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Beat Machine
Designing a Beat Making arcade machine for Endlesss
During my time as Head of Design with Endlesss I had the pleasure of working on a full size arcade machine with a difference. It shipped with a custom version of our beatmaking software, allowing you to create music via a tactile arcade interface.
I worked on all aspects of the design, from customised versions of our software through to the physical controller layout, branding and overall appearance of the units. I had a great time adapting Tim Exile's excellent music software for this ridiculously fun form factor.
A few units were sold directly (owners include grammy award winning artist Imogen Heap), but the project was primarily a marketing exercise for our wider software ecosystem. It was a hit with the press and successful in landing us multiple event spots, including NAMM 2023, AKA ‘the Super Bowl of the music industry’, where we were highlighted in the media showcase.
The Beat Machine started life as a fun project for NJ Lang, a well known member of the Endlesss community. He built the first version in his garage. We were understandably blown away by this, and flew out to the US, where we toured the unit around New York with him during NFT NYC to get it in front of people.
"I had an absolute blast collaborating with Joshua on the design of the Beat Machine! Joshua's attention to detail and understanding of user experience were invaluable. He helped take it from concept to completion resulting in something truly special."
After seeing how the prototype went down, we started iterating on internal versions of the arcade machine, and customising the software on it. One big challenge that we faced was making sure we catered for anyone that might walk up to the machine. Luckily it wasn't difficult to convince people to give it a go! In addition to the full Endlesss experience we added two new modes, one aimed at beatmakers, and the other at absolute beginners:
NEARcon trade show was a great opportunity for us to get the machines in front of more people and improve on the experience.
We even sold our first model to former NBA star Baron Davis off the back of this event. He was so impressed he had us hand deliver it to LA and show it off to producers in his network. By that point we really knew what we were doing, and after landing on the final ‘Beat Machine’ branding, we started producing the final units.
"I had an absolute blast collaborating with Joshua on the design of the Beat Machine! Joshua's attention to detail and understanding of user experience were invaluable. He helped take it from concept to completion resulting in something truly special."
At NAMM the latest version was recognised as one of the highlights of the show, and was featured in an exclusive media showcase.
Tim had the idea to add session capture with video and overlayed graphics that we developed in OBS, which added a spectator dimension, and gave players some sharable content to take away.
I learnt so much on this project. Working with hardware is full of challenges, and we were often working to tight deadlines, so I wasn't able to see the full impact of my work until a new unit was on the floor at a trade show waiting for me to help show it off — but I think we did a great job within those constraints. Whenever anyone saw or played on the machines their face would light up!
I feel blessed to have worked on such a multi-faceted product. Endlesss as a company ceased operations in May 2024, but the software and Beat Machines are living a new life under the care of HabLab London, who I continue to collaborate with.
This product couldn’t have happened without the incredible team behind it:
- NJ Lang: Original concept and technical support
- Tim Exile: Endlesss founder and creator, creative lead
- Aftab Hussain: Product management, operations, manufacturing lead
- Christopher Lerch: Lead software engineer
- Ragnar Hrafnkelsson: Software development
- Adam Stark: Software development
- Jaimen Laitha: Backend development
- Kelly Scanlon: Marketing lead