Circuit Bending

For those unfamiliar, circuit bending is the creative short circuiting of electronic devices to get them to do things they were never originally intended to do. We create new and unique sounds this way, primarily working with toy keyboards and other cheap electronic sound devices. This is a new page dedicated to our circuit bending projects. We’ll be gradually adding demos, photos, and schematics of our circuit bent instruments here. Check out the video below to see our first demo: Tim’s circuit bent Casio VL-Tone.

 

CASIO VL-TONE

Tim’s circuit bent Casio VL-Tone VL-1 has been modified to become essentially a white noise drone machine. A 500K potentiometer has been added to adjust the filter cutoff frequency, while the volume slider is now used to set the ceiling of the filter. There is also a switch for a different tonal quality, plus two body contacts that further alter the sound by changing the resistance of the pot. Check out the demo below to hear it being played, and the schematic for details on the bends.