Toy, scanner hacked to play 'Little Drummer Boy'

With the Christmas season not quite over yet, a YouTube user has tinkered with a scanner and a robot snare drummer to make them play beautiful music together.

 

The Christmas video by YouTube user bd594 has gone viral on the Web, according to an article posted on online business site WebProNews.

 

"This project was really difficult, it was 70 percent timing and 30 percent execution. There are alot of YouTube videos with floppies and stepper motors playing songs. These motors have a quick response time because they are not under a heavy load. The problem with a flatbed scanner is moving the large carriage head. It was not designed to move quickly and when it is playing music you will notice the head changes directions," bd594 said of the 114-second video.

 

According to bd594, it takes extra programming to compensate for the delays in the mechanism.

 

The WebProNews article pointed out bd594 was also behind a similar "tech cover" of "Bohemian Rhapsody":

 

"While using computer hardware and/or accessories to make music is not a new concept, this might be the first well-known Christmas song that I’ve seen recreated with such an 'instrument,'" it added. — TJD, GMA News