Pump Out Tunes with the Bitty Pocket Drum Machine

If you’d like to create beats on the go, or would like a device to help you step into making electronic music, then Curious Sound Objects’ Bitty is just what you need. It features four main and two function buttons, plus a pair of knobs for user interface. It also boasts a large (compared to its pocket-sized body) speaker normally used in car doors to pump out the tunes you make. This allows it to be “loud enough to be annoying,” and, more practically, loud enough that it can be used in the studio or even outdoors.

Different sound packs can be downloaded onto the Bitty depending on your mood or environment, and the interface functions change right along with it. “Under the hood,” the machine is based on the Arduino platform, so it’s possible to edit its code or even start from scratch if you so desire. Not only that, but sound software already written for Arduino boards should work if you’ve got a project you’re particularly attached to.

The Bitty could also be a great tool for programming education, and as the Curious Sound Objects crew puts it, “If I were a kid and had the choice between a stock Arduino and another one with batteries, amplifier and speaker, and software…” It looks like a great intro to music and/or electronics, and you can check it out in action in the video below. The machine is now on Kickstarter with a price tag of $98, although early birds can score one of 200 units for $78.