So, circuit bending...
Circuit bending is an approach to customising and modifying small, low voltage toys, synthesizers and gadgets to create often unpredictable sound making devices that can be used to produce alternative, creative sounds.
Going to Wikipedia, they describe the process as:
"Circuit bending is the creative, chance-based customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators.
Emphasizing spontaneity and randomness, the techniques of circuit bending have been commonly associated with noise music, though many more conventional contemporary musicians and musical groups have been known to experiment with "bent" instruments. Circuit bending usually involves dismantling the machine and adding components such as switches and potentiometers that alter the circuit."
The nuts and bolts of the approach is quite straight forward. The initial idea is to reclaim a sound making object, lets say a child's toy, and experiment with the circuit inside to (hopefully) produce new and interesting sounds. This (initially) can be achieved by opening up the device with a screwdriver and taking a crocodile clip lead to create new joins between parts of the original circuits. This can short circuit the original circuit board to create new and interesting sounds.
In this video, an American lady from Expert Village details how she uses the croc clips to seek out new sounds and suggest switches to add in order to activate the new, found 'bends'.
These bends can be soldered permanently, and the switches drilled and fixed into the surface of the device. Obviously that will require a small amount of equipment to produce (drill/drill bits/push to make switches/wire/solder etc... *We will discuss equipment another time...*). The idea being that the permanent bends can be manipulated in an easier fashion, and protect the original circuit more, safe in its casing.
In the picture below you can see a number of bends made on a Casio keyboard. They include some easy modifications that can be made, including SPST switches (top left) (on/off for specific bends), body contacts (touch a conducting surface to trigger the bend), or push to make/push to break switches to make other bends activate.
There is loads of information available online if you dig a bit, but the most fun is having a go yourself. Some meltdowns can occur, and circuits can, and do break, but with practice you can learn how to avoid these pitfalls.
Here are a couple of good, inspiring places to start:
The Godfather of circuit bending is Reed Ghazala and his website and books really get into the nitty gritty of circuit bending. His book Circuit Bending - Build Your Own Alien Instruments is a great reference.
On a more local note, our buddies at circuitbenders.co.uk produce a range of diverse equipment for making sounds.
In their own words...
"Circuitbenders.co.uk was launched back in 2001 after a chance accident with an old Speak & Spell machine and a soldering iron opened up new realms of sonic destruction and audio carnage for circuitbenders founder Paul Norris. This site was the first website in the UK offering circuitbent machines for sale, alongside a wide range of custom modifications and upgrades for electronic toys, drum machines, synths and samplers. Our machines have been featured on music from artists as diverse as The Chemical Brothers and Bloc Party, along with hundreds of producers and artists worldwide."
