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.

What’s new in the DIY world of Music Thing’s Workshop System

It’s a Very Workshop System Jamuary. Music Thing’s patchable music lab-in-a-lunchbox has proved that small-batch personal hardware can attract a select, dedicated community sharing great stuff with one another. Let’s catch up with what’s been happening in that magical village of synth wonder in the past year. Don’t forget, the ideas and code here are all open — meaning this could inspire more.

Peter Kirn - January 7, 2026

Autodafe has an explainer on getting JE-8086 up and running

What’s your New Year’s Resolution? I mean, use more music software, obviously. Why, someone has some other goals? Let’s get you started with Autodafe, who posted a handy guide to getting up and running with the JE-8086 reverse-engineered emulation of the Roland JP-8000 (and I’ve updated that guide, too).

Peter Kirn - December 31, 2025

A free emulator of Roland JP-8000 and the love of supersaws and trance

Peter Kirn - December 30, 2025

How to run Bitwig Studio on the Steam Deck gaming console

Peter Kirn - December 11, 2025

Mute on your Push like it’s an Elektron — Push:Mute Mode

Peter Kirn - September 10, 2025

Code turns MacBook hinge into a creaking door, Theremin

Peter Kirn - September 8, 2025

A little-known Nintendo DS piano peripheral meets homebrew sound

Peter Kirn - July 31, 2025

These retro and SGI-inspired Ableton Live themes will make you smile

Peter Kirn - July 12, 2025

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