circuit bending

Circuit bending is a new media technique which involves manipulation of digital microprocessor based devices. Bending is essentially nothing more than selective short-circuiting, generally performed on battery operated musical devices to produce unusual effects and glitches. Although circuit bent instruments are rapidly becoming popular with well known musicians, their traditional home is in the realm of noise music. The far out bleeps and glitchy drones are perfect for abstract musical styles!

 

The ACTLAB Circuit Bent Orchestra:
An Excercise in Timing
[Extreme Freestyle Hacking - Spring 2007: Project 3]

As I began to accumulate more and more circuit bent instruments on my shelf, I began to wonder: "what are we going to do with all this stuff?" So I put out a call for circuit benders, helped a few people make some instruments of their own, and so we formed a rather odd sounding band.

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Circuit Bent Realistic ConcertMate 500: The Pong Project
[Extreem Freestyle Hacking - Spring 2007: Project 2]

Nostalgia and sentimentality are powerful forces in media construction, and they are also one of the junk-artist's greatest allies. In this project, we took an atari 2600 and a Realistic Concertmate 500 (a clone of the Casio SK-1) and fused the two together to create one circuit bent monster!

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Circuit Bent Casio SK1: The Table Beast
[Post Modern Gothic - Fall 2006: Project 1]

This small but meaty synth was produced circa 1986 as a hobbyist model, and was never intended for use as a serious musical instrument. But mad-scientists and hardware hackers know better!

 

 


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