Me bending a doll:

Known as the artist who makes bad computer games worse then exhibits them in art galleries Cory Arcangel is also a massive techno nerd and an chip tune originator.

His crew was/is Beige Records and their slogan used to be ‘8-bit’s for life bi-atch’.

One of their original 8-bit techno records has just been repressed. The seminal  ’8-bit Construction Set’ battle vinyl.

Beige Records say…

currently receiving play from an impressive array of tastemakers including matthew herbert, mixmaster mike, bodenstandig 2000, dj godfather, and luke vibert, The 8-Bit Construction Set seems poised to redefine the very limits of what one can put on a slab of wax. half dj battle record/half concept album, The 8-Bit Construction Set record is also the first ever use of the vinyl recording medium for software distribution – the inside tracks are audio data which can be dubbed to cassette tape and booted in your respective atari or commodore 8-bit computers (guinness world record for first-ever vinyl-to-software programming is currently pending). and, as if you still had doubts about these artists’ chops, you should know that this record was entirely programmed in 6502 assembly language. beat that. 

Geeky.

At the Oberlin Conservatory Cory Arcangel majored in classical guitar and composition nad minored in programming. The result is some clumsy hacking and exquisite chiptune.

But while he is most famous for his desecration of Nintendo cartridges he has recently got up to some interesting sound business.

In Drei Klavierstücke, op. 11- III Arcangel has re-edited videos of cats playing the piano in order to make them play the Shoenberg’s seminal serialist work of the same name.

Another project of Arcangel is Born to Run Glockenspiel Addendum.

If you want more go the Lisson Gallery where Arcangelis exbiting his until January 17. (But there isn’t any of the rad Nintendo stuff just some lame Photoshop business.)

I promised myself that I would actually make something at Music Hack Day Boston, not just hang out while other people made stuff. So I signed up for circuit bender Jimmie Rodgers’s newbie workshop on making an Atari Punk Console, a simple synthesizer that Jimmie designed and has made available as a kit. It uses a two-up timing chip to drive a speaker which, when tweaked with a pair of potentiometers, makes some very fun electronic squeals. The whole circuit fits into an Altoids tin.

So, while all the real hackers got going on their projects, I settled myself down with a kit and a soldering iron, surrounded by a tableful of kindred spirits. Three of the fastest hours of my life later, I found myself delightedly pushing buttons and turning knobs to  make weird noises come out of my circuit. It was fantastic to reconnect with the pleasure of actually building something and having it work (that’s my handmade synth in the picture above).

I also discovered a new measure of awesomeness in teaching, one that’s so much better than the standard end-of-course evaluations: a whole bunch of Jimmie’s students (myself included) bought him drinks that night at the Echo Nestival.

You can look through a photo gallery, listen to Jimmie talk about circuit bending, and hear some of the great sounds in this piece for NHPR.

Als Texas Instruments 1978 den Speak & Spell als Lernhilfe veröffentlichte, um Kindern das Lesen und Schreiben beizubringen, ahnte noch niemand was man in Zukunft noch alles mit diesem Gerät anstellen würde/könnte!!

Der Speak & Spell

Mittlerweile ist der Speak & Spell ein beliebtes Spielzeug bei den Circuit bending-Freaks, da man hier sehr schnell das Potential für neue, verrückte Sounds erkannte. Dadurch hat sich gleichzeitig auch ergeben, dass diese neuen Klänge in vielen Stücken des Elektro- oder Experimental-Genres auftauchten.

Speak & Spell getuned!

Am Wochenende hab ich mir mal die Mühe gemacht und nach gebrauchten Speak & Spell’s im Internet geschaut. Die Ausbeute war ziemlich gering und wenn ich ein altes Gerät gefunden hatte, war mir der Preis dafür zu hoch.
Da ich aber auf die kultigen Sounds ziemlich scharf war, musste in irgendeiner Form ein Ersatz gefunden werden!

