Project: Repurposing Sound Gadgets

Circuit Bending (8:16) The soundscape of many contemporary households is filled with all types of gadgets that talk, make music, squeak or squeak and, at some point, they become discarded. Circuit bending is the creative short-circuiting of devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and small synthesizers to create new musical instruments and sound generators. Emphasizing spontaneity and randomness, the techniques of circuit bending have been commonly associated with noise music, though many more conventional contemporary musicians have been known to experiment with these "bent" instruments.