The Bleep Drum

Kits are sold out and will not be produced again.
Upgrade chip for older models are temporarily out of stock due to chip shortages but you can program your own with the info below.

The final run has sold out.

If you want an ever cooler looking version of the Bleep Drum, check out the Hanan Cumbia, a device made by Oficina de Sonido based on the open source Bleep Drum code.


 

Kit includes everything you need to make your own drum machine. All you need is a soldering iron and some tools. No Arduino board required.
This kit is designed for everyone and is a great for learning how to solder.
Full educational materials explaining the code and hardware will be available when the device starts shipping.

New in this version:
– Click track – Hold shift for 4 seconds to turn on and off click while the device is playing.
– Improved stability – Fixed an issue where the sequence could slow down if too much was happening.
– Better noise mode – Greater range of distorted sounds (hold shift while turning device on)
– Easier to solder PCB with better LED.

Trigger input modification guide

Upgrade chips are available for older Bleep Drums or you can download the code here. 

Kit instructions
Chip replacement guide
User Guide with MIDI and hacking info
Code, schematic, and PCB files

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The Bleep Drum is back! Now with a click track among other improvements. Learn more and preorder at bleeplabs.comA post shared by Bleep Labs (@drbleep) on

The Bleep Drum is an Arduino (ATmega328) based lo-fi rad-fi drum machine designed by Dr. Bleep. It was originally sold from 2013-2016, first for Dam Funk as the Dam Drum, then as the Bleep Drum.

– Four sounds, two with pitch control
– Wonderfully crunchy 8 bit DAC output at ~10kHz sample rate
– Available with and without a MIDI input (implementation info)
– Four selectable sequences with 32 steps each. 
– Record patterns just by playing them. The built in quantizer keeps hits where you want them.
– Click track
– Tap tempo
– Reverse mode
– Noise mode (expanded in new version)
– 9V battery powered
– “Stereo” 1/8″ output (see “How do you listen to it?” below)

???

How do you listen to it?
The Bleep Drum has a phased stereo 1/8″ output. This means that through headphones it will sound nice and huge even though it’s really just a mono signal that’s phase is flipped on the other channel.
To plug it into a mixer, amp, USB interface, etc, a mono cable must be used.

Can I add my own sounds?
Yes! See this guide for all the details. All you need is an Arduino UNO or another way to program an ATmega328. The device has 2 seconds of sample storage total.

MIDI?
Midi implementation guide here.
The device can receive MIDI notes to trigger the sounds and other options as well as MIDI CCs to change the pitches but it can’t do MIDI clock unfortunately. There’s only so much the little chip can handle. 

Modular triggers??
See this guide. It’s a pretty simple circuit that will allow you to activate the sounds using your modular.

Charity
June and July were Voix Noire, and The Trans Justice Funding Project.
August and September were Austin ECHO and RAICES.
Oct – Dec were Houston Food bank and RAICES
Jan – Feb Austin Mutual aid