‘Maple Leaf Rag’ Played on an 8-Bit Accordion Made From Two Commodore 64s With Floppy Disc Bellows

Electronic musician Linus Åkesson created “The Commodoridian”, a working 8-bit accordion made from two Commodore 64 computers with floppy disks used as the bellows. Åkesson first explained how his bespoke instrument worked, stating that the basics were the same as a regular accordion, but there were also distinct differences.

This is my latest invention the Commodoreon, two c64s attached to a bellow made out of floppy disks and tape. Just as on a regular accordion, the right hand plays melodies and the left hand plays chords. The bellows control the volume. …Unlike a regular accordion when you hold the bellows quite still, the volume doesn’t drop all the way to zero and this is deliberate. It’s because the left hand side also functions as a rhythm box where you can record a short loop to enter programming mode with shift lock.

He then played a unique cover of the classic Scott Joplin song “Maple Leaf Rag”, juxtaposing the old song with a modern sound.

via Boing Boing