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Nintendo DS Game and Music Composer All in One
An anonymous reader writes "In the shadows of launch titles like Super Mario 64 DS, Feel the Magic XY/XX and Wario Ware Touched! is Daigasso! Band Brothers (the working title is Jam with the Band in America). This little gem is a music game similar to a Bemani title. It features over 50 songs with a blend of J-Pop, TV themes and Nintendo melodies. What is hidden inside the title is a full out MIDI composer. You can use the stylus and the touch screen to write your own songs." An aspect I found interesting with this title is that it can use the microphone to sample sounds, which can then be mixed with the composer.
A band called "The Electric Family" composed an entire album using Mario Paint's composer and named the album after the game. I can't find any useful info about the album on the web though.
Finally, a worthy successor to Mario Paint, at least! The touch screen makes a tolerable substitute for the SNES mouse, but I wonder if anyone will make a wireless mouse to work with the game...
For more information, click here.
Here are some recent 'concerts' of people using the game. It looks very interesting, IGN has a few videos of what the screen looks like during gameplay.
I can't wait for it to be released over here.
These were posted on a msg forum. Mario Theme
Original
???
Skip to ~2:10
Chewie does not get a medal. Come on, George. Can a Wookie get a medal?
" Is this Nintendo's way to prove that the DS can be more than just a video game player?"
Given that this is a video game, no, I don't think this is Nintendo's way of proving it can be more.
It's a rhythm game, like DDR, Samba de Amigo, Donkey Konga... you know?
It's just that the put in a fun mode where instead of playing along to the song, you play your own song, and a mode where you can sync your performance with other DS' over the wireless network. That's kind of fun, it means you can create a DS band with your friends at lunch.
You know, fun?
As for the whole cd-rom, battery, fan boy issue... Yeesh. Let that work itself out. Just remember that UMD is as proprietary as the carts this time around.
I imported the game a couple weeks ago, so I've had time to play with the editor. It's extremely powerful compared to things like Remix mode in Frequency and Amplitude. You pick treble or bass clef, adjust the key of the song, pick a tempo, and start placing notes. The music theory behind it is very solid (I assume - I know very little about music theory). You can also have the game generate chord progressions and harmonies based on key signatures that you choose. It's extremely impressive overall. The max BPM you can use is 300, and the songs can be at least 70 measures. I haven't checked the maximum length yet. As for instrument voices, there were about 40 or so when I counted.
i ndex.h tml
;-)
There are a couple limitations, though. You get 8 individual instrument tracks, but each of those tracks is monophonic. To do any chording, you'll have to allocate more than one track for a particular voice. Also, you're limited to 4/4 time signatures.
The other editor mode (Hanauta de Gakufu) is quite interesting. You hum a tune into the microphone, and it quantizes into appropriate notes and adds a background track. Then you can load the creation in the full editor for further refinement.
Also worth noting is the official Nintendo Band Bros. download site. They've got some sheet music available. Right now they have Jingle Bells, and Slider (from Mario 64).
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/abbj/download/
And one more thing - it's not MIDI. MIDI is a serial interface spec for transmitting music control data, etc. Band Bros. has a synthesizer, not MIDI. Saying it has MIDI is like saying my web browser has broadband.