An Old Typewriter Turned Into a MIDI Drum Machine

William Sun Petrus is a music producer who turned an old 1920s Remington typewriter into an electronic drum machine. The typewriter keys trigger a MIDI controller and the sound comes out of the Ableton music mixing software.

“I’ve been getting questions as to why I didn’t use the “real audio” and there’s generally a lot of skepticism,” Petrus wrote in the video description. “This is why I crossfade from the camera audio to the audio output from Ableton.” His intention was to create an entertainment piece so people can enjoy the songs and visuals.

Watch how it works in the videos below. What do you think about Petrus’ invention?