ARPIE - MIDI Arpeggiator Kit

Name: ARPIE - MIDI Arpeggiator Kit
SKU: 697
Price: 116.45 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.84 (49 reviews)

(49 Reviews)

Tiny, but big on features... an excellent creative tool for MIDI musicians

Designed by Sixty Four Pixels in United Kingdom

$116.45

Quantity*

+ —

Fascia Panel Colour*

The colour of the PCB front panel

Additional LEDs

The kit includes BLUE LEDs as standard, add an alternative colour if you like

Acrylic Case Kit

Include a kit for a laser-cut acrylic case to keep your ARPIE in (see link in description)

Include Power supply?

ARPIE runs on a standard 9V guitar pedal style supply. If you don't already have one I can supply quality supply from myVolts.co.uk

USB Programmer

Standard 5V USB-Serial Adaptor can be used to upgrade ARPIE firmware or in other bare-bones Arduino projects

Expansion module

Add-ons to allow ARPIE to output CV/Gate and Clock for analog synths and/or save 16 patches (discount applies if ordered as an ARPIE extra)

Only 3 left in stock, order now!

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Tiny, but big on features... an excellent creative tool for MIDI musicians

ARPIE is a compact, highly-functional, MIDI arpeggiator that comes as a DIY kit. As you are looking at this, it is likely you already know what an arpeggiator is, but if not here is a quick descript…

Sixty Four Pixels Shipping Policy:

If you are placing an order from outside the UK you must agree to allow up to 6 weeks for delivery from the shipping date. While most items arrive quickly, customs delays are quite common.

If an item has not arrived after this time we can offer a refund or a replacement product provided that you let us know within 10 weeks from dispatch. If a replacement is preferred and the original shipping was untracked, we will ask you for the additional postage costs to upgrade shipping of the replacement by a tracked service.

It is your responsibility to handle any extra steps needed to receive your product (such as collecting an undelivered item from your local post office / booking a redelivery / paying customs duty) within appropriate time windows. If an undamaged item is returned to us due to a missed delivery/failure to pay customs etc. we can re-send it to you (at your expense) or we can process a refund of original order value, less shipping cost.

We will try to mark packages with any special instructions you provide with your order. However, we will not be responsible for problems resulting from our failure to do so, from the instructions not being followed correctly by the delivery courier, or for safety of packages left in ‘safe place’ etc.

Review Breakdown

Average Ratings

Product: (5.00)

Documentation: (4.79)

Shipping: (4.72)

Communication: (4.83)

Marino | Oct. 15, 2020

Amazing!

Simply put: this is the best little hardware arpeggiator money can buy in relation to it's functionality, it's a behemoth hidden in a small body.
Very easy to build with the printed PCB, with a good iron in a couple hours you have a very creative little machine that can get MIDI clock from whatever source and play arpeggios thru CV's on older synths, and much much more.
Hooked to my AN1x and this little monster is driving acid and beefy basslines as nothing else in no time, really a pleasure to hear and to control!
Now my MC-202 shoots notes like there's no tomorrow...it only needs a small lifting as pots and sliders are a bit worn, then mod some direct accent cv to get full accent control.
After one week jamming in my spare time I can only recommend this kit.
CV TAB is also great, first for it's basic usage to route CV signals, nonetheless the save feature is really a great plus.
On my unit i replaced menu and hold buttons with softer ones (VV439800,they do not fit perfectly as they have only 2 legs but after adaptation work beautifully - they are spare parts of my old Yamaha RS7000 that is still going strong with original ones), and also adapted status led colors to my likings.
Ordered two boards in alternate colors, came both black but no issues at all we can cope with and after all we're very satisfied.
Packaging is a work of some kind of black belt ninja packer and shipping was blazing fast,
thanks Jason!

David | June 4, 2020

This thing is awesome.

