X1L3 ROLAND TR505 - Art circuit bent, amazing drum machine!

Published on May 22, 2018 Scienceforce

"X1L3 ROLAND TR505 - Art circuit bent, amazing drum machine!"

X1L3 - PERSUADATRON - FM radio eurorack module

Published on Mar 30, 2018 manufacturedZ3R0

"A simple demo following a dark power electronics theme. Using persuadatron to listen to a brain dead local radio station and pass it through clouds to generate the incidentals and background scene of the track.

Basically it's an FM radio with digtal controls. You can manually adjust the volume, station and mute it or you can trigger these with the gate inputs. It has an auto scan function which will scan it's entire frequency range and save all the stations it finds. Or if you prefer you can scan for them yourself.

The track is nothing more than the radio station fed into clouds and then manually manipulated with that modules controls. Made as an example of how cool a radio is for raw material more than anything else. The whole abysmal advertising breaks and template pop music package gets the treatment to awesome effect here. Backed by a drone and some strings."

X1L3 - SHARD - power electronics and harsh noise eurorack module

Published on Mar 24, 2018 manufacturedZ3R0

"A skim through the components of the eurorack version of shard.

Designed initially as a boxed unit for power electronics, hnw and the generation of glitch artefacts. Ported to eurorack for easy integration into the vast array of manipulation and processing in the format. The stand alone version is under way and should be out there in the coming months......

3 x oscillators with cv over pitch and gating over frag / shard / null
3 x osc intensity with cv
External audio in with manual gain
3 x fragment / null / shard selectors
Body contact touch interface for osc disruption

Presented here in a selection of short clips. Each highlighting an aspect of the module and the results at the output. And the effect it has on sources at the input. A wreckage and persuadatron module are included here. One is a simple constant harsh drone generator and the other an fm radio. Both yield intense results when fed into the audio input of shard and both will also be live in the shop in coming weeks/months. Real world/life permitting.

Clean through the run with no fx other than the intro section and fade out. Two layers were used on these. The first layer with resonant filter and a clouds module providing reverb. The second clean - generating an artefacts and glitch layer.

If you recognise the end you're either old or have good taste in movies :)"

X1L3 - SHARD - eurorack version - spec run through

Published on Mar 18, 2018 manufacturedZ3R0

"Brief run through of shard - powerelectronix and harsh noise generator and some examples of what it does."

X1L3 - SHARD - power electronics - rituals - trials

Published on Mar 3, 2018 manufacturedZ3R0

"Two shards - one automated by midi to gate to generate the drone, the other manipulated manually to drive the chaos.

Shard 1 is passed through a filter and then clouds to add reverb. This automated unit also has wreckage, a simple companion module connected to the audio input. This is bought in towards the end.

Shard 2 is clean with persudatron connected to the audio input. Persuadatron is an FM radio receiver with gating controls over tuning, volume etc. Any audio source at the audio in of shard will disrupt the oscillators, a radio is particularly good at this and can be heard mid way in the hands on chaotic section.

To summarize, Shard 1 for the first third, creeping in as the filter is opened up, changing timbre via osc gate automation about midway. A vca gate is then opened for shard 2 at two thirds and the chaos begins - letting persuadatrons commercial radio gash bleed through in places. The gate is closed at the final third, shard 1 takes control again and the set fades into sludge discord as wreckage is bought in and the filter is closed.

For anyone vaguely interested - shard, wreckage and persuadatron up for sale soon at:
http://www.x1l3.bigcartel.com/"

X1L3 - Circuit bent Yamaha DD-10 - R3 - Pitch and filter CV automation

Published on Jan 5, 2018 manufacturedZ3R0

"Third and final DD10 revision. Added CV control over pitch. Mostly robots doing the work here. The only laying on of hands being laying off of the delay at the end.

