Circuit Bending

I was hoping that when you had all three of those discs spinning, it would somehow start playing Dueling Banjos.

That is a pretty cool device. If you're into circuit bending, I'm sure you're familiar with Dave Wright. He's always done a lot of cool shit with the stuff he builds, and he inspired me to get into it for a while.

I built a few incantors, which were always fun. But my favorite thing I built was something I called Vitamin B. It was essentially the parts for an old toy laser gun, stuffed into an old vitamin bottle. Had 2 switches, and 3 body contacts. I loved it because it ran on 9v batteries, and was small enough to hold in one hand, so you could run around like a maniac while you messed with it. Not as impressive as what you've built, but still damn fun.

LOL i just attended a circuit bending workshop -- it was really fun, we got to open up a bunch of speak-n-spells and i had a major water blister on the inside of my fuck-you finger for a sore week after from taking out all them "choking hazard" screws.

circuit bending is for boys, though. all the girls in the class had a difficult time with the twits, i think it has something to do with the way we process energy gender specifically. it's a great tech hobbie and a very creative tool for electronica!

have fun!
baci,
chyna pi

That's great. Yeah I've been messing around with building some small incantors. I just haven't figured out what to put it in. I like the pill bottle. I've seen another one in the big orange Rx bottles as well as altoid cans.

I recently came across a bulk of dual timers and oscillator IC's so I'm trying to figure out the cheapest and most effective enclosures to sell some extras on the side for as cheap as possible.

I'm glad you liked the contraption. That has become sort of a prototype. I plan on more options for speed control, and polyphonic oscillator controlled by one removable disc.

The end result: dueling banjos.

They say males naturally perform better in math. If that's true, I could see how it plays into this. Regardless of gender though, I have plenty of friends who I lose in conversation trying to explain to them some new trick I've learned or discovery I've made.

I have a few more things in the works/not yet documented. I'll update when available.

I am a big fan of circuit-bent instruments and music. I've never had the technical knowledge to do it for real, but I've done half-ass variations on circuit-bending, using really old, cheesy little toy keyboards that have the continuous bass-synth sound. On some of those keyboards, you can change the tone of the bass-note by flipping switches that should be unrelated to the sound or by setting the switches in-between positions and stuff. Primitive, I know, but fun.

Oh, and howdy QCR. You seem cool.

Thanks for the welcome.

Yeah. Most of my bends are really half-assed when I see what others have done with the exact same toys or instruments. I'm still enjoying tinkering on my own too much to study up like I should.

Trying to find myself as an artist [and I'm reluctant to use that word because of its stigma but], it seemed like an obvious place to end up, because I've always had one hand in music and the other in making whatever I could with what I had.

It was a logical conclusion to come to that some how, these components generate or manipulate these sounds in certain ways. If the layout is altered physically, then surely it's aural counterpart would be as well.

Then, of course, I quickly discover there's a name for that, and people have been doing it for years. It's exciting to discover that collective effort and accumulation of knowledge.

If you haven't already found these, here are some good websites. I'm currently working on building a Boss HM-2 pedal and I bought the parts to build an Ibanez Bass Synth pedal

http://www.diystompboxes.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

http://www.diyaudio.com/

http://www.effectsdatabase.com/

http://www.musicianstechcentral.com/schmatic.html#misc

thanks. I've been to diystompboxes.com but the others are new to me. The most helpful site for info I've found is www.gaussmarkov.net. A lot of useful info compiled in one place, with plenty of other useful links to point you in the right direction.

fancy.

i'll welcome you back to the cult over here instead of over there.
i like your gadget sir... it made me miss those science kits i had as a kid.

im tearing something down today in your honor!

Yes!

and thanks! They stay busy.

haha. That could mean so many things. ;] But I also play guitar. I have a black Ibanez AF75 that I make sweet, sweet, rock and roll love to every night.

sweet. that's a smooth ride. I drive a Hyundai.

seriously.

I own a Hyundai Strat knock-off and a Panasonic 12-speed bicycle. If you know anyone wanting to get rid of a Suzuki label maker, I'm interested.

Anyone with an interest in circuit-bending should check out Reed Ghazala's work. He's arguably the guy who invented the concept.

www.anti-theory.com