I absolutely love it. I sat outside on my deck at the Lake of the Ozarks Saturday afternoon and soldered it up and had it all together in a very pleasant, sunny, and unhurried 4 hours. I still need to deep dive it and figure out all the functionality, but just hooking it up and playing with it stabbing blindly at buttons was TREMENDOUS fun. I have so much more I want to try with it, but my first noodling was running a Korg SQ-1 into it and then out to a Korg 05R/W (cheap little box full of general midi sounds that I nabbed at a thrift store for $6 and promptly ignored for over a year), into a Hotone Xtomp. MAGIC. FREAKING MAGIC.

This is going to breath new life into lots of old gear for me. Only complaint was DHL had issues with my address, had to go into their system and change it and they still couldn't figure out where I lived and I had to go pick it up. Annoying but not a big deal. Packing job was just fine, no issues there.

Be in touch about LeStrums soon. Quality products over here, y'all.

John | May 9, 2020

A great multi function arpeggiator device

I have been constructing and designing modules for analog synths since the early 70's and when I came across Arpie it was a must have for the collection. I have not seen a hardware midi arpeggiator that comes close to Arpie and the functional permutations with this compact design seem endless. It took me 4 hours to build, I put the main controller board together on day 1 and day 2 finished the front panel assembly. I would recommend studying the full instructions found on the website for any beginners keen on building Arpie.

In summary.... Arpie exceeded my expectations and I look forward to seeing any future firmware enhancements

John Hamilton, USA

Connor | Dec. 28, 2018

Amazing Product / Fun and Easy Build

First off, the build is super well documented and was a ton of fun. Finished it in about 2 hours.

Then...THEN..this thing is so fun to play with. Melodies and unthinkable patterns appear out of nowhere. Excited to start to compose with this!

Ron | April 24, 2018

straightforward kit, easy to build and perfectly documented.

This is how a DIY kit should be done. PCB layout and documentation are super straightforward, components packed and labelled nicely leaving no questions open. Though counting myself to experienced builders I am sure the documentation has lots of tips guiding beginners sucessfully through the building process.
Warning: Once it´s finished ARPIE can be a huge time sink - it´s just too much fun to play around driving your favorite synth ;) JMJ on your finger tips so lock me in and throw away the key...

Paul | Feb. 26, 2018

Fun to build & play

I got the full kit + case, along with the amber LED option (looks great with the blue). The build was very straightforward, in no small part due to a well laid out board, and fantastic build instructions - seriously, every kit manufacturer should take some cues from the manual. I've built my share of circuits & kits, so I glossed over some of it, but I could see a novice successfully completing this kit by just methodically following the instructions.
Excellent work, and I'd love to see more kits from these folks!
- Paul

Tim | Jan. 27, 2018

Great kit, big MIDI functionality

I'm delighted with my ARPIE kit. The board was laid out well for kit soldering and the documentation, especially at the online link was excellent. I'm delighted with the functionality it adds to synths without arpeggiators. It really breathes new life into budget synths as well as old faves like my MS-20.

I included the case in my purchase which turns the unit into a really nice piece of stage kit. (I published a 45 degree stand for the case at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2772521)

I'd really love to be able to use my MIDI foot pedal to change various functionality, most especially changing the output channel (letting me arpeggiate on different synths.) Seeing that some fantastic firmware upgrades have already occurred, I'm encouraged at the ongoing capabilities of this device.

Branko | Oct. 9, 2017

Great!

An easy build with clear instructions. A fantastic item! Thanks!! I haven't even begun to explore it in depth but it is clearly well designed, easy to use, and deep!

Myles | March 9, 2017

Mind blowing little guy.

The Arpie is fantastic.

For me, it has opened up a whole new realm of possibilities which now seem limitless with my current hardware set up and opened up my options more for ideas with what I do and what I want to do! It's faultless. Really easy to use. The build and design of the Arpie feels hardy, solid and made to last. I can tell I will be using this for years to come. I love the fact that there are so many options and settings in such a small yet user friendly box. It is always exciting using it as I am constantly learning how the functions work and how the Arpie can flow so easily to fit within different ideas. I feel I get something new out of it every time I've used it as well as I dig how easy it is to backtrack to something else that I'm working on.

