I've been wanting to build an extremely simple loop station - - no frills, no overdubs, nothing except - - just records a played phrase, and plays it back ad infinitum....can this be done on a platform like Arduino?
Quote from: jishnudg on October 26, 2014, 02:55:24 PM
I've been wanting to build an extremely simple loop station - - no frills, no overdubs, nothing except - - just records a played phrase, and plays it back ad infinitum....can this be done on a platform like Arduino?
yes it can, though sound quality will vary depending on which arduino "kit" you use. the 8bit ones won't give you much more than phone quality, if that. the beefier ones should provide better. however it is by no means "simple". if you're going for lofi sound, it can probably be done with an arduino, the internal PWM output and one of the internal ADCs, and some external serial SRAM. if you're searching for something more mid or hifi, then things get a bit more complicated. new rules come into play as to how your board needs to be laid out, how to use external codecs, etc.
an alternative are the ISD chips, of which there a few looper projects around (look for the payback). sounds quality is still very much lofi.
I´d save myself the trouble and just buy this..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TC-Electronic-Ditto-Looper-Pedal-Guitar-Effects-/261633948229?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3cea993a45
+1..
i have the cheap boss rc3 knockoff (nux loop core) and its great...6 hours rec time/99 loops, crystal clear recordings...sorted. 8)
Maybe get an old laptop (or maybe even something like the Rasberry Pi), add a generic USB sound card if it doesn't already have an audio input and hack up a keyboard by adding some footswitches to make it more suitable for live control. Maybe add a little mixer circuit of some sort as well so you can get analog pass-through of your live signal and true bypass, etc... The software thats available does some amazing stuff, Ableton is probably the most extensive one one but there are tons of open source looper programs out there too.
But that's more for EDMers and/or hipsters. Just imagine looking at a hardrocker with a laptop, haha!