Zuerst einmal bin ich bei meiner weiteren Suche auf folgende Webseiten gestoßen:
http://www.kevinstonge.com/files/speakandspell.swf
http://www.speaknspell.co.uk/

Sehr interessante Sache wenn man sich den Aufwand machen will, jeden ausgegebenen Sound mitzuschneiden. War mir aber irgendwann dann doch zu blöd!

Also suchte ich weiter und fand folgendes:

http://www.hollowsun.com/shop/Freepacks/index.htm

Hier hatte man nun die Auswahl zwischen verschiedenen Sample-Formaten und konnte diese auch sofort ohne lästige Registrierung oder Newsletter-Abos herunterladen! Coole Sache!

Três vídeos no getlofi sobre como fazer circuit boards. Para quem gosta vale a pena dar uma vista de olhos.

Fiquem Ligados!

Wow, otro disco de versiones! Esta vez el gran Jeremy Kolosine, perpetrador del disco homenaje a Kraftwerk ha organizado un tributo a The Beatles en el que participan grandes nombres del 8 bitaje.

Yo escogí Revolution 9 para versionar en un momento de debilidad mental y borrachera en medio del Blip Festival Europe. La solución para acometer tan delirante proyecto ha consistido en utilizar instrumentos y juguetes modificados electrónicamente mediante la técnica del Circuit Bending.

Han participado:
-Casio SA-5
-Casio SK-1
-Speak and Spell
-Speak and Math
-Atari STe
-Nintendo Game Boy con LSDJ.

Escucha gratuita y descarga en:
http://www.8bitops.com/
(mi tema esta oculto en la descarga)

Yikes,  another tribute record is out! It has been Jeremy Kolosine, perpetrator of the 8 Bit homage to Kraftwerk who put together a tribute project of The Beatles. Great names of the 8 Bit scene are in it.

I chose Revolution 9 in a moment of mental weakness and ethilic perversion when Jeremy offered to participate in the middle of the Blip Festival Europe. The method I chose to accomplish such a delusional project has been to use Circuit Bent instruments and toys.

The participants:
-Casio SA-5
-Casio SK-1
-Speak and Spell
-Speak and Math
-Atari STe
-Nintendo Game Boy with LSDJ.

Listen to it for free at:
http://www.8bitops.com/
(my track is hidden in the download)

*NOW WITH HIDDEN BONUS TRACK!
Download 8-Bit Operators’ “Wanna Hld Yr Handheld. Vol. 1″ album, and also enjoy a bonus track; Rabato’s “Revolution 8″, his version of The Beatles’ “Revolution 9″ performed entirely on 8-bit instruments and circuit-bent toys, such as the Game Boy and Speak & Spell. The track is mapped out and arranged to replicate the original at over 6 minutes in length.

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Noviembre en madrid!

La gente de ARS GAMES nos ha invitado al interesante festival de este año.

Ahi vamos con esta doble actuación chiptunera..:

Por un lado el turno de lautaro en la casa encendida, experimentación sonora y visual usando gameboys y aparatos modificados para crear un universo propio de matices y texturas. Nuevos sonidos y estructuras que narran historias particulares en quien lo escucha..

lautaro en ars games

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y, al día siguiente,  subATAK!

La banda de bleep-hop de los 4 sudakas alojados en barcelona llega otra vez a Madrid con un directo potente y a la vez cercano, con melodías punzantes y pegadizas. subATAK se reinventa en este nuevo concierto.

subATAK en ars games.

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19 Nov. -  20 hs   lautaro ::: la casa encendida

20 Nov. – 20.30 hs    subATAK ::: instituto cervantes

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programa casa encendida..:

semillamedia.net

bleep bleep!!

Dass es auch anders geht und es nicht schon wieder ein weiterer langweiliger 08/15-Software Synthesizer sein muss, hat der ukrainische Programmierer Eugeny Danchenko mit dem witzigen und durchaus gelungenen Circuit Bending-Plugin Bend Box bewiesen.

