Tutorial  Updated

Play and Export your favorite NDS music very easy!

Hello, here i just want to share a simple tutorial about how to Play and even Dump your favotite BGM (Background Music) or Sound effect from any NDS ROM

EDIT : ONLY WORKS FOR ROM WHICH USING .SDAT AS MUSIC PACKAGE FORMAT

{Requirement}
  1. Windows PC with audio support
  2. NitroExplorer3 [download : https://hackromtools.altervista.org/nitroexplorer-3/] (or any NDS ROM explorer you have)
  3. VG Music Studio [download : https://github.com/Kermalis/VGMusicStudio/releases/tag/v0.2] (download the latest version, still warm, just 5 months ago)
  4. A NDS ROM file

{Tutorial}
  1. Load your NDS file on your NDS ROM explorer (here i'm using NitroExplorer3)
    Oh2SuEgXheBK0_EcgyoPSQFGN0PjmnvR7eX9vg16CKNOEmW4hkmdAV1W3G6k3oav4S_HJ0iPXFRKvr1dTUxIQpY-zOtTw939temVmlSNF8IMwpUdCo85mmcI-x7Qs-BTrV6aLEQ3qtAypyzS5tkMiI8N0xktsuvbQxDaM-bgz8ABRXG0hGUWrBgpMR4xx0s-UTIDtLDa7nuP5RoU9U7h4NMbefEq2HW7nAb5w9_qsMlDV6-932J_pGVMHZ3dQfogS2weCIvmbDBLyuX68geACjiAzG0At8RhKEgSMSLAkgEb4x-8K-FUjhAWO-JyycLMQDIRWQG93CK-GmKCJ8kfdQZd_Al7e2Zya_ICepm-ZNZ-o9_8yunt2ftHPN9Ib6zXHmVfDSqpXsJPPfx_TyTsrYuWUcWuDdq3lDLuZ_klWeehtvXAKqjlGyz73T9L71Nvkh0fBaOuK5tdwRAH85n9a5_EZNBatTELoRhHRXPBuPWhkL4tOFZRw5PveH66pEsS8cLHQm-xWtWUPgUar2E6U0i-ByCv3tvrkwAUH_EayzSsXMMG_Ro5uqwQFjEdc6ljzhkqFmFDAOqQcAUAnZOaY6PpeykYQz4QFLPgxVz7lEyri88EHfDmV8wc5XXKC9owlNUlII_GVFda4JD8h02E9s0h10tNddGs5f1_R7KBbeirbhB2-jQQCA=w654-h465-no
  2. You can expand all folders (depend on your NDS ROM explorer and ROM), and find file with ".sdat" extension
    Note : if ".sdat: not found, it can't be helped, your NDS ROM is not supported :(
  3. Export it anywhere you want
  4. Open VG Music Studio
    Warning ! : VG Music Studio utilize 25% upto 50% of cpu usage. If the sound lagged while playing, please change the "priority" of this program, into "Above Normal" or "Realtime" in Task Manager
  5. You will be faced a screen like this.
    zcZX8wd8OQcHSQDKlFtw1BdX6zolVmz4h6Mll7En0LmlqPb6Gl3TM956IK2i9WelY4ZlIuFbsFfRd498wO8zt6wodFdunIQkANnncZ4EMaIsOt2YTGA-12wOsc2Y-e3zrFqnBheRRasZNXrOeKCIPC7PYSfv-HVnxVP4v8q8k--0C4QTQDcLRQURDKjBj7uOFOb4o0FeppQM4uNKAw36PTDWkBpokO0ogUBzeJ7uwPS5b5eCO3PP6B1YIu_2dmtGsOhPJH__340NQz1Y6_utkRY_jdUVWbRBPg9LEp6uUYjnLSTe7P3QTWkvCzgkh1Dtn1ZrKcXQMECjU3wt907CVEIUwK7osOtQ-csyHlH3kid4WrgQOj6Zv2no1UinTa5U0KJRglC3Yk5PpD3pDWZgYVu47ftSvuzacmSEMS55RmJJ2WWUauWOT1KhUUmKoDp9rwaLIKwdqPugT2mU5KKMJeWMV_9elWq7rLTXB60lFcvfo_36GlG6r8xzsKOBZY5jQCIZGqqpPrFDWcxX8p79rT4gTA_AebmAyXQMuscaGyfUQOUxCzArPPDcWeaiLyKbckl0zhfqmn6COwV2o1PWCJfeO5YYFq-m5J5jc6gZwjtQfUnveekOZPtyg_PriMp1yRNQMZ_lvZdXr3iI-c8sBPTH_McLiOnVTD694aqP-zlT81KDxRmjaA=w522-h588-no
  6. Open this spoiler to read some explanation of each object :
    • 3 menus :
      • File :
