GlitchBent

Xmastime

2011-12-28T13:43:00.001-08:00

This is all I'm posting for December; I consider it my "vacation" from updating the blog.

Full set here.

Plushie Demon

2011-11-30T19:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is a brief post, but fall/winter is always insanely busy for me.
Here's the plushie demon I made for my girlfriend:

I got a new tattoo a while ago based on a doodle by Jim Woodring that was published in the back of Aliens: Labyrinth. Here is the source doodle, and the full piece (ignore my keratosis pilaris) designed by Mark da Sharc:

I had a pair of lighters made for my friend and I on the zippo site. They are based on this comic, and they high-five when you open and close the lighter:

Glass-Blowing

2011-10-28T15:43:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday I went glass-blowing for the first time. We went to Seattle Glassblowing Studio, and our instructor was Megan. I highly recommend this place!

Full set here.

Vermis vexatus "Convulsing Grub"

2011-09-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

Vermis vexatus
"Convulsing Grub"
This is a sculpture I made for a local art show; details below.

This is for Artist & Craftsman Supply's "Phos-Fall-Escent" gallery.
The show starts October 1st, 2011.
4350 8th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98105

I will gladly answer any questions about the process and/or materials; but here is a brief overview. Wire and tinfoil armature, sculpey and cernit body, speedball and golden acrylic paints, hot glue to guide the slime which is rubber cement. The water is a top-secret mixture.

Below is a series of shots of the process (you can see the rest of the photos here).

35mm Scans

2011-08-17T17:23:00.001-07:00

Here are scans of 35mm film that I had developed by Panda Lab in Seattle. The photos were taken over the last 5 years or so.

See the rest of the set here. I hope to develop all my B&W 120 & 220 film soon (once I'm done testing developing times with Rodinall).

PS: I try to keep personal life off of this site, but I love this photo too much not to share. My girlfriend started her comic book collection and we couldn't be more excited:

Watercolor

2011-07-31T13:10:00.000-07:00

In July I decided to try my hand at watercolor. I love the ghost-like flow it imbues upon my drawings.

Some I haven't painted yet, one of the above before painting, and one being painted with my two best friends in the background:

Glitchbent Noise & Drone in the Studio

2011-06-30T22:05:00.000-07:00

This is a lengthy clip of me making some textural drone and noise:

NOTE: First half is mainly guitar, second half is mainly circuit-bent devices.

This is a more-visible, mini "tech demo" of me making some glitch noise and drone noise:

The 2nd one has glitch beats edited into the very end, as is typical with my videos. Everything in these videos is done with pedals, baritone guitar, custom noise-makers and circuit-bent toys; no audio editing. I split my hi and low signals into two separate amps, with all my delay/reverb on the hi amp.

PS: The synth I use in these videos is detailed here.

LEGOmonster (my first circuit bend)

2011-05-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

The LEGOmonster is the very first thing I circuit bent, years ago.
I used a set of computer speakers for the main unit, with a single-button toy patched in.
Be sure to check out the "sick beat" at the end. I am planning on updating the LEGOMonster with what I've learned since I made it, so I thought it would be good to archive how it initially worked.

PS: I got a tattoo (again).

Drawings & Pen Case

2011-04-23T22:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent drawings:

(that first one is for someone special)

See the full set here.

I noticed that the plastic cases that Micron pens come in fall apart so quickly; so I scrapped together my own from padded pleather:

Noise Tapes For Sale

2011-03-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

I have three noies tapes for sale. All of them are from Seattle label FEAST Recordings and $3 each (and, as with all FEAST releases, each tape comes with a secret trading card).

Transient Orca Pod - Sand and Blood Beneath our Stomachs (c18)
Only 4 Left! Specify black or white insert. Sample Track Here.

Transient Orca Pod - Return From the Deep (c89)
Batch of 30. Sample Track Here.

Carlos William Carloses - Groaning Pixels (c45)
Batch of 30. Sample Track Here.

Contact sales(at)glitchbent(dot)com if interested.
PS: Sorry about the lack of electronics updates! My soldering iron keeps randomly cooling down one moment, and then working again the next. It is quite frustrating. Any tips?

