Awesome Sequencers

This octagonal drum machine is designed to encourage collaboration. It offers backlit buttons, drum pads, and pitch sliders, which allow multiple players to participate in the rhythm-making process. The eight-step sequencer comes with a bunch of sounds, and you can load your own samples from your computer. It also has MIDI and sync connections.

For the 2023 YouTube Makers Secret Santa, Sam from Look Ma No Computer drew Ali Spagnola’s name out of the gift-giving hat. Given her passion for music and fitness, he got to work building a unique drum machine that changes rhythm based on her heartbeat. Sam received a similarly awesome gift from engineer James Bruton.

Electronics and industrial design masters Teenage Engineering created the EP–133 K.O. II., a portable synth, sampler, and composer for electronic music. It offers instant sampling with 999 sample slots, six stereo voices, 12 mono voices, a high-res sequencer, real-time FX, looping, and more. Ports include stereo audio, sync, MIDI, and USB-C MIDI. In-depth demo here.

Amsterdam’s Our House is a wonderland for fans of electronic music. One of their interactive installations is a wall-sized sequencer, which lets you create your own looped rhythms by pushing its buttons. Here’s a look at it being programmed to play the Eurythmics 1983 hit Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).

Learn about circuits, soldering, and writing code with this duo of CircuitMess electronic music makers. The Synthia is a digital beat maker and sampler, while the Jay-D is a miniature DJ mixer with audio effects, built-in speakers, and a sweet LED light show. Grab the bundle for a special price in The Awesomer Shop.

The guys from Electronicos Fantasticos! are no strangers to making electronic music with unusual instruments. Here, they show off a custom-built instrument that clangs the bell of an old-school rotary telephone with a circuit controlled by a Korg SQ-1 step sequencer. Now they need to rig the dial with a motor and amplify its clicks.

The 1980s brought the first 16-bit PCs, and advances in hardware brought better graphics and sound. Programmers went on to create music synthesizers and sequencers called trackers, which became a demo and hacker scene staple. Ahoy looks back at the history of trackers and the ear-pleasing chiptunes they produced.

This robust input device for music production and live performance packs not one but four fully configurable and independent sequencers, with LFOs, loopers, arpeggiators, and more. Each supports up to 128 steps, with auto-harmonization capabilities. It connects via MIDI, CV, or Bluetooth.

Teenage Engineering’s OP-Z combines a synth and sequencer in a minimal device. It can record 8 audio tracks and 8 control tracks at once, and has a 2-octave keyboard, speaker, microphone, headphone jack, and USB-C/MIDI ports built in. It also works wirelessly with iOS.

The ROLI Songmaker Kit combines the Seaboard Block with the Lightpad Block M, the Loop Block and $400 worth of mobile apps and desktop software in one bundle. You also get a carrying case and hundreds of sounds.

This strange looking gadget isn’t a self-aware vacuum cleaner. It’s a complete drum machine, sequencer, synthesizer, looper, clip launcher, and wireless MIDI controller in one. Its packed with hundreds of sounds, and has 96 velocity and pressure-sensitive pads.