
Dust off your Game Boy Advance SP and convert it into a music-making machine.
The open-source software used to convert the Game Boy into a step sequencer, called Stepper, was created by musician and programmer Bad Diode. It was built to have an “intuitive workflow” that was inspired by Elektron instruments.
By drawing inspiration from Elektron’s instruments, Bad Diode also utilized “per-trigger parametrization that allows access to the four DMG sound channels in the console.” This translates to two square wave channels, one noise channel, and one custom wave channel. A total of four banks and eight patterns are free and available for queueing and live performance, according to the sequencer’s description.
To learn more and download Stepper to play test it, visit Bad Diode’s website.
Elektron launched its Syntakt drum machine and synth last year. It features 12 analog and digital tracks. Eight of them are analog tracks and the other four are digital. The Syntakt drum machine followed up on Elektron’s “drum computer,” Digitakt sampler, and its FM synth Digitone.