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In 2025, I tested a ton of exotic smart glasses, e-bikes, and other gear for Lifehacker, but the tech that upgraded and improved my day-to-day life the most is a more niche product. I'm a (very) amateur musician, and Yamaha's Seqtrak is my favorite thing this year. It's an "ideastation," a music production studio small enough to slip into a backpack. Look at how tiny this thing is:
What the Seqtrak can do
There is so much music junk crammed in here, it's ridiculous: It's a full-on drum machine with eight drum tracks, step-sequencer, synthesizer with three separate tracks and hundreds of pre-set sounds, and a sampler—in other words, everything you need to create any kind of music from scratch, in seconds. It's even battery-powered with an onboard speaker, so it's fully portable.
Even with all those functions, it's crazy easy to use for basic music-making, even if you literally have no musical knowledge. Here's what it takes to create a basic beat from nothing in about 90 seconds:
That’s just the surface. Everything can be customized completely. You can tweak any aspect of the presets and effects, add sequencer steps, mess with the arpeggiator, record or import your own samples, and warp sounds with countless synth parameters.
Going deeper with the companion app
If you want to dig in further, there's a companion app for tablets, phones, and PCs that syncs with the Seqtrak and gives you access to all the on-board controls so you can change whatever. The app is a must for beginners: The Seqtrak has 32 input buttons, 17 dials, and three sliders, but it doesn't have a display screen, so being able to see what you're doing is a must until you're well-versed in the controls.
The screenshot below is only one of dozens of pages of elements you can mess around with to customize sounds and effects:
Credit: Stephen JohnsonIt can't do everything, but you can import your project from Seqtrak into another digital workstation for more advanced mastering or effects, and you can control the Seqtrak through an external MIDI device if you want more options than it offers from the box.
The Seqtrak is my new desktop companion
You could use this gear to build detailed beats and even full songs, bring it out to accompany yourself live (although, it's not the most rugged piece of equipment), or integrate it into your larger music set-up with MIDI, but I mostly just keep my Seqtrak next to my desk and play it with a MIDI keyboard—the seven little plastic keys aren't optimal—because it lowers the friction between having an idea and making it happen. It's way simpler and more immediate to fire up this groove box than start a new project in FL Studio or something. Plus, it's so tangible—physical dials and buttons are just better for creativity than sliders on a computer, even if they're controlling digital output.
I don’t use my Seqtrak to finish albums or chase perfect mixes. I use it because it makes messing around with music easy and fun again. It’s a gadget that gives you endless options, but also gets out of your way.
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