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Circuit bending workshop

Dan Wilson
Dan Wilson

A workshop on circuit bending that I will be hosting at the BeamDay Festival at Brunel University on the 10th of March. If you would like me to host a workshop please contact me.

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Circuit bending workshop
Circuit Bending Workshop In this workshop: - Introduction - What is circuit bending? - Who discovered circuit bending? - Circuit bending safety - Tools - The best items to circuit bend - Laying of hands technique - Probe technique - Marking and choosing modifications - Kill Switches - Line out - Clocking items - Circuit diagrams / online resources - Recommended resources - Jamming (if we have enough time) - Contact details www.f7sound.com
Introduction My name is Dan Wilson. Electronics and laser systems technician. Masters in Environmental Sustainability and Green Technology. Circuit bending for over 10 years. Grew up as a new age traveller. Interested in sustainability, recycling and self sufficiency, as well as all forms of music.
What is Circuit Bending? Circuit bending is the art (or Randomness) of reusing electronic products to produce an output that it wasnt designed for. Circuit bending in its simplistic form is shorting out parts of the internal circuits to produce interesting results, often drastically reducing the lifetime of the device in the process. Circuit modifying is the introduction of improvements to the original circuit design, usually utilising circuit diagrams and oscilloscopes. www.technabob.com www.laptopnoise.com
Who Discovered Circuit Bending? Reed Ghazala termed the coin in the 60s. However, many people have experimented with circuit bending before this period. Including Serge Tcherepnin. www.anti-theory.com
Circuit Bending Safety Never circuit bend equipment that connects directly to the mains. Be careful of large capacitors, as they can hold large voltages and they can recharge even when the circuit is disconnected from the mains. If you are unsure measure voltages with a volt meter. Always connect your circuit bent item through a mixer and if available a limiter.
Tools and Components - Multimeter - Screwdrivers - Miniature screw drivers - Soldering iron - Wire cutters - Wire strippers - Drill and bits - Loads of batteries, wires and things to solder onto the circuit www.escapepod.org cdn.ubergizmo.com
The Best Items to Circuit Bend - Battery powered - Cheap - Expendable - Older the better - Something that you have seen that has been circuit bent. - Items with large amounts of room on the casing, to attach components. Burnkit2600.com Makezineblog.files.wordpress.com
Circuit Component Identification Capacitors Resistors Transistors Integrated Circuits Amplification Circuits Power Supply Circuits
Laying of Hands The simplistic technique, with the lowest chance of damaging the circuit. Your body is used to produce shorts across parts of the circuit. Your body acts as a variable resistor. Try wetting your fingers, or licking the circuit board. Alternatively push the circuit board harder. This reduces resistance, increasing the voltage flowing through your body. If the circuit crashes, turn off the item, or remove the batteries. Turn on after a couple of seconds. Melodypanosian.info Thewire.co.uk
Probe Technique A much higher risk of irreparable damage to the circuit. As there is zero resistance through the wire, resulting in maximum voltage achievable. Take a piece of wire and strip back 10mm of insulation at each end. Using the wire, short out parts of the circuit. If it crashes, remove batteries and reset.
Marking and Modifications When you have identified the areas you want to circuit bend. Label the circuit board and write down the effect/sound. Move on and complete the entire circuit.
Choosing Components to Install - Body contacts - Toggle switches (spst, dpdt) - Momentary switches - Variable resistors (potentiometers) - Light dependent resistors (LDRs) - Patch bays Ultimately it comes down to available time and funds.
Kill Switches Many items do not have a hard power switch, they rely on electronic components. Crashing these items for long periods of time can destroy the integrated circuits. A simple toggle switch can be installed between the battery and the circuit by cutting the positive wire from the batteries.
Line Out Most electronic toys were not designed to be plugged into headphones or mixers. A jack socket can be mounted onto the chassis and solder onto the back of the speaker. Some sockets, will automatically cut-out the speaker when a jack is plugged in, well worth the extra 5p.
Clocking Items The majority of electrical items have a master clock. This keeps the entire circuit in synchronisation. A simple oscillator can be built to replace the master clock. Allowing the user to speed up or slow down the circuit. Producing interesting crashes and drones.
Circuit Diagrams and Online Resources Online guides can provide invaluable advice on safely circuit bending a device. Be careful when relying on online resources, as the items can look the same. However, there can be different versions of circuit boards, much like software versions. Circuit diagrams are very useful as they can give information on processes taking place, especially useful when combined with an oscilloscope.
Recommended Reading Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking. Nicolas Collins http://www.anti-theory.com/ Reed Ghazala the founder of circuit bending http://circuitbending.com/ http://www.gearwire.com/circuit- bending-101.html
My Online Presence http://www.slideshare.net/circitfied - tutorials and circuit diagrams http://www.youtube.com/user/circitfied - videos of workpieces http://soundcloud.com/circitfied - audio compositions using my own equipment

