This project is cool little looper/sampler project based around the ISD1820 “voice recorder” IC. It’s dirty and clicky, but surprisingly endearing to play with. It is battery powered, built on a breadboard, and enclosed in a laser cut wooden box with buttons, dials and speaker grill on the top face. It was designed by John Ferguson and Andrew R. Brown for use in DIY Workshops, and first deployed at the Brave New Works festival in Denmark, Western Australia in April 2025.
There are many similar designs for using this IC as a simple sampler, this is another. The laser cut enclosure is a bit more novel and affords portability, making it a handheld instrument that can record samples in the field and be played wherever you like.
You can access the files to build this on the Github repo