1-sec looper for "stutter/glitch" effect

Projects General Guidance
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Hello there,

I have some questions for you guys that have more knowledge about the guts of the Arduino board before I attempt to start a project… I've searched a few topics in here but wasn't able to find proper answers so far, so, sorry if reposting.

I'd like to know whether is possible to build a 1-sec looper using Arduino. I know that Arduino has limited Flash memory (which I guess would be the biggest problem for buffering) which makes it a bit difficult for realtime sampling, so my first question is if this could be upgraded with an external chip, for instance, the 23K256 which would provide 32kb – around 3 seconds, if I'm not mistaken.

Also, would I need to build an external ADC circuit or does the Arduino itself handle it well?

The idea is to build a "stutter/glitch" standalone effect. I don't need any complex details other than being able to adjust the buffer time (probably via resistance, or?) and pressing a switch to toggle between bypass/effect.

The sound itself doesn't exactly need to be the purest ever (it is just for a prototype), like 44Khz, so I guess it would make it less complicated... maybe.

I've come across this project where the guy uses another Microcontroller, but for my skills I'd go with the Arduino lingo, for me far easier.

(the current time shows the exact effect I was looking for, I hope it works)

Do you think it is possible without losing too much hair? Or is the Arduino too slow for such a thing?

Thanks :slight_smile:

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I was browsing through Atmel's application notes and noticed this one. Probably not exactly what you want, but maybe there's some basic concepts there that can be used.

AVR335: Digital Sound Recorder with tinyAVR or megaAVR and DataFlash
(20 pages, revision C, updated 04/05)
This Application Note describes how to record, store and play back sound using any 8-bit AVR MCU with A/D converter, the AT45DB161 DataFlash memory and a few extra components

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Just to conclude this idea...

Actually I've talked to a couple more of people and did a little research on possible components (including the AVR335 posted above, thanks for that!) and while I still believe it could be done, most of the answers I've got claimed it would be too troublesome and expensive, so I went for commercial cheap solutions and found this one:

a 29€ Behringer guitar pedal that when in "Hold" mode does somehow the same effect. Suits me just fine.

I believe that audio-wise Arduino is still not powerful enough. We amateurs must wait a bit more :slight_smile: