YouTuber “The Mixed Signal” has come up with a fun way to make music: spinning a gear-like ferromagnetic tonewheel next to a homemade coil pickup. 

A stepper motor turns the wheel using a CNC shield under Arduino control. When set up, it’s simply a matter of programming in the proper speed via G-code to create the correct sound.

The concept isn’t entirely new, as this type of assembly was used in Hammond organs produced in the middle of the last century. The Mixed Signal’s project, however, is a very interesting take on this technology, with the use of 3D-printed parts including the iron-embedded tonewheel, as well as the integration of a MIDI keyboard.