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Listen To A Hacked Dot Matrix Printer Play 'The Macarena'

The '90s dance classic was meant to be played on a printer from the '70s.

The infamously catchy one-hit-wonder, the Macarena by Los Del Rio, turns 20 this year. We expect to be invited to an onslaught of latin dance-themed parties in the near future, but until thenk we've found the perfect thing to stem the tide of nostalgia fever—a cover of the Macarena hacked together with a MIDI compatible dot-matrix printer.

Hardware hacker MIDIDesaster has been putting together dot-matrix printer jams for over a year, but he just released a fresh batch including the MacarenaToccata and Fugue by Bach, and Undisclosed Desires by Muse. The machine can broadcast up 21 different notes simultaneously, communicating to the printer with a custom circutry array (which he details here). The sonic range he achieves with the set-up is surprising, considering the device was invented in the 70s, long before the Macarena was even a twinkle in Los Del Rio's eyes.

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This hacked version of the Macarena is reminiscent of the vintage computer symphony we've covered before, and the instrumental hard drives YouTuber Arganalth has been perfecting for months. What's interesting about the printer version is that a single printer could have made all these songs if it were given the right commands. Whereas the old hard drives were hacked together to build a new instrument, the printer is being tweaked to sing the songs it was always capable of.

We admit we've broken out the cowboy boots and danced the Macarena a few times since it stopped dominating the radio, but with this retrofitted printer laying down the beats, we might wear those soles out.

Here are a few more of MIDIDesaster's hacked tunes to add to your party playlist:

Toccata and Fugue by J.S. Bach

Undisclosed Desires by Muse

Eye of the Tiger by Survivor

Benny Hill Theme by James Q. "Spider" Rich and Homer "Boots" Randolph III

h/t r/videos

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