The DD is being triggered via midi from the daw and CV is coming in on two channels via a yarns midi to CV interface in the euro rig to animate the pitch and filter cutoff of the DD10. These are also controlled from the daw. Meandering set that shifts subtly for the durastion to let the DD shine through. Wearing the obvious nine inch nails fragile/spiral influences on both sleeves. The sound set of the DD10 is a wonderful thing for sexy old school art of self destruction dirt when pitched and filtered. As is a shining example here.

All percussion over the daw backing is the modified DD10. No additional fx applied."

X1L3 - circuit bent Casio PT-50 with midi retrofit - C64 Knuckle Busters theme

Published on Dec 29, 2017 manufacturedZ3R0

"Robots and casiotones. Casio PT50 with midi retrofit doing a by ear interpretation of a section of the in game tune from the Commodore 64 game Knuckle Busters, written by the brilliant Rob Hubbard.

Midi is coming in from reason and filter cutoff is being controlled by a diy build of a yarns midi to cv module in the eurorack, also taking in midi from reason from the modwheel to generate the filter sweep cv for the casio.

A fairly straightforward lead part taken on by the PT50 for most of it. It then draws to a close with the ruiner/ringmod coming into play to generate discord. There's a delay fitted to the PT which is used subtly to warm the casiotones.

For sale at:
http://www.x1l3.bigcartel.com/"

X1L3 - circuit bent - PT87 - harsh noise and power electronix redux

Published on Oct 15, 2017 manufacturedZ3R0

"Revisiting the PT87 for what is probably the last time with 32 minutes of post optimism improvised power electronics.

Shop:
http://www.x1l3.bigcartel.com/

Cleared out the hoard of these in the circuit bending stash recently and modified them all. They're becoming harder and harder to get these days and this is most likely the last run of them from this camp. It seemed fitting to throw out the constraints of percieved attention span and adherence to a time limit and just let the camera roll. If you're here it's either by accident or you know what you're looking for. And if this is what you're looking for then turn it up, sit back, have a beer, take a trip through the shatter zone and let the machine do the talking. This is the modified board at work, with no additional fx. Shifting from scene to scen within the noise through the set. A great variety of dark and harsh PE orientated textures.

If you visit the shop, there are at the time of writing this PT87 and 82's available. Other than the colour they're identical in performance. Once they're gone they're more than likely gone for good this time.

X1L3 - SH4RD - HNW/PE/GLITCH - Eurorack module

Published on Aug 26, 2017 manufacturedZ3R0

"Improvised jam experimenting with gating the inputs of shard. Grinding, screaming, strangely mesmerising sensory dissonance.

If you came here by accident while looking for the wave105 commercial radio top five and you hate it then i fully understand. If you came here intentionally and knew you'd hate it then you're probably a tool. But that's alright, the sun will still shine in the morning and in ten minutes nobody will care. Stick to what you do best. You'll be fine, i promise.

MIdi to gate to ADSR gens to shard CV ins. Shard to ripples to clouds (as reverb) to output mixer.

Overlooked by Yorick and underpinned by a repetetive drone from a braids which kicks the whole thing off. It builds into some found sound drums and then just drops out and crawls through a storm of debris intil it crawls under the stone it came from at the end.

A more focussed/less lazy beers and early hours jam demo soon. A dedicated 6U 84HP noise, video and tronix suitcase is in the works for this reason."

via X1L3

"SHARD - HNW/PE/GLITCH OSCILLATOR
£85.00 / Coming Soon

SHARD - harsh noise / power electronics and glitch generator

Harsh noise and S&M floor show?

14HP - purely for generating chaos, violence and the abstract.

Controls:
Six oscilators merged into a well masochism - Three fragments - three shards.
Choke - A fetish for punishment - stress relief for the all that is - it's just breath control.
CV control over all parameters - 3x shard / 3x fragment / choke - all with front panel response setting controls.

Intentionally psychotic, with a good degree of control. It thrives on modulation sources. Vactrol implementation benefits from attenuation where finesse is required, but is just as fascinating when under manual or simple high/low gate control.

