Low-Battery as Aesthetic Practice: Voltage Starving Audio Gear

Talking about voltage starving your audio equipment with Will Klingenmeier.


I sat down for a virtual chat with Will, who has been doing some interesting experiments voltage starving his Moog DFAM and Subharmonicon. Voltage starving is when you intentionally deprive a circuit or device of the full voltage it needs to function, simulating a “dying battery”. The sounds you get are probably not what the manufacturer intended, but definitely an aesthetic worth exploring as you look for new sounds.

In this wide-ranging discussion, we talk about circuit-bending, starving stompboxes, and whether or not this is a good idea with your expensive equipment.

0:00 Introduction
0:30 What is “voltage starving”?
1:08 Voltage starving & circuit-bending
1:54 Voltage starving Moog synths
3:46 How to do it
4:33 Is this dangerous to your equipment?
6:07 Thinking about guitar pedals
8:15 Closing thoughts

Check out more videos on Will’s Channel here.

More creative electronics videos here:

Making a “Subharmonicon” in Reaktor

Building a subharmonic synthesizer in Native Instruments’ Reaktor 6 Primary inspired by instruments like the Mixtur-Trautonium and Moog Subharmonicon.

Subharmonics are frequencies that are whole-number divisions of a given frequency (in contrast to harmonics, which are whole number multiples of a frequency). While harmonics naturally occur as part of the timbre of a sound, subharmonics, when introduced, sound like distinct pitches, allowing you to create chords of harmonically-related notes.

This tutorial walks you through making a set of subharmonic oscillators and envelope filter like the ones on the Moog Subharmonicon.

Moog Subharmonicon

More on harmonics and additive synthesis here.