Circuit bending
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Circuit bending is the modification of circuits in electronic devices such as children's toys and digital synthesizers to change or control their sound output, usually by dismantling the machine and adding components such as switches and potentiometers.
Circuit bending has commonly been associated with noise music, though many other contemporary musicians have experimented with it.
Experimental process
[edit] | This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2019) |
The process of circuit bending involves experimenting with inexpensive second-hand electronics that produce sounds, such as toys, keyboards, drum machines, and electronic learning products.[1]
Innovators
[edit]Serge Tcherepnin, designer of the Serge modular synthesizers, discussed his early experiments in the 1950s with the transistor radio, in which he found circuit points that responded sonically to touch, and wired them to "body contacts" on the plastic chassis.[2]
In the late 1960s, musician and technologist Reed Ghazala happened upon a similar phenomenon when, according to his recollection, a metal object fell onto the exposed circuit of his RadioShack amplifier, shorting it out and resulting in unexpected sounds.[3] This experience inspired him to begin building circuit bent instruments intentionally. Ghazala coined the term "circuit bending" for the practice in 1992.[4][3][5] He was described by Motherboard as the "father of circuit bending."[6]
Prior to these experiments, other pioneers also explored the body contact idea, one of the earliest being Thaddeus Cahill (1897) whose telharmonium, it is reported, was also touch-sensitive.
Starting in 1984, Swiss duo Voice Crack began creating music by manipulating common electronic devices in a practice they termed "cracked everyday electronics."[7]
See also
[edit].jpg?lang=en)
- Atari Punk Console
- Chiptunes
- Data bending
- Electronic art music
- Glitch (music)
- Glitching
- Kraakdoos (CrackleBox)
- MIDIbox
- MOS Technology SID
- Music Tech Fest
- NIME
- No-Fi
- Noise music
- List of music software
References
[edit]- ^ Mirapaul, Matthew (2004-04-08). "Circuit Benders Unlock the Long Riffs in Short-Circuits". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
- ^ Vail, Mark (2000-03-15). Vintage Synthesizers: Pioneering Designers, Groundbreaking Instruments, Collecting Tips, Mutants of Technology (2.00 ed.). Backbeat Books.
- ^ a b Ghazala, Reed (2005). Circuit-bending: build your own alien instruments. ExtremeTech. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7645-8887-7.
- ^ Ghazala, Reed (2021). "Circuit-bending and living instruments". In Hopkin, Bart; Tewari, Sudhu (eds.). Sound inventions: selected articles from experimental musical instruments. Sound design series. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-003-00352-6.
- ^ Deahl, Dani (2018-09-14). "Hacking a Furby in the name of music". The Verge. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
- ^ Anderson, Brian (2014-08-07). "Meet Reed Ghazala, the Father of Circuit Bending". VICE. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
- ^ "YULE 2008". Retrieved 2015-06-03.
Further reading
[edit]- Fernandez, Alexandre Marino; Iazzetta, Fernando. "Circuit-Bending and DIY Culture". Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- Steffan, Philip (2014). "Floppy-Symphonie" (PDF). Bastelprojekt. c't Hacks (in German). Vol. 2014, no. 1. Heise Zeitschriften Verlag. p. 149. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-01. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
External links
[edit]- oddmusic.com's circuit bending section – Gallery of some of Reed Ghazala's work, facts, history, tutorial, benders guide, tools of the trade and more
- GetLoFi a circuit bending blog with a lot of circuit bending tips and resources
- Interview on Circuit Bending with Igor Amokian Part I
| General topics | |
|---|---|
| Predecessors and early pioneers | |
| Instruments | |
| Circuits | |
| Organisations |
|
| Writers | |
| Related topics | |
