Circuit bent mechanical Furby sequencer linked to Korg SQ-10

YouTube via thenervoussquirrel.

Up for auction here.

"One of a new batch of four Furby Gurdies. This model allows you to program your own rhythms by rearranging screws inserted into the four wheels.

There is also a 'trigger out' socket, which has been used in the last section of the video to operate an old sequencer and synthesiser.

More details here"

via nervoussquirrel on the forum.
"Sometime prior to the 11th century A.D. a strange hand-cranked instrument called the hurdy gurdy appeared on the scene in Western Europe, drifting in and out of fashion but remaining in production to this day. In 1998 Tiger Electronics produced a scary children's toy called the Furby, and sold over 40 million of them in three years.

This auction is for the strange and terrible result of combining both of these phenomena - this is a rare chance to own your own Furby Gurdy!

This instrument involves four modified Furby toys that can be made to produce sound in a sequence by winding a handle. Each Furby has been 'circuit bent', which is a process that involves adding connections to the original electronic circuit board to create interesting new sounds.

When the handwheel is turned, four wheels operate four switches in a sequence. The sequence pattern is created by adding or removing screws from the 12 holes around the circumference of the wheels. Each of the four switches operated by turning the handwheel correspond to a Furby, causing it to make a sound as the screwheads pass.

Each Furby has six controls on the panel underneath it:

(1) Mute - turns off an individual Furby's sound
(2) Loop hold - captures a short loop of audio while a Furby is speaking
(3) Loop momentarily - useful for searching for a good sound before using 'Loop hold' to keep the sound
(4) Microswitch mode select - Switches between audio being produced by either the screwheads on the wheels or the gaps between the screwheads
(5) Crash - creates a stream of glitches and garbled Furby speech, random bleeps, crunches and hisses
(6) Reset - used to restore good health after the crash function

There is a main audio output socket on the front (1/4 inch jack), as well as four individual outputs on the rear of the unit.

There is also a socket on the rear of the unit that allows the switch under the fourth wheel to be used by an external device. Plugging a jack lead into this socket disconnects the fourth Furby and allows other devices to be triggered in time to the winding of the handwheel. In the video I have connected this socket to the step input of a Korg SQ-10 sequencer, so that the sequencer advances by one note every time a screwhead passes the switch.

There were four of these Furby Gurdies made - this auction is for one of the last two, serial number 00075.

High-quality switches and components have been used throughout, and build quality/soldering etc. is all very good. The casing is made of folded aluminium sheet and painted MDF, and the handwheel is solid machined aluminium. The rotating shaft has been mounted on bearings to ensure many years of lasting Gurdy goodness."