{{Short description|Modification of an electronic device to create an instrument}}{{Original research|date=May 2008}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025|cs1-dates=y}} {{Use list-defined references|date=January 2022}} thumb|Probing for "bends" using a jeweler's screwdriver and alligator clips '''Circuit bending''' is the modification of circuits in electronic devices such as children's toys and digital synthesizers to change or control their sound output, usually by dismantling the machine and adding components such as switches and potentiometers.
Circuit bending has commonly been associated with noise music, though many other contemporary musicians have experimented with it.
== Experimental process == {{More citations needed section|date=June 2019}} [[File:Circuit-1.png|thumb|A circuit-bent Walkman]] thumb|right|A 1989 Kawasaki toy guitar used in a circuit bending project The process of circuit bending involves experimenting with inexpensive second-hand electronics that produce sounds, such as toys, keyboards, drum machines, and electronic learning products.<ref name="Mirapaul">{{cite news |last1=Mirapaul |first1=Matthew |title=Circuit Benders Unlock the Long Riffs in Short-Circuits |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_bending |access-date=9 November 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=8 April 2004}}</ref>
thumb|right|A Yamaha PSR-6 used in a circuit bending project
== Innovators== Serge Tcherepnin, designer of the Serge modular synthesizers, discussed his early experiments in the 1950s with the transistor radio, in which he found circuit points that responded sonically to touch, and wired them to "body contacts" on the plastic chassis.<ref name="Vail_2000" />
In the late 1960s, musician and technologist Reed Ghazala happened upon a similar phenomenon when, according to his recollection, a metal object fell onto the exposed circuit of his RadioShack amplifier, shorting it out and resulting in unexpected sounds.<ref name="alien_instruments">{{Cite book |last=Ghazala |first=Reed |title=Circuit-bending: build your own alien instruments |date=2005 |publisher=Wiley Pub |isbn=978-0-7645-8887-7 |series=ExtremeTech |location=Indianapolis, IN}}</ref>{{rp|p=8}} This experience inspired him to begin building circuit bent instruments intentionally. Ghazala coined the term "circuit bending" for the practice in 1992.<ref name="alien_instruments" />{{rp|p=8}}<ref name=sound_inventions>{{Cite book |title=Sound inventions: selected articles from experimental musical instruments |date=2021 |last1=Ghazala |first1=Reed |chapter=Circuit-bending and living instruments |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-003-00352-6 |editor-last=Hopkin |editor-first=Bart |series=Sound design series |location=Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY |editor-last2=Tewari |editor-first2=Sudhu}}</ref><ref name="Deahl_2018" /> He was described by Motherboard as the "father of circuit bending."<ref name="vice">{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Brian |title=Meet Reed Ghazala, the Father of Circuit Bending |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-reed-ghazala-the-father-of-circuit-bending/ |access-date=18 September 2025 |work=VICE |date=7 August 2014}}</ref>
Starting in 1984, Swiss duo Voice Crack began creating music by manipulating common electronic devices in a practice they termed "cracked everyday electronics."<ref name="Paris_2008" />
== Notable users== {{div col |colwidth=18em}} * Broadcast<ref>{{cite web |last=O’Neal |first=Sean |date=January 14, 2011 |title=R.I.P. Trish Keenan of Broadcast |url=https://www.avclub.com/r-i-p-trish-keenan-of-broadcast-1798223675 |website=AV Club |location= |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207184855/https://www.avclub.com/r-i-p-trish-keenan-of-broadcast-1798223675 |archive-date=December 7, 2024 |access-date=December 13, 2025}}</ref> * Peter Gabriel<ref name=motherboard_TV /> * King Crimson<ref name=motherboard_TV>{{cite web |last1=Yeaton |first1=Sean |last2=Pasternack |first2=Alex |date=June 22, 2011 |title=Motherboard TV: The Father of Circuit Bending: Reed Ghazala |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/motherboard-tv-reed-ghazala/ |website=Vice |location= |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251213192655/https://www.vice.com/en/article/motherboard-tv-reed-ghazala/ |archive-date=December 13, 2025 |access-date=December 13, 2025}}</ref> * Modified Toy Orchestra<ref>{{cite web |last=Scott-Bates |first=Paul |date=October 29, 2022 |title=Modified Toy Orchestra: Silfurberg – album review |url=https://louderthanwar.com/modified-toy-orchestra-silfurberg-album-review/ |website=Louder than War |location= |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031202840/https://louderthanwar.com/modified-toy-orchestra-silfurberg-album-review/ |archive-date=October 31, 2022 |access-date=December 13, 2025}}</ref> * Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo)<ref>{{cite web |last=Leatherman |first=Benjamin |date=September 16, 2010 |title=Why Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh Befriended Local Circuit Bender Corey Busboom |url=https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/why-devos-mark-mothersbaugh-befriended-local-circuit-bender-corey-busboom-6438689/ |website=Phoenix New Times |location=Phoenix |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529085944/https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/why-devos-mark-mothersbaugh-befriended-local-circuit-bender-corey-busboom-6438689 |archive-date=May 29, 2024 |access-date=December 13, 2025}}</ref> * Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails)<ref name=off_on_a_bender /> * The Rolling Stones<ref name=motherboard_TV /> * Ana da Silva (The Raincoats)<ref name=circuit_bending_101>{{cite web |last=Elhaj |first=Emily |date=August 15, 2019 |title=Circuit Bending 101 (...and a little more) |url=https://www.earthquakerdevices.com/blog-posts/circuit-bending-101 |website=Earthquaker Devices |location= |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250223184022/https://www.earthquakerdevices.com/blog-posts/circuit-bending-101 |archive-date=February 23, 2025 |access-date=December 12, 2025}}</ref> * Voice Crack<ref name="Paris_2008" /> * Tom Waits<ref name=motherboard_TV /><ref name=off_on_a_bender>{{cite web |last=Leatherman |first=Benjamin |date=August 10, 2006 |title=Off on a Bender |url=https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/off-on-a-bender-6401701/ |website=Phoenix New Times |location=Phoenix |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118200849/https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/off-on-a-bender-6401701 |archive-date=January 18, 2022 |access-date=December 13, 2025}}</ref> * Paul Meany (Mutemath, Twenty One Pilots) <ref name="Interview with MUTEMATH">{{cite web |title=Interview WIth Mutemath |url=https://smashmagpresents.com/magazine-archive/oldsite/is16_mutemath.html |website=Smash Magazine |location= |publisher= Fred Morledge |date=January 28, 2006 |access-date=January 15, 2026}} </ref>{{div col end}}
== See also == [[Image:Kraakdoos (Cracklebox).jpg|thumb|Kraakdoos]] {{div col |colwidth=18em}} * Atari Punk Console * Chiptune * Data bending * Glitch (musical genre) * Glitching * Kraakdoos (CrackleBox) * Lo-fi music * MIDIbox * MOS Technology SID * Music Tech Fest * NIME * Noise music{{div col end}}
== References== <references> <ref name="Deahl_2018">{{cite web |title=Hacking a Furby in the name of music |author-last=Deahl |author-first=Dani |date=2018-09-14 |website=The Verge |language=en |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/14/17844906/circuit-bending-hacking-a-furby-in-the-name-of-music |access-date=2020-07-11}}</ref> <ref name="Vail_2000">{{cite book |title=Vintage Synthesizers: Pioneering Designers, Groundbreaking Instruments, Collecting Tips, Mutants of Technology |author-last=Vail |author-first=Mark |publisher=Backbeat Books |edition=2.00 |date=2000-03-15}}</ref> <ref name="Paris_2008">{{cite web |title=Yule 2008 |url=http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/monthly2008/12dec_text.html#3 |access-date=2015-06-03}}</ref> </references>
== Further reading == * {{cite web |title=Circuit-Bending and DIY Culture |author-first1=Alexandre Marino |author-last1=Fernandez |author-first2=Fernando |author-last2=Iazzetta |url=http://scribd.com/doc/89212547/Circuit-bending-and-the-DIY-Culture |access-date=2022-01-04}} * {{cite magazine |title=Floppy-Symphonie |language=de |author-first=Philip |author-last=Steffan |department=Bastelprojekt |magazine=c't Hacks |publisher=Heise Zeitschriften Verlag |issue=1 |volume=2014 |date=2014 |pages=149 |url=https://maker-faire.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Musik-mit-Floppies.pdf |access-date=2022-01-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101174337/https://maker-faire.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Musik-mit-Floppies.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-01}}
== External links == * [http://www.oddmusic.com/illogic/index.html oddmusic.com's circuit bending section] – Gallery of some of Reed Ghazala's work, facts, history, tutorial, benders guide, tools of the trade and more * [http://www.getlofi.com GetLoFi] a circuit bending blog with a lot of circuit bending tips and resources * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110831142946/http://tv.sonicstate.com/play.php?vid=155 Interview on Circuit Bending with Igor Amokian Part I]
{{Experimental music genres}} {{DIY Culture in Electronic Music}} {{Chiptune-footer}}
Category:Electronics and society Category:Electronic musical instruments Category:DIY culture Category:Underground culture