Long story short — when listening to music performed live with synthesizers, the phrasing can be vague or even absent. We all count in our heads, though, and clapping twice at the end of 8 bars can be a fun way to let others enjoying the performance know what is going on in our heads.

So here’s a module lifting up that fun little goof: CLAP CLAP!

Features:

Trigger: Accepts a voltage spike

Four LEDs: flash when playing a sample, flashes to correspond with 8 bars

Rst button: does a function when pressed

Mode: three modes, ClapClap, rolls, sample player

Smpl knob and CV input: selects the sample

Out: output

This module uses the Mozzi library developed for the Arduino platform. It uses Mozzi’s HiFi output strategy, which allows it to play 8 bit samples as well as can be expected. It’s also got a VCA built in serving as a kind of noise gate to keep the digital circuitry from noising up the rest of your mix.

How to use!?

        Mode 1 (the toggle switch is up):

The module counts triggers, not playing a sample until the appropriate “Clap Clap” moment in the phrasing. The rst button in this mode will reset the count to ONE! Immediately when pressed. This mode conceptually accepts 16th note triggers, and plays a sample at the end of an eight-bar phrase of 4/4 time.

        Mode 2 (toggle switch in middle):

The module counts incoming triggers, and skips a certain number (from none — plays every trigger — to skipping 15 triggers and playing a sample on the 16th. The smpl knob (and CV) controls how many triggers are skipped, unless the rst button is held down and the knob (CV) is adjusted. When the module detects an adjustment, it will change the sample without changing the skip rate. Turning the knob (CV) fully “up” with rst held gets to RANDOM sample selection. Pressing the rst button will generate 8 random numbers, and those samples will be played in the same order in an 8-sample loop.

        Mode 3 (toggle switch down):

Here’s the basic Plays A Sample Each Time A Trigger Is Received mode. The knob selects the sample with the same randomized selector with the knob all the way “up”. Pressing the rst button generates a new random pattern.

That’s it!

If you’re clever with the Arduino programming environment, you can look at the sketch for information about how to change which samples the module can play. And of course you can modify (fix) my code to your heart’s content.