i came across an old casio sk-1 keyboard in a waco pawn shop and bought it thinking that an old sampling keyboard would be a helpful tool for getting weird sounds and for programming beats. the keyboard can actually sample about three seconds of audio and play it back at 8 bits.
it didnâ??t come with a manual, so in order to learn the sampling procedure i went on-line. while searching i started to come across sites talking about the use of an sk-1 keyboard as an experimental instrument. they spoke of how they would pull apart the keyboards and install â??shortsâ? in the circuitry. these short circuits would be wired through custom mounted toggle switches and potentiometers on the frame. being some what electronically minded, i had to try it. i couldnâ??t believe how cool the finished project sounded (think of a 70â??s space movie soundtrack mixed with an 80â??s video game). since then i have circuit bent a few other various items and have one other very large project in the works.
circuit bending links:
www.anti-theory.com – this is the home of reed ghazala, the “father” of circuit bending.
www.cementimental.com – this is probably the most comprehensive list of circuit bending links.