Bend Box Oberfläche

Dieser virtuelle Synthesizer für Windows, der mit einem Oszillator, einem Filter, einem LFO, einem Bitcrusher und noch einigen anderen Reglern/Parametern auskommt, erzeugt Lo-Fi und Old-School Computersounds vom feinsten.
Zudem eignet er sich prima für experimentelle Musik oder Noisy-FX Sounds.

Die einzelnen Regler sind zwar nicht beschriftet, aber um herauszufinden welche Funktion ein bestimmter Knopf hat, muss man nur kurz mit der Maus draufbleiben und eine kleine Dialogbox zeigt dann den Namen des Drehreglers an.

Alle Regler lassen per MIDI-Controller steuern und auch die MIDI-Automation hat in Cubase einwandfrei funktioniert!

Das Beste zum Schluss: Bend Box ist Freeware!! Dem fröhlichen “drauflos legen” steht also nichts mehr im Wege!

Video und Downloadlink zu Bend Box:

A Audio Sodomy lançou a  Audio Sodomy’s Spookhouse Spectacular Vol. 1, um CD de musica que conta  com a participação de Igor Amokian, Trans Atlantic Rage, Koobaatoo Asparagus, Nestrogen entre outros nomes. Podem fazer o download na área de releases da netlabel.

Podem assistir a um vídeo de promoção aqui.

Fiquem Ligados!

 

Toys, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.

As I await the parts for my clock to arrive in the mail, I feel a bit anxious, so I thought I’d work on some toys. I have over 200 toys that require hacking. I striped the plastic and useless parts off of 30 of the simpler ones and put them in envelops. They fit nicely in the lower right drawer of my desk. “The hand” is unfinished. It needs a button switch that will be located above the speaker, and will be disguised behind an eye. Also, an output jack will be added. The two boxes in front of “The Hand” are examples of finished noise boxes. I have many more and should probably put them all in one place. The circuit board on the right is in the process of being reverse engineered. It was a very cheap ray gun made from discreet components. It might be interesting to rebuild it from electron tubes, but first I want to tweak and improve it with less lethal components. Vault Boy continues to encourage.

Jesse do site bent-tronics criou e pós no canal do youtube do site um tutorial em 4 vídeos para iniciantes na arte de Circuit Bending. Para quem se interessa vale a pena ver.

Fiquem Ligados!

Circuit Bending

A cold and rainy night outside but warm and fun inside. We had all levels of electronics experience with a good opportunity to learn a few things. Circuit bending can be a good way of introducing electronics.

By Vince Thompson

Halloween Jack-In-The-Box Project

There was an aire of mystery Tuesday night as we gathered for our October Make:KC Show and Tell session. A  large box shaped object was draped in a blue cover patterned with white stars. This package was not to be opened before its time.

Leading out from the covers was a hose making its way outside, under the garage door. In the parking lot, the line was connected to an air compressor.

Jason O’Reilly was responsible for this mysterious object but before revealing its contents, he showed us a smaller box which looked like a Styrofoam container. Inside this container was dry ice and what looked like an evidence bag. This bag had become part of the local lore after he left it on a friend’s porch with a severed ear inside.

Jason’s latest Halloween project was revealed showing the Jack-In-The Box he’s been working on. Lights, music, and sensors help trigger this air assisted clown popping the lid and jumping up.

Introduction to Circuit Bending

Introduction to Circuit Bending

We kicked off a new feature with Make:KC tonight, our Project Challenge. We’re introducing a topic of interest and challenging others to build something and bring it for the following month’s Show and Tell. Our Project Challenge topic this time is Circuit Bending.

This is a fun and inexpensive way to begin learning about electronics. Its safe for kids to try because we’re using battery powered musical and talking toys. You can often find these toys at thrift stores and garage sales for a couple of dollars. Usually the only tool needed is a screw driver to open the toy’s case revealing the electronics and circuitry. The rest is poking around to find spots that change the way the toy speaks or sounds.

