Circuit Bending PresentationIn this workshop:- Introduction- What is circuit bending?- Who discovered circuit bending?- Circuit bending safety- Tools- The best items to circuit bend- Laying of hands technique- Probe technique- Marking and choosing modifications- Kill Switches- Line out- Clocking items- Circuit diagrams / online resources- Recommended resources- Jamming (if we have enough time)- Contact details

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IntroductionMy name is Dan Wilson.Electronics and laser systems technician.Masters in Environmental Sustainability and Green Technology from Keele.Circuit bending for over 10 years.Grew up as a new age traveller.Interested in sustainability, recycling and self sufficiency, as well as most forms of music.

What is Circuit Bending?Circuit bending is the art (or Randomness) of reusing electronic products to produce an output that it wasn’t designed for.Circuit bending in its simplistic form is shorting out parts of the internal circuits to produce interesting results, often drastically reducing the lifetime of the device in the process.Circuit modifying is the introduction of improvements to the original circuit design, utilising circuit diagrams and oscilloscopes.

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Who Discovered Circuit Bending?Reed Ghazala termed the coin in the 60’s.However, many people have experimented with circuit bending before this period.Including Serge Tcherepnin.

www.anti-theory.com

Circuit Bending SafetyNever circuit bend equipment that connects directly to the mains.Be careful of large capacitors, as they can hold large voltages and they can recharge even when the circuit is disconnected from the mains.If you are unsure measure voltages with a volt meter.Always connect your circuit bent item through a mixer and if available a limiter.

Tools and Components- Multi-meter- Screwdrivers- Miniature screw drivers- Soldering iron- Wire cutters- Wire strippers- Drill and bits- Loads of batteries, wires and things to solder onto the

circuit

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The Best Items to Circuit Bend- Battery powered- Cheap- Expendable- Older the better- Something that you have seen that has been circuit bent.- Items with large amounts of room on the casing, to attach

components.

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Circuit Component Identification

• Capacitors• Resistors• Transistors• Integrated Circuits• Amplification Circuits• Power Supply Circuits

Laying of HandsThe simplistic technique, with the lowest chance of damaging the circuit.Your body is used to produce shorts across parts of the circuit.Your body acts as a variable resistor. Try wetting your fingers, or licking the circuit board. Alternatively push the circuit board harder. This reduces resistance, increasing the current flowing through your body.If the circuit crashes, turn off the item, or remove the batteries. Turn on after a couple of seconds.

Melodypanosian.info Thewire.co.uk

Probe TechniqueA much higher risk of irreparable damage to the circuit. As there is zero resistance through the wire, resulting in maximum voltage achievable.Take a piece of wire and strip back 10mm of insulation at each end.Using the wire, short out parts of the circuit.If it crashes, remove batteries and reset.

Marking and ModificationsWhen you have identified the areas you want to circuit bend.Label the circuit board and write down the effect/sound.Move on and complete the entire circuit.

Choosing Components to Install- Body contacts- Toggle switches (spst, dpdt)- Momentary switches- Variable resistors (potentiometers)- Light dependent resistors (theremin effect)- Patch bays

Ultimately it comes down to available time and funds.

Kill SwitchesMany items do not have a hard power switch, they rely on electronic components.Crashing these items for long periods of time can destroy the integrated circuits.A simple toggle switch can be installed between the battery and the circuit by cutting the positive wire from the batteries.

Line OutMost electronic toys were not designed to be plugged into headphones or mixers.A jack socket can be mounted onto the chassis and solder onto the back of the speaker.Some sockets, will automatically cut-out the speaker when a jack is plugged in, well worth the extra 5p.

Clocking ItemsThe majority of electrical items have a master clock. This keeps the entire circuit in synchronisation. A simple oscillator can be built to replace the master clock. Allowing the user to speed up or slow down the circuit. Producing interesting crashes and drones.

Circuit Modding

• Modifying equipment to improve performance or flexibility.

• Usually carried out on more expensive sound equipment.

• Keeps original settings and sounds.• Uses a little more skill, as knowledge of circuit

diagrams is a necessity.

• TB-303 Bass Line – Devil Fish Modifications• Korg Poly 800 – Moog Slayer Modifications

Circuit Diagrams and Online Resources

• Online guides can provide invaluable advice on safely circuit bending a device.

• Be careful when relying on online resources, as the items can look the same.

• However, there can be different versions of circuit boards, much like software versions.

Circuit diagrams are very useful as they can give information on processes taking place, especially useful when combined with an oscilloscope.

Building Circuits and Synthesizers• From circuit bending to modifying circuits, it’s only a

small step until you are building your own circuits and synthesizers.

Collaborations

This section describes the various collaborations and commissions I have undertaken recently.

• Educational hands on electronics that make noise.• Commissioned to build equipment and installations.• Demonstrations and exhibitions at festivals and

science events.

SYMMETRICAL SOUNDS

TEKKAZ

Recommended Reading

Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking. Nicolas Collinshttp://www.anti-theory.com/ Reed Ghazala the founder of circuit bendinghttp://circuitbending.com/http://www.gearwire.com/circuit-bending-101.html

My Online Presencehttp://www.slideshare.net/circitfied - tutorials and circuit diagramshttp://www.youtube.com/user/circitfied - videos of work pieceshttp://soundcloud.com/circitfied - audio compositions using my own equipmenthttp://www.noisytoys.org – interactive sound installations

Questions…?

Play Time…?