You will need a set of steel balls to lay down the beats with Alkex Instrument’s unique eight-step sequencer. Forty-eight steel balls, to be exact, which trigger the optical sensors the machine uses in place of physical buttons.
The Ball Beats sequencer’s interface looks like one of those labyrinth marble mazes, with an 8×6 grid of holes cut into a see-through plastic panel. But instead of navigating a half-inch steel ball between the obstacles, every hole you fill triggers a specific sample or sound effect. Since the Ball Beats works as a standard midi trigger, the sounds that are produced are completely dependent on what software you have it connected to.
The $US199 kit comes with 50 steel balls (enough to fill the grid with a couple of spares) and the required interface hardware to make it work with your PC or electronic instruments. As for the Daft Punk levels of fame and fortune? That part’s up to you. [Alkex Instruments via The Verge]