Speak and Music

Tis true, I recently managed to procure one of these piles of poo and managed to (sort of) bend it. Vid and pics to follow over the weekend....

Speak and Maths You Tube demo

At last, I finally manage to do a 1min 40sec clip. It's not fabulous, but it does give an idea of what its capable of. 1 of the glitches causes it to crash (not in the clip) but it is savable, with out the use of the reset switch. I love this thing, well worth the 10 month wait!

Speak & Maths update

Progress has been fast and I already have the thing finished. First of all here is a pic of SAM with its inards hanging out, about a 3rd way through the bending:

And now finally, the finished product, after approx 10 hours work:

Now the spec: 6x Glitchs (switched), 2x Glitches (body contact), 2x Loops, Distortion (with attenuation), Pitch/Speed (with limiters to avoid crashing), LED indicator, Full reset.

Sound range is quite different to SAS due to different sounds and vocabulary.
Video demo to follow shortly...

Speak and Maths

Hoorah! Just bagged a TI Speak & Maths off Ebay (Ebay is wonderful!). Will be bending it into infinity over the next week or so. Can't wait to hear the beast roar....

Calling all circuit benders

Is there anyone else interested in c/bending and experimental music in the Bristol area? Is there a 'scene' or group? Please get in touch...

S & Spell time stretch glitch

Calling all llamasoft-ies

I'm after a little help from every1. I am currently on the lookout for the following toys:
Texas Instruments Speak and Maths and Little Maestro
Yamaha DD6, 7 or 9 drum machine
If anybody is in possesion of any of the above, and would be willing to donate to a good cause (making the C/bending section of RV a roaring success!) Please get intouch ASAP mutantcamel@blueyonder.co.uk .
The soldering iron awaits....

Furby update

After much brain storming and umming and ahhing, I finally decided to right off circuit bending furby for the time being, he is a serious pain in the arse to get anything interesting out off. Plus, i keep getting drawn back to S+Spell, which now has yet another glitch, a 3rd loop type, and a time stretch function! will upload a vid of this b4 the weekend....

Texas Instruments Speak and Spell, my second toy to be exprimented on. Work began February and only finished it the other day, I just keep discovering new 'bends' to add. Awsome.

Hi all llamasoft-ies, circuitbenders and electronic freaks everywhere, here goes for the first post. Here's the bottom line; RV07, circuit bending table set up to demonstrate, and offer talks and answer questions on the subject.

Before continuing, here is a brief run down of what it's all about. Circuit bending is the 'art' of pulling apart childrens electronic toys and shorting out points on the PCB, to produce new sounds/noises the toys were never designed for. Once interesting sounds are discovered, switches are then hard wired and installed, with holes for the switches drilled into the casing, the new sounds and functions can then be accessed at any time after re-assembly. Simple.

So, back to RV08. Between 7 - 10 toys on display, all hands-on and ready to try by everyone, myself always on hand to offer advice on each of the devices usage, answer any questions anybody has, and offer advice to anyone interested in taking up this unusual hobby.

Confirmed toy's coming to RV are : Casio SK1 keyboard, IQ Builders Shopping Car, Vtech Radio, TI Speak & Spell and Touch & Tell, Bob the Builder Telephone.

Unconfirmed are : TI Maths Marvel (tricky divice, not much it can do), Funky Furby (about to begin work on this one, already 'skinned' and awaiting disassembly).

So there you have it. In the next day or two I will begin upload of feew pics and video clips of the toys making some steeeerange noises. And will start updating as and when furby starts to take shape.