        • "Open DSE Folder" : this format is rare, some NDS and Wii has used this format. If your NDS ROM is in this format, you can use this
        • "Open GBA ROM" : this obviously, to load music from GBA ROM file, but we won't discuss it here
        • "Open SDAT File" : this menu is loading SDAT file, the file we export from NDS ROM explorer
      • Data :
        • "Track Viewer" : view current music playback track information
        • "Export Song as MIDI" : when you export to MIDI file, you can edit it using any MIDI editor, like Anvil Studio. But its not recommended, because each SDAT always bring its own sound table, which different with Windows default sound table. In some cases, when you play this exported MIDI, the song is different from it should be
        • "Export Song as WAV" : when you export to WAV file, obviously, by this format the result is WYLIWYG (What You Listen is What You Get). Because the program has to capture the music to audio file called WAV (that's why, you must wait after exporting as WAV)
      • Playlist :
        • "End Current Playlist" : i cant explore this menu, its disabled since i run this program :/
    • 3 buttons :
      • PLAY : Play current selected music from beginning
      • PAUSE / UNPAUSE : Pause / Resume music playback
      • STOP : Stop current playing music
      • Numbered button : show current music playback number (hidden when no file loaded)
      • Dropdown : show music playback items
    • 2 sliders :
      • Left : Volume slider
      • Right : Seek slider
    • a full bar piano : this piano will be animated along the playback
    • a track table :
      • 2 checkboxes : enable / disable selected track (left = left channel | right = right channel)
      • "Position" : show where the note position in range
      • "Rest" : show each track countdown before next note
      • "Notes" : show each track note
      • "L" and "R" : the longer bar it near to line of L or R, the higher track volume to each channel (L=left | R=Right)
      • "Tempo-n" : show each music playback tempo, where "n" is tempo number
      • "Type" : show what kind of track used
  7. Choose "File" menu, then choose "Open SDAT File"
  8. Locate where the exported ".sdat" file
    FGULtbE_RVkpRut9FjSyMotp67N1ULi3lAI_bFrWfC4tS6hiN4vH9pE37hEYO3n1jsc-XVEo0SBfyuAavbehjGzYW-afqDeHnPDRd7duqD5MMgILj6I8ZIyVPDoGziZNqq_P3Y4S--WX1ozPUM67uoHnul8moI48DWAoqcTb4sWdIxDP_XHXdAb5-CUunuaXlxS_IA71nSM3zCl9mPAfe5nci6R7UykDWl-zttZCq4vqGXvimvc1zqAdJXG0WtwSwR3HK-48LjQAbnrAwvtJgpO3oF5re6ReXAw0D_aT-avRLIdZLRkA1UWHfWX0mBKZVOh0E8pQoIGjmHZukXDLxt4RnPc4n_nrXVXhYN3Ehk_B_qB8r-pjJ-ltBCpBGoGvSw1RVN0HeuUVkTg-U9AEZljGQXBwR9lS4k8B24JtOoV67_Eoh0A4UOmQDttj9EFIn45OwARx5ZK8wEcFpd2oulRhJa4Cf5DfZ0fI235xUdzGz8JXtfvRoNMcxfsbJalvPK5156Kxk8CTIqGPdb4LqqI4n_o6iOJNbh5v6FsESbyXnZprrTgY8Gk98tzhTEGeaWIfYcI5JdWxJYMKbt2g0ULS4FzFmZOGCkniOt327JKJ8BthnXkzV2jkOjVgWEtmx4I_TbcpO8oY855aly7vN6FPa-SPl3GWjS7oRpOLXWI8USrvQPi6uA=w524-h588-no
