Thursday, December 20, 2007

'UF-Hell' Drum Machine


Fantastic bends on this drum machine causing all kinds of distorted tones! Check it out here
Sold to Tom from London.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Casio SA-2 Aleatron


A Casio SA-2 Aleatron based on Reed Ghazala's original design. Great for complete randomness! Audio here.

Monday, December 10, 2007

3 instrument set for sale


On Ebay now. Here is a little track I knocked up using just the 3 instruments.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Kawasaki 'Vortex' Keyboard


Another 'Vortex' keyboard this time made from a Kawasaki instead of the Hing Hon EK-001. Bit more digital sounding but still very close to the 'Vortex' sound! Audio.
Sold to Rob from USA.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Bontempi B1 Organ


Picked this up dirt cheap on Ebay (the batteries cost more than the keyboard). It's an old Bontempi B1 organ that has some kind of motor blowing air through pipes to make the sound (I think!).

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Fuzz Face


The Fuzz Faces that I make feature BC108 and BC109 Silicon Transistors (I can do other versions as well such as 2n3904 transistors), and Tantulum capacitors. DI recording here.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Windscale news...


Windscale have just finished a track 'Yellow Sky' for a 'Influenced by Delia Derbyshire' compilation (more details soon), and are next playing live at The Rainbow, Birmingham, on December 23rd. Work has also started on the 2nd Album.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Little Drum Machine


Don't be fooled by this little toy drum, it is capable of some amazing sounds, sometimes sounding like a broken Commodore 64! Audio here.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Voice changing megaphone mk2


A different type of voice changing megaphone, this has 5 switches to choose the 'mode' and I have added a pitch control and an audio output. Listen here.

Bass Fuzz


Bass Fuzz with slightly different layout - the main control is at the front.

Chinese drum machine.


Another drum machine with downwards pitch bending to create drones. Audio here.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Voice changing megaphone


Been meaning to do one of these for a while now. Voice changer with 3 settings and added pitch control for instant vocoding/ring modulation. There are also a ton of l.e.ds built in making this a great device for onstage. Audio here.
Sold to Paul from Malvern.

Chinese keyboard/guitar


Bit weird this one! A kind of keyboard/guitar hybrid. Pitch up and down controls mess up the audio completely. Check out the 'whammy bar' (near the output) and fretboard above the keys! Listen here.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Will's Speak and Spell


I have sold quite a few of my Speak and Spell bending kits on Ebay and here is the result of one kit that I sold to Will.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Speak and Spell Innards


Just a shot of the insides of a Circuit Bent Speak and Spell I have just finished wiring up.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Bent Chad Valley Learning Keyboard


I have done a few of these in the past, this version is particularly good because of the 'decimate' control. Audio here.
Sold to Pascal from Paris.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Bontempi Drum Machine



In 3 years of looking out for obscure drum machines to bend, this is the first one of these I have seen. The 2 controls I have added are Pitch and Drive and can send the drum machine into self oscillating hell! The drum pads use some kind of piezo so can be played 'properly' with sticks. Turn down your speakers and listen to it here.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Howling Terrors APC


Howling Terror has customised the Atari Punk Console I made for him! Nice work ; ) Must get some of those red knobs.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Insane toy keyboard


Totally insane! Check the Audio sample here. Very easy to crash but some great sounds!

My Hip Hop Station!


Crazy little drum machine with a load of hip hop samples. Simple pitch up and down controls makes for a lot of fun! Audio sample here.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Super Speak and Spell



A lot of people consider these 'unbendable' but I have been doing them for years, this layout being the pinnacle so far of what I can do with one. All manner of glitching can be generated, and all with the voice of Brian Cant!

Monday, September 24, 2007

Bass Fuzz Pro


Bass Fuzz Pro made to order for Mike from Dorchester.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Kawasaki keyboard



Kawasaki keyboard with pitch control and distortion body contacts. Some great sounds can be made with this deceptively simple keyboard. Have a listen here.

