Siskworks

This is my analog tape delay that I built out of four portable cassette players. The first player records audio onto the tape loop, the second and third players are inside the box and they both playback audio, then the fourth plays back audio and moves the tape. Tape speed is being controlled with a PWM (pulse width modulation) board. There is also a Feedback control that takes output of player 2 and routes it back to the main input on player 1.

This is my circuit bent Yamaha DD-5 drum machine. I added four gate inputs, variable pitch control, and a data line mod section. The gate inputs are compatible with standard eurorack format.

This is the HeroTron. I made this from a cassette recorder, a guitar hero controller and a delay board. A continuous tone is first recorded onto a tape loop and the five keys (with individual tuning knobs) are used to play the tape back at different speeds which create different tones. There is also a PT2399 digital delay with Mix, Length and Feedback. Feedback can also be control via the whammy bar.

This is a simple audio sampler I built into a Juicy Fruit tin. This uses the ISD1820 board and has Record, Play, and Pitch controls.

This is my Super Sweet Synth Harp. I modified this toy for the 2019 Moog Circuit Bending Challenge. With this entry I made it to the finals for the fourth time and finally came home with the first place win.

Modifications include a secondary pitch oscillator, voice changer, dual LFO, PT2399 delay and multiple body contacts.

I am super proud with how this build came out, both in looks and playability.

This is my DIY Spring Reverb. It has a PT-2399 digital delay with LFO to modulate the length or feedback.

This is my Hell-O-Phone. It is an old rotary telephone with its guts removed and replaced with a voice changer, digital delay and DIY spring reverb. The power is wired to the original hook so it turns on when the handset is picked up and then back off when the handset is placed back down. You can either speaker like normal into the phone or you can plug in an external input into the ear piece. This ear piece input is a switching 1/4” jack and is wired so that when nothing is plugged in the mouth piece is engaged but then when a 1/4” cable is plugged it it cuts the mic and engaged the input.

This is my PT2399 Spring Box. This device uses pre-made PT2399 digital delay board that was purchased from eBay for a couple of dollars. I modified this board to add delay length and feedback controls. I then mounted a few different spring onto a small wood box and wired a large piezo disc to the input of the delay board. The piezo disc is then attached to the bottom of one of the bolts holding the springs. The disc acts as a contact mic and picks up the vibration in the springs and feeds those sounds into the delay board for some crazy sounding results.

This is my Hell-O-Phone Jr. It has the same PT-2399 digital delay board with the same length and feedback mods and voice changer as the original Hell-O-Phone. However it does not have the DIY spring reverb or the 1/4” input. Also this has the momentary feedback button moved to the handset instead of being mounted with the rest of the control like the original.

This is Mr. Potato Synth.

This is my circuit bent Talkboy tape recorder. This tape recorder was made by Tiger Electronics and was made popular after being shown in the 1992 film Home Alone 2. It originally had a just a switch that would slow the tape down to a set speed. I modified this unit to make the tape speed controlled either manually with a knob or externally with a CV (control voltage) signal from standard eurorack equipment. I also added a switching 1/8” mic input. This mic input is wired so that when nothing is plugged in the normal built-in mic is engaged but then when and external mic is plugged in it cuts the signal from the built-in.

This is the Little Green NAND.

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My Staples Easy button that I circuit bent.

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My Sony Walkman that I circuit bent and a few other tape plays that I added speed control to.

My Casio PT-30 keyboard that I circuit bent.

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Circuit Bent PT-30

This was my entry into the 2018 Moog Circuit Bending Challenge. I really tried to think out of the box for this one and tried to make something that I normally wouldn’t have and I think it really paid off.

I used a Barbie Karaoke as the main device that I would be circuit bending. The bends include delay length, pitch select with both fine & coarse controls and five different feedback controls. I built small oscillator circuit known as an Atari Punk Console using a 555 IC and used this as my audio source into the karaoke unit. For an additional effect I built an audio low pass filter and connected it to the output of the karaoke unit.

Then finally I added a switching 1/4” input jack and wired it so when that nothing is plugged in the Atari Punk Console is the auto active audio source but then when something is plugged in that input takes over. I wired one 1/4” to the handset of an old telephone for a vocal input into the device and a second 1/4” to the torso of a barbie doll with a spring and piezo disc for more of a tactile audio input.

I won second place in the contest this year and the price was surprising TWO synthesizers! I won both a Moog Mother-32 and a Moog DFAM!

This was the very first audio device that I ever sold. Wes Borland was a guest judge contest that year and he made a serious offer and followed through so now the Atari Punk Barbie lives on somewhere in his studio in Detroit.

This is my Atari Punk Console that I built into an old Realistic TRC-84 Citizen Band Transceiver. This device uses the original case, controls and speaker but all other parts from the radio were removed. I wired the power to the original power switch and the original mic button cuts the APC sound. The two knobs on the top control the Pulse Width and Frequency and the knob on the the side is Volume. The switch on the side engages the light dependent resistors that are wired the the Pulse Width and Frequency controls. There is also a switching 1/8” output jack that cuts the speaker when a cable is plugged in.

This is my circuit bent Casio MT-100.

This was my entry to the 2017 Moog Circuit Bending Challenge.

This is my circuit bent Yamaha PSS-140 keyboard. I built this for the 2016 Moog Circuit Bending Challenge. I took third place in the challenge this year and won a Moog Mother-32 synthesizer in return.

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This was my entry into the 2014 Moog Circuit Bending Challenge. I took third place in the challenge this year and won a Moog Minitaur bass synthesizer.

I started with a Kawasaki/Remco toy guitar, toy voice changer, cassette tape player and a PT2399 delay kit. I used a small BBQ grill set box and cut some wood sides and metal panel for the top. Since the Moog Sub Phatty had just come out a year prior I cut the sides to a similar profile and also went with the same black and silver colors.

The toy guitar provides the sound source for this device however the player no longer holds it as a normal guitar would be held. The player now sits at a desk with the instrument in front and holds down the “fret” with their left hand and strums the “strings” with the right.

After the sound is created by the toy guitar it send to the effects section. Each effect has by pass switches so each can be engaged or disengaged independently. The effect section also has a separate and toggle switch so that an external source can be plugged in and use the effect while bypassing the toy guitar.

The first effect is a mega phone style toy voice changer. I added a switched pitched control and transferred all the voice control switches up the panel.

The second effect is the cassette player. This is just a simple distortion effect and works by feeding the audio signal into the tape head input and then back out the headphone jack.

Then finally the last effect is the PT2399 delay kit. Originally this only had the mix and delay controls but I added three different feedback controls and two mod switches.

This is my toy piano that I circuit bent.

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This is my Texas Instruments Speak & Math. I think this might have been the very first device I ever bent.