The SwineWAV MIDI Sampler Was Built with a SparkFun Tsunami WAV Trigger

Electronic music can be created in many ways, but you can generally categorize a specific sound as either synthesized or sampled. A synthesizer contains hardware that actually generates the soundwaves in the form of electrical signals in order to produce audio. A modern sampler simply plays audio files that contain pre-recorded clips or pre-synthesized sounds — the digital equivalent of queueing up a specific part of a track on a record or tape and mixing it in. SparkFun’s Tsunami WAV Trigger board is perfect for sampling, and David Battino used it to build his SwineWAV MIDI Sampler.

This project is part of Battino's ongoing “Bat Utility Belt” series, which are builds and products that cost less than $100. The SparkFun Tsunami WAV Trigger board costs $79.95, so it is perfect for the series (even after adding the cost of the additional components). The Tsunami board has a built-in slot for a microSD card, where you can store a bunch of high-quality WAV audio files. Those can be either stereo or mono uncompressed 44.1kHz, 16-bit tracks. It has a MIDI input as well as 16 trigger inputs. Either can be used to start or stop one of the WAV files you have stored on your microSD card.

Battino chose to use both the MIDI and trigger inputs. His professional MIDI keyboard is ideal for playing samples of musical notes like a piano. The trigger inputs are connected to simple push buttons that are great for sound effect samples. As Battino explains, mapping WAV files to the inputs and configuring their behavior is as simple as giving them filenames with the correct format. The Tsunami board and output speakers were housed within a novelty radio that looks like a pig, which is where the SwineWAV name comes from. That was modified slightly to make the trigger buttons accessible. You probably won’t build something exactly like this, but it is a fantastic demonstration of how easy it is to build a MIDI sampler with the SparkuFun Tsunami WAV Trigger.