UNEARTHED CIRCUITS

Synconics Drums service manual download.

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:24:43 +0000

Finally getting around to upening up the Synconics Drums. Unfortunately, they have not been functioning properly. Found this handy link with the service manual and will begin trouble shooting later tonight.

Service maunal.

Drum Triggers DIY

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:21:09 +0000

Handy link for anyone interested in making up a set of drum triggers. Wire it up to trigger some of your toys.

Drum Triggers DIY.

Mini Wedge Amplifier - complete

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:02:20 +0000

Completed a new amplifier project this week. I found a few mini wedge speaker boxes in storage and thought they would make good enclosure for a portable amplifier. This is a 15 watt amp with tone controls, dual inputs, and it’s packaged in a extremely rugged and travel worthy box.

The mini wedge amp, ready to rock.

I’m currently building a couple more of these with the extra boxes I have. If you’re interested in owning one of these drop me a line and let me know.

The control panel close up

More details about this amplifier

Sample Packs are here - Bit-Crushing Looper percussive samples for download.

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:33:20 +0000

One of the main motivations for experimenting and building new sound devices was to create original sounds that I could then trigger from a sampler and electronic drum kit during live performances. I was never satisfied with basic stock drum sounds that came pre-loaded onto most drum modules and samplers. I ended up having to run them through a plethora of effects pedals and plug-ins, re-sampling them and importing into what ever module I was triggering from. Beyond that, I thought why not just create sounds that no one has ever heard and that come from a completely experimental and organic creative process. For the time being, I’ve decided to make a batch of these samples available for download to the public free of charge and without copyright restrictions. Use them as you see fit. I hope they will be a source of inspiration in whatever sound projects your are creating. If you do happen to use these in projects I’d love to hear how you’ve used them and what you think of the sample pack in general. If I get a lot of positive response I’ll continue to make more samples of other devices available.

These first sample packs are from the Bit-Crushing Looper device. They are short percussive samples that were created by sampling different sources into the device, re-sampling them internally and then recording them. Then are then sliced up and exported at 44.1khz mono .wav files. They are very lo-fi, dirty and grungy and are perfect for glitchy, IDM style tracks or however you see fit. Perfect for using in drum sequencers, samplers, and triggers. Around 150 individual samples in these packs.

Here’s a quick sequenced demo track using some of the sounds available in the pack. These are the raw sample sounds. They ave not been modified with any effects.

Percussive samples demo

Bit-Crushing Looper percussive pack 1 - Beat Box samples

Bit-Crushing Looper percussive pack 2 - Casio Sk-1 samples

New Year = New UC workspace

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:55:57 +0000

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.

New toy in the works - Fisher-Price microphone tape recorder

admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:34:11 +0000

Thank you Jessica, for the donation. I’ve messed around with similar devices with some fun results. Stay tuned for noise.

Bent-Tronics - Circuit Bending for Beginners video

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:24:23 +0000

Marking the two year anniversary of the release of the Circuit Bending
For Beginners video, Bent-Tronics.com has now made it available for
free. The 30 minute video is presented on YouTube in four parts.
Enjoy!

Bending the 1978 Muson toy Synthesizer/Sequencer

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:34:32 +0000

Found this Muson toy Synthesizer in the storage shed. Fired it up and it is in proper working order. Unfortunately it’s missing one of the sequencer plugs and currently only plays 9 of the 10 notes. This prompted me to open it up and try to determine the resistor value of the missing plug.

The 1978 Muson Synth toy. Perfect working condition, but missing one of the sequencer step plugs.

I poked around and found several interesting bends so I’ve decided to build a new custom case for this. I’m currently in process of removing all the control components that are mounted directly to the board and will move them to a new control panel.

Rewiring the controls and probing for bends.

More images here.
More to come…

Synsonics Drums

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:19:30 +0000

Dragged these out of the attic a couple weeks ago and have just tested them. Unfortunately, they are DOA. I’ll see if I can bring them back. Anyone have schematics or any other info on these?

Beautiful noise, beautiful animation

admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:47:26 +0000

Check this killer “music video”

Voltage from Bam Studio on Vimeo.

Just like modular synthesizers, people connect with each other in order to achieve diverse objectives. In Voltage, robots, half-human and half-synthesizer, powered by a huge amount of energy, connect to each other in an electric and chaotic trance.

From BAM STUDIOS