The Yamaha Seqtrak Is My Best Tech Upgrade of the Year.
In 2025, I tested a lot of exotic smart glasses , e-bikes , and other gear for Lifehacker, but the technology that most improved my daily life was a more niche product. I’m a (very) amateur musician, and Yamaha’s Seqtrak was my favorite thing this year. It’s an “ideation station,” a music studio small enough to fit in a backpack. Look how tiny it is:
What can Seqtrak do?
There’s so much musical goodness here it’s laughable: it’s a full-fledged drum machine with eight drum tracks, a step sequencer, a synthesizer with three separate tracks and hundreds of preset sounds, and a sampler—in other words, everything you need to create any music from scratch in seconds. It’s even battery-powered and has a built-in speaker, making it completely portable.
Even with all these features, it’s incredibly easy to use for creating basic music, even if you have no musical knowledge. Here’s what it takes to create a simple beat from scratch in about 90 seconds:
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Everything is fully customizable. You can change every aspect of the presets and effects, add sequencer steps, experiment with the arpeggiator, record or import your own samples, and tweak sounds using the synthesizer’s countless parameters.
A more detailed study of the accompanying application.
If you want to delve deeper, there’s a companion app for tablets, phones, and PCs that syncs with Seqtrak and provides access to all built-in controls, allowing you to make any adjustments. The app is essential for beginners: Seqtrak has 32 input buttons, 17 knobs, and three sliders, but it doesn’t have a display, so being able to see what you’re doing is crucial until you’ve mastered the controls.
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The screenshot below shows just one of dozens of elements you can experiment with to customize sounds and effects:
It can’t do everything , but you can import your Seqtrak project into another DAW for more advanced mastering or effects, and control Seqtrak via an external MIDI device if you need more capabilities beyond what’s offered out of the box.
Seqtrak is my new desktop assistant.
With this gear, you can create detailed beats and even entire songs, use it for live accompaniment (though it’s not the most reliable device), or integrate it into your larger music setup via MIDI. But I mostly keep my Seqtrak next to my desk and play it with a MIDI keyboard—seven small plastic keys aren’t ideal—because it reduces the friction between an idea and its execution. Launching this groovebox is much easier and faster than starting a new project in FL Studio or something similar. Plus, it’s very tactile —physical knobs and buttons are simply better for creativity than sliders on a computer, even if they control a digital output.
I don’t use my Seqtrak to finish albums or chase perfect mixes. I use it because it makes working with music easy and fun again. It’s a gadget that offers endless possibilities without getting in the way.