Circuit Bent SK-1 with "Glitchstation" Patchbay

images via this auction
"circuit bent Casio SK-1 keyboard that I've set up to be controlled by an extensive patchbay built into an old Playstation 2 case... The Casio is setup with a few additional controls. I added a drum kill switch that shuts off the "Blip blop" drums, a pitch control that raises the pitch, a pitch warble body contact, and a 1/4 inch output.There is also an RCA plug that gives power to the LFO on the patchbay. The patch bay connects to the Casio using a 25 pin d-sub cable. The main bending patch bay consists of 26 points, 2 points go to ground, and ever other goes to individual points in the keyboard.That is over 600 different combinations in the patch bay alone. There is an 8 point patch bay that is wired to seven switches. This allows you to take points from the main bay, plug them in, and use the switches to turn them on and off. If you turn all of the switches on then it functions as a common connecting all of the points together. There are 3 joysticks wired to 9 patch points (3 per stick). These work by find a bend, plug it into the middle of the 3, plug something into the outer points, and then going between the two using the stick (left goes to left point, center off,right goes to right etc..)

There are 3 knobs with to patch points going to each. These knobs are 3 different values allowing to to add some resistance to your bend if needed. This works well with the LFO section.

There is a sample and hold section with 2 patch points, a momentary push button switch, and lock switch. This allows you to find a good crash bend, test it with the push button, and lock it in with the lock switch.

Last, and definitely not least is the LFO section. There is a power switch, power patch point (connects to the Casio) Rate knob, Rate indicating LED, and a patch point. This allows you to modulate your bends using the LFO. Works great with the switching patch bay, and the knobs.

Sound Samples Here.

Make sure to check my other auctions for more Video Games, Musical Equipment, and accessories."

Glitchstation Demo

YouTube via jamforthelamb

Glitchstation Demo 2


Glitchstation with SK-1 main patchbay demo

MS-20 + Cables Cables Cables

flickr by rard23

full size

The Screamers - 122 Hours of Fear, Vertigo - Live 1979

YouTube via Sockies25.

All synth punk. Well, kind of - they used an ARP Odyssey and Fender Rhodes.

via Waveformless.

You can find some previous posts scattered here.

"arget Video: The Screamers

Songs: 122 Hours of Fear, Vertigo - Live 1979 at the Mab

The Screamers were pure genius and this live video is a work of art. Unfortunatley they never recorded an album and only some poor quality demo and live recordings exist. This video however is a clip from a Target DVD released in 2004. Hope you like it"

All Three Instruments

flickr by reidmix

full size

This shot is like a synth Rorschach test. What are the three instruments immediately come to mind?

alright, everybody scootch together so i can get you all in!

flickr by chiasticon
(click for more)

full size

Alesis Andromeda A6

via this auction, via the forum.

Tenori-on vs. Battery3

YouTube via salzmanufaktur. "Using the Tenori-on as a MIDI controller."

Richard Devine Interview

You can find the full interview with gear list and exclusive track on Elektron-Users. The focus of course is on his Elektron gear.

I'm guessing that's the "Custom Modular synth by Tim Adams" pictured here.

mad scientist drummer – Steve

mad scientist drummer – Steve from Sebastian Arnold on Vimeo.


mad scientist drummer – Spanky from Sebastian Arnold on Vimeo.
"Sebastian Arnold plays acoustic and electronic drumset and synthesizers. myspace.com/sebastianarnold"

FSK synthesis

via Ricko on electro-music.com
"I have been playing around for the last week using FSK (frequency shift keying) as a synthesis method. I don't think I have ever seen anyone write about this method in public, so here goes.

It is a way of getting good control over two separate formants with only two oscillators.

The configuration is simple: a slave (sine) oscillator synced to a master (square) oscillator. The output is from the slave. The base frequency is set from by the master oscillator, and the formant frequency is determined by the frequency of the slave oscillator, as you would image.

How the FSK set up is unusual is that you add to the Fin of the slave a little of the square wave (adjusted so that it the "space" is always 0V). So during the mark part of the square wave, the sync oscillator is a higher frequency than the space period: the effect is that you get an extra formant. The frequency of this 2nd, higher formant is set by the amount of the square modulation from the master (if the mark is 1V signal, the 2nd formant will be 18ve higher, etc). The relative levels of the formants to each other are determined by the pulse width of the master.

(Obviously, if the master frequency is higher than the formant frequencies, you don't get this formant effect.)

What is quite interesting is that if you want to have fairly fixed formants, you don't need to feed in the keyboard CV, and even if you want variable formants you can do it with a very simple oscillator without high-end (expensive) tempco because the base frequency oscillator stability is entirely determined by the master oscillator: fluctuations in the slave will show up as minor tone changes which may indeed be pleasant.

It would be easy to build an FSK waveshaper: just a syncable LFO driven to audio rates at a minimum.

The kinds of tones that are available tend to be woodwind-ish and sparse, and thin and buzzy at the low end, but interesting. Changing the square to another waveshape stops the FSK effect and is useless for the formant effect. Selecting richer waveforms than the sine obviously makes more harmonics which can disguise the formant effect but can be interesting in their own right.

(To do this digitally, you have to clip the square wave rather than use a band-limited version.)

I have found what is quite useful is to use the FSK in conjunction with a BP filter (signal from the master VCO) also controlled by the formant1 CV and output +/_ with the slave osc. That allows a richer band of harmonics, with exact formant either being emphased as if you had some super Q going on, or cancelled out."