Get Bent 1

When I was in NYC a friend of mine said something to the effect of, “you do really great work. Your studio must be amazing. I think I need some more gear to improve my music.” It’s a popular misconception that the more expensive, high-end musical devices you own, the better your studio will be. Granted, owning good quality equipment will make a difference in your sound quality, you do not need the latest and greatest synthesizer or drum machine. My studio consists of a nice soundcard (Echo Layla), a computer, multi-tracking software (Cakewalk Sonar), recording software (Sony Soundforge), a mixing board, some mics and a whole bunch of kids toys I modified. And sometimes I use an effects pedal. Nothing special. “Get Bent: DIY music, art and performance” will show you how to make music and do things with a budget of almost nothing.

Today I am going to take some of the mystery out of circuit bending and give you some bare-bones instructions to get you up and running. Building a functional electronic device might take a background in electronics, but altering the flow of electricity does not.

This is the bare minimum of what you need to circuit bend:

(from left to right soldering iron, wire cutters, 3”x1# screwdriver, solder, jeweler’s screwdrivers, wire, probes)

Soldering iron- used to head the wires and circuit board and melt the solder in place. Down the road you may want to invest in a few different tips and possibly a few different soldering irons. I like to use a cold soldering iron for delicate circuit boards, although sometimes their performance is hit and miss when it comes to melting to solder.

Wire cutters- used to cut wire.

Screw drivers- you are going to want a few different sizes. Generally, the average toy can be opened using a 3”x1# screwdriver, but this is not by any means a rule. So have several different sizes on hand. I would suggest full sized screwdrivers and not screwdrivers with interchangeable tips because the shaft is often too wide to fit into deeper screw holes. Also, the circuit boards themselves are usually held in place by smaller screws, requiring jeweler’s screwdrivers.

Solder- the “glue” which holds the wire to the circuit board. I suggest getting .040 or smaller. This will enable you to do fine soldering.

Wire- Once soldered into place, this will make the connection on circuit board permanent.

Probes- used to test the flow of electrical current. These do not have to be as elaborate as the ones in the picture. If you lack the supplies to make your own probes out of a piece of wire and jeweler’s screwdrivers. Just take a wire, strip the ends and wrap each end around a jeweler’s screwdriver. Although you will not be working with high voltages, you may want to use some back electrical tape around any place you may be grabbing to insulate yourself from possible zaps.

(very simple probes)

Not a really big investment. Many of these items you may have around the house in some form already. Down the line you may choose to invest in other supplies that will make your life easier. Needle nose pliers, shrink tubing and of course, duct tape, will help you along the way.

The next thing you need is an instrument or children’s toy to bend. A popular misconception seems to be that there are only certain things you can bend. Thousands of people are competing for speak-n-spells and a certain model of old Casio Keyboard, resulting in these items going for way more than anyone should pay. This is my advice to you: never spend more than $5 on something that you are going to bend. Anything with a circuit board that makes sound can be bent.

Once you have your “instrument” and it has fresh batteries, the first thing you need to do is open the case (I say this assuming that you know how to use a screwdriver.) You want to keep an eye on where you place the screws. You’ll need them if you want to put it back together. A good idea is to have a piece of duct tape handy and as you remove the screws, just stick ‘em on to the tape. Just don’t loose the tape.

Nest, turn on the instrument and using your probes, start touching random connections on the circuit board. You may need to push whatever buttons make the noise while you poke around. Usually, these end up on the underside of the instrument so it might take some creative juggling on your part to both push buttons and hold the probes. What you are listening for is where the sound changes.

(Testing for neat noises.)

When you find a noise that you like, put a mark on the circuit board next to the points. This will help you remember where to solder the wire.

Before you solder, cut a piece of wire that will reach between both points. Carefully heat the wire with the soldering iron. If you have needle nose pliers, you may want to use them to hold the wire while you solder it into place. You will need to heat both the wire and the board before applying the solder. Do this quickly and carefully. Too much heat on the board can burn it out. Once both the wire and the board are heated, unroll a little bit of your solder and place it on where you would like the connection (usually this is over the wire.) Sometimes you can try to heat the already existing solder with the soldering iron (that would be the shiny bumps on the board) and try to affix the wire to this once it is melted. If you manage to do this, it is still a good idea to put a little bit of solder over your wire to be sure that it stays in place.

(heating up the solder already on the board)

Close the case, put the screw back in and you are done.

This was a very basic how-to of circuit bending. In future columns I will explain soldering techniques and different electronic parts that can be used and things like case modifications and how to build contact microphones as well as non-electrical instruments. If you are looking for a great primer on circuit bending, I would suggest checking out the father of circuit bending, Rheed Ghazala’s page, and his book “Circuit Bending: Build your own Alien Instruments”

And don’t get discouraged if you do not get the hang of it right away. It may take a little bit of practice, especially if you have never soldered before. This is also why I recommend not spending over $5 on anything you plan to bend. Mistakes happen, even to pros. What is the point of wasting $25-$50 on a vintage Casio if you end up burning out the board?