The Steam Controller Can Play Music With Its Haptic Motors

Valve’s Steam Controller can produce music even though it doesn’t have any built-in speakers and was never designed for audio output It’s possible thanks to the haptic motors present in the controller. Software controls the haptic actuators to create quick vibrations. These vibrations travel through the controller and air, producing sounds that users can hear and feel. The result sounds low fidelity and cannot replace headphones or speakers, but it can make recognizable melodies.

But it’s not the first time something like this is happening. In 2015, a project called SteamControllerSinger made the original Steam Controller’s trackpad play notes using MIDI files. The program assigned one MIDI channel to each haptic unit, which allowed each unit to play a note at a time. This means there was a limit, and users had to simplify songs to just a melody and bass line instead of chords and beats.

A community tool, SteamHapticsSinger, continues that work and supports the 2015 controller, the current Steam Controller, and Steam Deck haptics. It connects MIDI notes to the hardware instead of sending audio playback to a musical instrument or a DAW. The newer controller can use haptic channels, which gives compatible MIDI arrangements more parts than the earlier model.

There’s a community project that reports poor audio playback on the current controller using a wired connection, but it’s still in the experimental stage. Valve does not include a Steam option that lets users customize the controller’s sound output.