I spent some time late 2023 writing some lovely C code with a great embedded DSP board to make a fun music toy.

I did this with the Electrosmith Daisy Pod device, that they ship gives a number of inputs/outputs.

It allowed me to modify an example to ensure the levels of the sound stay the same. You can download the source, make it and load it up on yours if you like.

The pod device allowed for a 3.5mm input and 3.5mm output. Both stereo which allowed for great samples to put on to the track, making it infinite allowed to just layer, layer and layer sounds. The size of it, was so small allowing me to make tracks out in parks and by the beaches. I ended up just powering it with a cheap Ikea battery.

Whilst using this to make music, I came up with the idea that children would love to have a keychain that could record lovely sounds in the nature and play them anytime they'd like to remind themselves of beauty. Like this river sound I recorded from a BC Park.

I was inspired by the Nothing phone as their slogan was 'We’re building a world where tech is fun again' and how I wanted to create unique lighting on the back of their phones based on input of music.

I had also prototyped a Tap app for the Apple watch such that when you tap it with your finger, it would show a BPM and use the vibration effect on your wrist such that DJs could easily tune in and make great music. I wanted to use the font from the opening scene of Tron Legacy for the final version.

I forsee that little looper devices like this would be fun to buy from stores like Apple or even park stores for children, that visit nature. They could wonder the woods, record sounds they observe and then play them back to their parents and friends. Perhaps even with popular backing tracks like Taylor Swift.