An Intro to Circuit Bending

A short intro on how to get started with circuit bending toys, specifically musical instrument toys. For the things mentioned in the video, follow the links below:
Spotify jazz playlist:
open.spotify.com/user/martind...
TS100 65W Digital OLED Programmable Soldering Iron
www.gearbest.com/boards-shiel...
TS100 open source firmware:
github.com/Ralim/ts100
Gearbest links:
Products used in the video: bit.ly/2jqjwcl
Electronic tools and 3D printer deals:bit.ly/2jpn4vy
11.11 Sale China Black Friday : bit.ly/2m9gXwa
No links are affiliate links! I do not believe in affiliate links for things I review, as that (in my opinion) creates a possibility of distrust. If I ever post an affiliate link for any reason I will be completely transparent with this fact.
Follow and like Switch & Lever on:
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Music:
Nicolai Heidlas - New Places
CC BY 4.0

[@Tridd666]

"Circuit bending isn't about bending circuits" Tab closed

[@SwitchAndLever]

Aw, bye bye!

[@Tridd666]

Just kidding I watched the whole thing

[@SwitchAndLever]

Yay!

[@gorillaau]

The trick to circuit bending is not bending the circuit itself, but rather bending the purpose of the circuit.

[@existextinct]

Do not try and bend the circuit, that's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth. There is no circuit. then you will see it is not the circuit that bends, it is only yourself.

[@peteytwofinger]

the older the toy , the better the chance for more bend points . newer toys use black blob single chip - not may points to experiment with . older toys may offer many more individual ic chips , which in turn offers many more points at which to test for bends .

[@charlesdavis4928]

When i first saw the black blob i was sad

[@dunebillydave222]

I just learned the term "circuit bending" last night, in the middle of the night when I was half asleep. This video is brilliant! I absolutely love how and well-thought-out this video was, and how systematically it teaches how to wreak chaos. Thank you so much for putting this together and sharing your extensive knowledge. This is how mankind has risen to our current lofty heights; standing on the shoulders of giants.

[@nightmaresand808s]

"Attach a knob if you feel like sprucing up the shaft."

[@jadeblades]

lmaooo

[@hirokatsuvictor8755]

Oh god

[@Kara_Kay_Eschel]

Thats what she said.

[@potatovegeta9385]

“And get ready to fire this baby up, from here on out I don’t think there is a need for words”

[@Ashes2Ashes_Blush2Blush]

AHHAHAHAHAHAAAA

[@doubledarefan]

Daniel, The Last Circuitbender.

[@Ashes2Ashes_Blush2Blush]

My man

[@milztempelrowski9281]

I see ur a man of cuture as well *bearded monocle smiley*

[@FrezzyYT]

Double Dare Fan *cough* *cough* LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER

[@baltofarlander2618]

@@FrezzyYT yeah, he takes it to whole another level...

[@IronDragon1337]

12:19 *keyboard noises* ... *Screams* FEEL GOOD

[@bigrig5552]

YES!!! I can't believe someone else heard this

[@lukesalazar9283]

@@bigrig5552 you are not alone

[@theghostlyhero9006]

Yeah

[@ajeje1996]

Same, lol

[@squidiskool]

You could even hear Ha ha ha ha ha!

[@Pypamid]

About that "decent" keyboard, my son plays the "slow rock" demo 24/7. So the only true circuit bend this demonic device is worth is 400V through it

[@FourfoxMusic]

This is great. Actually taking the time to go into the pros and cons of using a switched audio jack at 8:00 was super helpful information. Thanks bud!

[@scarlettray9451]

Gene from bobs burgers would die for a board like this

[@IgorDz]

I wanted to leave the same comment, but thought "nah, no one would get it"

[@hughaskew6550]

I did this with a Casio keyboard about 30-35 years ago. I found a couple of spots that gave me a very musical vibrato and tremolo, and also a few spots that kicked in squawks and squeals and even a frequency divider.

[@retrorebootmusic]

Avatar: the last circuit bender.

[@teku3985]

Everything changed when the ESD attacked

[@VoidHalo]

One suggestion, since a POT is basically a short when it''s at its lowest setting, it's always a good idea to have a low value resistor in series with any POTs you put in a circuit to avoid overcurrent. Also 555s, VCOs and PLLs make for some easy ways to add/alter sounds on a keyboard like this. Cheers.

[@Snoken849]

Reality rupture a POT is probably a potentiometer.

[@MrMrCraftmine]

not all are shorts at lowest setting

[@paw101]

Aaaagggh! You should’ve put the potentiometer in reverse so dialling up would increase pitch. Makes me sad this isn’t the case. Brilliant video though! Very interesting.

[@rtyuik7]

YESSS!! i was also slightly annoyed by the "Down-tune by tuning Up" method! glad im not the only one xD

[@isellcrack3537]

ahh I`ve been thinking about giving circuit bending a try for about maybeee....10 years and it seems I`ll finally get on with doing exactly that. Thanks a lot for the video it was more than helpful. When I initially discovered the soothing (and I say it unironically) sounds of those bent circuits I instantly got hooked but back than (around 2008/9) there wasn`t exactly a wide selection of videos on how to do it, in fact there were none whatsoever the best thing I was able to find at the time was some proper engineering schematics which ofc were absolutely incomprehensible for me and it all seemed waaaaay too complicated for me. Many, many thanks to you sir.

[@MitchRossMusician]

Just saw this video today. Very well done. Gave me a few ideas to tinker with.

[@voodoosalad8147]

That Moog sound everyone is looking for : ) Anyways, great vid. Thanks for sharing!

[@trulyinfamous]

I've finally guy a soldering kit, and as long as I spend a bit more time at Goodwill and learning about electronics, I could do some circuit bending.

[@SwitchAndLever]

I would recommend taking a beginners electronics course online at a place like Udemy for instance. 🙂

[@UnboundDesigns]

this is really awesome. thanks for sharing this. im going to do this right now

[@gerritvos5886]

I have used external pc-speakers in the past, as a circuit bent instrument, and man, was that a lot of fun!

[@kengreen6901]

Please explain:)

[@ivanm5649]

So sick!! I suck at circuit bending but this video gave me alot of inspiration

[@manickn6819]

Sometimes you just need a project like this to make your day. No real use but it does get one motivated. I tend to strip thinks and record or do something really simple when I get that itch but don't want to commit to a long build.

[@ANDYWOUNDSABRXS]

yep, im with you on that one. I sometimes need to just make a tiny fuzz pedal and BANG im back to fucking with everything I had left on the shelf.

[@brianrulez4140]

Sorry guys but I would have to disagree... No real use??? This is our future happening before ur eyes... I can see all kinds of musicians and artists using these skills and have IRL Y0!!!

[@bmutante7597]

this was beautiful and sounded amazing

[@ManicMinorProduction]

Been years since I bent anything. Never used Caps in my bends, going to have a play today with a Casio MT-31 🎉

[@kowi333]

lol. i've got exactly the same "keyboard". i added a jack socket, so i could send it to my guitar fx pedal. after that, the built in speaker worked as a microphone, so i installed a switch, to switch the microphone/spekaer on and off. when the speaker is turned on, and the "keyboard" is connected to an old distorting guitar amp, you can play the thing with some pretty nice/harsh feedback. perfect for electropunkish/industrial thingies. ah yeah, and i soldered in a 10 M Ohm poti for the pitch. at the lowest pitch, the "keyboard" crashes :D

[@SmokyFrosty]

Great Video, Soldering Iron looks nice too.

[@DocBolus]

That is a fantastic intro to circuit bending. Looks easier than I ever thought it might be.

[@SimonTheMagpie]

Where are you based dude? :D

[@pikzel]

Very Swedish accent (source: I'm Swedish)

[@octocool]

All your base are belong to us

[@hassroek]

not so swedish, sounds more norwegian lol

[@thehorriblebright]

@@hassroek He said he was in Stockholm in the widowmaker video though.

