EDU DIY BBD
Before digital advancements simplified sound processing, engineers tackled delays using bulky tape echo machines or natural echoes from reflective surfaces. In the late 1960s, engineers Sangster and Teer innovated with the bucket brigade delay (BBD), a system that splits audio into samples passed through a transistor-capacitor chain. This method mimics how sound travels, delaying the output signal relative to the input. Over the course of building this module, we will reverse engineer the architecture of a classic bucket brigade delay, recreate a bare bones version on the breadboard – and then use a proper BBD chip to implement a simple audio delay effect.