Lo-fi audio effects machine

Why I built this

I wanted a fast, playful way to get that warped tape-and-vinyl character onto a sound without opening a DAW or loading a chain of plugins. Petalboard makes the lo-fi sound something you can reach for in seconds, right in the browser.

How it works

You load an audio file and it runs through a Web Audio API processing chain entirely on the client. Three effects shape the sound - dust adds vinyl crackle and noise, wobble introduces tape-style pitch modulation, and crush applies bit and sample-rate reduction. Each one updates in real time as you tweak it.

Interesting decisions

Everything runs locally in the browser - no uploads, no server processing. Keeping the whole signal chain client-side meant the effects respond instantly and nothing leaves the user's machine, which felt right for a tool built around experimentation.

The entire visual identity - the flowers, sky, and playful interface - was generated with AI, which let me land a distinct, whimsical look without spending weeks on illustration. It became part of the experiment: pairing a polished audio engine with art direction that felt loose and fun.