  9. Wait, the program is loading your ".sdat" file. After loaded, you can choose what music you want to listen on the right top list
    YgDuar1W0JEGoLdsxzujAug5D2lJcQhOSzcoT3saLDwZK7w7SnqEC4b2dN-Oi69oZjK9CdPqjgz6mlaGYNMulRLNjh067-cUCRiyiJjv4bbEYICo7AR3tBkCkB_BWwNmspOaBUYs4uE5l0roUHrh3VVikbDtBKtrA_K8VpM7iQF53SS3YBZemigKaayxvejK9LhzSNpFYKOKHwKie8OxWlAP7Bhp2X8f4p3rwKol2yz9RkJIlDSAzElgQ0daPmJcD6YTpQVGS76Lhn473rrLVgu1VjJuFQrsSSks7L65WKS_5mcesC8nrIoTrqtSJv72YBn3Ul5gTdRp4o7vRIHivZdJ8HJcDgWyOeax-7PlXl1ryVfy8swWR0r4mub6O1UndR1Q8zgKIMnQ8-DTfdmzWxU_9nIlu0It8W-JWFDJsYCVgxElnrNERQnCKRywShzeE1ZNSo8pSh0pyQFbxSaB7PCYLpnW1SVIPJd2KPz9Bz6EAGW9dOxxEbCK7mO9QzrxdLaW66N1xAHCIOI_Om6Porov3eRVOUMEzcnoiOTUxa6lWhj8JwhCgXBwotx10GgQRPuLMk_GrLXPoJvVcOUr8HteTNW9QQrx7OUQVDuBt-qwEWQCoy0hnzsoABxrFK_Rx14oBHR12_wveU5tQqddsEk2X3yoxy43LvKOjHRg5aYaTn_XcKxlqg=w522-h588-no
  10. To export it, choose "Data" menu, then choose "Export song as WAV" (this is the recommended option !)
  11. Decide where the exported file should be placed, don't forget to add ".wav" when saving, for example : "filename.wav"
    5Agc6pjm_qcQcwDq6JubsE2AUZiRKulOjnyAQCw-TGfHSQ1HEL-k41bvfM9utCjJgg_EuVYLQYd5uWRof16ptfLwanOY3TOed4ydDXSM-I9rMiqUR_P7KH-XvvJXzHpbdn90cOr2KXKAMqqFf76C38xx98KvqPPeNak5KcKnSZIT1IhTPxi9cuhYdVnMCaoQ6x-Dp_BC4A5WV3wCJJ18w4hkFJ_dIhEAe7MJQKfyiNMQ5I8hOl9bL5pZTJUlw5LOqb-8XfNsPhskJByUp8S3Wp3P__pZwlcitW1dbhPJb2RTU0O-pGMLiBDAXNQ-zaxYHFf4dftEU9rtD3dUf2SlsVVpDQ92F7wfobbgCiKa2HHTmZoBVeREPp9CPKBqWRNB_bb73gKejViE_0-oJfnWrkA7IkR0b1rmWYw-D-0onDljtzkrGk0ezwnt6aMo_dqw8plv_TzbhygM23SMWIOeo7Dc__uDUkW-rG-aEikvN5WfoXpf9lgeU7YgN40kDdpa_5_5NGjG-LnzrMEz2IZTe4vfE5c34W6mciM4t3RtiIDogMuDWFl2oGZZFk0xgcqHPVzMwIst_9n2UZzsp-vGwPBocRvXsXqAkcc8vBfusYNexBY7ZdwOO8rbwLsxojsuYZpUArMu6qDtIp7uvmBb1nAhkeObeyl2f3FX2joEV_d7RJOiMDHKMQ=w523-h588-no
  12. Wait until a message box notify that exporting progress is finished
    v-BugInupcsRk7YS45DEoUIDgDPr_FVvrWnpWstO3hsnTnJQ0kOaWYb_35CAzq62dummbyEr7Nq7x2rMkSIAN9CudojWKGzLxtQ4Vj5fCSwxGXaSCd3piRJhiDNicVXBspRJUwdxh9BcBeBnhFbB3SIVIO1sjrwcSb-ks8ZwOFhgwirwbfo-LEppbMqdsX9UmzFCS86ZGokvTNtR5cNgJgTOXLdYIJHN1jL24ZciYxyLtbWXCWfvuMib5yM52XwR_gbz6wfAOPkTLyiqB1hz0-TuO4PwaE4veoMRWCQDPPvnP0Qh3isLosL23uhkTMyQXF__swkrIjzQXwwpkVaNnjY4Cc1Opey54Iyrsa-34dCAL4_S-wR0ZBavOl1njXMlVUSBdI0jXN5r1e3inG6Tkpd9S9EYDPtxR3I0IdOKLMrkdrwbJCyTmPuu2nrQa7JESyxIAxE8YDnw3wHj2kxOGquXLu3-x-8sYHqA-018ZEA9HUmQsSskSOsM5D9zsYnS8j9JH-zd0nuvtk5qnTy-InLU8msQpZR29JdJAVCCo7i3n5-sHB8VarAw3OcKj5iGNDgDzgMqsty0XANCxgdyRHzwapDVhGjHej2BYH9Yx72IQqxHedFf9FcoAW6uKcmIsubvNjYk8BYp_d4_TiUNrcDeuCAkJOM4Teunp4ZKhZcb-NxcsqN9cw=w643-h161-no
  13. Finished! Enjoy your music !
 
