Hi there!

If you're looking to subscribe to AdaBox, click here!

If you're here, it's because you were given the gift of electronics with an AdaBox! Perhaps you are a beginner who is getting started with your AdaBox. Or maybe you just want to relive what it's like being a beginner at electronics again. But most of all, you want to learn how to build and make creative, awesome stuff with electronics! (If, rather than learn electronics, you'd like to look at pictures of cats instead, please check https://www.adafruit.com/galleries/cats-of-engineering)

And, you're in luck: there's never been a better time. Seriously. We're not just saying that. It's bonkers how great a time this is for you to learn electronics!

Gone are the days where you need thousands of dollars of equipment and lots physics/math background. If you have a dream of an interactive synthesizer controller, you can build it! Want to use tilt and shake gestures for expressive MIDI control? You can do it!. How about a colored button pad for triggering Euclidean rhythms on your Eurorack modular synthesizer? The dream is yours to realize! Always wanted your own open source app launcher or sound board or pixel art doodle pad? Now is the time to build it with the Trellis M4 and a bit of coding in CircuitPython or Arduino!

Who is this for?

Anyone who loves sounds and lights and squishy buttons, and is interested in learning how to program and build awesome synth controllers, sequencers, samplers, and interactive gizmos! Oh, and with access to a modern web browser. That's pretty much the minimum. Remember, this guide is specifically for people who have purchased or received an AdaBox subscription!

You don't need to know a lot of physics or math, and just like an Art Degree isn't required for making art and being creative, you don't need to have a computer science or engineering degree. It helps if you're comfortable using computers, but that's a skill most people pick up through life.

If you know how to program already - great! If not, don't worry, we'll teach you enough to be dangerous.

Who isn't this for?

While you can follow along without an AdaBox, it will not make as much sense unless you have all of the components and more which either came as a gift or purchased yourself - remember, the goal is helping beginners!

If you're an expert, please visit our hundreds other tutorials and jump right in at learn.adafruit.com

Who are you?

Great question. This is me:

I'm Ladyada, and I love to teach people how to build stuff and how they can be creative with technology.

So, are you ready?

Let's do this thing!

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This guide was first published on Dec 04, 2018. It was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

This page (Introduction) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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