Listen to the new Steam Controller buzz to the tune of Doom
Fans turned Valve’s new Steam Controller into a tiny music player by driving its haptic motors with MIDI files.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Valve’s new Steam Controller can already make odd noises through its trackpad haptics, and hobbyists have pushed that further by making it play songs like Super Mario Bros. 2, Still Alive, and Doom. The trick uses an open-source tool and works on both the controller and Steam Deck.
Valve made a game controller that can wiggle in a clever way.
Some hobbyists found that those wiggles can be turned into tiny sounds, like using a spoon to tap out music on a table.
They used a small program to make the controller play songs, and now the device can chirp out tunes instead of only buzzing.
Analysis
What happened
The Verge reports that people have found a way to make Valve’s new Steam Controller “sing” by using its haptic motors. Those motors are meant to provide touch feedback on the controller’s trackpads, but they can also vibrate at specific frequencies that produce audible tones.
How it works
According to the article, the setup uses an open-source project called Steam Haptics Singer, which is available on GitHub for Windows and Linux. It can drive either generation of Steam Controller, and it also works on Steam Deck. The tool plays MIDI files, which store note information rather than recorded audio, so the controller is effectively acting like a very small speaker.
The Verge says the reporter tested it by finding MIDI files online and following the project’s instructions. The process took some tinkering, including using the terminal in desktop mode on Steam Deck, but it produced recognizable music.
Valve’s stance
Valve does not currently offer a native way to customize Steam Controller sounds through Steam. The article notes that The Verge asked about this in April, and Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais said there may be more configurability or customization in the future, though the team is not focused on it right now. He suggested that any official solution could look like an SDK or a shared tool rather than a one-off feature.
The story also points to precedent: Steam Deck boot videos started as a community workaround and later became an official feature. That makes this kind of user-made sound hack feel less like a joke and more like a possible preview of what Valve may support later.
Key points
- The new Steam Controller can make sounds through its haptic motors.
- A community tool called Steam Haptics Singer can play MIDI files on the controller and Steam Deck.
- Users have already made it play songs like Super Mario Bros. 2, Still Alive, and Doom.
- Valve says more customization may come later, but it is not a current focus.