[@STANKYCHEEZEMAYNE]

@@hassroek a few comments below this he explains that he's Swedish, but that his accent when he's speaking English is a portmanteau of the accents of the various English-speaking places he's lived (also his accent still seems to retain the sing-song-ness of Swedish; spoken Norwegian has similar qualities, but is more nasal and Germanic sounding imo)

[@LoganDark4357]

12:18 EVIL LAUGH

[@kramer26]

LOVE IT!!! The animal sounds pitch bending was awesome.... I so want to give this a go, but I don't think I'll be breaking into my Access Virus C any time soon!

[@basspunkjones3701]

Don't do it bro lol

[@thejenko17]

Holy shit what

[@othello7]

This is so neat! now I want to do this, but don't have components.

[@miguelcarmona9645]

I was at my friends house and he had one of these laying around, that is the only reason that I am watching this 😂

[@MarcelDiane]

Been there, done that. I’ve let the the magic smoke of many circuits doing it.

[@alienfortytwo]

I'm sad that I can't do something like that. And I wonder, it's probably possible to achieve "kid's toy with a low battery" sound, bc it's the most glitchy thing and I love it

[@buddyclem7328]

That's a popular circuit bending technique! In fact, undervolt and overvolt are features of the SID Station, which is used in a lot of today's pop music.

[@erlannderrantem6972]

Yep, just cut the cable to the battery and solder a variable resistor (potentiometer with the middle lug connected to either of the outer two) in between Please take out the batteries first ;)

[@kengreen6901]

I like the low

[@gorillabraudcast474]

Excellent beginning guide!

[@tomalcolm]

OMG! Synchronicity. I bought an old Yamaha last week.

[@faithbetinis4129]

FASCINATING, thank you for this video!

[@RetromagneticDesigns]

Let's see if she chooches alright. :D

[@RamblingEngineer]

RetromagneticDesigns corntact!

[@daveanderson2316]

RetromagneticDesigns 7200 rip ems

[@schm4704]

Dave Anderson But the case is most probably not even PA6 GF30. Bah.

[@fredeih1995]

Funny thing, that reference, since uncle bumblefuck would tear him a new one for selling his soul to advertisers.

[@TheElewalker]

You're a legend man! Great video!

[@THEdragonOfRainbows]

Personally, I love the crusty and distorted noises that came from that modified toy!

[@kerwinfernandes9583]

Great intro to circuit bending! Thanks God Bless! :)

[@oldschooljohnny]

This is just what im looking for!!!

[@jhbonarius]

You say you are a hoarder, but your collection of components look as new! ;)

[@SwitchAndLever]

I compulsively organize my components, that doesn’t not make me a hoarder. I have a lot of new components and I have a lot of salvaged and desoldered ones as well.

[@ladedk]

Hehe, I like the simplicity of this little project! A super quick and dirty hack, perfect for my style.

[@brianrulez4140]

This is an ART!!! Science go stick it Yo!!!

[@storyinsoil5064]

Super helpful, thanks!

[@iamlane]

alright. but where's the samples pack?

[@gorillabraudcast474]

Haha! I got a full library only $99.99 and you'll need the floppy disk drive adapter!

[@alexdatsko]

KZbinmp3

[@PhilXavierSierraJones]

You can add 100R~10K resistor in-line to prevent frying the circuit.

[@snuravs8708]

Where would you add ?

[@user-lc8jd6sn2b]

Reality rupture you would attach one leg of the low value resistior to one side of the alligator clips to limit the current. Then you can use the other leg of the resistior to test connections

[@user-lc8jd6sn2b]

Reality rupture one sec mem me show you a pic

[@user-lc8jd6sn2b]

Reality rupture what i mean by avoid frying it i mean if you accidently connected the terminal that is used for the battery to a connection that is sensetive to the microcontroller or to that amplifier used for the speaker (the thing with several resistiors, caps and transistors) it will just release all its energy into the part (dump a lot of its amperage). What can happen if you do this is that you burn the components or microcontroller's inside (the ladder not being that common) because you added too much energy to the wrong place. The reason its called 'frying' is that if you poke the wrong terminal of the microcontroller or speaker amplifier then it could cause the thing to get really hot (or sometimes catch fire) to the point it could be able to fry some food on it.

