Here it is right out of the box.
This is one of my favorite bending moments.
Archive for the ‘Circuit Bending’ Category
The Bent Furby
Sunday, March 10th, 2013Neenache Joe’s Synapse K-5
Sunday, March 10th, 2013
This Keyboard in particular was quite the treasure! Not in the way that The Sk-5 is the “Flagship” for circuit bending in general, but in the way that this one was salvaged out of an old rat infested travel trailer in the Mojave Desert with 3 broken keys covered in filth. It was cleaned up and in my possession for many years collecting dust until I met Jasonic at Sonic Circuitry he introduced me to the idea of “Circuit Bending” and realized what it was.
Casio SK-5 “Synapse k-5”
This is probably about my 6th build, but my 1st serious one. Basically I spent a couple days poking around, playing with different things finding nice groans, crackles, glitches etc. Really u can go on forever with all the different combinations of bends but I decided to keep it simple but approach it like a synth style. It has 22 spdt toggle switches wired in, 17 of which can be viewed as 3 basic groups. The other 5 switches control speaker on/off, internal LED’s and body contact on/off. below is a list of mods on it.
11 key effect switches
3 effect adjustment potentiometers
2 triggers/threshhold switches
5 drum effect switches
8 body contacts
1 RCA duo effect Break-out Box
1 1/4in. output
The Lofi Sampler
Sunday, March 10th, 2013This is a record/play stuffed animal (hound dog of some sort).
One paw says record, the other says play.
Once you perform surgery on the helpless young pup, and turn his arms inside out to expose the push button switches within the underside of its fluffy paws. You will uncover some nice long wires that lead down to the record, and play sections of the circuit. I replaced these buttons with panel mount momentary N.O. push buttons. I also replaced all the wires with fresh 26 gauge stranded hook up wire. I added a pitch knob, on/off switch for said pitch knob, 1/4 inch input, and output. Mic/input selector switch, main output volume knob and a main on/off toggle switch. All of this is mounted in a clear project box, so you can see all the wires and connections. The circuit board is suspended within by all the wires that are connected to it, similar to a spider sitting on his web.
The pitch range on this is outstanding. Beyond chipmunk into the realm of screaming insects from another planet. Down to earth quaking LOFI and gritty slow pulsing bass sounds. Most sounds are fed through the small flush mount on-board microphone. However, there is a 1/4 inch input jack with an input/mic selector switch for running any electronic audio signal into the lofi sampler.
From what it seems, you can slow it down, and then record long, and very lofi audio samples, and then play them back while scrubbing the speed up and down with the pitch knob. Further bends on this circuit should reveal a glitch or chance trigger/threshold dial circuit.
Casio SK-60
Saturday, January 28th, 2012I got this off Ebay recently. It did not take long to bend this one, as I found all the bends in the Circuit Bending Book by Reed Ghazala. I think I will open it back up and search for more bends at some point. But she is a real horror movie music maker. Its got a 10 switch panel that is controlled by the knob (flux dial). I wired in a 1/8 inch mono output with a speaker on/off switch, and a 1/8th inch mono input, with a microphone on/off switch.
Merlin
Saturday, January 28th, 2012I got this at KB toys. It was the first toy I found to try to circuit bend. When I first opened it up, I thought wow, there are no components that I know in here. I poked around a bit, and then closed it back up unbent. I later learned what surface mount components were. It took me a few years before I ran out of things to bend, I opened it back up and found the pitch resistor, and replaced it with a 1M potentiometer. This is the smallest resistor I have replaced yet. This thing now kicks out some wicked bass. I had to replace the speaker to make room for the Pitch Knob. It has a reset button, and a mono 1/8 inch output.
The Light Box
Saturday, January 28th, 2012This started as a cigar box. Incased is a 555 timer on a home made circuit board that is controlled by light. This spits out some mean square waves. I then found an LED strobe light flashing kit from all electronics. This was a fun thing to solder together. You can control the speed of the strobe light, and use that to trigger the pitch control while you use another LED flash light to control the pulse width. When I first built the Light Box, it kept running out of batteries. Then I realized that it was sitting in the sun shinning through the window during the day. It was silently singing to itself and running the batteries dead. So I added an on off switch. The little white rectangles below where it says Casa Blanca are the photo transistors, where you shine the light in for control. The one on the left is pitch, on the right is the pulse width. The green knob is volume, and there is a standard 1/4 inch mono jack for the output, so it plugs in like an electric guitar. I am currently looking for some googly eyes so I can use the clear plastic lenses for covers to protect the photo transistors.
Dual Musini’s
Saturday, January 28th, 2012The Neurosmith Musini’s are musical toys that are designed to teach kids cause and effect. When the sensors pick up vibration (like that of a kid dancing around it) it will match the tempo (sort of) of the vibrations. It is filled with lots of songs, and expandable by a cartridge slot for more games. The sounds are very Hi Fi. The sound quality reminds me of my Roland XP60.
Will be bending these soon. I have read that the innards of these are said to be “A dream synth on a chip”. Each is in stereo, and 100% MIDI controlled. My friend Dustin gave me one. I got the other off Ebay. The wand in the middle came with a cartridge that Dustin also supplied. When you hear the “banjo” you shake the wand, and win… I am now waiting on some MIDI jacks so I can get these a singing.
The Parrot
Saturday, January 28th, 2012I picked up this parrot from Wacko (a store in LA).
It can store up to 31 different samples, and play them back randomly when the microphone picks up enough noise. My dog hates it, and when she barks at it, it will start its random playback of various sounds that I have recorded into it. For example “ruff ruff ruff!!!” It also flaps its wings and moves its beak as it talks back. It totally rocks when you get it beat boxing.
Here are the bends I have found so far.
The pitch dial makes a darth vader style playback. The chance trigger seems to make a glitchy high pitched loopy sound. I put it back together because I got a speak and read, and wanted to work on that. So I will be tearing into this one soon. I will post sounds and pics as soon as she is all bent up.
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