Sound Builders: In 1967, This Guy Invented Circuit Bending

"'Anything Can Happen'

In this episode of Sound Builders, we travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, to meet with Reed Ghazala, the founder and father of circuit bending. Reed takes us into his workshop where we get a glimpse into his world of circuit bending, exploring the history and evolution of this art. Reed bends our minds by walking us through the struggles and triumphs he endured while establishing the art of circuit bending.

“The wires fall upon the circuit like the paint on Pollack’s canvas,” he says, rhapsodically.

We tinker with several of Reed’s machines, manipulating sound and opening our minds to this fascinating art form. He works on a project for Motherboard while explaining the method to this music madness, his process, his teachings, as well as the different inventions he has created over the years.

See more Sound Builders episodes – and enter to win our contest for $1,000 – and don’t miss our documentary on New York’s circuit bending Bent Festival."

You can find all Motherboard synth vids here.

ACID

via Steve

Top: ladyada kit #345 with the kit #100 of the x0xi0
Middle: 303
Bottom: ladyada kit #289 with the happy faces

click the image for the full size shot.

more pics here

Click here for all posts mentioning the x0xi0 including video.

Tristan Perich: 1-Bit Symphony Pre-Orders

You can find Tristan Perich's 1-Bit Symphony on Pre-Order here. Pre-orders ship two weeks before official August 24 release date. See this video and the 1-bit label at the bottom of this post for more.

"Tristan Perich's 1-Bit Symphony is an electronic composition in five movements on a single microchip. Though housed in a CD jewel case, 1-Bit Symphony is not a recording in the traditional sense; it literally "performs" its music live when turned on. A complete electronic circuit programmed by the artist and assembled by hand plays the music through a headphone jack mounted into the case itself.

A return to the format of Perich's lauded 1-Bit Music (described by the Village Voice as "technology and aesthetic rolled into one"), 1-Bit Symphony further reduces the hardware involved while simultaneously expanding its musical ideas. 1-Bit Symphony utilizes on and off electrical pulses, synthesized by assembly code and routed from microchip to speaker, to manifest data as sound. The device treats electricity as a sonic medium, making an intimate connection between the materiality of hardware and the abstract logic of software.

While 1-Bit Symphony is purely electronic in its execution, its contents reflect Perich's long-standing interest in orchestral composition. Since the release of 1-Bit Music in 2006, Perich's compositional work has combined 1-bit audio with acoustic classical instruments, providing insight into the conceptual and aesthetic relationships between physical and electronic sound. With 1-Bit Symphony, Perich brings this insight back into the digital realm, juxtaposing the grand form of a classical symphony with the minimal nature of 1-bit circuitry.

For more information, please visit http://www.1bitsymphony.com"

Robert Rich in Seattle

via John Marshal:

"Robert Rich will be performing in Seattle:

Thursday, July 1st at 8:00PM

The Chapel Performance Space at Good Shepherd Center
4649 Sunnyside Ave N
Seattle, WA

www.robertrich.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Robert Rich will also be available to discuss/lecture in Renton:

Friday, July 2nd 7:00PM

Renton Technical College
Technology Resource Center, Blencoe Auditorium, Bldg C
3000 NE 4th St
Renton, WA 98056

He would like a suggested topic.
He would like this meeting to be well promoted. Please post this everywhere, freeway off ramps, etc.
He would like a good group of people.

Okay guys, I need your assistance to make this work.

Take care,
John"

Robert Rich is most known in the synth community for his extensive use of the MOTM modular. This would be a great change to see one performed live if you are in the area.

x0xb0x acid competition

Latest tracks by x0xb0x acid competition
x0xb0x collective, ACID, United States
Mute x0xb0x acid competition

Duet in C

YouTube via azimuthvisuals — May 20, 2010 — "Music by Mel Morley and Richard Lainhart. Recorded at Pocono Skies electro-music festival, May 15, 2010. This improvised piece is part of a larger collaboration including Howard Moscovitz, Jeannie Allen, and Charles Shriner. Mel Morley plays keyboards and software synthesizers. Richard Lainhart plays Haken Continuum and Buchla modular synthesizer. Camera by Greg Waltzer and visuals by Hong Waltzer of Azimuth Visuals."

Play Industries studio tour

YouTube via FutureMusicMagazine — June 04, 2010 —

"Back in 2007 FM got an exclusive tour of the Play Industries studio by owner/artist Ben Edwards. Check out this very impressive collection."
Synth spoting with Benge at 3:45. Click here for all posts mentioning Benge. He's the man behind all the It's Full of Stars posts. Catch his blog here, and DO NOT MISS his Twenty Systems for one of the best Synth CDs out there. See the post for more details.

Update: just the synth walkthrough (note the time delta is only about six minutes):

benge studio tour 2006.mov


YouTube via zackdagoba — April 05, 2010 — "see myblogitsfullofstars for more. tour of benge's studio back in 2006 conducted by future music magazine"
See this link for more posts featuring benge, this link for videos by zackdagoba (benge).

Gary Numan Telekon mini tour - Stage set-up

YouTube via FutureMusicMagazine — June 04, 2010 — "Back in March 2007 Future Music got an exclusive peak at the stage set-up from Gary Numan's Telekon mini tour."
Synth spotting with Gary Numan. Some of you might remember this one. Click here for all posts mentioning Gary Numan.

Syntaur Productions - Replacement Parts for Your Synths

http://www.syntaur.com
"See our products for:
Akai MPC Samplers
Alesis Keyboards
ARP keyboards
Casio Keyboards
E-mu Samplers
Ensoniq Keyboards
Korg Keyboards
Kurzweil Keyboards
Moog Keyboards
Oberheim Products
Roland Keyboards
Sequential Circuits Keyboards
Yamaha Keyboards
Music Tools:
SCSI Drives & Cables
Sampling CD's (Audio)
WAV CD-ROMs
Cords & Cables
Studio/Recording Accessories
Instructional Books & Videos"

Other:
DJ Hero Crossfader Slider Repair
[ VINTAGE KEYBOARDS & OTHER GEAR ]
LIFETIME GUARANTEE on all floppy disks! "

STUDIO ELECTRONICS OMEGA 8 ANALOGUE SYNTHESIZER - FIRST ON YOUTUBE

YouTube via pianist007 — February 21, 2009 —

"Here is a short demo of my SE Omega 8 (Code 8 version). In the solo I have used here the CS-80 type filter and it makes a wonderful sound."

STUDIO ELECTRONICS OMEGA 8 ANALOGUE SYNTHESIZER P 2 - FIRST ON YOUTUBE

pianist007 — February 21, 2009 —

"Another demo of the very capable and amazing sounding SE Omega (CODE 8) analog synthesizer featuring a short sequence with a groovy bass line holding it together with different alternating synth sounds showing different filter settings and types. All the modulations were recorded directly from the synth front panel through midi to my computer. The bass line was doubled, first time recorded dry and the second with the "Fuzz" knob on, mixing them together at different ratios. I hope you enjoy it."