Circuit bending

"Circuit bending" is the name of the technique – or artform or science, if you like – of experimentally and creatively modifying the electronic circuits of mass produced electronic musical instruments, toys and suchlike to make new, different, and unique instrumentes, with new, different and unique sounds and musical possibilities.

Circuit bending is a laymans shortcut into an area that is generally the domain of technical experts. Many circuit benders works from a, more or less rigid, 'anti-theoretic' basis and a conviction that originality comes from curiosity more than from theoretical knowledge. But generally its agreed amongst circuit benders that at least some electronic skills and knowledge is worth acquiring. Circuit bending is a method for the creative individual to get past the functional end expressive limitations the producers have chosen to build into their mass produced instruments or toys, or to make musical instruments out of appliances never intended for that use. Circuit bending transformes mass produced consumer goods into unica.

Often the musical posibilities of circuitbent instruments give occasion for new creative ways of thinking about music and composition, because rarely the tones and timbres they produce fit within classical scales and musical traditions. Unpredictability is often one of the finest characteristics of circuitbended instrumentes. They are experimental instrumentes for experimental music, and they often demand untraditional playing tecniques.

My circuitbent instrumens
In 2002 I got taken in by circuit bending, when I found the website of circuit bending-"guru" Q. Reed Ghasala (www.Anti-theory.com). Since that summer I have finished the instruments shown and described here, as well as a few more that I haven't got a page created for yet. Moreover there is a bunch of unfinished circuitbending projects in my workshop, waiting to get finished.

Most of the subpages have sound samples or musical examples.