About sucofunk

Sucofunk is the name of the nonstop inventing brain of a maker called Marc. It is also the name of a new brand for music making devices, made by the same guy.

The name sucofunk was created back in the 1990s, when Marc envisioned a new musical genre. As he had (and still has) no skills in playing any instruments besides the drums, that genre is still a hidden dream.

Suco is the brazilian-portuguese word for juice and funk – you guessed it – a musical genre.

During the years there have been a lot of ideas to re-use the name for something else. With a passion for crystal clear ice-cubes, there were plans for a ice-cube-try company and some other crazy ideas but nothing seemed right for the name.

During the first wave of the covid 19 pandemic, Marc was stuck at home with his family. To make the best out of it – because boredom is never an option – he started bringing his DIY skills to the next level. Which skills were lacking? Creating more advanced 3D models for his 3D printing passion and there was always the plan to design a printed circuit board. Some weeks later these skills were on a level to test them with a real project and not just re-creating things from online tutorials. But what should it be?

There was a not so many times used Korg Volka Sample laying around. So the first use-case was born. Building a stand-alone MIDI sequencer for that little groove-box. But there was the lack of recording samples with the Volka.

The idea of beatmaker’s sketchbook was born. A portable music making device. Ok, there are a lot of them on the market, but hey, why buy one, if you can build one yourself?

It started as a hobby project and took some iterations to come to the current version. Check out these pictures to see the process.

There are three goals of sucofunk and the beatmaker’s sketchbook:

• Foster DIY skills in a fun way
• Create portable music making devices
• Offer a tool to learn something about musical theory

„Offer a tool to learn something about musical theory“? Yes. Many people ask, why there is a 2-octave piano keyboard on beatmaker’s sketchbook. Wouldn’t it be better to have at least 16 buttons in a row to have a real sequencer? The answer is no, because the goal is not to copy already existing devices. If you want a 16 step sequencer you can use at your live performance, just go to the next music store and get one – or build your own.

Music theory lessons in school were a never understandable topic for the maker of this device. Why? Because there was no piano at home to reveal the learned concepts. Beatmaker’s sketchbook will not teach you any music theory, but it can be a handy device to play around and try, what you might have learned. Or just foster your musical creativity.