Free, open-source mod lets TI graphing calculator make sweet 1-bit music

The humble Texas Instruments graphing pocket calculator has seen its fair share of mods over the years, thanks in part to an oddly active development community of procrastinators desperate to get out of doing some maths. But while running Doom and Portal's physics engine on a calculator is impressive, the latest TI-based innovation is perhaps the most entertaining yet.

German developer Irrlicht Project has released the HoustonTracker 2 sequencer and drum machine for the TI-82, 83, 83+, and 84+ calculators. That's right, instead of crunching calculus, TI-owners can finally bash out beats in the classroom, all in a wonderfully low-fi 1-bit resolution. Best of all, the software is free, open source, and comes with complete documentation on how to use it.

HoustonTracker 2's feature set is weirdly impressive too, rivalling even some dedicated devices (albeit, with a far lower-resolution audio):