Sample and Sequence Music with the SucoFunk Beatmaker’s Sketchbook
The device is designed around a Teensy 4.1 and packs a microphone, two speakers, a fader, four rotary encoders, and more.
The SucoFunk Beatmaker’s Sketchbook is a portable music sampler and sequencer billed as a DIY kit.
“It is designed in a way that makes it as easy as possible to build your own,” according to Marc, SucoFunk’s creator. “Difficult to solder parts are pluggable, and all you need is a cheap soldering iron from a local hardware store. If something breaks, repairing is not a big issue. The whole project is open-source, and the firmware works out of the box. No programming needed, but building your own firmware is possible.”
The SucoFunk is built around a Teensy 4.1 microcontroller and comes equipped with a microphone for instant sampling or a line-level input for connecting peripherals and other music devices. It also packs a pair of speakers, a fader, four rotary encoders, 24 keys for two octaves, 12 functional buttons, a display and a USB rechargeable battery for playing music on the go. After sampling sounds or music, it can then be played back through headphones, the internal speakers or the line-out connector and can communicate with external devices via MIDI.
In its current form, the SucoFunk can only take advantage of sampling and sequencing, but Marc states a software synthesizer will be added in the future. He’s also expected to offer the Beatmaker’s Sketchbook on Tindie in October of this year and will upload the code on GitHub as well.