I can't recommend this stand alone arpeggiator enough, let alone thank Jason enough for his help with the build and the time he spent walking me through it. You're a legend!!!! Thanks again mate, I'll definitely be ordering from you again in the future!

Ben | March 5, 2017

Easier to build, most full-featured arp anywhere

Fantastic kit with easy to follow, step-by-step instructions - super helpful. The best part is that I couldn't find a more full featured arpegiator anywhere (kit or non-kit). My only concern was that it would be too small and fidley but in the studio it works great - probably wouldn't use it live though.

Thanks for the great product.

Robert | Feb. 22, 2017

The ARPIE is amazing and well worth the investment

The ARPIE MIDI Arpeggiator is an easy-to-build kit which yields a powerful addition to your MIDI setup. Jason Hotchkiss' build instructions are easy to follow and entertaining to read, although you need to be prepared to spend a few hours soldering all the parts together. There are several diagnostic LEDs which let you know how the build is progressing and whether you need to check your work.

Once you have the device assembled, the ARPIE lives up to its name as an excellent MIDI arpeggiator; the controls take a little getting-used-to, but if you read Jason's user manual you should get up to speed in little time. About the only request that I would have is that I wish there was an LED display panel for the BPM - that would be great when syncing multiple MIDI devices together.

I highly recommend this project for MIDI enthusiasts who are also passionate about making things, and I also highly recommend getting the case for the ARPIE which Jason also sells in his store. (Although now that I have built one ARPIE, I'm considering buying another and building it into a rackmount case so it can live amongst my other MIDI studio gear.)

Greg | Feb. 20, 2017

ARPIE - Realy nice piece of equipment

The instruction on the web site are excellent. For some reason, my wife decided to build the ARPIE herself, and while she has built electronic projects before, that was 30 years ago, and she has only watched me since. She followed the instructions carefully, and ARPIE worked first time. We are both now looking forward to learning how to use it, exploring its rich features and having fun with it.

Sean | Sept. 1, 2016

Great product, great documentation!

This kit went together very well. I studied electrical engineering in school, but that knowledge is unnecessary to build this kit. The instructions are very thorough and include pictures to ensure that the polarized components are oriented correctly. The PCB quality is one of best I have seen in a kit after constructing a variety of projects. I would recommend a good soldering iron, as with any project like this, to make sure that the solder flows easily and quickly. The unit functioned properly on the first power-up and did not require any debugging or calibration to get started.

Thomas | July 25, 2016

Nice little tool, unique and fun

Most Synths have some form of an arpeggiator. But to have one in a standalone device has its advantages - no more digging through menus, adapting to that "special" style of arpeggiator on every single synth, and no more need for a computer.

This little thingy is easy to build, the instructions are mostly clear and easy to follow and it is fun to use.

Kenny | June 9, 2016

Excellent product. Creative and Inspirational.

The Arpie is far superior to arp's found in analogue synths. Easy to program. Syncing is easy using the external midi clock input. Quick and easy build. As well as basic up/down arps, Arpie easily creates fresh unique arps. A must have for those suffering the limitations of pre-set arp's found in most (if not all) digital synths. Most importantly for me, the Aprie brings serendipity to the track. 10/10 stars.