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Circuit bending workshop

  • 2. Circuit Bending Workshop In this workshop: - Introduction - What is circuit bending? - Who discovered circuit bending? - Circuit bending safety - Tools - The best items to circuit bend - Laying of hands technique - Probe technique - Marking and choosing modifications - Kill Switches - Line out - Clocking items - Circuit diagrams / online resources - Recommended resources - Jamming (if we have enough time) - Contact details www.f7sound.com
  • 3. Introduction My name is Dan Wilson. Electronics and laser systems technician. Masters in Environmental Sustainability and Green Technology. Circuit bending for over 10 years. Grew up as a new age traveller. Interested in sustainability, recycling and self sufficiency, as well as all forms of music.
  • 4. What is Circuit Bending? Circuit bending is the art (or Randomness) of reusing electronic products to produce an output that it wasnt designed for. Circuit bending in its simplistic form is shorting out parts of the internal circuits to produce interesting results, often drastically reducing the lifetime of the device in the process. Circuit modifying is the introduction of improvements to the original circuit design, usually utilising circuit diagrams and oscilloscopes. www.technabob.com www.laptopnoise.com
  • 5. Who Discovered Circuit Bending? Reed Ghazala termed the coin in the 60s. However, many people have experimented with circuit bending before this period. Including Serge Tcherepnin. www.anti-theory.com
  • 6. Circuit Bending Safety Never circuit bend equipment that connects directly to the mains. Be careful of large capacitors, as they can hold large voltages and they can recharge even when the circuit is disconnected from the mains. If you are unsure measure voltages with a volt meter. Always connect your circuit bent item through a mixer and if available a limiter.
  • 7. Tools and Components - Multimeter - Screwdrivers - Miniature screw drivers - Soldering iron - Wire cutters - Wire strippers - Drill and bits - Loads of batteries, wires and things to solder onto the circuit www.escapepod.org cdn.ubergizmo.com
  • 8. The Best Items to Circuit Bend - Battery powered - Cheap - Expendable - Older the better - Something that you have seen that has been circuit bent. - Items with large amounts of room on the casing, to attach components. Burnkit2600.com Makezineblog.files.wordpress.com
  • 9. Circuit Component Identification Capacitors Resistors Transistors Integrated Circuits Amplification Circuits Power Supply Circuits
  • 10. Laying of Hands The simplistic technique, with the lowest chance of damaging the circuit. Your body is used to produce shorts across parts of the circuit. Your body acts as a variable resistor. Try wetting your fingers, or licking the circuit board. Alternatively push the circuit board harder. This reduces resistance, increasing the voltage flowing through your body. If the circuit crashes, turn off the item, or remove the batteries. Turn on after a couple of seconds. Melodypanosian.info Thewire.co.uk
  • 11. Probe Technique A much higher risk of irreparable damage to the circuit. As there is zero resistance through the wire, resulting in maximum voltage achievable. Take a piece of wire and strip back 10mm of insulation at each end. Using the wire, short out parts of the circuit. If it crashes, remove batteries and reset.
  • 12. Marking and Modifications When you have identified the areas you want to circuit bend. Label the circuit board and write down the effect/sound. Move on and complete the entire circuit.
  • 13. Choosing Components to Install - Body contacts - Toggle switches (spst, dpdt) - Momentary switches - Variable resistors (potentiometers) - Light dependent resistors (LDRs) - Patch bays Ultimately it comes down to available time and funds.
  • 14. Kill Switches Many items do not have a hard power switch, they rely on electronic components. Crashing these items for long periods of time can destroy the integrated circuits. A simple toggle switch can be installed between the battery and the circuit by cutting the positive wire from the batteries.
  • 15. Line Out Most electronic toys were not designed to be plugged into headphones or mixers. A jack socket can be mounted onto the chassis and solder onto the back of the speaker. Some sockets, will automatically cut-out the speaker when a jack is plugged in, well worth the extra 5p.
  • 16. Clocking Items The majority of electrical items have a master clock. This keeps the entire circuit in synchronisation. A simple oscillator can be built to replace the master clock. Allowing the user to speed up or slow down the circuit. Producing interesting crashes and drones.
  • 17. Circuit Diagrams and Online Resources Online guides can provide invaluable advice on safely circuit bending a device. Be careful when relying on online resources, as the items can look the same. However, there can be different versions of circuit boards, much like software versions. Circuit diagrams are very useful as they can give information on processes taking place, especially useful when combined with an oscilloscope.
  • 18. Recommended Reading Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking. Nicolas Collins http://www.anti-theory.com/ Reed Ghazala the founder of circuit bending http://circuitbending.com/ http://www.gearwire.com/circuit- bending-101.html
  • 19. My Online Presence http://www.slideshare.net/circitfied - tutorials and circuit diagrams http://www.youtube.com/user/circitfied - videos of workpieces http://soundcloud.com/circitfied - audio compositions using my own equipment