Circuit bending

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Multiple issues

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use list-defined references

File:Bending.jpg
Probing for "bends" using a jeweler's screwdriver and alligator clips

Circuit bending is 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

Template:More citations needed section

File:Circuit-1.png
A circuit-bent Walkman
File:1989 Kawasaki Electronic Digital Guitar by Remco circuit bend 2.jpg
A 1989 Kawasaki toy guitar used in a circuit bending project

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.<ref name="Mirapaul">Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Yamaha PSR-6 circuit bended @ Dorkbot Helsinki 2007.jpg
A Yamaha PSR-6 used in a circuit bending project

Innovators

Serge Tcherepnin, designer of the Serge modular synthesizers, discussed<ref name="Vail_2000"/> his early experiments in the 1950s, with the transistor radio, in which he found sensitive circuit points in those simple electronic devices and brought them out to "body contacts" on the plastic chassis. Prior to Mark's and Reed's 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.

Since 1984, Swiss duo Voice Crack created music by manipulating common electronic devices in a practice they termed "cracked everyday electronics".<ref name="Paris_2008"/>

Musician and technologist Reed Ghazala coined the term circuit bending for the practice in 1992.<ref name="Deahl_2018"/>

See also

File:Kraakdoos (Cracklebox).jpg
Kraakdoos

References

Template:Reflist

Further reading

Template:Experimental music genres Template:DIY Culture in Electronic Music Template:Chiptune-footer