KVR Audio

JayRobinson · Post by **JayRobinson** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 12:00 pm

Anybody ever circuit bent a stylophone? Whats the best way to do it? Iv heard you should open it up and just test connections with small pieces of wire/resistors and keep going till you get something interesting then to solder it?!

I really want something totally my own so circuit bending seems a good option!

Thanks guys!

Jay

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:03 am

Rule #1: never bend something you can't afford to kill in the process.

I've killed my Arp Axxe while trying to figure out how the ADSR worked, by using the Ampere meter of my multi-meter

Short-cirquiting at random is not a good idea.

dan_s · Post by **dan_s** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 2:31 pm

read the sticky thread at top of this forum. I have no specific information on bending a stylophone, but there is a lot of valuable information in that thread on bending in general.

As you said, unless you have some kind of specific knowledge to the circuitry, you pretty much just poke around for interesting sounds.

this book is great for a general outline of bending, the latter half of the book is specific to a few circuits. http://www.amazon.com/Circuit-Bending-B ... 235&sr=8-1

intel · Post by **intel** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 3:02 pm

I wouldn't expect any interesting results from circuit bending a stylophone. Given the description of the circuit that is provided on wikipedia, your most likely results are going to be pitch alterations and possibly some analog overdrive.

Caysi · Post by **Caysi** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:52 pm

intel wrote:analog overdrive.

That sounds fun =]

intel · Post by **intel** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 4:11 am

It's not as cool as it sounds... For the time and effort, and risk, you can pick up a stompbox on eBay.

sam the wizer · Post by **sam the wizer** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 7:55 pm

You could change the interface (remove the stylo from the phone) pretty easily I'd imagine. I haven't seen a schematic, but I bet the way this works is that each pad has a different value resistor attached. You could use a piece of conductive VHS tape instead of the pads to create an instrument with greater range and continuity. You could also add a rheostat or photopotentiometer for different ways of controlling pitch.

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 7:57 pm

@Bert: Ouch. Can't do that. Ammeter goes in series with the circuit,* voltmeter across the points.
____________________
* As in, you'd have to cut a circuit board trace or a wire, then connect a probe to each cut end to use the current measurement function. Which wouldn't be a good idea either.

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:32 pm

@Mef: I was young and stupid, lesson learned... No servicable parts inside indeed!!

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:01 pm

*nod* Done different, but also destructive, stuff in my time.

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:55 am

I had a yamaha pss-220 when I was a kid, and I remember circuit bending it when I was 14, before I knew that was what it was even called. I grabbed a handful of resistors outta my dads parts bin, and randomly shorted the leads on the voice IC. I remember getting an amazing thick saw bass sound out of it...

tattiemannie · Post by **tattiemannie** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 2:05 am

You can "circuit bend" a stylophone ... or anything else NOT PLUGGED INTO THE MAINS .. in a temporary manner by squirting the circuit with a plant sprayer .... get the sampler set up, plug it in .. and squirt/spray/mist. if you dont get the desired result, damp it off with kitchen towel, stick it over a heater and try again later! ... iron filings ...or even mercury (TOXIC!) can be similarly useful ..... be careful out there folks!

sam the wizer · Post by **sam the wizer** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 6:03 pm

I just had to buy a stylophone. For 20$ US you can't make a synth that sounds this good. I took it apart and alas, obfuscation! A big glob of wax on the circuit. I think I'm going to replace the pitch control potentiometer with one that has a wider range and make an ondes martenot like controller for it. I might make an instructable and share what I did if anyone is interested.

Happymoogman · Post by **Happymoogman** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:09 am

sam the wizer wrote:I just had to buy a stylophone. For 20$ US you can't make a synth that sounds this good. I took it apart and alas, obfuscation! A big glob of wax on the circuit. I think I'm going to replace the pitch control potentiometer with one that has a wider range and make an ondes martenot like controller for it. I might make an instructable and share what I did if anyone is interested.

Omigosh, that's exactly what I plan to do! Have you done this???
I just built an Ondes Martenot controller, and posted two videos about it on YouTube.

I'd like to know if you've pursued this Stylophone project.

Best,
- Dana Countryman

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:29 am

Happymoogman wrote: I just built an Ondes Martenot controller, and posted two videos about it on YouTube.

- Dana Countryman

ooh links please

sounds fun.

Circuit bending A STYLOPHONE?