Hack a Day » circuitbending

Bent festival begins tonight

Caleb Kraft — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:11:11 +0000

The Bent festival, which begins tonight in New York City, is a celebration of DIY musical instruments. Artists from all over converge to beep, blip, and strum for your pleasure. With a heavy emphasis on hacking your own instruments, this is definitely something we’re interested in. If you’ve only heard a little bit of circuit bending and didn’t like it, you may want to give it a try anyway. The musical genres are extremely diverse, it’s not all just random noise.

Posted in digital audio hacks, home entertainment hacks, news

16 circuit bent toys

Eliot — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:30:00 +0000

OObject compiled a list of 16 circuit bent kids’ toys found on YouTube. There’s a broad range here: from Speak & Spells, to Pikachus, to Game Boys, and even the odd vinyl based toy. It’s an interesting list, but you won’t find a single soothing sound in the group.

[via Gizmodo]

Furbies transformed into a Furby Gurdy

Kimberly Lau — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:00:00 +0000

[David Crammer] must really like nightmares. The hurdy gurdy is a stringed musical instrument, dating as far back as the eleventh century A.D., where the strings are sounded via a rosined wheel that is turned with a crank. [Crammer] took this unique instrument, applied his circuit-bending and Furby-scalping skills to generate a Furby Gurdy that sound like Kraftwerk on acid.

[via Gizmodo]

How-To: Hack a ThingamaKIT

loganwilliams — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:30:00 +0000

The ThingamaKIT is an anthropomorphic analog synthesizer kit from Bleep Labs. Using “LEDacles”, photoresistors, knobs, and switches, it generates interesting high pitched vocalizations. Bleep Labs sent us a review unit and this article shares our experiences building and using the kit. We’ve also included a tutorial on making some hacks, modifications, and circuit bends to it. Skip to the end to see a video of our hacked kit in action.

Using the ThingamaKIT

While it may not be that useful for serious musical composition, the ThingamaKIT makes some nice bleeps and blips, even without modification.The LED to photoresistor input/feedback method is enjoyable to play with, by repointing the LEDacles and waving hands around the photoresistor. The ThingamaKIT is very easy to start using; just twiddle knobs, and it starts making its characteristic ridiculous sounds.

The ThingamaKIT is an simple but fun circuit, and schematics are provided. Three Schmitt trigger oscillators, like the ones used in the previous Hack a Day synth article are used to control the first LEDacle. Because they have different frequencies, the LEDacle blinks in an interesting manner. A Schmitt trigger and op amp generate a triangle wave for the other LEDacle, with controllable waveshape and speed. Another Schmitt trigger generates the modulating wave, with a frequency based on either Photocell 2 or a potentiometer. The main oscillator, the XR2206, has a pitch controlled by Photocell 1, except when the output from the modulation is high, then it switches to a different pitch.

Embedded above is Bleep Labs official demo video.

Building the ThingamaKIT

The instructions for building the ThingamaKIT are printed well and easy to follow. [Surachai]‘s build time lapse, shown above, gives a nice overview of the process. We had no problem finding components and soldering them to the board. Though troubleshooting instructions are provided in the manual, our device worked fine, and we did not need them.

If you are assembling the ThingamaKIT with the intent to hack it as shown in the rest of this article, there are a couple things you should do differently than shown in the instructions.

Cut the 4” wires a little longer, closer to 6”. You’ll need the extra length when fitting components.
Do not install the waveshape switch, unless you want to test the default ThingamaKIT unit without modifications.
Do not proceed to the casing steps until you have made modifications.

Hacking the ThingamaKIT

Bleep Labs has designed the ThingamaKIT to be easily circuit bendable, and there are many fun hacks that can be done with this unit. A few are briefly presented in the extra information given with the kit. While playing around with it and assembling it, we also discovered several more. We’ll show you a few different hacks and circuit bends that you can do with an assembled ThingamaKIT.

Adding an audio input

Our favorite hack for the ThingamaKIT is to add an audio input. The ThingamaKIT will completely warp any audio input, crushing it to lo-fi fuzz and crunches. Here is its emotional rendition of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”:

To do this, you’ll need a 3.5mm audio jack, like the kind used in the previous synthesizer how-to article and a SPDT (three way) switch. Solder a wire to the signal lug and a wire to the ground lug on the jack. Then, solder the signal wire (the blue wire) to the left hand pad of the .01 uF capacitor, which is outlined above in red. Our solder joints look like a warzone, but it all works. We swear.

There are two places the ground wire can be soldered, and each has a different sound; we installed a switch so that both could be used. Solder the ground wire to the center lug on the SPDT switch. Solder one of the outside lugs to the board’s ground, and another to the other pin of the .01 uF capacitor, as outlined in red above.

To use the audio input, flip the SPDT switch to either outside position, then patch some audio to the input. Music, drum machines, other synthesizers and more all work to make an interesting sound.

