Chompi Is Back - and It's Grown Up

March 16, 2026 by Little Music

There's something quietly charming about Chompi. It doesn't have a screen. It doesn't look like most music gear. It was made by two people - Tobias Feedback and Chelsea Korte - who clearly cared more about the feeling of playing it than about ticking off a spec sheet. And now, with Chase Bliss stepping in as a partner, it's back in a bigger way than ever.

Chompi by Chase Bliss

What Is Chompi, Exactly?

Chompi is a handheld sampler and synthesis instrument. It records audio - through a built-in microphone, a stereo aux input, or by resampling its own output - and lets you shape and play those sounds in real time. The interface is built around RGB LED indicators and mechanical keyboard switches rather than a touchscreen or display, which gives it a very tactile, immediate feel.

Where Chompi gets interesting is in its dual firmware concept. The original mode, now called TAPE, is a varispeed looper built around slow, layered, "frippertronics"-style composition. It's dreamy and open-ended - the kind of tool where you feed in a sound, let it loop, add effects, and let things evolve. The newer mode, TEMPO, flips the idea entirely: it's a rhythmic pattern generator and sample slicer, much closer to a groovebox. Same hardware, completely different instrument.

Both modes give you single-knob access to a multi-effects engine with delay, reverb, saturation, and filtering - enough to transform a simple field recording into something barely recognisable.

The Chase Bliss Connection

Chase Bliss - known for their deeply expressive and often unconventional pedals and instruments - has partnered with the Chompi team to support production and help the thing actually reach people. The current batch includes 1,100 units in black and a limited run of 200 in a translucent white "Storytime" edition.

It's been framed as the final production run of Chompi in its current form. Chase Bliss is working on new hardware - manufactured in-house, in higher quantities - aimed at 2026. The plan is to keep internal compatibility, so the instruments you buy today will still run the new firmware when it arrives.

Chompi Storytime edition

Why It Matters

Chompi sits in a small but meaningful category: music tools that feel genuinely playful without being toys. It asks you to slow down, listen, and experiment - especially in TAPE mode. TEMPO pushes it towards more structured territory, but even there the approach is exploratory rather than clinical.

The fact that TEMPO will be a free firmware update for all existing owners says something about the intentions here. This isn't about locking people into a single use case or selling a "pro version" later. It's about expanding what the thing can do while keeping the community together.

Whether you're drawn to the looping side or the rhythmic side - or both - Chompi is worth watching. It's a small, odd, genuinely fun instrument, and it's in good hands.