Little Sound Dj

LSDj is an example of excellence in art in the field of music tracker software, and its choices regarding the user interface (made at a time when there was little precedence for this kind of thing) have made it the gold standard for music editors on legacy handhelds/consoles.

What perhaps amazes me most is that Johan Kotlinski is still actively maintaining and extending it after 25+ years of development.

Ooh! This brings back memories. Here’s a nice track made with Little Sound DJ: Puss – Välkommen hem.

I bought a license back in the day and made many songs on my DMG-01 :) It's convenient to work with despite having only four buttons + arrows available. Somehow the fact that basic operations like adding a note take a bit more work than on a DAW didn't feel annoying; perhaps because holding a plastic brick while pressing clicky buttons in the right order is such a tactile sensation. It's like writing music on a fidget spinner.

I used LSDJ on an actual cartridge circa 2010/2011. Very cool user interface. There was a tutorial I followed to get the basics down. After some time spent with the software, I was able to play with it during breaks at work or during lunch to iterate on different ideas. Very cool project.

Oh man I remember getting a cartridge of this and trying to make some music with it!

Whenever LSDJ is mentioned, someone inevitably brings up the Dirtywave M8, which has a very similar interface. I just wish I could justify its cost.