Squarewave Parade Teaspoon

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"This is an instant playback looping audio sampler that was lovingly handmade by the Squarewave Parade. This looper is now very rare and can run on both 9V battery or DC connection (not supplied). The Looper is made to a very high standard with a lacquer coated case, heavy duty switch, professionally manufactured PCB and has one ¼” input jack ( mono ) - one ¼” output jack ( mono )...

::: DESCRIPTION :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

the teaspoon is a lo-fi instant playback looping audio sampler designed to achieve the classic glitching / stuttering / skipping effect by pushing a single button. there really isn't much more to say.

::: CONTROLS :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

gain: this is the control for the pre amp which is in front of the sampler and is strong enough to allow for plugging a guitar directly into it and results in a line level output. at lower settings it works as a buffer for line level inputs as usual and it can obviously be used to overdrive the input

time: this is the sample length / pitch adjustment. setting it to any given location presets the length of time it will sample, adjusting it just prior to pushing the button will allow you to alter the pitch/speed of the incoming audio that is sampled. as well adjusting it after pressing the button will allow you to alter the pitch/speed of the playback.

out: this is the output volume control

push button: this is a nice heavy duty switchcraft momentary pushbutton that triggers playback of the sampler, which is constantly sampling the input even after the button is pressed. this means that every single playback cycle is a rerecording of the output and each one will gradually degenerate especially at the lower sample rate of the slower speeds. as soon as you release it its immediately sampling the incoming audio again and the previous sample is being over-written ( but if you quickly switch back to playback you can then interrupt the recording and hear bits of the old sample that have yet to be overwritten now cut together with the new ). also if you sweep the time control far up or down during playback it will then be re-sampling the higher/ lower pitched sound and when returning to the original speed the sound will be different, you can do this over and over creating staticy grain clouds. please note there is no "bypass" switch. just not having this button pushed is the bypass ( not true bypass)

power switch : just a power toggle switch. the status is indicated but the led on top. note: i had to do some unusual things to get more pitch range out of this design so if you try to power it up with the time set to the highest possible setting it will not boot correctly. just turn the time down a couple notches and reboot to remedy this. just a minor inconvenience and worth the trade off

9v dc jack : standard DC power supply here. anything from 9v to around 15v is fine. there is an internal regulator to keep things safe

in / out jacks : mono in and out marked with arrows on the top - the input now has over voltage protection, but if you can help it its best to stay in the +/-3v range or lower

each one is handmade - and numbered internally


Check it out in action here"


YouTube Uploaded by cutandcover on Sep 18, 2008

"First demo video of the effects of the Teaspoon by The Squarewave Parade. Here we have some XBase09SE drums, followed by some Flame Talking Synth, followed by more XBase drums (bitcrushed) all going through and being cut and looped with the trigger control (right momentary button). The left knob I'm tweaking controls the length of the sample+hold. Arguably the most fun to play two-handed effects box I own. I think though you have to have a little better sense of rhythm than what I display here..."