In recent years, as I started pursuing my latent interest in
electronic music production, I became reacquainted with the
concept of circuit-bending. Twenty years ago, when I first
learned about this deliberate breakage of perfectly good
instruments and toys, my sense of aesthetics rejected the
(often quite harsh) sounds that came out of these poor things.
Since then, my musical tastes have changed. My interest in
how things work (and break) also tends to override my better
judgment.
My first circuit-bending experiments occurred in 2021.
They’ve continued, with many interruptions, to the present
day. This page will document my newest pieces, and perhaps
over time, if I can dig up information about older ones, I’ll
add those as well. Many, many circuit-benders are better at
this than I will ever be, but I even if my work isn’t up to
very high standards, I hope you’ll enjoy the instruments below
in the spirit of fun and discovery that bending is.
resources
Circuit-bending is a time-honored tradition going back several
decades. I’m very new to the practice, if not the concept,
and can’t pretend to know the “most authentic” or “best”
benders. Instead, let me give you a list of those whose
information has been the most helpful to me, and whose work
has inspired me.
CYBERYOGI’s “WarrantyVoid”
contains tips plus an exhaustive list of cheap keyboards
(and their modifications) that were available new or used
around 2005.
Get Circuit Bent
makes some useful little components, sells modded
electronics, and runs an informative and friendly YouTube
channel.
Simon the Magpie
(YouTube link; see the About section for tons of other
links) is a super fun introduction to the hobby. Funny,
enthusiastic, and covering a broad range of gear, Simon is
an excellent guide.
Look Mum No Computer
is another wacky guy with a head stuffed full of ideas
and practical advice. A series of his streams (
bending the
YamahaDD-5) got me started down this road.
my bends
Each instrument has a name as well as a serial designation.
You’ll notice a pattern: pieces that I create for others tend
to have at least perfunctory decorations and user-friendly
features, while those I reserve for my own use are the ugliest
and most electrically precarious of the bunch.
Mystix, one of the people behind
Primitivo
and other amazing Miami community events, sent me not one
but two Playskool PS-635 units when she asked me to create
the Potty Noise, with the idea that
I might bend the second unit for her own use. In a classic
case of the hidden evolution of toy keyboard hardware, the
unit she sent as her own is an earlier revision with a
through-hole IC in place of the chip blob found in the Potty
Noise. This was good news.
Among the mods
listed for this device on WarrantyVoid
was a reader suggestion to connect certain pins and thus
trigger the drum voices, something you can't otherwise do.
The Potty Noise’s blob was missing these pins, I assume as a
cost-cutting measure; it was futile to trigger the drum voices
on that unit, which mystified me until I opened this older
unit. I was happy to report to Mystix that I could in fact
add this feature. In addition, the black switches represent
combinations of two drum voices. Why? Because, hearing the
rhythms, it seemed that the four percussion voices were
missing some much more powerful sounds. Turns out these are
combinations. Tricky.
The Glitch Witch’s final addition to the Potty Noise is a true
“WITCH” (glitch) point. Toggling this switch on and leaving
the device to sit causes it to pulse notes at regular
intervals. Tickling the spring along the bottom might cause
it to emit glitchy sounds if held, or might change the
pulsation interval if touched briefly. Or it might tell the
device to turn itself off. This combines nicely, or not
nicely, with some of the other switches.
Unfortunately, as with the Potty Noise, things weren’t all fun
and games. I tried and discarded a number of features
including feedback (which I also tried to add to the Potty
Noise) and a mixer of sorts for the voice-blending function.
Aside from things just not working the way I wanted, it became
even clearer with this unit that space would run out before I
was done trying to add things. This older revision of the
motherboard was larger, and mounted irritatingly close to the
front panel, so I had to bend the terminals on pretty much and
switch, pot, or jack I wanted to add. The six extra buttons
for percussion took up prime real estate at the top edge of
the board; the speaker on/off switch in particular is just
lazily popped out of its hole so it doesn’t mash up into the
board too hard. And that goddamn phones jack... if it ever
worked, it had stopped working by the time I was ready to
listen closely to the distortions I was adding. Hence the
unexpected readdition of the MONO output. But I got through
it and gave it a witchy paint job, and at the end of the day
that’s all I can do. I still think it was a nice iteration on
the Potty Noise base, and I hope Mystix gets some good sounds
out of the Witch.
Here’s a demo using the “MONO” output. It starts with some of
the basic Kid Keys sounds and then moves into bent and
eventually “WITCH” territory.
potty noise
IRON-0010
This instrument started life as a Playskool PS-635. The good
people
at
Primitivo
/
The
Noisy Pot
asked me to modify one of their PS-635s as a giveaway prize
for thei 16 August 2025 show. They gave me a free hand in
choosing the bends, requesting only that I add an aux jack and
paint it in Primitivo livery. The main challenge I faced with
this thing, aside from its blob-circuit innards, was a
combination of constrained interior space and thick,
ultra-durable plastic casing. I’m proud of how it turned out,
and extremely happy that the
prize-winner
has
started her own joyful exploration of its capabilities.
Almost certainly, the aux jack requirement was a
misunderstanding on my part. In trying to follow this
guidance, I added a “line-out” jack whose specifications were
uncertain enough that I labeled it “MONO” like a coward. This
jack ignores the level set by the volume wheel and doesn't cut
signal to the speaker or phones jack, so can be used as an
output to mixer while the speaker or phones can be used to
monitor the instrument separately. The “SPKR” button enables
or disables the other outputs. The “POTTY” switch enables or
disables the pitch control, while the knob iteself sets the
pitch. “XXXX” switches 1 & 2 mix one voice with another,
a mod I ripped straight from WarrantyVoid (see above).
“NOISE” introduces a fixed-note drone that also triggers the
last-played key; a momentary button or a latching switch allow
for different options.
Because this was a special giveaway for a music event, and the
winner was randomly selected, I really wanted the Potty Noise
to feel like a special artifact that the winner had uncovered.
While I often include some form of crude documentation with
instruments I send to other people, I decided to type this
documentation on onionskin paper using a portable manual
typewriter. If I can manage it, I’d like to continue this
tradition for all giveaways, and maybe for all instruments.
It was a pleasure to work with The Noisy Pot. They inspired
me to make this a special experience that goes far beyond my
past bends. I wanted the winner to enjoy the instrument, but
also wanted to stir up interest in future The Noisy Pot events
with the expectation that future giveaways will be of a
similar special nature. I’m looking forward to future
collaborations.