Paintings and JarMonster Update

2011-02-27T14:33:00.000-08:00

Two paintings I made in December as gifts:

[click for larger]
One of my JarMonsters (see the original here) has slowly mutated on the mantel where it has lived for 1 year. I absolutely love the result:

[click for larger]
Thanks to Lauren Elyse for all the photos! You can see her work here and her personal blog here.

Wah Mods & Tattoo

2011-01-28T17:11:00.001-08:00

I finally found some time to finish modding my Dunlop Cry Baby.

There are 4 pots and 1 switch added. I added a 1k Gain/Bass pot (+32ohm resistor), a 5k Mid pot, a 50k Input-Volume pot, a 100k "Vocal" pot, and I replaced the sweep cap with a switch between 0.012uF (treble) and 0.1uF (bass). ^{UPDATE: 0.012uF was too high (in frequency) and 0.022uF was too low, so I'm going to try a 0.018uF as the treble cap.} Also I made the pedal true bypass and cut the rubber stoppers a little so that the pedal has more physical range.

These two pages pretty much tell you all you will need to know to mod your Cry Baby:

DIY Guitarist & wah-wah.co.uk

PS: I got a tattoo.

December Rush

2010-12-31T13:17:00.001-08:00

December is always the craziest month of the year for me. This December I've been painting and making music.

Above is one of the three paintings I've done. I'll upload high-quality photos once the others are fully finished.

I've also been drumming for Diomedes; and last night we recorded at Jack Straw Productions in Seattle. I'll put up some of the audio sometime next week.

Furby, Orca-Powered-StudioFactory, Noise in the Streets

2010-11-09T15:51:00.000-08:00

Video 1 is one of my first circuit-bent creations that I made years ago but never filmed; the classic furby bend:

Video 2 is a sort of proof-of-concept of using my orcasynth to clock StudioFactory:

Video 3 is an ANCIENT video of me doing an outdoor noise set with a friend. I'm in the first set but the whole thing was great:

Argentina

2010-10-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

(My apologies; this post is one day late).
I recently visited my family in Argentina.

Half of my Argentine family lives in Buenos Aires, the other half in Posadas. I didn't get a chance to visit Posadas; but I did stay in Bariloche for the first time, and then Buenos Aires.
In most Argentine cities there are many healthy, stray dogs. They know how to navigate streets and avoid traffic, and since they are socially accepted, they typically get scraps from homes and restaurants. They were the sweetest strays I've ever encountered, and were definitely healthier than many shelter-dogs in the US.Bariloche is in the province of Patagonia, which is known for its abundance of paleontological sites. I visited a Paleontology Museum run by the incredible yet humble Rodolfo Corsolini (above right). I cannot do justice to his collection, skills, achievements, and personality in a simple blog post. I strongly recommend visiting his museum if you ever have the chance.
Barbara Fabregas is a woman I met in a market in Bariloche. She makes incredible jewelry by hand. Most of it from silver and beautiful local stones. She hand-braids silver strands for some details, and also makes the chains for each piece link-by-link.
Everything about being back home (for the first time in 10 years) was incredible. In a few months I might even go back.
Expect a return to electronics-related posts soon (I just finished vastly improving a crybaby wah). Side-Note: If you are into metal (sludge or doom, specifically) you NEED to check out Thou. They have over 4 hours of their music free on their site.

MicMask

2010-08-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

(still using my older camera, sorry for the crappy pictures)

This is an amplified microphone-mask with volume and gain controls. I use it while drumming in a noise trio called Dos Honchos.

It contains 7 identical headphone speakers, two pots, a switch, an output jack, an IC and a battery clip; surprisingly without being cumbersome.

Screaming my face off while drumming has never been easier.

Patches

2010-07-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

Apologies on the late update and crappy photos, my camera hasn't been working (stuck using my old one for now).
Be it for nostalgia or just for fun, I wear a patch vest pretty often. All of my patches are hand-made using one of my two methods. For the first method I take black canvas fabric, draw a general idea with whiteout pens, add detail with clear acrylic, and use black sharpie paint-pens to clean up any mistakes. Finally, I add a few coats of matte, clear acrylic spray paint. Method two is a little more detailed and better for the more complex patches (Nylithia, Dethklok, etc).