Adding a waveshaper knob

In its default configuration, the ThingamaKIT only has a switch to select between triangle and square wave main oscillators. By replacing this knob with a potentiometer, you can transition smoothly between the two waveforms. However, there will be a significant attenuation (decrease in volume) when the potentiometer is near its center, as both outputs will have increased impedance. This is not easily corrected, except with active amplification, or a dual potentiometer with two different tapers, which we have been unable to find.

To do this mod, you first need to remove the waveshape switch if you have already attached it. The easiest way to remove it is with a desoldering iron. Simply squeeze the bulb, place the hot iron over each pad (pads to remove are outlined in red on the image above), and release the bulb. Do this for each pad until all solder is removed, then remove the switch. Keep the switch, as it will be useful if you want to do the sine wave hack.

Next, solder three wires to a 10K potentiometer, such as the one pictured above. The red wire goes to the middle lug, and the other two go to either end on the board.

The waveshaper knob is complete, and you can now easily fade between square and triangle waves.

Adding a sine wave switch

While reading the datasheet (PDF) for the XR2206, the signal generator that the ThingamaKIT uses, we noticed a very easy way to change the triangle wave output into a sine wave, which has a softer sound.

If you are doing this with the waveshaper hack above, start by taking the old switch, and removing one lug from its side. Then bend the other two down slightly, as shown. This will allow the switch to fit where the old one did on the panel, without being in contact with the board. Solder two short wires to the remaining lugs. Then, stick a piece of electrical tape over the top of the pads on the board where the potentiometer is now wired, and put the switch there, using a bit of hot glue to hold it in place.

To one wire, solder a 220 ohm resistor inline; an extra is helpfully provided in the kit. Wrap the resistor in electrical tape to cover the exposed leads, then solder the two wire ends to pins 13 and 14 of the XR2206 as outlined in red above. The sine wave mod is complete!

Adding a spike wave switch

Another bend we found while poking around in the unit caused the main oscillator to create a “spike” waveform. It produces a nice lo-fi, glitchy sound. To add this bend, take any normal SPST (two way on-off switch) and solder a wire to each lug.

Then, connect it to pins 8 and 6 on the XR2206, as outlined in red. The spike wave mod is done.

Packaging it all up

To finish up our ThingamaKIT, we followed the instructions provided with the kit, but with a few modifications. A couple of extra holes had to be drilled for the new potentiometer (5/16”), the spike wave switch (5/16”), and the audio input (1/4”).

We had some difficulty getting all of the new components fitted into the case, but with some rearranging we managed. Be sure not to push the photoresistors up higher on the face then is shown on the drill jig, or you will have trouble fitting them around the LEDacles. The volume potentiometer was also mounted a little low, and we had to put the speaker toward the controls side rather then the LEDacle side of the case to fit it in.

Check out the demo video below to see our glorious leader in action.

Further hacks

To hack your ThingamaKIT further, Dr. Bleep has some recommendations in the manual: using the extra oscillators on the board to add effects, replacing the variable photocells with resistors and buttons to make a keyboard, making a patchbay, and getting complete control over LEDacle 1 with potentiometers.

That concludes our ThingamaKIT hacking. Have any of you built one? To see other custom ThingamaKITs, check out the Flickr group.

GetLoFi’s dub siren

Eliot — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:40:00 +0000

GetLoFi has always been one of our first stops when looking for circuit bending fun. Their latest project is building this simple dub siren from a noise making key chain. Dub sirens or rasta boxes are a signature sound in dub reggae. The base of this project is an eight sound keychain. Each pad is wired to an eight position selector switch. The pitch resistor is replaced with a linear pot. One push button is used to replace the original eight and another is used for mute. Plug the 1/4inch jack into a delay pedal and you’re ready to rock. Check out the video below to see this particular box in use.

Nintendo DrumAxe controller

Juan Aguilar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:15:00 +0000

We can’t remember the last time a new cart or peripheral for the NES was released, but [Tony Amendolare] at ElektroKraft has just changed that. In conjunction with Nesdev.com, [Amendolare] created Super Synth Drums, a NES-compatible cartridge that turns button presses on the NES gamepad into drum sounds synthesized by the NES’s sound chips. To complement his software, he created the Sonic DrumAxe, a controller that looks a bit like a potato gun and is played like a guitar.

The Sonic DrumAxe controller uses a PIC microcontroller to drive a serial to parallel shift register. It has six touch sensors on the neck and one large one on the thick end. Unfortunately it requires custom inputs on the NES console, so it can’t be used with an unmodified NES.

[Amendolare] wrote the Super Synth Drums in 6502 assembly language. He puts the software onto carts using a NES console that has been modified to read and write to cartdridges. The software can be controlled with either the DrumAxe or with standard controls. [Amendolare] also did most of his demoing on a clone Yobo Machine, and it worked perfectly.