Skiff friendly - approximately 26cm from panel to deepest component depth.

Check out the videos below:

(COMING SOON)

If your country isn't listed in the shipping options message me and let me know so i can add it and allow you to check out.

Shipped worldwide - tracked and insured."

X1L3 - Vevoyah - Walkthrough - Power electronics and harsh noise

manufacturedZ3R0
Published on Aug 12, 2017

"A tutorial on the workings of the vevoyah as a hands on noise, texture and glitch generator. Covering how the different elements work together in creating noise walls, PE textures and system crash garbage, and how to get to know them better.

To those searching for guidance on the dark path, i hope this helps you find your way :)

Built in small batches and for sale at:
http://www.x1l3.bigcartel.com/"

Previous posts.

X1L3 - Circuit bent casio PT30 - power electronics and harsh noise

Published on Apr 17, 2017 manufacturedZ3R0

"A trip through the hellscape. 25 minutes of power electronics and harsh noise.

Hard abuse of the delay and ruiner with a diy random cv modulator plugged in at the filter cv input.

You know the drill. Like the strap on... If you hate it then i probably already know. If you like it then i get that also and so do you :)

13 raw circuit bends - extreme pitch control - drum/chord/bass boost/mute etc etc.
Ruiner - ringmod/distortion.
Digital delay untethered to behave as a bent delay pedal would.
Sallen key resonant low pass filter.

Lacking the midi of my PT80 configuration but compensating for it with far more mods and a much wider scope on the fucked up spectrum."

X1L3 - Circuit bent casio PT30 + CBUK CB55 drum module - darkwave synth jam

Published on Apr 16, 2017 manufacturedZ3R0

"Live key jam focussed on subtle use of the delay and ruiner mods. Under pinned by a CB55 drum module built using the board available at: https://www.circuitbenders.co.uk/

Not an overly bent or warped session, but a slick example of what a bent casio can sound like when modified with some finesse.

The CB55 has some mods applied which i've documented and made available through a few avenues such as the synth diy page and my own page on facebook.

Incoming midi to the midi to gate in the eurorack is used to trigger the CB55 along with an AR generator routed to a filter which the drums are passed through. An AR generator is also routed to the filter in the PT30 to gate its filter via the cv input. The filter is gated by the AR generator through the first half and then the cutoff opened up for the melody for the latter section.

The ruiner mod is used subtly through the whole session to shift the wave form of the PT30 for an animated waveshaping/PWM type effect. In a different arena, as with the delay, it can be used to totally screw up the output of the keyboard. Which i'll show in another more extreme upload.

13 raw circuit bends - extreme pitch control - drum/chord/bass boost/mute etc etc.
Ruiner - ringmod/distortion.
Digital delay untethered to behave as a bent delay pedal would.
Sallen key resonant low pass filter.

Lacking the midi of my PT80 configuration but compensating for it with far more mods and a much wider scope on the fucked up spectrum."

Circuit Bent DD-10

Published on Oct 26, 2016 Robin Rimbaud-Scanner

"A circuit bent modified Yamaha DD-10 Drum Machine, built by Shane Williams of X1L3. Although a DD-10 won't yield to rom glitching, a number of features have been added to it to bring it up to spec with some of the more unruly machines listed in the shop. It takes on it's own unique character and is now unlike any of the others. Two oscillators which can be set up as drones or set to follow the amplitude envelope of the drum machine output, an external input with bufferd/none buffered input selection which allows you to feed line level equipment and passives such as guitars, mics and contact mics into the effects chain. The effects chain consists of a resonant filter with high pass and low pass bands, a digital delay which is open to abuse and is the heart of the machines ability to create ambient, harsh and noise wall sound scapes as well as data crash type glitching and strange effect. It has a dual mode distortion with diode clipping and direct modes. All of these can be used to manipulate the internal sounds as well as anything fed into the external input. The external input can be used while the machine is active and the machine, oscillators and external source can be mixed up as desired in the mixer section. The pitch control features a coarse and fine dial. When the pitch is dropped via the coarse control it dives into dirt and sludge which plays well with the filter and distortion.