Method two involves Canvas Paper, Clear Matte Acrylic Spray, Ultra-Fine Micron Pens, Sharpie Paint Pens, Acrylic Paint, an inkjet printer, and other various tools. First, cut some canvas paper as long as you want, but only 8.5 inches wide (unless your printer can print wider). Then start a PSD, with a width of 8" and a length .5" less than the sheet. Add the logos you want to the PSD with proper spacing. Tell it to print at the bottom of the sheet; feeding thick canvas paper can cause issues, it's best to have more room for error at the start of the sheet. Also, be sure to print on the softer, absorbent side of the paper; the back is typically glossy. Let the printed sheet absorb/dry for 15min, then take it outside and apply a coat of clear acrylic spray. After this dries, you can start filling in the black details with your pens, and larger areas with paint. I use different balances of pen and paint for different patches. Let the paint dry, and then coat with a few more layers of clear acrylic spray.

Above is my favorite patch. The amazing artist Lara Hilgemann drew this for me (freehand in about 2 minutes).

As an apology for nearly missing my (self-appointed) deadline on this post, here are some doodles:

VirtualDJ

2010-06-19T23:24:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been playing around with a pirated copy of VirtualDJ and it is awesome! It's incredibly fun and surprisingly easy to use.
Here's a mix of some stuff I made while messing around in it:
VDJ Megamix by Subbs

PS: This track uses a TON of copyrighted material:
Jurassic 5 - Break
Karen O & Peaches - Backass
Massive Attack - Teardrop (feat. Portishead)
Prefuse 73 - Busy Signal
King Bee - Must Be The Music (Frisco Disco Mix)
Vampire Weekend - The Kids Don't Stand a Chance
Sarai - Ladies - Viro & Rob Analyze Remix
Tim & Eric - Beaver Boys
Tim & Eric - Big Ben 2 (A to Z)
2Pac - Stay True
Nintendo - Tetris Theme
Three Six Mafia - Stay Fly
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control
Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
Drumsound & Bassline Smith - Cold Turkey (G Dub, Beat City VIP)
Liz Phair - Flower
Machine Drum - Def In It

Ungodly Hybrid

2010-05-30T13:47:00.001-07:00

Like I said, I will hold myself to posting at least once a month! Here is something I made for a friend's birthday.

All I did was take an existing toy, add a better speaker, bypassing output jack, and in place of the pitch resistor, I put a 10m pot with a 10uF cap parallel, with a cutoff switch and touch points as well. I also did some cosmetic modifications. The result is pretty bizzarre and I have to say, I'm quite pleased with it. Enjoy:

PS: Here is a preview of the official schematic for Digisynth v3. I still have to draw the 16-step sequencer, labels for everything, and the LFO cutoff switches.

Inverter-Based Synths

2010-04-27T12:07:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned before that my synths are inverter-based. Now this makes them "digital" rather than "analog" op-amp based synths. The great thing about inverter synths is how easy it is for beginners to mod them and bend them. They are low voltage, and incredibly versatile. In all my bending and re-wiring of inverters, I still haven't managed to ruin any parts like I used to with basic circuit-bending.

[super-secret song at the end]

Beavis Audio Research has a great page on these types of synths here: beavisaudio.com/Projects/CMOS_Synthesizers The above video involves my digisynth v1, beavis audio's Heterodyne Space Explorer (a quad-oscillator with starve), and a "Mr Rogers in my Pocket." The starve and quad-osc combined with an input patched in makes some great digital, squeaky distortion. Almost akin to a high-gain bitcrusher.

I'm currently working on some Jar Monsters, a few songs, updating my recording studio, transcribing the full digisynth schematic to photoshop, and a commissioned digisynth v3 for a friend. Recap: v0 was the OrcaSynth, v1 was the DigiSynth, v2 was the SynthZilla, and v3 is in the works with many improvements over v2.

