Little Sound Dj GB

Little Sound Dj
Little Sound Dj
General
Author	Johan Kotlinski
Type	Music Apps
Version	9.3.9
License	Mixed
System	CGB, DMG
Last Updated	2023/06/17
Links
	Download
	Website

Little Sound Dj (LSDj) is a Game Boy music sequencer used by video game musicians, Grammy winners, and chiptune virtuosos over the world. It is regularly praised for being intuitive, fast and fun.

More information on LSDj and other related things can be found at Little Sound Dj Wiki.

Features

4-channel, 4-bit Game Boy sound.
Dual sample playback.
Waveform synthesizer.
Speech.
Sync options (analog, Game Boy, MIDI, VST).

User guide

Getting started

The Game Boy sound chip has four channels, each with 4-bit resolution.

Pulse Channel 1 Square wave with envelope and sweep functions.
Pulse Channel 2 Square wave with envelope function.
Wave Channel Soft synthesizer, sample playback and speech synthesis.
Noise Channel Noise with envelope and shape functions.

Little Sound Dj starts with the song screen, displaying four sound channels: PU1, PU2, WAV, and NOI. The D-Pad allows cursor movement between channels. It has nine screens arranged in a map, with the most useful ones in the middle row, used for sequencing in a tree-structure: song, chain, phrase, instrument, and table screens.

Press Select+D-Pad to switch screens, and for in-built help, go to the project screen and tap A on HELP. The help screen provides button presses and command lists for different screens.

To create music in Little Sound Dj, navigate to the song screen, select the PU1 column, and tap A to create a new chain "00". Edit the chain by entering the chain screen (Select+Right) and insert a new phrase (A). Move to the phrase screen, enter notes by pressing A in the note column (e.g., C-2). Press Start to play the phrase. Modify the notes using A+D-Pad. Delete notes with A while holding B.

To enhance the pulse sound, move to the instrument screen (Select+Right) and experiment with ENV. and WAVE fields (A+Left/Right). The TYPE field sets the instrument type (PULSE, WAVE, or NOISE). For sampled drum kits, switch to the wave channel, create a new chain and phrase, and set the instrument type to KIT. Enter drum sounds in the phrase screen. To add new chains and phrases, tap A twice on an empty step in the song or chain screen.

Number system

Little Sound Dj uses hexadecimal numbers, which have 16 unique symbols: the digits 0 to 9, followed by the letters A to F. As an example, let’s print a table of numbers - first with decimal digits, then with hexadecimal digits:

    Decimal  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10
Hexadecimal  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  A
    Decimal 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Hexadecimal  B  C  D  E  F 10 11 12 13 14

Hexadecimal is used to save screen space, representing every byte value with two digits (0 to FF). Negative numbers wrap around, so FF can represent -1 or 255.

Command list

A - Run table
B - Maybe
C - Chord
D-Delay
E - Amp. envelope
F - Wave frame
G - Groove
H - Hop/Stop
K - Kill note
L - Slide (Legato
M - Master volume
O - Output (pan)
P - Pitch bend/shift
R - Retrig
S - Sweep/Shape
V - Vibrato
W - Wave
Z - Randomize

Troubleshooting

Does your cartridge not start, crash, or act strange in other ways? Here are some things to try.

To avoid losing songs, always use fresh batteries. Replace as soon as the red light on your Game Boy gets faint, or the screen gets dim.
Clean cartridge pins using a cotton swab and alcohol.
Re-insert the cartridge a couple of times to remove oxide.
Make sure that the cartridge is firmly plugged in. Sometimes it can help to put a piece of tape on the cartridge to give it a snug fit.
Do a full reset of the cartridge memory. This is done by pressing Select+A+B on the LOAD/SAVE FILE button in project screen.
Certain Game Boy Advance/Nintendo DS cartridges do not work with Little Sound Dj. If you have problems with such a cartridge, try one of the Little Sound Dj builds named "Goomba".
Search for help on the Little Sound Dj Wiki or ask in the Facebook group.

Controls

(Version 9.3.9)

Select+D-Pad - Move between screen

Start - (Song screen) Play all 4 channels, (Other screen) Play the channel that is being edited

Select+Start - Play all 4 channels from other screen than Song screen

Song screen

A - Insert chain

A+D-Pad - Change chain

A, A - Make new chain

Select+A - Edit chain

B+A - Cut chain

Select+A - Paste chain

Select+(B, A) - Clain Chain

Start - Start/Stop

Select+Start - Restart

L+Start - Queue Row

Select+L - Live mode

B, B, B - Mark row

B+U/D - Page up/down

Chain screen

A - Insert phrase

A, A - New phrase

A+D-Pad - Change phrase

Select+R - Edit phrase

B+A - Cut phrase

Select+A 0 Paste phrase

Select+(B, A) - Clone phrase

Start - Start/Stop chain

Select+Start - Start/Stop song

B+D-Pad - Edit neighbor chain

Phrase screen

A - Insert note/CMD

A+D-Pad - Change note

A+A - Cut note

Select+A - Paste note

Start - Start/Stop phease

Select+Start - Start/Stop song

B+D-Pad - Edit neighbor phrase

Select+R - Edit instrument

Select+(B, A) - Clone instrument

A, A on CMD - Help

Instrument screen

A+D-Pad - Change value

Select+R - Edit table

Select+B - Copy instrument

Select+A - Paste instrument

Select+(B, A) - Clone synth/table

Start - Start phrase

Select+Start - Start song

B+D-Pad - Change instrument

A, A - Help

Groove screen

A+Left/Right - Change step

A+Up/Down - Change swing

B+A - Cut step

Select+A - Paste step

Wave screen

Up/Down - Change sample

A+Up/Down - Flip sample

A+Left/Right - Draw line

B+D-Pad - Change wave

Select+B - Select range

B - Copy

Select+A - Paste

Live mode

Start - Queue chain

Select+Start - Stop chain

Start, Start - Quickstart chain

Select+(Start, Start) - Quick chain

L+Start - Queue row

Select+L - Exit live mode

Select/Copy/Paste

Select+B - Select block

Select+(B, B) - Select row/column

Select+(B, B, B) - Select screen

Select+(B, B, B, B) - Copy screen

While selecting:

D-Pad - Grow block

A+D-Pad - Change block

B - Copy block

Select+A - Cut block

Select - Cancel select

When not selecting:

Select+A - Paste

Mute/Solo/Pan

B+Select - Mute channel

B - Unmute channel

B+Start - Solo channel

B+D-Pad - Pan channel

Release B first to lock.

Screenshots

Media

Sabrepulse LSDJ Tutorial: Video Guide (1/5) (LSDJguides)

LSDj Tutorial - Make a Wave Kick in LSDj version 6.8.2 (DEFENSE MECHANISM)

LSDJ Tutorial - Noise Channel Percussion (Boy Meets Robot)

Basic LSDJ A-Z Command Walkthrough (Chris Penner)

Little Sound DJ Tutorial: Saw Waves (2xAA)

Compatibility

The recommended and most reliable way to use a ROM image is through Game Boy emulators like BGB (for Windows) and Sameboy (also compatible with Mac/Linux using Wine). Additionally, hardware emulators like RG300, BittBoy, and Odroid-GO are available.

To use LSDj on an original Game Boy, place the ROM image on a reprogrammable flash cartridge, there are many cartridge models available for this purpose.

External links

Official website - https://www.littlesounddj.com/lsd/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/lsdjlsdj?fref=ts
Little Sound Dj Wiki - https://littlesounddj.fandom.com/wiki/Little_Sound_Dj