TapTap by Andy Huntington

Among Andy's many interesting projects is this fabulous modular toy, a Lego-like way to arrange rhythms.

The boxes themselves do not learn or loop, they only repeat. This keeps the system as simple as possible. There is no perpetual motion only tap, pause and tap. At 4 seconds the delay is just long enough to give the boxes a life of their own...

...just long enough to wonder if they have forgotten.

[LINK]
[LINK 2] Finally, I'm not the only one on this path. "QUERY-BY-BEAT-BOXING: MUSIC RETRIEVAL FOR THE DJ"