Audio from Circuit-Bent Casio SK-1

More on the modded Casio SK-1 (see a previous post).

Just letting you know that I’ve found a crude way to provide some audio of the circuit-bent synth. No player will open, no sales agent will visit your home. This piece was something I was working on to see how different circuit-shorts would sound and colour chords. I’m finding there is much to learn about recording this keyboard. Despite its overall freakiness, there are a lot of subtleties in texture that can get rail-roaded without some finesse with EQs and limiters. Like the keyboard itself, it is an ongoing learning curve.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think of the piece.

Also, here are some links to various other circuit-bent resources, if you are looking for some general information, more specific information, or craaaaazy information.

The End of Brave New Waves - Your Stories

Canada's premier weirdness radio show, Brave New Waves, has been cancelled by CBC radio.

Since 1984, Brave New Waves has been generating late-night strangeness for insomniacs and underground music fans alike. I happen to be both, so it was perfect for me.

Long before the internet was a household reality for most of us, BNW was the primary source of bringing us the newest music from outside the margins, and filling in the blanks in our music knowledge with their extensive artist features. As a reformed record-store snob, I can say that these artist profiles helped me understand the interconnections and collaborations between artists in different cities: Portland, Oregon; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Louisville, Tennesee; Cologne, Germany. This kind of stuff used to be really important to me.

Lying in bed in the desiccated suburbs of an Okanagan town, my world expanded every night. In university, we had a party to mark Brent Bambury's last show and Patti Schmidt's first. What I've found over the last few weeks is that everyone I talk to has a similar story. Brave New Waves had a major impact on a lot of people, over the years.

Let's celebrate it.

I'm looking to collect some of these stories from Brave New Waves listeners. I am pitching pieces at various magazines about the end of BNW, and how important it was to us, and I am looking to hear some peoples' anecdotes about the show's impact on their life. This is not about getting CBC to change their decision (that can be someone else's job), it is simply about officially recognizing the cultural impact of this important show.

If you are interested in participating, either leave a comment below or email me. I'm looking for all Brave New Waves tales, be they tales of woe or tales of WHOAH!

Circuit Bent Casio

I realize it has been about three weeks since I last posted, but I've been busier than I expected I'd be. I will endeavor to have more posts up more frequently in the coming weeks. Of course, you can always click the "Midnight Poutine" link at right to get your weekly fill of my unique brand of the lowest-form-of-humour.

Part of what has been keeping me busy is a recently re-acquired keyboard. I've had this Casio SK-1 kicking around for many years, but about a year ago I gave it to circuit genius David Smith to re-work. The idea of "circuit bending" is to create short-circuits inside the keyboard that result in unpredictable (often non-repeatable) sounds. The SK-1 happens to be particularly suited to these modifications as it was one of the first sampling keyboards made, and has this strange one-key-play function, which allows you record a phrase and play it back bit by bit with a single button.

I'll figure out a way to post some of the short pieces I've made with the modded Casio, but I thought that I'd post some images of it, just to explain my absence and also, you know, make people jealous. I'll be using it in a few upcoming projects, but right now am simply trying to figure out what happens when I plug cables into various touch-points. The variations are very nearly endless. Which, for a guy with very limited skillz, makes for a very steep learning curve and gobs of post-it notes. Stay (altered) tuned...