[@ChristianIce]

8 months later, still no answer. Now the question is: How did he die? Because that could be a clue for not following the suggestion :)

[@EposVox]

This was a great video

[@ddevin]

0:10 I genuinely enjoy listening to GDGA1, I should be able to handle the rest of this video.

[@AdamsBrew78]

How hard & expensive would it be to add a variable speed oscillating circuit to the pitch resistors, so it’d behave like a tremolo - (like an LFO that can be toggled on/off and even go into audio-rate range, maybe even with a depth and speed knob) This video is my first foray into this world of circuit bending so I’m a complete noob.

[@glutenkillz]

Thank you for the tutorial! I know someone who has the things I need, and I wanna circuit bend my cat piano :)

[@wowerman]

Holly cow. Nice bass line at 11:22 and "the frog"lead.

[@H3wastooshort]

8:25 you can also take a toggle switch and put it in parallel to the audio jack switch

[@danton8302]

*i had one of these, not sure if i still got it, but im hopimg i do*

[@forsale313]

Interesting. Thank you for taking the time to show us this.

[@nickmyguy8232]

Amazing dude...

[@geoterra9478]

Just ordered my own TS-100 :))

[@adeled8833]

0:54-0:57 omg, they teach children Phonk music since the very birth xD Love the result!

[@Dephy]

Wow. That was the exact one my sister had when we were very small...

[@bigbromiki1]

man i had a danolectro chorus pedal that made crazy pitch bending squeals when it was almost out of power, for about 2-3 minutes. I wish i would have kept it to learn how to make it do that all the time

[@shekelofal-kakkad8505]

This is awesome.

[@bashkillszombies]

"How to break your kids toy."

[@dddiiieee]

how to breake your sibling`s toy*

[@HisXLNC]

OR "Make yours kids toys really cool."

[@creeperlamoureux]

"How to break your kids." *_KAAAARRRRRRENNN_*

[@theconduitstudio]

Thank you for this tutorial

[@Webkinzofficial]

The deadpan delivery on your jokes tickles my funnybone.

[@Elazarko]

Impressive. A follow up video with easy tutorials would be great! Thank you!

[@Ucceah]

no use of the damp finger method?

[@AdrianHernandez-mu4mo]

This introduction to circuit bending fucken rules, makes me want to tinker with my nephews toys

[@ubertalldude]

making it Chooch! love it!

[@techtinkerin]

I've already got a soldering iron. Cool video tho👍😎❤️made me laugh numerous times!

[@WeirdofMouth]

That keyboard is skookum as frig!

[@buddyclem7328]

Yah eh? After doing the jazz hands on the confuser, it turns out that the hive mind is good for something after all! (Stuff AvE could have said.)

[@carlosmarques8380]

Cant i put a jack in the speaker wires like you did and then use a aux from the piano jack i made into my computer microphone jack to record? I have a simple piano, most stuff does not work but the keys work np so i wanted to give it a better use to record when i want

[@oreom6628]

Hey there I'm trying to figure out how to wire the switched audio jack or which kind to even use. Any tips on which jack you used and/or how to wire it properly?

[@michaels5166]

great content...

[@Srcsqwrn]

I'm trying to aquire tools and pieces to start doing stuff like this.

[@Sagnag]

12:18 FEELS GOOD

[@fvazquez64]

Very inspiring,,, thanks

[@xJoe90]

Beautiful

[@Kapten_R3]

I'VE HAD THAT KEYBOARD AS A KID!!!!!

[@SwitchAndLever]

I'm curious, how old are you? How long ago was that? Where are you from? Trying to understand how old this keyboard is, and where it may be from.

