Sardinia is an audio sampling dev​ice that is focused on using recorded sound to make completely new patterns and textures. The main idea of the instrument is having quite a simple process that can provide a lot of exploration and variance. I have always loved sampling and synthesis that involved recorded sound, such as granular synthesis, because I just feel it provided so any more surprises and gave a much more organic sound. This is what inspired me to approach this topic and try to design an instrument that I really wanted to use.

    The big caveat with this project is it started off with a strict deadline of 15 weeks. This was for all of the ideation, programming, designing, fabrication, and documentation. I had worked in deadlines in the past many times, but this just felt a bit more daunting since it was the first time I was planning on going through the whole product design process while on this clock and I also had to learn many new things along the way (such as Electrosmith Daisy programming and Illustrator). I started off with building out a Notion page (linked below) to keep track of everything for the project, including a master schedule which was made so I could have some week-by-week goals already laid out. After all the semester was said and done, I was left with Sardinia. It is a sampler and audio splicer that is built around the idea of combining tiny slices of audio together like puzzle pieces to create a whole new sequence of sound.

    The main workflow is that you will have an audio source on the input, then record it into the device. This automatically slices the recorded sound into 32 equal pieces and spreads them out onto each key. From there, pressing keys adds a slice to your output. This means you can combine the first 1/32 of audio, with the 9/32 of audio, with 21/32 of audio to create a whole new rhythm and texture. If your recorded sound is more than a few seconds, it leads to these interesting short loops that you can play with. If your recorded sound is less than a few seconds, it almost acts like a wavetable synthesizer since you are changing the played wave shape with each key press.    

​    The second mode involves using these splices (which is what I call a few slices stuck together) and saving them into a buffer to be used melodically. If you press a buffer button in record mode, it saves whatever you're currently playing into a buffer. If you then switch into play mode and press a buffer button, that splice can be played at different pitches to make a melody with the texture. This leads to an almost infinite oscillator design as you decide what the timbre of the sound is.

    I am very happy with how the audio and workflow turned out with the project. There is so many changes I want to make and I received a ton of feedback from musicians who I got to test Sardinia. Some little things like button placement or knob controls, but also some big things like a loop mode and granular mode. There is also so much I want to change with the enclosure design as it is the weakest part to me. It just looks very temporary and unpolished. Overall though, I am so happy with this project and it makes me want to work on it so much more. I actually was fortunate enough to receive the Weisman Award for the project, which offers some financial support for the project and allows it to be part of an art exhibition in October 2025, so I still have a lot of incentive to work. Hopefully there will be a second project page for this project later. Thanks for reading and please watch the videos below. Also, you can take a look at the code if you need some reference for your Daisy project.​