Tembo is a playful drum machine that thinks it’s a checkerboard

Checkers? Go? | Image: Alon Daniel / Musical Beings

Tembo looks like a toy, but one of those bougie wooden toys you get on Crate & Kids, not some cheap plastic garbage. Despite its appearance, it is a fully functional drum machine and sampler. Rather than a bunch of buttons and a screen, you build beats on Tembo by placing what are essentially wooden checkers on a board. The point is to be approachable to would-be music makers of any age or skill level.
The core of Tembo is a pretty straightforward five-track step sequencer. Wooden tokens are held in place with magnets, and you just put them where you want the hit to land. There are eight sample packs built in, but you can also sample using …
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