Hello! I am about halfway done with 3 new from-scratch noisemakers. Just as a sample, here is the confusing front panel for the HANd SOLO:
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The small red dots are banana jacks, and the small yellow dots are touch points. The second upcoming monster is version two of this little groanmachine I made for the chap who first got me into noise and electronics:
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It makes awful clicks and squeals and is very sensitive to organic interference, but oddly not electronic interference. The third is a square box with 23 controls that makes hellish noise! Stay tuned for schematics for all three monsters. (For starters, the brains used in these monsters are 7805, irf510, 40106, 555, 4017 and lm324).
The Phantom Quartet is an idea I've had for quite some time. I put together a schematic which incorporates Pete Edwards' step sequencer. My original post with the schematic can be found here; and Pete was kind enough to post it here and here.
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I noticed that I already had a few 4017s so I wanted to finally have a go at making a sequencer. The only downside was that I accidentally ordered SMD 4017s (a mistake I used to make often) instead of DIP. So to get around it, I crafted the little monster pictured above. Once that was done, I used the counter to sequence 9v charges into pots which lead to my orcasynth. It actually worked! Here is a clip of the voltage sequencer in action:
I am expecting the parts for the actual step switches and everything in the next few days. So stay tuned for prototype A!
StudioFactory is a (free!) virtual analog modular synthesizer (and much more). I recommend it highly and absolutely love the sounds I can get out of it. I used it along with a guitar to make the following little glitchy song. The clips are just random pieces of video from my everyday life.
Enjoy, and Happy Glitching.
PS: Here is a screencap of what part of that song looks like in StudioFactory:
Hello, and apologies for the tardiness of this update.
This is the Orcasynth; a digital synth (based around a 40106 hex inverter) with optional clock or photoresistor duty-cycle control.
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The synth circuit is a modified version of Hackaday's design, and the clock is just a simple 555 clock. The side with the LED and 2 knobs (speed, and high time) is the clock. The side with the photoresistor and 4 knobs (frequency, duty cycle, lfo speed and lfo pitch) is the synth.
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The switch on the clock side is power. The switch on the synth side changes between either clock to duty cycle modulation, or photoresistor to duty cycle modulation. There are also two humorously-placed jacks; clock-out and synth-out. Since the two circuits are only connected by a makeshift vactrol, the clock-out is clean and isolated.
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The only downside is that the signal needs to be amplified. I am thinking of putting a simple amp onboard though (there's still a little room in there). In case you were curious, the audio amplification in the video is through this monstrosity:
This little monster combines uses two mods; one discovered by soulsonic of freestompboxes.org, and one that I found while poking around.
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Soulsonic's mod turns this crappy, single-speed echo into a surprisingly decent variable-speed delay pedal! Simply locate pin 6 of the PT2399S, remove the attached resistor labelled "682" and replace with a pot and resistor. Soulsonic reccomends a 50k pot and 180 ohm resistor, but I used a 100k pot and 220 ohm resistor.
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The second mod is a feedback loop connecting the bottom two wires pictured above with two different capacitor selections to create a wave effect in the drone. With this mod, I also added a 100k "feedback strength" pot, and a switch so you can throw it into standalone mode without anything plugged in (top two wires in the picture above).
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When these two mods are combined, the BLT is so much fun to play with! There are 5 controls, mix, repeat, sample length, feedback strength and feedback mode (A/off/B). As a standalone drone device, it packs a powerful punch. The sample-length mod creates some great pitch swoops and I once managed to make it sound EXACTLY like a turntable scratch! Unfortunately I wasn't able to reproduce that in this video.
Here are some odd sounds I found while adding better controls to an Epiphone Headjammer (a little headphone amplifier for your guitar). I added higher pots and better switches, and now it just makes an assortment of fantastic noises and feedback squelches when there is no signal running through it. You can control the sounds with the pots and switches, but mainly by moving your hands around in the air above the Headjammer. I had to record this, just in case it doesn't happen again when I case the thing back up. Enjoy.
PS: This weekend I will post about turning my crappy Danelectro BLT Echo into a multi-speed delay pedal, as well as a standalone drone-machine. Stay Tuned!
Here's a preview of some creations I will be posting in detail in the future.
In order for a creation to be considered "finished" by my standards, I must include the following: -Touch-sensitive banana jacks (and therefore fully patchable) -Speaker-bypassing output jack with volume control -Paintjob with monster-face and red splatter -Starve pot -Pitch/speed control -Other bends (if I feel like it)
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Since all my finished pieces are patchable, one can definitely get some fantastic sounds by cross-bending points between different devices. Running the audio out of a device or amplified bass into the bend points of another device is quite lovely.
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I also make most of my patch cables, adapters, splitters, etc. I find it fun, and when I need one for a specific feature, I find that building it is much easier than purchasing something that might work how I want.
Hopefully I will be good about updating here. (Unfortunately, my studio and workshop are in two different locations, and finished pieces are typically in the studio, not here at my workshop).
It differs from the original kit in only a few ways: spike wave mod, sine wave mod, and input (2 modes). Full Set. Thanks to Bleep Labs, Kid Robot, and HackADay for helping on this build. Stay tuned for my newest Bleep Labs mod; Thingamahands (notable features: keyboard attachment, triple-core unit, custom control graphics). Recognition: Make Magazine, Sendling, Matrixsynth, Pete Ashton, Daily DIY.
I'm your host, SUBBS. In this blog, I will catalog my mods, hacks, bends, etc (whatever you would like to call them).
For anyone who is new to circuit-bending, head here.
In a bit of shameless gloating, the first mod I will share with you is one currently hosted on casperelectronics.com This is quite a big deal to me because Pete Edwards is an idol of mine. 75% of my circuit-bending knowledge comes from him. I'm also pleased to share that he is incredibly sweet, and even takes time to reply to emails (despite his busy schedule involving numerous interviews and the opening of Casper Land). Enough prologue, here's the schematic I based around his sequencer:
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And here's the page it's hosted on, along with his original diagram.
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