[@Kapten_R3]

I am 15, Swedish, I've had it since I was 3 years to about 5. I have given it to my little brother, he still has it. I could if it has a "Made in ..." inprint on it.

[@SwitchAndLever]

Hej! Jo, den har "made in", men som 99% av dylika saker är den gjord i Kina. Verkar vara en Keyboard som tillvekats i stort antal för all olika butiker ska kunna sälja under sitt eget namn.

[@Kapten_R3]

Tyckte väl att din engelska lät svensk

[@Kapten_R3]

På min står det TOP-TOY A/S tror det är danskt

hey, can you explain how to connect the switched jack? i really am lost on how to do it

[@baptisteroche8113]

Hey, i have a question how to replace a potentiometer by a jack (for example to control the pitch with a lfo)?

[@user-yg2up4lg3r]

I used to have one of these when I was a kid

[@awesomefacepalm]

The TS-100 is great. Especially with 24V then it heats up quite fast

[@Andrewbud21]

I'm here after watching the circuit bent bible video. thanks for teaching me what circuit bending is AND how to do it. One Question though; What would you say your accent is from?? I keep hearing a lot of people on youtube with it but I've never met anyone with it or heard it in movies.

[@_JayRamsey_]

Andrew Miller Ha, me too. I was all, "wtf is circuit bending? It looks awesome." This video answered my questions quite well and in an enjoyable fashion.

[@SwitchAndLever]

No idea. I'm Swedish but I don't have a typical Swedish accent. I've lived in the states and Britain, I've studied for many years at an English speaking university with plenty of accents around, I've consumed so much English speaking culture from all over, and that all somewhat made it into the way I speak. So the long and short of it, I don't know.

[@hexrobyn]

its swedish I think

[@strangerofthe2067]

GET TO THA CHOPPA NOW!!!

[@squirlmy]

Have you not heard the Muppet Swedish Chef? Actually he doesn't sound too similar, but he is basically doing with electronics what the Swedish Chef did with food items. lol. Bork! Bork! Bork!

[@michaelmarefka3335]

Can you explain how you soldered the 3.5mm socket. Which pins did you connect to the wires? Thank you!

[@ThatAnimatronicPerson]

Help the thing I’m trying to circuit bend doesn’t have a pitch resister

[@malin6594]

I think kids would like to have those options, hell i would have liked that!

[@tyler1234321]

In your experience what guage wire would you say is best? and should i get stranded or solid wire?

[@jaakkopontinen]

Haha :P got that exact music toy.

[@analterror3224]

Put death grips samples on it

[@lowkeydiegoduran4724]

12:18 that evil maniacal laugh lol

[@humanrays]

So how are the people who *do* make and sell circuit bent devices with mains power doing it? Do they have electronic engineering degrees?

[@manuel8179]

"you're a circuit bender, Harry"

12:05 Dying toad made me lose my shit very hard lmaooooo!!!

[@threenplustwo9105]

Small criticism: You don't quite have the melody from Super Mario Bros. correct

[@MoonJumpMania]

You can also go one step further and 3D your own sleek enclosure for the keyboard and turn it into a midi keyboard.

[@SwitchAndLever]

“Sleek enclosure” would miss the point of doing it in the first place. Half the fun is it looking janky. As for midi, well...let’s see what the future has to show.

[@MoonJumpMania]

@@SwitchAndLever Yeah you're right. If you are doing this solely for turning scraps into something modded, it makes complete sense to keep it like this. I was just thinking that if you wanted to turn something like this into something more useful, you could completely reword it, hence my suggestion to turn it into a MIDI keyboard.

[@sonicretard4537]

yeah!

[@ACarnealqwerty]

Music producer: the last circuit bender

[@tauheximus]

4:36: Oh shit, it's gonna blow

[@pr3stovivace]

😂😂😂

[@duckingtonedits2369]

I love my TS100

[@theghostlyhero9006]

Go To 7:50 For Audio Jack