Graham | April 4, 2016

Great gadget but check external clock requirements

Built this in a couple of hours - build instructions are excellent. the Arpie worked perfectly except for the external clock which although the clock led pulsed happily and F8 midi clock messages were being received the arpie would not recognize it and was silent when trying to use it.
I finally found that in order to get this to work the Arpie needs a midi Start (FA) message or a continue(FB) message then it works a treat.
(A midi stop (FC) also stops it)

Response from Sixty Four Pixels | April 4, 2016

Ah, thanks for that feedback! I'll have a think about how that could be improved... Cheers/Jason

Nick | March 4, 2016

awesome hardware arpeggiator

This is my first soldering project. After a couple hiccups and some helpful advice from Jason, this thing is fully integrated into my live rig. I am using to to control a Moog Minitaur and a Roland JP-08 interfaced by a MOTU MIDI Timepiece AV and clocked via a Korg EMX. I did find that the random mode (the mode I most often use) wasn't quite random enough. It would repeat the same random sequence over and over again. However due to the open-source nature of the kit, a couple lines in the code fixed that right up, and now it's fully random. Great piece of equipment!

Andrew | March 4, 2016

Arpie US Order

I ordered the Aprie to the US and shipping/packing was perfect - as described and better than expected. Very organized package. I soldered all of the components together using the included instructions with no issues, and it worked on first power up. Instructions are great, product is great, and I've spent a lot of time playing with it! Well worth the time. Thank you for this.

Laurent | Feb. 18, 2016

Mes synthés vintage lui disent merci !

Un arpégiateur-quasi-sequenceur hyper complet en kit (facile à monter), de qualité (composants t PCB), qu'aucun fabricant connu n'a penser à proposer et surtout à ce prix. En bonus et en option : une synchro CV, la possibilité de le mettre à jour via USB et un module externe de réglages rapides par potentiomètres. J'ai eu autant de plaisir à le monter qu'à l'ajouter à l'un de mes synthés. J'en prendrai sans doute un autre pour compléter d'autres machines.

Flavio | Dec. 16, 2015

My first DIY!!!

Great DIY for beginners - I guess. It took me like 2 hours or so to finish everything and it worked at first shot! Very good and detailed walkthrough for the soldering process, as well as for debugging issues.
I can suggest this kit for soldering starters... ;-)
Flavio.

Aad | Oct. 10, 2015

ARPIE is the "Bomb"

I built it in two hours, just relaxed, enjoying assembling, building the unit and placing the parts as described by the manual.
It has a very clear description of the parts, and where to put them on the boards.
No questions here.
When finished, it worked instantly and I love the the way it works.
After fiddling about with the buttons for a few minutes, you get a clear picture of it's cappabilities.
Much of the functions speak for them selfs, and if not, there's always the manual.

Missing anything?
Yes, I would like to see a bypass or THRU function, which keeps the unit in the MIDI chain and allows you to play your live played parts as well.

I ordered a ARPIE case, which came a few day's later because Jason had some trouble with his 3-D Laser cutter.
Communication was very clear and helpfull about this small issue, no problem there...
But the front panel offered not as much protection to the buttons and LED's as I expected.
There's no cut out per LED or switch, leaving these parts as unprotected as is whithout the ARPIE case....

Overall, I give a BIG BRAVO to Jason, offering this small but fine piece of MIDI gear to the world!
Keep up the good work....

Best regards,
Aad

Magnus | Sept. 19, 2015

ARPIE - MIDI Arpeggiator Kit, good shit!

Good and solid product. Easy to build and and modify. Late review, came here to buy the 4.x chip and the sync pcb. :P

Forrest | Sept. 3, 2015

Great addition to any synth set up

My novice son put together the kit and it worked first time out of the gate. A quality, high value product.

Lincoln | April 28, 2015

The Arpie is amazing! Very capable and powerful.

Purchased my unit some time ago and just updated the software to version 4 today. Just incredible! Documentation has improved vastly. The power and functionality of this little device easily holds its own against much higher priced units. The inventor has always been available to answer any questions I had. He is clearly dedicated and works on improvements as feedback and his own ideas dictate. I highly recommend this to any musician wanting to experiment with an arpeggiator.

Chris | March 18, 2015

Fantastic piece of kit!!

