Looking for a unique sound?? -- Then bend your childhood toys

A few years ago I tried my hand at producing Psychedelic Trance..... Although I wouldn't say I failed in my mission to write what I thought was Psychedelic Trance, I could see that other people couldn't relate to it as specifically, 'Psychedelic' trance... why? well.. I'll tell you what i think.

Psytrance, has had the tendency to become a uniform style of production and structure at the mercy of a few different elements. Two specifically spring to mind.... that is.. the very distinguished characteristics and modulation possibilities of the Clavia Nord Lead and the Access Virus synthesizers. For me, classifying something as psychedelic then restricting it to particular sounds-scapes seemes to lead the genre on a path to self destruction... and so... although I still participate in the festival part of the scene I no longer wish to participate in the production of the music itself. Sure, genres can always be lead in different directions and I could have attempted to do this but it seems I have became more interested over time not so much in dynamic modulation of filters, envelopes and oscillators that Psytrance artists do so well, but in Signal manipulation.... that, and I wanted to experiment more with percussion... Psytrance by its very nature restricts this somewhat.


So, signal manipulation.... what is that exactly? for me, it implies a form of manipulation of a digital signal that extends beyond the usual modulations of the synthesizer..... why is this so interesting? well, the process by which you do this can be entirely unique... giving you a sound that can be truly yours, which is something many artists aspire towards. Using the machines other people have made is going to render you with similar results that others will have using those same machines. But, how many people have opened their toy piano and messed with the circuitry the same way you have... well, not many; this is the appeal of circuit bending. Circuit bending is the art of rebuilding machines, toys or whatever to make unique sounds through their unique circuitry.... fascinating.




(Above) A video demonstrating some circuit bending in action

Unfortunately, I do not have skills in the field of electronics and so I haven't done any as yet, although, I do have a toy piano I picked up in an op-shop in rural Victoria just begging to be messed with. For some excellent info on Circuit bending visit Getlofi.com