While one often listens to tunes or albums in full, in some cases you just want to lay down a easy beat. [todbot]’s newest project promises to do just that.

The build depends on a Raspberry Pi Pico or any other RP2040-based microcontroller board, and is programmed in CircuitPython. The PWM feature is utilized for audio output, and it’s packed with different WAV samples of the classic “Amen” break.

Each measure, a random new sample is selected and played, changing the beat. even better, all the samples can loop, and they are available in diverse lengths, enabling them to overlap and lay over each other to add even more depth to the mix. It’s a cinch to setup, as CircuitPython has an AudioMixer object developed in.

Those wanting to tinker for themselves can find all the code and samples on Github. A build such as this one is a great method to start learning about working with audio and music, after all. We’ve seen [todbot]’s work here before, too. video after the break.