Watch as a telephone is transformed into a DIY analog drum machine

Push-button telephone. Analog drum machine. Arduino Nano. DIY amplifier. Shashwath Sundar, aka simple_but_nerdy, makes the telephone-drum machine fusion seem like it was meant to be.

Radio Shack’s TRS-80 now has polyphonic MIDI and a tracker

The Tandy Corporation-manufactured, Radio Shack-sold TRS-80 computer debuted in 1977. But now you can now add full polyphonic MIDI support thanks to George Philipps and Michael Wessel. And it’s already transformed into a serious live instrument and production tool. Assembly cost: about $35. The TRS-80: a tool for the 2020s.

Peter Kirn - June 2, 2025

KORG’s adorable Sanrio tuners and other stuff you can only get in Japan

Every so often, KORG throws a Japan exclusive at its home market. And so it is that you’ll only see these Sanrio-themed (Hello Kitty) combo tuner metronomes there. It’s time for a quick Japan update.

Peter Kirn - March 13, 2025

Nitecaller has made a gorgeous analog reimagining of ARP 2600, Odyssey

Peter Kirn - March 11, 2025

Sequencing with light on an alien-looking instrument by Kacper Ziemianin

Peter Kirn - January 10, 2025

Maker Monday: DIY your own tracker hardware for around $50-$75

Peter Kirn - January 6, 2025

This is a bound book you can build into a complete modular system

Peter Kirn - December 17, 2024

Alternative histories, realized: someone built a working 80s Apple prototype

Peter Kirn - December 9, 2024

Lisbon this week will be a haven for DIY sound, video synthesis, and AV

Peter Kirn - September 2, 2024

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