But I do have one track that features an exotic “horn” part that came from a $5 toy keyboard that I opened up, replaced the speaker with a crudely wired phono jack, and laid a screwdriver across the circuit board while recording it.

I’m more likely to mess with databending than I am to get out the soldering iron, just because it’s something I can do while feeling lazy. :)

however, im a huge fan of eric persing’s distored reality sample collections – if an instrument could be made that came with sounds like that, but generated not sampled so you could tweak parameters – that would be awesome.

i do have to relate this little story in defense against myself of bent sounds: i used to work for fast forward design (what line 6 was back when it was simply a software design house for digidesign and alesis). on at least two occasions that i can clearly remember i walked past the desk of an engineer who had the guts of a keyboard or effects unit splayed open they were testing and remarked, “wow, that’s an awesome sound!” and invariably the engineer would look up with a puzzled countenance and say, “it’s not supposed to be doing that.”

i always got a kick out of that. those units never sounded so interesting as when they were malfunctioning!

I have similar musical skepticism, just about how to fit this stuff into my musical style, but that’s all the more reason I’ll be taking up this challenge and seeing how it goes! I may do an experiment first … maybe not just a one-day affair. I’ll report back. Mike actually has more experience than I do on this front.

These are all valid criticisms that have been raised against the prevailing circuit-bending aesthetic before, and I would tend to agree with most of them. Obviously, it’s not for everyone.

I’ve heard the same thing Steve, about bending/modding those cheap Behringer pedals for some cool and unique results.

Vanity! thy name is eden! :P

There can be a perverse pleasure in simply making something as innocuous as a child’s toy into something that emits horribly unpleasant sounds. And some folk have turned the circuit-bending concept into an integral, visual/performance part of their art. Like the stuff Khate does:

http://www.khate.org/bent/

Personally, I don’t find the aesthetics of circuit bent toys suit my general intentions. I lean towards pragmatic austerity, the giddy technicolour angle that toys carry just doesn’t jibe with that. But I’ve bent some of those cheapie Behringer pedals to reasonably good effect (they sound like junk unbent, I think the bending actually makes them usable).

A guitar can sound like crap when used by folks inexperienced with it, bent things just need a little finessing to suit musical applications. Think about all those dreadful synth demos on Youtube, after a while it seems like bad, derivative acid or squeakfart beepbooping is all synths can do, which I hope isn’t the case.

That said, a few points to consider:

The skills involved in circuit bending are directly transferable to other electronic projects- building a stomp box, repairing a synth, or tweaking your mic preamp.

For many people, it’s the first step they take into the world of electronics, and for good reason- it’s very satisfying to solder a few connections and hear the sounds change so drastically.

So there’s a sense of accomplishment, and also a curiosity that becomes awakened.

Why does it do that? What is the function of all these little electronic parts? What else can I make it do?

And also, it’s fun. Don’t forget that.

I’m not asking you to replace your DAW or your Fender Rhodes, I’m suggesting that you try something you’ll probably enjoy and learn a little bit in the process about how and why digital music works.