Circuit Bending – A Quick Intro

“Circuit-bending” is the practice of adding circuitry and/or random connections to the electronics of a device that can make a noise in order to coax out something new and potentially exciting.

You can easily start something like a kiddies electronic toy or better still a musical keyboard for under £5 in a charity shop, so it definitely fits in the pauper category. Indeed start with something really cheap as the random experimental process means that eventually you are going to destroy something beyond repair, so don’t spend too much on your first few projects.

Youtube examples

• Circuit Bent Casio SA-8 Keyboard by freeform delusion (Shown above)
• RC Circuit Bent Casio PT-100 Keyboard by djwidow420

Further Information

• Circuitbenders.co.uk is the place to start. They have been busy at this since 2001 and have built up a large library of ideas and examples. The site includes many examples of their work, including sound clips and there is an excellent tips section, which I may have used as a reference here once or twice.
  
• http://www.anti-theory.com/bio is the site for Reed Ghazala who is often attributed as being the Godfather of Circuit-bending. It is a fascinating site that includes back ground ideas and his philosophy behind it. See below for his excellent book.
  
• Circuit benders are not crazy we are artistic!  is a Facebook group thats shows off people work, and most contributors are more than happy to discuss their ideas and help you with problems. Bottom of the range Casio and Yamaha keyboards seem to feature quite heavily here.
• Electro-music.com is a large forum which has a section dedicated to circuit bending. Activity on this site has declined slightly since march to global domination of Facebook, but is still a good place to go and discuss your ideas with like minded people. While you are there visit some of the other forums too, there is an amazing archive of material and some great people to talk to.
• OK Housecat shows some really nice examples of bent equipment and effects housed in unusual objects.  You can also find him on Facebook if you want to contact him directly.
• http://www.burnkit2600.com/ showcases some quite impressive bending projects projects but does not include tutorials or details.