Bendinator 2.1 - Circuit Bent Toy Keyboard

Before starting this post, I'd like to point out I almost lost my mind bending this keyboard. Even though I had done one before, this time it was fraught with problems. The circuit board was also different from the first one, which led to some issues. At one point when tired I though I had destroyed the whole thing, but it turned out the batteries had just gone flat.

Since doing this I also no longer solder late at night when tired as I just end up making stupid mistakes, but sometimes its like an addiction and I can't walk away from an open case!

The Bendinator 2.1 is another Boots Karaoke Toy Keyboard, based on what I did with the Bendinator 2 which turned out well. The 2.1 has some differences in bends though :

No Glitch control

Added LFO Socket and switch for Pitch control

Added LFO Socket and switch/pot for Blip control (a repeating effect)

No Speaker Kill switch

It still has :

Reset Button

Doom Setting

Octave Down Setting

Pitch Control

Distortion

Output Socket

LED Blue Inner Lights

The addition of the LFO sockets works really well and I can get some crazy sounds, I will be posting a video soon, and hopefully some finished tracks using the keyboard.

Here are some pictures at different angles, not sure the black paint job is as good as the grey, but i only had enough grey to spray the buttons, so the body had to be black. It reminds me a bit of a 70s Dalek!

Bendinator 2.1 with External LFO

Sockets for LFO

Main Controls for Pitch and Distortion

These control are for the LFO features

More Shots from different angles

Circuit Bent Toy for Easter

My son bought this for I think a pound at a charity shop and wanted to try Circuit bending himself so we did this together. It's not a great candidate for bending, and I would say its a slightly unwilling participant in our plans. Having said that I might use it in a recording perhaps and it does have a good range of crazyness, if you're willing to put up the limitations.

The components inside are those tiny micro-resistor things, and the only bend I could find was Pitch, but it crashes out a lot at the top end, and the pitch is not that good in range.

So basically we've added a switch to enable the bend, a pot to control pitch, and a reset button, as there needed to be a quick way to reset it when it crashes.

Due to the lack of room in the casing, there was no opportunity for an output jack, and the controls has to be fitted to the back of the toy. This makes it a little tricky to operate but you can produce some weird noises etc.

Here are some pics, and a video.

LFO Project

Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO)

I built this LFO to use with the Bendinator 3 but actually i think it will be much better suited to the Bendinator 2, and the new version i'm building Bendinator 2.2 which will be the same but with a port for the LFO.

Inside I have a 555 Timer Circuit with a LED coupled to a LDR (Light Dependant Resistor) then connected to the jack socket. The LED and LDR are encased in a blob of modelling clay, if this is ever scanned by Airport security or taken apart by the Police it's not going to look good. There are four AA batteries in a battery clip, and obviously the connections to the switch and Pot.

Bendinator 3

The Bendinator 3 is a 'little steps' keyboard i bought in Tesco for £6, which is a lot more than i've paid for some of the others, and as it turns out is a bit limited in what you can bend.

Basically it's just the pitch that i've found, so i've added a pitch control with switch, and body contacts with switch and fine pitch adjust.

I've also added a socket on the back to connect an external LFO box which i'm currently building, video to follow soon.

The bendinator 3 is currently being used by DJ and producer Steve Noxx, who has made a track using the keyboard, hopefully will add a link to that soon.

Bendinator 3 with LFO Video

A song made using the Bendinator 3

Steve Noxx - Look At Me (Radio Mix) SAMPLE by stevenoxx

Circuit Bending - What you might need

Hi, thought I would share some of the components and bits that I have found useful in my circuit bending so far. Most of these I have used in the picture above, apart from the motor. Not sure how I will add a motor to a project but my son found it, and I added it.

This is my main box but I also have two others with other things, like soldering irons, and some tools like Jewellers screw driver set, plyers, wire (0.2mm the thinner the better)

The body contacts are just cheap nuts and bolts from a DIY store which when connected to certain parts of a circtuit and produce good results when touched on the outside of the case. (see Bendinator 3)

The Bendinator 2 Circuit Bent Keyboard

Hi, welcome back, today's blog is about my second circuit bending project. My chosen victim was a Boots Karoke Children's Toy keyboard which I bought from a charity shop for 75p.

The visual feel of the keyboard is quite sci-fi/industrial and so is the sound really. It's quite different from the Bendinator 1 which was more Analogue Synthy.

Here is a picture of the keyboard when I first had it.

Here it is after the bending process is complete.

Here's what i did to it in all :

Custom grey/black paint job

Blue clear plastic over vent gaps with inner lit blue LED (after removing side plastic bits)

Added Reset switch

Speaker Kill switch

Jack Output

Pitch Control

Doom Setting

Tranpose notes setting

Distortion switch

Glitch control with momentary on, and on/off switch

Here are some more pics and a video demo of some of the sounds, but because there are so many combinations of bends etc, this isnt everything it can do. I'm still discovering more effects, sounds etc. I will either update with another video or possibly a music track when I make a song with it.

Simple Flashing LED Circuit using 555 Timer IC

Although not amazingly useful in itself wanted to see if I could build a simple flashing LED circuit with a controllable flash rate, to maybe make the LED part of a vactrol to then effect pitch or some other aspect of sound in one of my circuit bent keyboards.

So many tutorials and examples on youtube, it turned out quite easy, thanks to chilliqueen2007 for the easiest to follow though.

Next step to make it properly on a strip board.

After that may attempt to make a guitar pedal that uses the circuit to make an adjustable tremolo effect or whatever i can think of at the time.

Although very sad this was a great way to spend an evening, apart from the first attempt where i cooked the chip and burnt my finger!

Felt good to use my brain to do something outside of my comfort zone, can see me slowly becoming more interested in electronics and what not.

Also weirdly the flashing LED seems to be in time with the music I used from my old band Box Of Thumbs at some points in the video too. Coincidence? yes, yes of course.