Albert Nyström, developer and YouTuber, has created an impressive Teensy-based DIY drum machine from scratch for $70.
A nice DIY project by a YouTube creator shows that inspiring instruments do not have to be expensive. With a talent for coding and soldering, you can quickly build your synthesizers, drum machines, etc. Platforms like Arduino and Teensy… make it possible for little money.
Albert Nyström recently published a video on YouTube showcasing his own developed drum machine. Not for hundreds or thousands of euros. Nope, this only costs $70, and it’s pretty impressive.
Albert Nyström Drum Machine
The developer did it without a fancy name. The instrument is simply called “Drum Machine” and is, as the name suggests, a portable drum machine. It is built around a Teensy 4.1 and other components, such as a UDA1334 DAC. The hardware design follows the same simplicity with a black housing, red knobs, a few switches, and lights.
Drum Machine consists of three voices, including kick, snare, and hi-hat. Each voice has three different engine variants that can be tweaked with three parameters: pitch, decay, and tone. On the left, you can fire up your beats with an option to set up the BPM rate.
Then, you get a matrix where you can adjust the level of each voice individually or altogether. On top, you can infuse an organic character into the sounds via the probability, randomness, and lowpass filter per voice or global setting.
That’s not all. Drum Machine also includes an overdrive, reverb, and delay effects processor. There is also a dedicated swing parameter. That shouldn’t be missing in any drum machine. Not here either.
As a little extra goody, Albert Nyström has also built in a rechargeable battery, making it a neat portable instrument.
In terms of sound, the drum machine has a glitch, noisy, or lo-fi sound character. It doesn’t sound like an 808 or 909. It’s unique, and that’s what makes it exciting. The developer is so pleased with the result that he will be working on a 2.0 version which will be put up for sale. I’m curious about what it can do.
If you can’t wait, check out the development on GitHub.
More information here: GitHub
If this would be released as a DIY Kit for about 100~150€, a lot of people would consider buying and building it , including me!