Re-live your Roland 808 drum machine dreams with these step switches with LEDs. They're tactile, they're momentary, and they're awesome.

This guide shows how you can use them as simple inputs for an Arduino or CircuitPython-based project on Pico, but you can use these methods for any microcontroller board you like.

The basic examples let you make a desktop switcher, game item selector, or MIDI controller using a simple bit of code. You'll be reading switches and toggling their LEDs for feedback in no time!

Parts

Angled shot of three blue step-switches with LEDs.
These hinged momentary step switches are evocative of the 16-step sequencer keys on TR-808 sythesizers. Also sometimes...
$4.50
In Stock
Angle shot of Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040
The Raspberry Pi foundation changed single-board computing when they released the Raspberry Pi computer, now they're ready to...
Out of Stock
Five pack of 20-pin 0.1 Female Header - Blue plastic
Female header is like the duct tape of electronics. It's great for connecting things together, soldering to perf-boards, sockets for wires or break-away header, etc. We go through...
$2.50
In Stock
Angled shot of single Universal Proto-Board PCB 5cm x 7cm
Here's a handy 3-pack of 5cm x 7cm Proto-board PCBs in green. Both sides have a green silkscreen with some row/column markings. Note that these don't...
Out of Stock
Break-away 0.1 inch 36-pin strip male header - Blue plastic
In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except we need headers, headers, and more headers!Each pack contains ten blue 36-pin 0.1" pitch...
$4.95
In Stock
Angled shot of 25 Through-Hole Resistors - 1.0K ohm 5% 1/4W.
ΩMG! You're not going to be able to resist these handy resistor packs! Well, axially, they do all of the resisting for you!This is a 25 Pack of...
$0.75
In Stock

Tools

  • soldering iron & solder
  • hookup wire
  • wire cutters

This guide was first published on Aug 16, 2022. It was last updated on Apr 16, 2024.

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

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