More information here:
http://www.x1l3.bigcartel.com/product..."

X1L3 - circuit bent Casio PT-80 with midi retrofit + eurorack - Synthetic industrial

Published on Jul 24, 2016 manufacturedZ3R0

Watch your volume levels on this one to start.

"Casiotone industrial.

Playing the Pt-80 via midi from reason. An A/R generator is hooked up to the CV input to apply an envelope to the filter cutoff. This comes into play more prominently as the video progresses. The circuit bent aspect isn't really used here and the video focuses on the midi, delay and filter. It is however more than capable of excelling in the fucked up noise arena :)

Additional tronix:

XILE Midi retrofit on channel 15
PT2399 delay
Steiner synthacon resonant filter
Front mounted led array (midi activity indicator)
Regulated internal psu board

Raw bends:

Pitch control
Kick mute
Snare mute
Hi hat mute
Chord mute
Lead boost
Drum boost
Drum/lead combined distortion - merges the two in a dirty sort of way"

X1L3 - circuit bent Casio PT-80 with midi retrofit + eurorack - The trip

Published on Jul 23, 2016 manufacturedZ3R0

"Casiotone trance.

Audio is slightly out of sync with the video, but the sun will still rise in the morning.

Playing the Pt-80 via midi from reason. Under pinned with a 4/4 sequence. An A/R generator is being triggered on 16th notes on my eurorack, also via midi. The attack/release is connected to the CV input on the casio, spiking the filter cutoff with a short envelope for the first and final sections of the vid. The envelope is turned off on the breakdown (0.50 - 1.22) allowing the filter cutoff to flat line and follow only the cutoff knob manually.

Additional tronix:

XILE Midi retrofit on channel 15
PT2399 delay
Steiner synthacon resonant filter
Front mounted led array (midi activity indicator)
Regulated internal psu board

Raw bends:

Pitch control
Kick mute
Snare mute
Hi hat mute
Chord mute
Lead boost
Drum boost
Drum/lead combined distortion - merges the two in a dirty sort of way

Shop:
http://www.x1l3.bigcartel.com/"

X1L3 - Vevoyah - Cover of Nine inch nails - my violent heart

Published on May 13, 2016 manufacturedZ3R0 .

"Demo of the midi control on vevoyah and a somewhat chip tune sounding cover version. Composing on two of them has an almost tracker feel to it, getting what you can out of two voices and pulling off some ultra fast notation, chopping and changing between the two of them for modulation effects and so on.

All sounds are either direct from the vevoyah or as with the drums and percussion shaped in a sample editor from noise and sounds generated with it in one way or another.

Vocals recorded into my phone while parked up in a car park late one night. I admittedly can't sing."

X1L3 - Vevoyah + Elektron Analog 4 - Drum mutilation

Published on Mar 25, 2016 manufacturedZ3R0 .

"Vevoyah - drone/pe/hnw/abstract synth/resonant filter/delay........

Hand built noise synth built around an atari punk console. with cv in to the filter cutoff, an external audio input and midi control of the oscillator over 12 notes.

Analog 4 drum sequence at the external input. Filter cutoff is being sequenced by the A4's CV out. The input is preamped and super hot so can be abused with line level instruments for some good distortion. Blending in the oscillator to this over driven input produces some nice toned grunge and pseudo ringmod effects, especially when the filter resonance is in self oscillation. A midi sequence is set running about midway through which animates this strange effect and underpins the drums with an unhinged arpeggio."

X1L3 - circuit bent TR-505 + Elektron Analog4

Published on Mar 13, 2016 manufacturedZ3R0 .

"Improvised session on one of two recent 505 commission pieces.

I work on these from time to time but not often. It all depends on if i have the time. Try me, you might catch me on a good day.

