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Consumer Electronics Make Music
metoikos writes "Forget about hacking your Gameboy -- what about cat toys or Teddy Ruxpins? Any of these is fair game to a circuit bending hobbyist. Essentially, circuit bending is the art of making interesting noises come out of re-engineered consumer electronics, mostly toys.
Bending recently came into the spotlight when a number of news organizations discovered the 2004 Bent Festival at New York's Tank.
Derek Sajbel, a bender from California, is writing a book/doing a documentary on it." BishopBerkeley writes "Circuit bending has apparently been going on long enough among a large enough contingent of benders to merit a weeklong festival dedicated to bending circuits. The art is largely a process of making musical instruments by 'bending' the circuits of fairly common electronic instruments and gadgets. According to this article in the New York Times people have been making rather interesting music by modifying the strange toys with which a lot of us grew up. If you're near Manhattan, and you didn't know about the Bent Festival, then think about going. You can find more info at the official circuit bending web site."
Electronic toys have also been known to melt (well, 'bend') when the batteries start running low.
-- If you can read this, you are too close to my signature.
I remember reading a story about how an HP engineer set up a row of printers (I think it was 12, in total) and he programmed the servos to sing "Happy Birthday" for a fellow engineer... I wish I could remember more details but I'm in no state to look up details right now.
Slashdot is proof that Sturgeon's Law applies to mankind.
As the Barbie Liberation Army
ASDLJGFLKJ#$()!*U@#$!)ADFKOH#@$I!HJ@#KJRQWEKJFAKDS FHAKEJHROQWEOURQWLKJEF:LKJ#!LKJ#@$!
Try listening to Einstuerzende Neubauten. I'm sure that they've used something that sounds like that in at least one of their songs.
And that way you can save yourself another keyboard.
I hate Liberals and Conservatives.
If you are a Liberal or a Conservative, then HAVE A NICE DAY!
Courage.
Apparently from reading comments on this board so far, most people seem to be offended by experimental music. "You call that music? That's just noise!". Believe it or not, Noise actually is a genre of music and has a rather large following. I don't care if you don't like it, but I could just as easily criticize whatever MTV or Classical Rock things you are all listening to.
Remember, people used to say the same thing about Rock N' Roll, which in my opinion is a completely stale genre. Try and open your minds a bit to things you don't understand.
I've had some fun with cellphones recently. Have your cell phone in one hand, and use the other to have a friend's cell phone yours (may as well use his minutes, right?).
/.-ing), and used my cellphone and answering machine to create some cool noises at the end.
When the call is established, put the cellphones in... er... a 69 position I guess. Microphone to speaker. You should get some pretty cool feedback this way, and you can 'control' it (sort of) by moving the phones around.
I recently covered the Pixies song "Alec Eiffel" for an online Pixies tribute album (link omitted... don't need the
grib.
maybe
Led Zeppelin used it to great effect. Here is the Beach Boys using it in Good Vibrations
One would venture to call this a 'bender' device since it is functionally the same as a metal detector, and works by sensing the proximity of the player's hands to the antennae.
Any other similar devices or early bender apps?
I read all the comments to this point, and saw no mention of industrial.
It started at least 15 years ago (though some other versions may have started earlier)...in Germany.
They recorded (sampled) industrial noise, and mixed it together with vocals, percussion (indeed, some bands used the sampled noises AS vocals and percussion) to make music. Skinny Puppy is a great example.
Just thought I'd bring it up.
I'll answer for the noise making people. Please read this sentence again so it's not mistaken that what I say next is serious.
Ahem. It's not the music it's you. You need to open your mind up because you obviously don't understand our music. Try opening your mind instead of criticizing. I suggest you use a twelve gauge. Which reminds me, I just made a 19 minute excursion into the realm of mimiced 12 gauge sounds created with a bent Simon and some baked orange peels. I'd post a link but it's beyond you all to understand. Beeps and screeches are in a realm beyond all of you mortals. Even I have problems recifying the complex melodies and harmonies (if they existed in our music, chumps) because this is gods music. I only wish Bartertown really existed so I could record underwold because that was music that could only come from a choir of angels. I don't expect any of you to understand, what with your time and key signatures and beats and notes and tone and what not. Silly things like scales and talent. Free your minds from "notes" and structure. I've wasted my time enough with you all. I'm going to go open my mind more by listening to a car compactor that could use an oil job.
On a side note, I am so sick and fucking tired of electronic "music." I don't know about you, but I want my music to be played by a fucking MUSICIAN, wielding an instrument like an extension of his body and putting all the feel and soul into it that ONLY a human can.
OK, so how do you feel about Laurie Anderson , who plays hand-made experimental violins and Pauline Oliveros , who plays Accordian, but not in such a way that you can tell it is an accordian?
And out of curiosity, how do you feel about the music of Wendy Carlos, especially the Switched On Bach series?
I like and have a very large collection of classical music, I just like other music too, and some of it is quite weird, but usually more complicated than "a bunch of wav files you strung together in Acid" (Although that makes me wonder if you've listened to Not Breathing.)
And for clarification, part of what I meant about the limitations of octive based music was looking at stuff like eastern music.
I hate Liberals and Conservatives.
If you are a Liberal or a Conservative, then HAVE A NICE DAY!
Courage.
When I was in 4th grade or so, I had one of those "Little Professor" calculators from Texas Instruments which I decided to abuse with a sottering iron one day for shits and giggles. After messing around for a little bit, I found by reconnecting the transistors I could get it to make different sounds controlled by the keys. Suffice to say, it was very limited, but fun to play with for about a week.
Funny how this is suddenly a fad.