Last edited by cimo95,

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I should note in this that there are quite a few games, including some notable ones, that either don't use SDAT, use non standard SDAT, or use additional formats on top of SDAT. https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-various-audio-formats-of-the-ds.305167/ for a primer on a few of those.

Also I can't say I have messed with VG Music Studio. Does it handle banks* better than VGMtrans, VGMtoolbox or some of the other more recent tools?

*the SSEQ files that form most audio efforts on the DS are just lists of instruments and timings. The instrument samples themselves are the responsibility of the SBNK aspect of the SDAT system. This is why older tools might not sound quite the same and other things tend to spend quite a bit of effort extracting and possibly converting said list.
 

cimo95

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I should note in this that there are quite a few games, including some notable ones, that either don't use SDAT, use non standard SDAT, or use additional formats on top of SDAT. https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-various-audio-formats-of-the-ds.305167/ for a primer on a few of those.

Also I can't say I have messed with VG Music Studio. Does it handle banks* better than VGMtrans, VGMtoolbox or some of the other more recent tools?

*the SSEQ files that form most audio efforts on the DS are just lists of instruments and timings. The instrument samples themselves are the responsibility of the SBNK aspect of the SDAT system. This is why older tools might not sound quite the same and other things tend to spend quite a bit of effort extracting and possibly converting said list.
im verry sorry, i just share what i thought,
yes you are right, i think just because SDAT has their own tables thats why when it exported to MIDI sometime sound "weird"
should i delete this post?
i feels like post useless tutorial to get 10 xp
im really sorry :bow::bow::bow::(:(
 
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Warning ! : VG Music Studio utilize 25% upto 50% of cpu usage. If the sound lagged while playing, please change the "priority" of this program, into "Above Normal" or "Realtime" in Task Manager

I wouldn't recommend this. Never set the priority of a CPU-intensive program to Realtime. Even mouse input, keyboard input and disk cache don't run at Realtime priority, so if you set a program to run at Realtime priority and it reaches 100% CPU usage, you can easily get stuck. Use High priority at the most, if you have to.

Otherwise, I don't think there's anything wrong with your guide really, it seems a lot more in-depth than you're giving yourself credit for.
 

cimo95

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I wouldn't recommend this. Never set the priority of a CPU-intensive program to Realtime. Even mouse input, keyboard input and disk cache don't run at Realtime priority, so if you set a program to run at Realtime priority and it reaches 100% CPU usage, you can easily get stuck. Use High priority at the most, if you have to.

Otherwise, I don't think there's anything wrong with your guide really, it seems a lot more in-depth than you're giving yourself credit for.

yes, yes, im using "above normal" instead just to make sure it still prioritized if another new process is made :blush:

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Never seen this before. I remember using a app called VGMTOOLBOX to extract audio files from NDS roms. But I got lucky messing around to get the sonic rush music. But least there is sites that have them already ripped and even named and playlisted. :)
im using VGMTOOLBOX too before, to play Pokemon NDS sound, without extractinf its SDAT first, just drag the rom over the program. Ths VGM Studio sound new because i look for 2 times none talksnabout this program. Oh yes, if you're know program called Sappy which play song from GBA rom, the interface is look like this, but Sappy is manual, you must map each track first before able to play it :unsure:
 
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