Also, here is something I drew on harmony:
By the way, I will hold myself to posting at least once a month!

Odds & Ends

2010-03-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been working on a few projects, but I have been spending a large amount of time drawing and playing/editing music.
[click for larger]
Here are some electronic happenings:
I replaced the jack, switch, and pots in my friend's Telecaster. It was informative and eliminated a ton of scratchy interference. I bought a parts kit here for the job. It's a little pricey, but the parts are all matched exactly.

I also got a daisy chain and searched through my stash of wall-warts so that now all my music gear (10 items) is powered by 3 power blocks! consequentially, it's all insanely lighter.

I managed to mod this design to make a 16-step sequencer. With help from Michael Una and Bill Bowden.
[click for larger]
Works in progress:
- 4-channel, 16-step Circuit-Bent Drum Toy
- JWJ's Monster
- Thingamahands
- "The Perfect Clock Unit"
- A few StudioFactory projects

SynthZilla Is Complete!

2010-01-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

[click for larger]
It started as the OrcaSynth (a mod of a HackADay project), turned into the DigiSynth, and now has finished off as SynthZilla!

The final build includes control over pitch, duty, portamento, 2 LFOs, tone, body, gain, vol, 8-step voltage sequencer, and more!

[click for larger]
Below is the schematic I used. Not all the components are labelled and I didn't draw in the bypass jacks for all the knobs, but you get the idea. Let me know if you'd like a cleaner, complete schematic and I will happily oblige.

[click for larger]
A couple notes: I used a quad-amp simply because I was out of single amp ICs. Also, the tone/body filter only works well through headphones or an external amp, not the onboard speaker.

Video-Making Time

2010-01-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

I finished Synthzilla! I will post that asap; but for now, enjoy these videos I made just for you.

Monsters in Jars & WIP Panels

2010-01-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

Well every time I promise something is "upcoming" I get side-tracked. So today I have something completely different to appease you.

These are two monsters I sculpted as gifts for a couple friends. More info in the set.

Here are some incomplete projects:

Top two are my Digisynth panel being built. Bottom left is a WIP Circuit-Bent Casio CZ-101. Bottom right is a MysteryMonster; any ideas as to what it does?

Stay Tuned for 3 New Projects!

2009-12-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

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:
[click for larger]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:
[click for larger]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 Pantom Quartet Pre-Prototype (plus SMD to DIP conversions)

2009-11-21T11:37:00.000-08:00

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.[click for larger]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

2009-11-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

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:
[click for larger]

The Orcasynth

2009-11-06T19:46:00.001-08:00

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.

[click for larger]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.

[click for larger]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.

[click for larger]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:
[click for larger]But that is for another day.

Happy Glitching.

Danelectro BLT Echo mods (Sample Length and Drone Machine)

2009-10-09T20:54:00.000-07:00

This little monster combines uses two mods; one discovered by soulsonic of freestompboxes.org, and one that I found while poking around.

[click for larger]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.

[click for larger]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).

[click for larger]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.

Happy Glitching.

Fantastic Interference.

2009-10-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

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!

MEGA-PREVIEW for Upcoming Articles

2009-09-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

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)

[click for larger]
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.

[click for larger]
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).

Thanks for reading, and Happy Bending.

Tri-Thingamakit unit (Thingamahands)

2009-09-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a minor preview of my almost completed "Thingamahands"
The video is of the ability to patch-in a resistor-chain keyboard to control pitch.

[click for larger]

Glitch Dino Baby Pal

2009-09-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a little critter I made for a friend's birthday. Simple but sweet. Pitch pot, cap switch and output added.

ThingaMunny (aka The Goblinator)

2009-09-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a little project called ThingaMunny, aka "The Goblinator." It incorperates my two favorite DIY kits; Kid Robot's Munny, and Bleep Labs' Thingamakit.

[click for larger]

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.

Happy Hacking.

Welcome to GlitchBent

2009-09-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

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:

[click for larger]

And here's the page it's hosted on, along with his original diagram.

Happy Glitching.