Underpinned by a bass drone from the A4 which is also feeding the 505 control voltage at its filter CV input.

Starts out with some spoken word on the external input and builds from clean to increasingly dirty manipulation of the loop.

Commission is £500. £150 deposit to secure the build. The remaining £350 payable on completion + P&P. Turn around is generally around two months give or take. It depends on how busy i am with real life stuff.

Mods include:

Global pitch
Individual pitch
Individual channel mixing
Envelope controlled square wave generators
Digital delay
Analogue resonant filter
Distortion
External audio input to fx chain
CV in to filter cutoff
5v trigger out (slaved to the cowbells as on a tr626)
3 x 5 rom glitch matrix
CNC machined aluminium, black anodized + engraved panel work

Thanks to:
http://www.burnkit2600.com/

Who provided me with a lot of insight into how to modify these a way back.

And take a look at:

http://www.circuitbenders.co.uk/

Cool guys doing good stuff."

X1L3 - circuit bent - synth mod - yamaha DD-7 drum machine with midi

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

video here and here.

"The big sister of the yamaha DD-6 with a more varied and larger sound set.
Lots of good percussive sounds and a variation of synth and voice samples.
It's also one of the finest in the DD range for glitch generation and ease of
which the glitching can be shaped and moulded into unique fx, incidentals and noise.

Modifications and embedded circuitry:

Analogue resonant filter with high pass and low pass bands
Gain, resonance, low pass/high pass toggle and cutoff
A nice warm filter based on the synthacon.
Lot's of resonance and a unique character of it's own.
Violent, squelchy and crunchy when overdriven in this machine.

Digital 'death industrial' delay
Rate, noise, feedback, off/on toggle
This delay variant is based on the formula applied and the output of circuit bent delay pedals which have been sold in the past.
A versatile and if desired aggressive set up that can drift between ambience, echo and all out harsh noise wall and power electronics.

Analogue distortion
Dual mode distortion with diode clipping, filter and gain.

PSU - DC hum suppression circuitry
A regulated psu is now built into the machine.
This gives a stable and quiet power supply to both the drum machine and additional circuitry as well as
providing a quiet output and excellent noise floor.
Input voltage is +12V tip positive running 2 amps.
Please be aware of the amp rating of your adapter. It MUST run 2 amps or above.
Suitable adapters are available at low cost on ebay.
if Shipped within the UK i'll include a suitable adapter.

Midi retrofit & Gate output
The drum machine now has midi capability by means of an embedded microcontroller.
The four drum channels can be triggered via a sequencer or daw.
Trigger notes are: C3, C#3, D3, D#3 and F3 for the gate output.

Midi is set to CH16 but if you'd prefer a different channel for convenience i can flash the firmware before shipping for you
and assign it to what ever channel is best for you.
The gate outputs at +5v and can be used to trigger other devices such as adsr's and also drive eurorack sequencers.
One of the videos below demonstrates the gate output driving a sequential circuits pro one sequencer.
The gate isn't locked to a time signature so if driving a sequencer you can advance it however you want.

Master pitch control
Gives a large global pitch range - demonstrated in the demo videos
The pitch has a high and low setting and a coarse and fine control.
The fine control gives you conventional pitching of the drums, the coarse will take them down to vicious noise, droning and glitching.
The drum machine now serves not only as a percussive instrument but a generator of abstract sounds and textures.

4x4 glitch matrix
The glitch matrix disrupts the percussive sounds and warps them into various forms of data crash and glitch.
A very interesting modification on it's own. It takes on a whole new level when the fx chain is applied.

Cnc machined aluminium panel work with blue anodize and engraved text and graphics

The DD range of drum machines are some of the best for glitched circuit bent sounds. They achieve a bizzare edge
without becoming too unruly and hard to control. With midi now added you can create nicely spaced patterns which accomodate the glitch matrix and fx chain nicely. It's no longer restricted to it's preset patterns. The pads can still be used with drum sticks and the preset patterns are still intact. It will still run as intended if you choose to use it this way."

