I’ve just posted a re-edit of my series introducing circuit-bending old toys (cutting the three-video series down into a more reasonably paced single video). Circuit-bending is the creative customization of consumer electronics with the goal of inventing new unique devices for sound-making, visuals, or other expressive goals.
In this series, now edited into a single video, I take you through my process with some toys from the start, including explorations, experiments, and, importantly, failures. I continue work through transforming this Tinkerbell wand, testing out different resistors and switches to see what I might add to increase its glitchy expressive range.
I’m a composer and sound-designer, not an electrical engineer, so my goal is to find fun sounds that I can use in creative ways (rather than any kind of serious circuit design).
0:00 Intro
0:22 Selecting toys to bend
0:52 Testing with new batteries
1:52 Opening up the Tinkerbell wand
4:42 Opening up the whack-a-mole
7:20 Poking around with test leads
10:40 Recap, equipment
11:11 Examining the components
12:20 Speeding up the clock
14:17 Slowing down the clock
15:19 Varying the clock
18:58 Switches
22:17 The “glitch switch”
24:40 Considering packaging (instrument morphology)
25:19 Tools & equipment
26:15 Updates/Plan
28:32 Installing the “Glitch Switch”
30:48 Installing the Toggle
31:47 Changing the LED
32:47 Installing the Potentiometer
34:17 Adding RCA audio out
35:18 Putting it back together
36:08 Esoteric Etude
38:31 Closing
More circuit-bending and handmade electronic music here: