Circuit Bending Fool – Tiffany’s Box
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
http://circuitbendingfool.blogspot.com/ – I scavenged the circuit for this project from a partially motorized ray gun toy. When pressing the trigger a cylindrical component decorated in flames spins within the barrel while a space age ray gun sound emits. I decided to ditch the motor and rehouse this. However the first time on the bench, I thought I had killed it while attempting to rehouse it in a shallow metal enclosure I got for cheap. It just stopped working. At the time I stored it a way labeled in a sandwich bag on my shelf of misfit circuits. As it happens, I was pillaging for parts, came across the bag and decided to power it up. Go figure? It’s working! So, I decided on a design and built it in a recently acquired Tiffany’s jewelry box that I got for a buck at a second hand chain store. The Tiffany’s box has a 20 ohm speaker (purchased at Jameco will-call $1.49each) and a pitch pot with body contacts. Standard 1/4″ output, a clear LED and a toggle switch to power the unit. The tone of the sample heard is very smooth and moves with grace. A wonderful ambient instrument that is slightly unstable. Sometimes…when it crashes…. if it just won’t power back up…..I take it as an opportunity to proceed on to something else.
Duration : 0:1:54
I picked up this Coleco Talking Teacher toy for a couple bucks, it was missing the battery compartment cover but otherwise in very good condition. I have had it a little while and did some research before cracking it open (www.experimentalistsanonymous.com) I used bender schematics and will be going back in at a later date to expand upon the gliches and loops. This time around I was amble to install a reset button , speaker cutoff, 8 switches and a 500k pot in need of a trim pot. I ran lines for body contacts but will wait until I can properly explore the circuit. I did cut out some plastic inside to make space but i an thinking of fabricating a plate where the existing handle is to accommodate more components. This is the test video from my bench after first assembly. Thank You Liz at Jameco Electronics. Thank You Colin at experimentalistsanonymous.com.