Really enjoyed putting this together, and the results are great. Stick it into a non-arp synth and breathe new life into it! The DX7 sounds amazing with this box, which has so many great features. Review Image

Jon | March 16, 2015

ARPIE - Lovely Machine : )

Really lovely machine.
Fast delivery, so easy to assamble. All working like a charm!
Thanks a lot for this perfect kit

Cameron | Feb. 22, 2015

I love this device... It's beautiful and fierce.

Don't hesitate this is the best arpeggiator EVER made... and the new V4 firmware only makes it better. Way better than the simple arpeggiators that are built in to most hardware synths. A moveable feast of arpeggiating joy... for ALL your MIDI modules and keyboards.

Build instructions are very well written and easy to follow.

Andrew | Nov. 23, 2014

Great product, great service

My Arpie arrived quickly with good communication from the seller. Instructions were easy to follow and everything worked first time. I had a little trouble working out how to get the external sync going, but got it all working once I RTFM.

The Arpie is a nifty little box that does what it says it does and is very much worth the cheap price plus a 1-2 hours to put it together. I really enjoyed building this and am looking forward to many nights of arpeggiated fun!

One wishlist item for future revisions: I know the Arpie is explicitly monophonic, but if there aren't hardware limitations it would be good to see a future revision with polyphonic chord playback (called "trigger" mode on my microKorgXL) where the input notes are played back all at once, according to the defined pattern. Review Image

Response from Sixty Four Pixels | Nov. 23, 2014

Aha! poly gate mode is in the works.. I am working on a firmware update that adds this feature along with a lot of other goodies :) watch this space

Peter | Aug. 18, 2014

excellent device

Very well designed device; the kit is really easy to make with sufficient and accurate instructions.
Works like a charm, I am even considering buying a second one to chain them!

Mark | May 27, 2014

Arpie is Ace.

My first kit, although I've circuit bent a Roland drum machine before. Excellent instructions, everything clearly labelled and easy to construct. Best of all, it worked, first time no problems.

Had time to play with it and it is amazing fun, I'm getting more musical enjoyment from this than my Doepfer Dark Time sequencer, I may buy a second one for more arpegiator based fun.

Christian | May 21, 2014

Very good - I suppose

As an an absolute beginner in soldering, it was very easy to get it together, the how-to is very useful and easy to understand. unfortunately, at the first two or three joints, some solder got sucked in some holes, where it shouldn't go in yet...so now I am in need for a solder sucker for just some three holes and I can't get the thing runnig, altough everything else is done...(which was some fun, by the way!)
that's a bit frustrating, but my fault alone. will write a review, as soon i figured out, how to get that tin outta those holes...

Samuel | March 17, 2014

The ARPIE is Excellent

Love the ARPIE. Kit came quickly to the US in an impressively small package. Build instructions (especially on the wiki) and user's manual are very thorough. The ARPIE has been great in helping me dig deeper into some of my smaller, less feature-rich synths. I never got into them too much because playing while tweaking is a big distraction and sequencing through the computer seems like so much overhead. But just sitting down with a little ARPIE has made me spend more time exploring their sounds. The no-input mode is very great too; I can just plug a small, battery-powered nugget into a synth to start making sound with it.

My only feature request so far is to make it easier to bypass the ARPIE and simply pass through the notes as played. I was able to do this with an empty pattern and with global setting to forward original notes. But a single toggle in the Mode menu would be nice. Or maybe there's an easier way and I just missed it in the manual.

Owen | Feb. 11, 2014

Fantastic

I built my Arpie in one night and it's the first major soldering kit I've built without someone helping me. The components were extremely well-organized with everything carefully divided and clearly labelled. The tips and tricks throughout the instructions, like how to get the LEDs flush with the board, were extremely useful.

Everything went smoothly until I burne out a trace running down from the primary blue LEDs, though. At first I thought I burned out the LED itself and spent a long time trying to remove it (and then clearing the hole I had filled :( ...), but adding a bridge wire between the two terminals fixed the problem. I had to do this twice. So when making the UI board be careful and solder quick!