In the picture, above left, Bob Spangler is showing off a Furby he disassembled and short circuiting it by placing a screwdriver blade across some contact points. This causes glitches in his Furby from sounding and speaking funny to erratic movement behavior. In the picture, above right, Paul Vittorino is showing his musical keyboard. It has multiple keys arranged in banks which have separate electronic controls.

So the challenge is on, find a toy, take it apart and see what you can cause it to do differently. This is a great way for a parent to spend time with their child and begin exploring electronics.

We are offering a special night to work on these projects. Tuesday Oct. 13 at the HMS Beagle store from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.

A Success Story

Mike's Soldering Projects.

Mike O’Brien brought a couple of his projects to show. He decided to try his hand at soldering and electronics project so last month he bought one of the soldering kits at the HMS Beagle. The kit came with enough soldering tools to get him started. He built the projects flashing light and siren circuitry.

After finishing the kit it gave him the encouragement to try another project. He chose to build a solar powered robot that moves around the room when a bright light is shined on it.

There is something special about learning to solder. I’ve heard several people excited about getting their projects working and feeling a sense of empowerment with this new skill. Congratulations to Mike.

Mike also wanted to offer a challenge. He is suggesting we get creative and make our own name tags that reflect the types of activities we’re interested in. So, start thinking about what your name tag will look like. I’m already working on some ideas of my own.

Christmas in October

Randall Jessee brought in several boxes of junk priceless treasures that he was cleaning out of his house.

Parts and Treasures

He was able to consolidate some of the boxes but ended up taking more than he hoped back home. Some of the finds in his stash were good candidates for circuit bending projects and many other things to keep a Maker busy and amused. Thanks for bringing this in.

He also gave us an update on the Rocked Day held at the HMS Beagle as part of their October Skies celebration. There were over 90 participants who brought rockets to be fired. He estimated somewhere close to 200 rocket launches were made.

Report by Vince Thompson

Los teclados detentaron su confite cuando las empresas empezaron a promocionar teclados para niños e inexpertos musicales. El objetivo era ampliar mercado más allá del mundo musical. Fue por entonces cuando se había puesto de moda regalar a los más pequeños de la casa un teclado para que dejaran volar su más tierna imaginación. Me voy a centrar en los teclados Casio, y de entre su gama (Casiotones, CTK, SK…) voy a hablar de los PT-82. Esta clase de teclados fueron muy populares a finales de los 80. Eran teclados muy básicos para conceder mucha más facilidad al principiante: disponía de ocho clase de sonidos y ocho clase de ritmos, con posibilidad de aumentar los bits. Su mayor atractivo, sin embargo, fue la incorporación de una unidad de disquette rom.

Estos disquettes tenían melodías pregrabadas de canciones populares (Die Lorelei, Greensleeves, Unterlanders Heimweh o Old floks at home) y de algunos hits ochenteros (Tina Turner por ejemplo) que se podían tocar mediante el seguimiento de las lucecitas dispuestas a lo largo del teclado. Lo más particular era el ranking que activabas después de finalizar la canción y que puntuaba tu maestría virtuosa. Los niños y los inexpertos podían lucir su capacidad de aprendizaje ante sus padres, vecinos o amigos, eso sí siguiendo las luces. Estos teclados han pasado en el más absoluto olvido vista su propia cutrez, pero hay gente que, mediante el circuit bending, deciden manipular y destripar estos trastos para lograr distorsionar sus sonidos. El resultado es aprovechar al máximo las posibilidades de estos teclados del pasado, creando y jugando con sonidos cercanos al trash o  al noise. Un curioso ejemplo se muestra a continuación:

Ejemplo de un Casio PT-82 modificado

Alucinante, ¿no? Gracias a estos teclados preparados, son los nuevos discípulos de John Cage del siglo XXI. Muchos ejemplos se encuentran por la red, unos más imaginativos y otros menos. Sólo hay que saber un poco de electrónica básica y adelante, sin miedo. Y si no, te los venden en el ebay a precio de oro!

