What does the Nintendo Ele-conga sound like?

How does the Nintendo Ele-conga sound? That's a question I have been asked a number of times over the years. Multiple musicians also expressed an interest to use these vintage 1970s sounds in their music.

Nintendo Ele-conga (1972)

The Ele-conga, for those of you not yet familiar with this piece of Nintendo history, is one of the many brain-childs of Gunpei Yokoi. It's an electronic drum machine, with analog circuitry. It can produce five different percussion sounds. With the Autoplayer accessory, it can play pre-programmed rhythms.

Nintendo Ele-conga and Autoplayer

Well, for all folks interested to hear an actual Ele-conga play, your prayers have just been heard.

Today I made a video demonstration of this wonderful machine. Check it out below. I guess this is a premiere on the internets.

But wait, there is more! I also recorded the Ele-conga sounds and rhythms as clean audio tracks, using its line-out, and uploaded these to Soundcloud.

1970s analog technology meets 21st century cloud

You can hear and download all tracks here.

To cite the Ele-conga's leaflet: "Let's get a joyful sound together!"

Hope you enjoy these recordings. Let's me know what you think. To find out more about the Ele-conga, check out the full post here.

Shout out to Florent for providing the leaflet.