And of course the software is on github making this really a dream tool for music hackers. Highly highly recommended Review Image

Patrick | Jan. 16, 2014

Amazing Kit

As with Le Strum this is a straightforward, well-explained build even for a novice.

The end result is a solidly constructed and extremely inspiring and musically useful piece of kit.

Christoph | Jan. 13, 2014

Arpie

The Arpie kit was my first electronic soldering and i´m very happy about the easyness and the result.
Thanks a lot, fantastic work.

Just a few ideas of future developments of the Kit: CV-outports, integrated USB, easier updating of the programs, different sequences for different midi channels.

John | Jan. 12, 2014

Awesome Kit

This thing is awesome. It's well documented and easy to build. It was exactly what I was looking for and more. Well done and highly recommended!

Mattzog | Jan. 7, 2014

Digging my Arpie

I bought an Arpie a little while back, and I'm really digging it. It's surprisingly easy to use and seem fully featured. I still need the reference sheet to remember which button takes me to which parameter, but I'll memorize all that eventually. Flexible enough that I can reconfigure on the fly, and since it's external I can drive a bunch of synths at once. A lot to like.

I'm slightly concerned that the open frame will be less than ideal for gigging, but I think it'll be safe stuck down in my pedal board case.

All in all, I'm a fan.

Michael | Nov. 24, 2013

shit is sick

This thing rules - wish it had a case tho

Jason | Nov. 23, 2013

This is the coolest thing I've ever built in my life!

Very fun and satisfying to build.
Plus there is no other product like it.

Chris | Nov. 19, 2013

a must have in the studio!

I bought the ARPIE and that it is very comfortable and fun to build it, it is a fantastic tool to have in the studio. I consider the arp in reason as one of the best (to use) in software form and ARPIE is just that in hardware. once you get comfortable with the leds its just so much fun playing with it. however i wanted to use it in a live environment, there is basically no hardware alternative to this item. the problem is to build a case around but in fact its not a huge problem, you just have to be a little bit creative. i missed that point and used the parts that were delivered but you should think about how you want to put that gear in a case _before_ you solder. i would have definitely soldered micro switches with longer press buttons to let them stick out of the case. if you have a lasercutter at hand you can get the 1:1 EAGLE pcb design on github.

anyway, this gear is a big bang for the bucks and jason is a great guy.

thanks!

Sami | Nov. 14, 2013

Excellent kit!

Easy to build, well-thought out user interface and quality components.Arpie was just what I needed on my hardware synth setup. Heartily recommended!

Sean | Nov. 5, 2013

Great kit, great machine

Extremely well put together little kit with a nice printed function sheet. Highly recommended.

Jordi | Oct. 9, 2013

Great product, top seller

Good fun to assemble and use. Very well documented user guide and bulding instructions. Lots of useful and musically sensible features. Worth every cent. Can't wait to build two more units. Thanks!

Daniel | Sept. 15, 2013

another amazing little machine!

Easy to build and really fun to play!
I sweat a bit when IC2 sanity check led refused to blink,
but arpie works 100% and it's absolutely great as expected!!!
Keep up the outstanding work
Till next time

Santiago | Aug. 16, 2013

increíble!!!

Nice machine, very easy to build, perfectly packed and really, really, useful. I've written a review of arpie and midihub in
[url]http://contubernio.es/wp/?p=1095[/url] (in spanish)
Cheeers Review Image

Chris | July 31, 2013

give life to your soft synths

Really happy with the functionality and ease of use of the ARPIE. a must for people looking to get an "out of the box" sound with soft synths. make it work like a simple sequencer on drums or percussion too. easy to build and good looking boards.

cheers! Review Image

Miguel | July 24, 2013

This is not a toy

I'm just impressed by this device. Apart of how well documented and easy to build it is, you get a very useful piece of equipment for any professional musician.

This is the arpeggiator you are missing in your synths.

Lots of fun!

I'm ordering another unit.

Marcus | July 17, 2013