About Synthtopia | RSS News Feeds | Submit Items For Review | Feedback


2 archive page


Circuitastrophe 2008 - a celebration of circuit bending, robotics, 8-bit music, hacking & electronic music will be held in Cincinatti Sept 4th & 5th, 2008. Reed Ghazala will be in the house.
Here are  the details:

 

GetLoFi has a great interview with Reed Ghazala, the father of circuit bending.In the interview, Ghazala talks about his first experiences with circuit bending, chance art and more.
Here he explains how his idea of circuit bending came about:
“The sounds that came from that first short circuit back in the mid 1960’s were just so interesting! [...]

 

In case you think Pikachu isn’t disturbing enough, there’s Kaseo’s circuit bent Pikachu, one of a limited edition of 100.
If you like stuff like this that’s a bit out there, don’t miss 13 Bizarre Circuit Bent Children’s Toys.

 

The Electric Pick Synth is one of the stranger circuit bent instrument ideas.
Features:

2 Photo-Cells
1 Pitch/On-Off
Tone range switch
8 Ohm Speaker
Speaker On-Off switch
Guitar contact hookup wire
Runs on a 9 volt battery

Suggested uses:

Route the pick into a reverb and a wah-wah pedal for an instant analog filter
Dazzle the your band-mates with 3 outputs [...]

 

GeLoFi is sponsoring an Experimental Garage Sale at the Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago on July 19th, 2008, between Noon-9 PM.
Description:
This free event will be a perfect opportunity for circuit benders and anyone interested to snag up toys for bending and to talk shop with all the Artists present. Already bent devices will be available for sale [...]

 

Sonofcastille has published a set of videos demonstrating beautiful steampunk-style synths and noise generators.
Here are a few of the coolest:
WSG

This is Ray Wilson’s Weird Sound Generator circuit off of musicfromouterspace.com, plus audio amp scavenged out of a Radio Shack amp. The case was an old telephone from the 70s.

 

This video demos a cheap dub siren, made from a circuit bent sound generating keychain.
Full instructions at GetLoFi.com.

 

The Internet has given circuit bending, the process of hands-on experimentation with battery-powered electronic noise making circuits, a life of its own. If you look hard enough, you’ll find that somebody, somewhere, has circuit bent just about any electrical toy or gadget that you can imagine.
Here are thirteen of the most bizarre examples of circuit [...]

 

Casper Electronics has announced the C1 edition Speak series - a ready-to-order collection of circuit bent instruments, based on classic Speak&Spell type children’s toys. 
The C1 is available in three styles:

CS1 Speak&Spell
CM1 Speak&Math
CR1 Speak&Read

The C1’s sell for $250. 
 
For more info:

videos
sounds
user’s manual

 

Speaker Synth

16May08

Speaker Synth is an interesting synth DIY project - a five-speaker array with no external audio input, created by Lesley Flanigan. The only components in the system are the instrument’s speakers, piezoelectric microphones, amplifying circuits, and the hands of the performer.
Speaker Synth is played by positioning individual piezo microphones with their corresponding speakers and manipulating [...]