If you’d like to get in on the 8-bit circuit bending action, ElectroKraft is selling Super Synth Drums for about $49. This does not include the Sonic DrumAxe, but [Amendolare] told us that he’ll be selling a full package- cart, DrumAxe, and modded NES- on eBay later today. We’ll give you the link as soon as we get it; keep in mind that part of the proceeds of all sales are going to a children’s hospital and a charity to feed the hungry.

UPDATE: [Tony] just sent us a link to his eBay auction for the DrumAxe set. Again, this includes the cart, the DrumAxe, and the modded NES.

[via GetLoFi]

LA SIGGRAPH Maker Night

Eliot — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:30:00 +0000

We coaxed our friends at Mahalo Daily into coming along with us to LA SIGGRAPH’s Maker Night. There were a handful of interesting projects there. [Univac] was showing a circuit bent Teletubby and his CellularRecombomat. [Brett Doar] brought his Bronco Table. Tired of engineers building items that made life easier, he decided to make something that made life more difficult. The table uses a piezo to detect the sound of something being set on top. It then starts twitching and bucking to shake the item free. The motors look like they’re salvaged window motors. Finally, we talked to [Mark Frauenfelder] from BoingBoing/Make about how he got into the DIY culture.

Notacon 2008: Circuit bending will get you laid

Eliot — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:05:00 +0000

[Pete Edwards] and [Fred Owsley] openly admitted that the title was the most thinly veiled audience-bait ever constructed. Nevertheless, they poured through a great talk covering the basics of circuit bending and some of the pieces they had built over the years. Fred said that what attracts him to circuit bending is the hands on approach to something very scientific i.e. he can figure out how to construct an interesting circuit by rubbing his finger along the back of the board. As far as where to start: always a battery powered device and use the toy store as a last resort. You’re going to tear the thing apart so why pay for it? Dumpster diving, garage sales, swap meets, and flea markets are all places to look. Parts don’t need to be anything better than grab bag either. They suggested an easy first step is dropping the operating voltage of your device and seeing how it reacts. Pete and Fred had several examples of devices they’ve modified: Speak & Spells, Casio SA keyboards, Barbi karaoke machines, and the voice changing gas mask pictured above.

The Bent Festival for circuit bending is coming up soon if you’d like to see more. You can also check out these links for more information on circuit bending.

Notacon 2008: Circuit bending intro

Eliot — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 08:30:00 +0000

The first talk we went to at Notacon was [Sam Harmon]‘s great introduction to circuit bending, the process of modifying sound generating electronics to create new musical instruments. Reed Ghazala is considered the father of circuit bending for his pioneering work starting in 1966. Sam pointed out that a “prepared piano” could be considered the non-electric precursor to circuit bending. It involves the musician placing different types of material on the piano’s components. Sam presented many different examples of where to start with circuit bending: the Casio PT-10, PAiA Theremax, Atari Punk Console. He also mentioned a couple AVR projects: AVRSYN and todbot’s Arduino work.

The session ended with [Thom Robertson] showing off the Weird Sound Generator he built and his GHX software for playing real music with a Guitar Hero controller.

Postal hacking

Will O'Brien — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 06:37:00 +0000

Apparently our Russian brethren have some issues ordering things online. Their shipping solution? A bit of remote social engineering. Thanks to the nature of Russian addresses – that is, the language is pretty easy to recognize – they’ve found that putting down their address in Russia along with a Canadian zip code will usually result in the package being forwarded along thanks to the thoughtful Canadian postal workers. Thanks [Jock]

Social engineering not your thing? OK, well here’s a few extra hacks to chew on. [Sam] thinks you should wrap your electronics in a condom to keep em dry. If you’re in NY, you might want to check out the circuit bending festival. Oh, and if you’ve had your head in the sand, you might have missed the steam powered R2D2.

Bent 2400 baud modem

Will O'Brien — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:12:00 +0000

This one wins my vote for unintended use of hardware. [nathan] sent in his bent modem. His breakout box takes midi signals in and uses them to generate various modem sounds from an old Packard Bell external modem. Now, how about some schematics? Hit the link for videos of it in use.

Happy Halloween Extra

Will O'Brien — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 11:03:00 +0000

[Update: pumpkin carved by Team Hack-A-Day member mastershake916]

We’ve got plenty of tricks around here, and I’ve got a treat coming up – you’ll hear about it in the next podcast.

[Ronald Schaten] sent me his USB LED fader. ATMega, PWM lit LEDs, he uses it to indicate status on his pvr.

[computerguru365] sent in his cell phone car charger turned USB cable

[steve] sent in this over the top C64DTV mod.

[Everett] sent along his button activated PSP shoulder lighting.Nice tiny soldering work for that on.

[Jorge] sent in his friends latest junk art metal lathe. Not an easy thing to build – Nice!

[gijs] sent me this crazy bent Casio SK-1. We’ve had a few of these on Hackaday before.

[seniorcheez] sent in his iPod shuffle dock with integrated power and tunecast.