What’s been going in in the workshop the past few weeks?  Quite a bit. I’ve been holding off updating because I wanted to keep focus on wrapping the current projects and then do one massive post, but I thought I’d take a moment and give a little hint about what’s to come. I have several devices that are very near completion.  The circuits have been built and tested and the cases are in their final stages. My frame of mind right now is one of high anticipation. I’m really diggin how the new devices are sounding and each time I test them out I get a ton of new inspiration. While these devices sound pretty amazing on their own most of them have the ability to link with each other for unison effects and sounds.  After these are finalized I’m going to step out of the workshop for a bit and get these things screaming in the studio.

Some pics of what’s been going on…

Building the Mini-Looper - A handheld version of the circuit bent yada looper

Installing the Mini-Looper circuit in the case.

Sequencer/Synth - staining the outer wooden shell

Sequencer / Synth - insides.... yes, that is 12! D-cell batteries

Sequencer / Synth - guts have been installed and it's ready to test.

The Complexor - original concept sketch. It's another sequencer/synth with an included filter bank with joystick controls.

The Complexor - Completed the outer case with wood side panels. Time to drill the control panel.

The Complexor - Metal control panel has been drilled, painted and labled.

I’ll be posting more details, pics and videos of these 3 devices on the Machines page in the next few days. Beyond these I’m also working on some other fun things.  A 4 buss passive mixer, re-building one of my first circuit bent toys into a new case with new functionality, and a Modulator fitler that adds ASDR to any incoming audio signal.

Also, look out for new sample packs and some music tracks coming out in the near future.

Decided to kick off the year by getting the main workspace de-cluttered and organized.  Trying to make room for storage of completed projects and projects that are upcoming.

The electronics lab. Yes, this is clean and organized.

Couple things you aren’t seeing in this photo…. Directly to the left of the camera is my “in progress” stack which is a pile of small boxes that each contain a project that it’s in production.  Directly behind the camera is the music studio.  Drum sets, amps, mixer, mics, speakers, guitars, etc. are set up and ready to record.  Needless to say a lot is in the works…. updates soon.

Audio &visual artists and inventors from the Midwest gather to share their recent homemade experimental electronics projects, instruments, videos, and robots at this DIY convention/lab. Circuit Benders, Toy Hackers, Tech Pirates, and Recycling Junkies will have an opportunity to perform, demonstrate, and lecture about their recent work in the fast-growing art of Acquired Technology.

A gathering of extremely talented and creative hackers took place on Saturday, May 16th, at Lizard’s Liquid Lounge. 3058 W Irving Park Rd., Chicago IL.

Big stuff going down.  Here’s a glimpse….

Video coming soon…

See the full gallery here.

In the spirit of earth day and keeping old toys out of the landfills Tommy Stephenson and Patrick McCarthy hosted a free bending workshop in Chicago on Saturday, April 25th.  It was great to know that this community is alive and well and growing in the midwest.  It was cool to meet Austin (aka Creme Dementia) who had a slick electronic bird calender tweaked on the workbench.  He also had a selection of his contact mics for sale.  I picked one up and from messing around with it for a about 15 minutes I realize that I ‘m going to want to purchase several more.  Tons of potential for amplifying objects.  It was also great to meet Alex Deeba from Get LoFi.com.  He has a ton of sweet project kits for sale on his site.  He was sticking one of his precision oscillators into an old school game boy to tweak it’s clock.  Good stuff.

I’m glad I stumbled upon this event… looking forward to others.

Here’s a few pics from the evening.