“Eye of the Tiger” Played on a Hacked Dot Matrix Printer

Just like in Rocky III, this old dot matrix printer certainly is a survivor as it belts out a stirring rendition of “Eye of the Tiger.” And just like Mickey (Rocky’s trainer) prepared him for the ring, this printer was modified to play midi files by vimeo user MIDIDesaster.

This old 24-pin dot matrix printer has been converted into a MIDI compatible sound generator. Up to 21 notes can be played simultaneously. It features up to 16 MIDI channels with individual volume and pitch. Key velocity for every note played is also implemented.

Take a look at the process of making it sing as it plays the Benny Hill Theme in the video below and read more about how MIDIDesaster accomplished this impressive feat here.

[via the creators project]

0 thoughts on ““Eye of the Tiger” Played on a Hacked Dot Matrix Printer

  1. Glen Harness says:

    The actual name of the Benny Hill Theme is Yakety Sax by Boots Randolph.

    1. Krokodil Dundee says:

      Thanks for that random trivia bit! ;)

  2. Kelvin Nishikawa says:

    Please warn people to not listen with headphones. There are random pops and bleeps that redline the audio volume and it’s quite painful.

    1. macedotavares says:

      I wish I’d read your comment a minute ago.
      This is criminal.

  3. Fredrick Banks says:

    Ha…that’s hillarious. Takes me back to my childhood. I used to watch Rocky III over and over again. And I used to have an Atari, whose games had music that sounded a lot like this.

  4. Sho'nuff says:

    You’re nothing but a BUM, Rocko!

  5. Krokodil Dundee says:

    Wow, it’s better than the original!

  6. Carbunicle says:

    The next step is to use the printed output to recreate the song.

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Artist, writer, and teacher who makes work about popular culture, technology, and traditional craft processes. http://www.andrewsalomone.com

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