Reed Ghazala

Image: chrisglass

This is the awesomely creepy Barbinator 3000, a bent keyboard that promises to keep its eyes – all three of them – on you as you play. Read more…

This steampunk noisemaker, the Beam Ready, is an homage to Reed Ghazala, the pioneer of circuit-bending:

Thanks to Reed Ghazala, who sent me some really killer cold war era military surplus lamps. The big one says BEAM READY, and the smaller one has the atomic symbol, hence the name. 

via SonofCastille

Pioneering circuit-bender Reed Ghazala discusses the origins of circuit-bending the Texas Instruments Speak N’ Spell:

 

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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: Read more…

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! This was a mini-amp, 9V, shorting out in my desk drawer. The result was a series of electronic sounds rising in pitch, over and over, like a modern police siren. But back then, of course, sirens were purely mechanical. So there was nothing really to compare this to!

I immediately thought, “If this can happen by accident, what might happen if I started blindly short-circuiting the amp here, there and everywhere? Are there more hidden sounds?” The idea of “toy” or “garbage” never came into my mind. This was magic.

I’ve been a chance artist since a little boy (neighbors thought I was strange, freezing colored liquids in the winter back yard to see the forms they’d take). Recognizing another chance art here was easy. Bending sonically explains chance the way Suminagashi and dye migration explain visually. All of these “sound” the same to me – see if you don’t think so.”

If you’re interested in bending, there’s a lot of great stuff in the full interview.