My electronics workstation in the garage has been closed for the winter due to extreme cold.  Not that I’ve had the time, anyways.  However, the temperature is on the rise, and I’m looking forward to getting back out there.  The big goal I’ve set for myself is to make some of my very own eurorack modular synth units.

And perhaps by cosmic coincidence, a modular synth enthusiast, who goes by the name of fonik, commented on one of my flickr photos a couple of days ago.  This led me to his photos, which led me to www.modular.fonik.de.  On his site, he shares in detail his custom modules and schematics.  Having a DIY guide to follow is exactly what I need.

“Rather a musician than an electronics engineer I was always looking for new sounds. This finally(?) let me to modular synth. Once I purchased some Dopefer modules for a modular guitar effect the plan rose to build my own modular synth… this was about 2 years ago and I never held an soldering iron in my hands before.”  – fonik

This is the position I’m in today.  The fact that he has been able to accomplish so much with in such a short period of time gives me hope that I, too, will be able to succeed in my modular synth building endeavors.

In this weekend projects video, Bre Pettis and Justin Gerardy hack into a speak and spell and an omnichord.

The video is hosted at blip.tv. Thanks to glitch of worshiptheglitch for emailing me the link.

Part of getbent.

US Patent 3,475,623:
Electronic High-pass and Low-pass Filters Employing the Base-to-Emitter Resistance of Bipolar Transistors

“I have been collecting copies of Moog patents, those invented by Robert Moog and as well as those assigned to Moog Music, Inc., and the synthesizer-related patents of Norlin Music, Inc., the company that purchased Moog Music. I present them here along with some hopefully entertaining commentary.”

– J. Donald Tillman

Visit Moog Patents at www.till.com.

“It works okay, I guess.”

I’ve recently taken a detour from the alien world of circuit-bending into the greater cosmos of electronics. And what better thing is there to do with my new found hobby than to build modules for my Doepfer Modular? If you answered “why nothing,” you deserve a cookie.

Inside the box

Above you’ll see the result of my entire Saturday, the Shinola Low-Pass. It is a simple, passive knob-controllable low-pass filter. Its constructed from an old GBA-SP box, two capacitors, wire, two 3.5mm jacks and a 50k potentiometer.

It works okay, I guess. I intentionally crowded the jacks and pot into the corner, giving me room to expand it’s functionality later. The cutoff only goes so low, which could have been fixed with higher capacitance capacitors. Still, not bad for a first try. Despite being mostly useless, I’m quite proud of it.

“We send probes into deep space to listen to alien worlds. But alien world’s aren’t always that far away.” – Reed Ghazala

I recently finished reading Circuit-Bending: Build Your Own Alien Instruments. This is probably the easiest, and quickest way to get you up to speed in the field of Circuit-Bending. Reed Ghazala, the internationally recognized “Father of Circuit-Bending,” provides a concise compendium of most issues that will arise during your alien spelunking adventures.

Is this book for you?

Depends. For myself, the book was absolutely worth it. My background is mostly digital. The text introduced me to very rudimentary skills required to build these instruments. Skills such as: soldering, quasi-electronics, drilling, painting, etc… If you can already do these things, even on a basic level, you might not get much from these chapters.

Where this book truly excels is Ghazala’s personal insight and experience. His writing is candid, humorous at times, and allows the reader to get a glimpse of how his thought process works. In many ways, this book is more than just a DIY guide. It is also about composing through the process of electronic experimentation.

In other words, good stuff.

Part of Get Bent.

Circuit Bending: The Spin Brother

time lapse video of real life circuit bending, edited to sounds made by the real circuit bent toy.

Uploaded to flickr by urban_data

The Graffiti Research Lab is dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protestors with open source tools for urban communication. The goal of the G.R.L. is to technologically empower individuals to creatively alter and reclaim their surroundings from commercial and corporate culture. G.R.L. agents are currently working in the lab and in the field to develop and test a range of experimental technologies for the state-of-the-art graffiti writer.This site documents those efforts with video documentation and DIY instructions for each project.

LED Throwies fascinate me.

The scene of the crime

I bent my first circuit this Saturday, with limited success.

The victim was a cheap-o $5 keyboard from walmart. Opening it up was as easy as removing the screws. What I found inside was very little in terms of electronic components. There were two long narrow boards that acted as the controllers for the buttons and keys. And then there was this tiny little square where all the “stuff” happened.

Connecting the limited set of dots I had to work with, I found three distinct circuit bending functions: The sound stopped, a popping sound came out of the speaker (which is bad), and the rate at which the samples played back increased by ten-fold. So I soldered a toggle to the only pair of interesting dots on the board. The end. Being useless, I’ll go back and reclaim my toggle.

What did I learn? Uninteresting toys can make for uninteresting bent instruments. Newer toys are probably much more efficient in design, thus having fewer circuits to bend. Don’t touch the hot part of a soldering iron.

Part of Get Bent

My first solder

Earlier this week, I stopped by my local Radio Shack and picked up a soldering iron, wire, and a stripper. Yesterday, I finally had a chance to use it when I pulled out an old PC modem card (for practice) and went to town.

I managed to solder six wire ends to random spots on the board. The reason I didn’t do more is because the room I was in clearly wasn’t ventilated properly (got a little dizzy.) The first thing I learned was that the gauge of wire I’m using is a little too thick, though still workable. Second thing was that it was easier to put some solder on the tip of the wire first, then place the tip on the spot I wanted it connected to, and then heat the wire, causing the solder to precisely melt into place. In the end, all my wires were attached well enough that I could lift the board. And none of my solder leaked into an adjacent point of electronic interest.

This weekend, I plan on setting up a space in the garage, so that I don’t have to kill as many brain cells next time. And so that I can finally take apart a toy instrument and play connect-the-dots.

Part of Get Bent.

Ghazala’s website, www.anti-theory.com, is a haven for the odd and strange in the electronic arts. Besides Circuit-Bending, Ghazala has also involved himself with the visual arts. My favorite is his work with polaroids. Be sure to read up on the man himself.

If you are interested in giving circuit-bending a try, then the first thing you should read is Ghazala’s 19 page primer. This is more than enough (but not too much) information to get anyone started. If you want to dive even further into his world, Ghazala has written a book, Circuit-Bending: Build Your Own Alien Instruments. I’ve already ordered my copy.

Part of Get Bent