October 2026 # Introduction In December 2024 I was experimenting with radio interference noises at home, recording a weird phenomenon. I did a quick video and posted it to youtube on the 25th of December 2024. <iframe width="1120" height="615" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8sm4U4RRadE?si=dr5sjSJOQNPHbhFH" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> I have a small, portable battery-powered Sony radio I bought at a fleamarket some years back. I like radio static as a source for many things - both sound design and music - so I have a few radios around that offer various flavours of it. I found that this particular model is quite sensitive to inteference from other electronic sources, which alters the resulting tone and timbre of the radio static. For whatever reason I tried to put a little flashlight next to it, but only when I activated the blinking mode did I hear that it results in a near-perfect techno kickdrum. It is an extremely curious experience to hear a - and I am not exaggerating - near-perfect, full-bodied, pitch-enveloped techno kickdrum, coming out of a radio like that. The audio in the video is close to raw, straight from the headphone-out. I only boosted the volume a bit for the upload and took some grating high-end out of the static, but that's about it. I also did not multitrack anything or add sidechain compression. It all comes as-is. # Rapid spread Not long after putting it online I discovered that alot of people were watching the video. And more came in and started to comment. I'm not really in the know about how Youtube's discovery algorithm works, but it must have been flagged as something interesting for a lot of people to see, it being short and odd. As of today, October 23rd 2026, it has about 850.000+ views and a ton of comments. It died down for a while, but for the last month it started to ramp up again. It was recently featured in a **[compilation video by Vic Berger](https://youtu.be/gaFrtwKUCIE?si=3Rp-7c89-cumeaRl&t=99)**, not sure if they too were exposed to it via Youtube's discovery algorithm. But since that video was put online, the viewcount started to climb again. # How? Why and how does this work? I really can't say. I asked around to Discords of people with a much better understanding of electronics and radios than I have, and I did recall and save this response: > *I’d say the noise generated by the flashlight circuitry was overpowering the environmental noise that the radio was picking up.. > perhaps the perfect techno kick envelope is a result of the LED circuitry on/off, > perhaps a cap charge or discharge curve, or maybe a result of how quickly the small batteries can get the LEDs on. > LEDs may be running various brightness due to PWM, and if so that pattern may be the “noise” that’s over powering the static. > The tune led dropping in and out with the tempo of your track may point towards the rave flashlight led’s current flow interacting with the ferrite rod antenna that may live in slide the radio. > Whatever it is, record it! And find a local hamradio club I’m sure they’d love this….* A lot of comments on the Youtube upload are likewise puzzled by how this can not be a fake. Of all the things one can fake, I'm not sure why I would spend my time faking a techno kickdrum coming out of a radio. # MusicRadar article A friend was very puzzled when they saw this MusicRadar article pop up in early January 2025 that featured the video and sent it to me. ["A new era of accidental techno is upon us": 2025's new DIY drum machine craze is here, and all you need is a flashlight and an FM radio](https://www.musicradar.com/music-tech/recording/a-new-era-of-accidental-techno-is-upon-us-2025s-new-diy-drum-machine-craze-is-here-and-all-you-need-is-a-flashlight-and-an-fm-radio) The article is a bit on-the-nose and puzzlingly snide in its tone. I know it's all for laughs and giggles, but to the writer: you could just have reached out if you wanted something. I'm not that difficult to get a hold of. # More use? Since doing this experiment I was thinking a lot about how other blinking light sources would intefere with the radio static. I also thought about possibly setting up a little Arduino board, control a bunch of LEDs and have a field day sequencing radio techno. But I haven't done that yet. Maybe down the line.