Yesterday at work, I edited a podcast segment that made mention of the new Privia PX 130 keyboard from Casio. It’s a new digital piano meant to feel more closely like the real instrument, and you can hook it up to your Mac or PC via USB. The Times reviewer seemed to dig it after trying the keyboard out at Sam Ash.

But then I tried to remember the Casio keyboard my brother and I played with when we were kids…I believe it was that plastic chunk of cheesy goodness known as the PT-80.

Oh my…now Mom and Dad bought this for us way before either one of us youngsters was any good at playing the piano. So, to get any actual “music” out of it, my brother would play the demo over and over and over again. Do you remember those chintzy drum patterns? If you don’t, the closest thing I could find is a demo from another mini-keyboard of the same era, the Casio PT1 (which I think we also owned):

Can you imagine listening to THAT for about an hour or two? (My brother and I eventually graduated to a Korg Poly 61, but we would just run the arpeggiator when we were too lazy to actually do our lessons. I guess my parents figured, as long as there was music coming out of the playroom, we must be practicing.)

Well I realized, with all the enthusiasm out there for circuit bending children’s toys, calculators and other vintage synths, surely somebody must have hacked this little retro Casio or its 80’s siblings. And a whole bunch of DIY sound mechanics have done just that. Below are a couple of my favorite souped up Casios:

The bass on that one is pretty insane – this next one gets sort of funky in its own laid-back way:

You can find more one-of-a-kind musical projects like these at Circuit Bent Instruments, where several are being sold on eBay. And if your own kids insist on playing with some noisy toy that makes a relentless racket around the house, maybe you can get back at them with this terrifying circuit-bent Furby with Atari joystick controller.

- Jocelyn

Leiam o artigo no GetLoFi.

Fiquem Ligados!

había comenzado con este cacharro en junio, con la ayuda de ralp y rabato,  en el taller circuit bending de mincrobcn en el NIU.

Ahora lo retomé, busqué conexiones y puntos y lo terminé.

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aqui el resultado final

link a foto con la descripción de qué es cada cosa que le he agregado

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testeandolo!

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secuencia de fotos del proceso de trabajo

::.click en la imagen.::

The next gig on the horizon will be a Threep performance at A Thing About Machines festival in Coventry on Friday 25th September 2009.
We’ll be performing in St. John’s Church along with British composer of the year, turntablist and sound artist Janek Schaefer, sonic and visual manipulators Modulate and a unique performance from Ben Ramsay using recordings of jet engines.
For more info and tickets check out the festival website here athingaboutmachines.co.uk

thought I’d wheel out the modular for this one
stench.org.uk

Lets start for taking a brief info on the drone machine.

“The Drone Machine is a 4 oscillator noise maker that is controlled by a joystick.  I’ve had this basic circuit built for a while and I’ve been working on finding a type of housing and control mechanism that would make if fun and useful.  The joystick, along with a couple other additions has made this one of my favorites.”

The drone machine looks and sounds really nice and fat, the case design its brilliant with the joystick. But at unearthed circuits there’s also more things to see. This Bitcrusher is really nice, and the Photo trans-activator its simply a strange looking machine. To resume there’s a lot of stuff going at unearthed circuit, music, projects and lots of good ideas.

Unearthed circuits

[Moldover] decided to change up the way CDs are packaged for his album release. Yes, you still get a CD with some pretty sweet music, but the case can also play sounds. He custom printed a circuit board containing some LEDs, buttons, photoresistors, and what looks to be a piezo transducer which all combine to produce a strange whine like noise. But with the included headphone jack, he shows it can be used to produce some very interesting music – reminds us of circuit bending.

[Thanks Ferdinand]