FauxAudio

performing live at c{space 18sep09

J.D. — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:35:06 +0000

I will be performing live at the c{space in Dayton, Ohio on September 18, 2009 at 7pm.

Beatrix*Jar will be headlining the show and will also be conducting a circuit bending workshop at 11am at Wright State University - for more info about attending email artgalleries [at] wright.edu.

The show and workshop are free to all, and are being presented by WSU’s Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries.

See you there.

permutator: video synthesizer

J.D. — Mon, 25 May 2009 04:30:14 +0000

FauxAudioVideo

The permutator is a circuit bent video synthesizer made from a children’s television drawing pad. Its control interface consists of a breakout box with 22 point patch bay, 2 patchable momentary switches, and 1 patchable 8 pole rotary switch (above) - All of which are wired to the main video chip of the device (left).

While no bends are engaged the drawing pad functions as it was originally intended. Colors and line weights can be selected and drawings can be made directly to the television (or other output device). Fills, text, geometric shapes, and simple ‘clip art’ can be applied in real time. Engaging the bends distorts, skews, and pixelates the drawings into glitchy abstractions of the original drawing. Short term engaging and disengaging of the bends allows the user to redraw over the abstracted output to add additional colors and line.

A short video of the permutator’s video output can be seen below. In the clip my signature (in light blue on a white background) was the original (visible only briefly at the beginning of the video). The pattern changes and resulting pixelation is from an almost constant changing of the patches via the momentary switches and rotary switch controllers. All additional colors and shapes displayed are the result of mis-routed signals in the drawing pad’s internal video processing chip. The soundtrack on the video is a compilation of the output from a circuit bent casio sa-2.

The permutator is included in Nicolas Collins‘ book Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking (second edition). The video short also appears on the book’s accompanying DVD. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about ‘hardware hacking’ and the processes involved in creating electronic music from scratch. It contains a wealth of knowledge that is accessible to the beginner, as well as inspiring to the guru. The first edition of his book was (and continues to be) very influential and inspiring to me in the creation of my work.

Still images taken from video:

In the image above the ‘R’ from my signature (light blue) is visible.

fuzz pedal

J.D. — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 04:49:42 +0000

Faux ’s take on the classic Fuzz distortion pedal. Features include fuzz knob, 2 bias pots, output volume/power knob, green power LED, true bypass switch. From a subtle smoothed out fuzz to severe distortion and clipping. Fun for all ages.

I gifted this pedal to a friend of mine. He’s playing guitar in the video, his daughter on drums.

If you’d be interested in a pedal similar to this post a comment or email me…

circler : bent speak & math

J.D. — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:51:26 +0000

Circuit bent Texas Instruments Speak and Math. The Circler takes its name from its superior looping abilities - the bends on this speak and math focus solely on its ability to ‘catch’ the sound output and recycle it in various ‘loops’ . This circuit bent speak and math is armed with two looping groups (1,2) each with its own modifier switch (which change the nature of the loop), and loop advance buttons. Loop 2 also uses a threshold knob to adjust the modification of the loop from rhythmic hammerings to chaotic non-stop glitch rhythms and beautiful noise. It also features a pitch knob (d) that will swing the pitch up and down - each way to the point of crashing the machine. Three LED buttons act as the toys trigger due to the modification of the original membrane. The trigger buttons light red and flash in sync with the sound output. Output is handled by a 1/4″ switching output jack (b) and is controlled by a volume knob (a). A reset switch (e) is also included for recovery from crashes.

Seeing is believing:

circuit bent speak and math by FauxAudio from FauxAudio on Vimeo.

circuit bent casio pt-100

J.D. — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:29:09 +0000

This circuit bent casio pt-100 has three potentiometers which add a wide range of new sounds to this keyboard. A starve pot (yellow) simulates conditions caused by low batteries including a slurring and modulation of the sound output. Distortion pots (red and green) distort the lead and drum sounds independently. The balance between each distortion effect is also affected by the position of the volume slider (next to FauxAudio logo). The keyboard does not include a reset switch as it has been very stable and has not crashed during testing.

A 1/4″ switching output jack (grey) turns the speaker off when the jack is in use, and output is controled by a volume knob (blue). This keyboard has also been given a custom paint job. Original keyboard has 8 rhythms (drum beats) and 8 lead (instruments) sounds to chose from, as well as the casio chord function.

Enjoy the show: