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The Drum Liberator is a decolonial rhythm synthesizer designed in direct response to the ongoing violence against Palestinian life—cultural, political, and academic.

Built during a time of rising McCarthyism in academic and artistic spaces, the instrument reclaims sound as a form of refusal. It resists silencing with rhythm, circuitry, and memory.

Part of the Sonic Liberation Devices series, the Drum Liberator challenges what instruments can be—not just tools for making music, but systems for carrying ancestral knowledge, political urgency, and communal survival. It was conceived in a moment when institutions weaponized neutrality to suppress solidarity and resistance. This machine is not neutral. It takes a side and amplifies the voices that systems try to erase.

The Drum Liberator was not made for passive listening or commercial performance. It was made for those seeking tools that speak back—to use sound where speech is penalized, to resist institutional silence, and to center freedom through collective noise.

Process and design files, codes, and documentation are freely available at sonicliberationdevices.com.

⋆.✮ Features ✮.⋆

12 distinct waveforms

7 preset percussion sounds & 1 vocal chant

Tuning system: Al-Farabi 25-tone/10-Fret Oud

5 octaves

8x8 NeoPixel grid providing a visual interface for step sequencing

Modulation tools like ADSR envelopes and LFOs allow for dynamic sound shaping.

MIDI IN/OUT/THRU ports for seamless integration with external hardware and MIDI clock synchronization.

Users can manipulate patterns with controls for start/stop, pattern clearing, channel selection, and editing for both drum and melody sequencing. Additional features comprise an OLED screen, BPM control, and effects such as delay, reverb and filter decay/attack.

Engineered with a Teensy 4.1 microcontroller and programmed in C++, the instrument functions as both a drum machine and polyphonic synthesizer.

Designed using KiCad for precise PCB layout and manufacturing, the Drum Liberator is battery-powered, facilitating portability and on-the-go musical exploration. The enclosure is adorned with phrases like "Free Palestine" encircling its borders, reinforcing its role as a tool for sonic resistance and solidarity.

Traditional instruments—Daf, Tabla, Riq, and Oud—were integrated into the Drum Liberator through close collaboration with Palestinian composer and producer Omar Ahmad. These sounds are not ornamental; they root the instrument in a living sonic heritage.

The samples are tuned to the Al-Farabi 25-tone, 10-fret microtonal system, a tuning framework developed in the 10th century during the Islamic Golden Age. Unlike Western 12-tone equal temperament, this system restores tonal nuance and cultural specificity, reconnecting the instrument to a musical lineage that resists standardization and erasure. It’s not just about how the notes sound—but what they carry. Each tone carries memory, offering a way to hear and feel a culture that continues to resist erasure. It is a reminder that musical systems are political—and that tuning itself can be a form of resistance.

The Drum Liberator also includes a programmable “Free Palestine” chant, which can be sequenced alongside the drum samples and synthesizer. With full tempo control and MIDI synchronization, the chant becomes more than a sample—it becomes part of a living protest engine. The Drum Liberator is designed not just for performance, but for movement building. It’s programmed for the street, for rallies, for moments when sound must carry what words alone cannot.

Resistance Stream by Yaeji & PTP on The Lot Radio.

Synth 2025: In Production

Quadraphonic Playground