'Vortex' alt version



Another 'Vortex'! looks exactly the same as the one below but the bends sound very different. Soundclip here. As far as I can tell the 1st one uses 2 transistors for something whereas the 2nd one uses an IC. Not sure what they do but thats were the bends are linked to in each version.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

"Vortex" Analog keyboard


This is my favourite out of all the things I have modified so far. The "Vortex" keyboard, a Circuit Bent Hing Hon EK-001. The original keyboard uses Analog square wave synthesis to create its sounds, and has a drum machine with a kick and snare better than the Roland tr-606 (I reckon!). This is what it sounds like.
Edit-Sold within hours!

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Tiny Atari Punk Console


Cute little version of the Atari Punk Console square wave synth.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Collapsing Star

Another 'Collapsing Star' finished. This one is the normal version (no dog or cat noises I'm afraid!), and is now up on Ebay.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Finished Shin-Ei Companion Fuzz


The finished Companion Fuzz. In homage to the original I have kept the distinctive control/input/output positions.
Audio clip here.












Busy circuit!

Friday, August 31, 2007

Shin-Ei FY-2 Companion Fuzz Breadboard


Had to use 2 breadboards to fit this circuit on! Now I have to fit everything onto the stripboard on the right!
The Shin-Ei FY-2 Companion Fuzz is a rare Japanese pedal with a distinctive 'buzzsaw' sound. I used to have a Fuzz Wah made by them which was insane!











"Replace the battery when the sound become small"! : )

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Windscale - Schwarzes Ei available for download

The first Windscale album 'Schwarzes Ei' is now available to download here.
10 Mp3s in a 65mb zip file. 45 minutes of tracks recorded during 2006-2007.













Atari Punk Console in action




Marco sent me some pics of his Atari Punk Console in action. He wanted large knobs
on his version as you can see! Check his music out here.



































Sunday, August 26, 2007

Windscale album


Been putting the finishing touches to the 1st Windscale album, Schwarzes Ei. This will be available soon in Mp3 format as a free download. Written and performed by myself with Neil Mcauley. The 4 tracks on my Myspace page (linked above) are on it so check them if you want a sneak preview.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Mega Phaser!

Here is a Behringer Ultra Phaser that I have Circuit Bent with 2 extra switches. A 'Boost' switch and a 'Warp' switch. Soundclip here.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Bass Fuzz



Another Bass Fuzz finished, great pedal for 60's style garage psyche bass, soundclip here.
Very popular at the moment, this one sold within hours of being put on Ebay!

Monday, August 13, 2007

Bent Ultra Fuzz

Here is a Behringer Ultra Fuzz that I have added a 'Boost' switch to, just in case you want to get even fuzzier! ; )
Sold to Rich from London.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Electra Fuzz


Finished this today, an Electra Fuzz based on a circuit that used to be built in to some guitars in the 1960's. It's more of a distortion really but Fuzz fits better on the case!

Skunk Works ; ) 1


Got some aluminium sheet delivered to make the front panel for a new project I am working on. I'm going to re-house a number of devices in this large case (looks like an old projector case). Might take a while but should be very cool!

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Atari Punk Console


Here is my latest version of the square wave oscillator Atari Punk Console, with pressure sensitive control bolts and a case to match some of the other instruments I make.
Edit-sold.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Happy Robot Music Ebay store


I have now opened an Ebay shop.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Glitch Machines


Some nice looking devices from Ivo Ivanov who seems to have sold quite a lot of stuff to Richard Devine!

Collapsing Star with added dog and cat


Here is the finished Collapsing Star for Mark. Sounds a bit different to others I have made because I used a different raw toy. There's some added dog and cat sounds, and some strange randomness going on overall compared to the other versions.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Cyclops v2


Another 'Cyclops' done. Had to add another modification to fool the original toy into thinking it's being used (it's not!!), so you tap the push button now and again while you are playing!
So if the original toy is not being used, how is the sound being generated? ; )

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Busy Busy Busy


Rather busy at the moment, finishing a 'Cyclops' for Simon, a 'Collapsing Star' for Mark, and am waiting for a LOT of new parts mainly so I can finish two pedals that are half done. Good job really as I have finished teaching for the summer!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Bent 505


Cool looking Circuit Bent Roland TR-505 here
on Ebay.