittsburgh musician 8Cylinder Sludgeon/Sludgeon2 Pounder Shittracker User Constrained Brownian Noise Generator (UCBNG) Nerdrix/MuddyGB/Stepgirl Real-time performance applications Nerdrix : inspired by Ikinari Musician for the NES. MuddyGB / Stepgirl : developed by “S.O” (from Japan) Onputor / Electric Drum Onputor : simple sequencer/synth Electric drum : play drum sounds with the GB buttons Bhajis Loops Multitrack sequencer/sampler for Palm OS5 PDAs, released in 2004 Parameter automation, effects, etc. LittleGPTracker (“Piggy”) 8 channels sample-based tracker similar to LSDj that works on the Linux-based Gamepark consoles (GP32, GP2X) Free/donation, developed by the belgian musician M-.-n Also runs on OSX/Linux/Windows Nanoloop 2.x Advanced version of Nanoloop for GBA, by Oliver Wittchow 8 channels, more memory and parameters Released in 2004 Sony PSP Portable console by Sony Released in 2004 Homebrew-capable with custom firmware PSPSeq 16 tracks synthesizer/ step sequencer for the Sony PSP Lots of features, currently in development (v 3.00) PSPRythm Sample-based audio sequencer for the PSP Developed since 2005 Traxxpad Commercial application released in 2007 “Portable music studio” (or advanced toy ?) Internal samples library + microphone RIN Gameboy/GBC emulator for the PSP Released in 2005 Works very well, sound included Nintendo DS/DS Lite Latest portable console by Nintendo Released in 2004/2006 (lite) Dual screen (1 touch screen), microphone/mic input, lots of buttons Lameboy Gameboy/GBC emulator for the DS Sometimes in development :) A few glitches, but works well for most music apps Electroplankton Mix between a game, a musical instrument and a numeric art installation by (the very talented) Toshio Iwai Officially released by Nintendo Really in a class of its own... Nitrotracker Tracker for the DS developed by Tobias Weyand Touch screen interface, sample editor, plays .xm, etc. Sends MIDI over WiFi (DSMI library made available by the author) ProteinDS Live audio manipulation software for the DS Touch screen scratch, effects, etc. Sends MIDI over Wifi GlitchDS Cellular automata sample- based sequencer for the DS (using Conway’s Game of life) Unique interface, lots of possibilities, frequent updates MIDI output (DSMI) RepeaterDS Another application by GlitchDS’s developer “Play” a sample by drawing on the screen, record movements, etc. Great for live use Jam Sessions Guitar simulation game, developed by Plato (Japan), released in Europe/US in 2007 Can be used in “free mode”, scale selection, effects, etc. Limited but fun GrooveStep Sample-based multi-tracks step sequencer Not released yet, but will be free Work in progress... Right now, people are working on other music applications for the DS : enhanced sound engine, etc. Possible futures : multi-tracks sequencers, audio loopers, etc. Apple iPhone (& iPod Touch) Multitouch screen Powerful processor Wifi Tilt sensor Memory ...but development is limited by Apple’s directives/restrictions mrmr Open-source project for live control of installations and multimedia performances via mobile devices, developed by Eric Redlinger at Brooklyn Polytechnic University. Requires a jailbroken iPhone i3L Midi Bridge Desktop app developed by VJing collective ArtificialEyes, used with Masayuki Akamatsu’s akaRemote : receives data and converts them to MIDI Requires a jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch OSCemote “Official” Open Sound Control remote for the iPhone $0/$5 BtBx Drum step sequencer + acid-type bassline by the creators of PSPRythm iDrum Drum step sequencer with a nice touch screen interface Can exchange data with a desktop application Only drums, though... Noise.IO Synthesizer with multitouch control for iPhone Available on AppleStore Sruti Box Just released... Simulation of an indian drone instrument. 12 reeds, can be tuned/etc. Controls including accelerometer Also... Windows Mobile applications (Griff, etc.) Symbian OS phone apps Many things I’ve certainly forgotten....