circuit bending
Had the opportunity to put together a visual pack for Tommy Trash’s 2022 tour and wanted to put together a little cut with some of the clips~
Also, with the Sync Eater’s proper release on the horizon I thought I’d share some additional tinkering with it.
Check it out over on my page for circuit bent keyboards in the Casio SA-X family!
Functionally identical to GSA8-03 [on the SA-X page], just has some aesthetic differences. Because it’s almost identical I haven’t made a new video, but you can check out the GSA8-03 one here!
Hard on/off switch
1/8” switching audio output jack
Squealing feedback/distortion knob with on/off
Glitch trigger button with depth knob
Power indicator LED, lightly flashes to audio output
Five additional tone select buttons allowing access to an additional 75 voices
A switch for dropping the clock speed of the SA-8 allowing it to run in a much slower, pitched down mode
LED backlights that respond to audio
Anatomical heart
Commissioned by…my sister! Christina Gleixner of the band Yeni Nostalji.
March, 2021.
In other news, I’ve been slow with the update blog and social media the past month or so, mostly due to current projects being future releases or commissioned works I can’t share, or things that aren’t ready to be released just yet, but it’s not for a lack of projects for sure. Also been on a bit of a break from social media which I’ve needed. Really excited about a few things I’ve got in the works though!
Simple reaction diffusion system in Touchdesigner being processed by a glitch circuit I'm working on. The circuit started out as the Archer Video Enhancer circuit and has been slowly growing over the past few days. That original circuit was traced and kindly provided by Psyingo here: https://electro-music.com/forum/topic... Music is Shrine by Miel off of the album "Tourist Season" which I highly suggest checking out.
In a bizarre turn of events I came across a photo the other day of Vaporwave artist Skeleton Lipstick’s gear and thought "Hey... wait a minute. Is that...? WHAT it is!"
It's a Casio PT-87 that I circuit bent and sold on eBay in 2010!
I reached out and learned that they're the one who won my eBay auction for it back then and have been using it to this day! Even passed along a photo of their set up from a few weeks ago where it still lives. After ten years.
I often wonder about all of the instruments I've done through the years that are still out there. Early on I was churning things out that I auctioned off on eBay and after that they were just sort of gone. There are a few commissions I've been lucky enough to see or hear being used (A Casio SA-2 I did for Darren Korb can be heard on the phenomenal soundtrack to Pyre by Super Giant Games which I didn't even know until after having played through it!), but it's not all that common that I get to.
The best thing about building these things has always been knowing that I'm playing a part in somebody's creative process. To somehow come across something from my earlier days and have that confirmed has really made my week. I can only hope some of them are getting this same sort of love!
To add to the coincidence, Skeleton Lipstick did the after party for 100% Electronicon that I went to here in Brooklyn last year - which ALSO ends up tying back to the 100PFB video synth I did for Adam Kane the other month! What a small world!
Check out Happy in Disguise, Am I Close to the Edge?, and Philadelphia by Skeleton Lipstick to hear the PT-87 in use!
This device has some photos and a demo video over at gleix.net/misccasio
A commissioned circuit bent Casio SA-8 build.
Hard on/off switch
1/8” switching audio output jack
Squealing feedback/distortion knob with on/off
Glitch trigger button with depth knob
Power indicator LED, lightly flashes to audio output
Five additional tone select buttons allowing access to an additional 75 voices
A switch for dropping the clock speed of the SA-8 allowing it to run in a much slower, pitched down mode
October, 2020.
After building the VGS-35, VGS-FB, and eventually the 100PFB, I realized that I wanted to do a more fully-formed video synthesizer for myself.
I went back and forth on layout designs, enclosures, what to include, how to include it, and ultimately realized that the project was continuously expanding in scope as I learned more and more. I was removing features based on the size of the enclosures I could find, and limiting the functionality as a result.
So, after realizing that I don’t want to limit myself, and I want to be able to expand my video synth as I continue to learn, I’ve decided to go the modular route.
Panel Progress
I’ve been working first on designing a layout and building a few panels. None of these are functional yet, except for the LFO which I built based on Niklas Ronnberg’s design as I needed a module for testing purposes.
As things develop I hope to build out a dedicated spot in the Devices section for these modules so I can document their development and share resources.
I’ve got a few things for sale which you can check out here!
Based on the 2014 Moog Circuit Bending Contest winner
I’m in the process of making videos for each device, but I’ve linked to previous builds that are very similar to the ones for sale. Feel free to get in touch with any questions you might have!
Check out the page here!
Via the 100PFB page:
The 100PFB, which stands for 100% Feedback, is a video synthesizer based around creating a no-input feedback loop by feeding two analog video signal converters into each other and exposing controls for manipulating the image.
The I/O includes two composite video outputs (one for the main mix, one for a mini monitor), a VGA output, an external signal/audio input with on/off, and a 5v power jack.
The main panel includes mix knobs for the red, green and blue channels, ‘pulse’ buttons for each channel, an LFO with on/off and controls for rate, shape, depth, switches to send the LFO to each color channel, image shift buttons, zoom/crop adjustment, basic menu controls, and switches for causing some visual glitches.
The device was built into an enclosure which was painted using a hydro-dipping marbling technique.
Custom built for Adam Kane who does visuals over at the 100% Electronica stream on Twitch.
August, 2020.
I had some documentation on circuit bending the Casio SA series up, but while helping somebody work on their own I realized how shoddy, old, and ugly those old images were and decided to make a new one. This new diagram includes all information I’m currently aware of in regards to circuit bending the Casio SA-2 (and many others in the Casio SA family) based on personal experience and available information scattered across the internet.
Over at the schematics page
Via the ‘Other Instruments & Toys’ page:
I stuck an LTC1799 oscillator module in a lil box which can be connected up to the gameboy via 1/8" stereo cable for variable speed under/overclocking. I really didn’t want to add any ugly controls to the Gameboy itself, so this worked out well. It runs like normal without it plugged in, but with it plugged in you're able to use coarse and fine control knobs to drop it to a near-stop at 100Khz, or speed it up to 7.12Mhz (original gameboys run at 4.19Mhz). It crashes any higher than that, so I capped the speed there (though the 1799 does go up to 33Mhz). Also added a switch to set the max speed at either 1x or 1.7x, so in a performance setting there's no need to fumble around for the proper speed after dropping it down. Fun for music, also a quality of life improvement for the Pokemon grind. This gameboy has been a nice restoration project, and has a few other mods as well (Backlight, bivert chip, internal pro-sound mod, internal speaker amplifier, glass screen cover).
Check the photo gallery for a wiring diagram! The 1799 module I used came from Amazon, though any will work.
August, 2020.
A new page has been made for a recent build, the VGS-FB. Like the post-title says, this new device is meant to expand the abilities of a previous build of mine. In conjunction with the VGS-35 this functions as an analog video feedback generator and a lofi video synthesizer. Check it out here!
Working on getting a video together.
I recently built out a device for circuit bending and glitching out analog video signals. This page contains photos, reference images, and information on the build.
A page with progress photos & info on my most recent build, the ModBox 37 (paired with a circuit bent Casio SK-1) has been posted under the devices section.