X1L3 - circuit bent - synth mod - yamaha DD-10 drum machine with midi

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated. X1L3 - Circuit bent Yamaha DD-10 - evolving percussion

Published on Jun 26, 2015 manufacturedZ3R0 .

"Improvised percussive set utilising the internal sounds and the additional oscillators that have been added. The oscillators can be set to drone or to follow the amp envelope of the output as shown here. A very simple drum pattern in order to show how much this can do on such a basic foundation."

X1L3 - Circuit bent Yamaha DD-10 - power electronics / noise wall

Published on Jun 26, 2015

"Improvised set of PE / noise wall and ambience generated with the embedded oscillators and fx in the DD-10.

Since the DD-10 is near 'unbendable' and seeing a modified one is a rarity i thought i'd give it a go and see what i could come up with."

via this auction

"Circuit bent - midi retrofit - yamaha DD-10 drum machine.

Modifications and embedded circuitry:

Analogue resonant filter with high pass and low pass bands
Gain, resonance, low pass/high pass toggle and cutoff
A nice warm filter based on the synthacon.
Lot's of resonance and a unique character of it's own.
Violent, squelchy and crunchy when overdriven in this machine.


Digital 'death industrial' delay
Rate, noise, feedback, off/on toggle
This delay variant is based on the formula applied and the output of circuit bent delay pedals which have been sold in the past.
A versatile and if desired aggressive set up that can drift between ambience, echo and all out harsh noise wall and power electronics.

Analogue distortion
Dual mode distortion with diode clipping, filter and gain.

PSU - DC hum suppression circuitry
A regulated psu is now built into the machine.
This gives a stable and quiet power supply to both the drum machine and additional circuitry as well as
providing a quiet output and excellent noise floor.
Input voltage is +12V tip positive running 2 amps.
Please be aware of the amp rating of your adapter. It MUST run 2 amps or above.
Suitable adapters are available at low cost on ebay.
If shipping within the Uk i will suppply and adapter free of charge.

Master pitch control
Gives a large global pitch range - demonstrated in the demo videos The pitch has a high and low setting and a coarse and fine control. The fine control gives you conventional pitching of the drums, the coarse will take them down to vicious noise, droning and glitching. The drum machine now serves not only as a percussive instrument but a generator of abstract sounds and textures.

2 X Drone oscillator section.

The oscillators can be set up as drones or as amp envelope followers. In the first instance they turn the machine into an interesting drone and noise synth, with the features of the FX chain at hand to liven things up. In the second mode they add a tone to the drum patterns which will follow the amplitude of the pattern envelope and add a low end growl to the pattern when the distortion is engaged. Both modes are demonstrated in the videos below.

External input and mixer section.

An external input has been added which has line level and pre amp selection. You could if you wanted to plug a guitar or microphone into it now and apply the effects to the incoming signal. You can also mix this external signal in with the drum sounds and oscillators via the mixer section. Everyhting can be faded in and out as desired.

Cnc machined aluminium panel work with black anodize and engraved text and graphics

The DD-10 comes with midi as standard. It has a good and varied range of sounds and although it can't glitch as with a lot of other old DD drum machines it's been reworked here with a number of additional features to give it a warped character which can hold it's own when put side by side with the machines which are open to rom glitching. It's quite unique in how it behave and sounds now. They're something of a rarity in modified form due to how difficult they are to modify. With some forethought and synth diy application it can now hold it's own amongst the most unruly and bizzare of circuit bent instruments.

Watch the demo videos below for some examples of what it can do.

The first video is a very simple percussive pattern. Intentionally simple in order to show what the machine can do with something very basic. The second video is an improvised noise set. Constantly shifting and evolving. Quite violent at times. It shows what the DD-10 can now do outside of the confines of it's original drum machine format. Harsh noise wall, ambience, fx and power electronics are all within it's grasp."