Moog Celebrates 5th Anniversary Of 'Circuit Bending' Competition

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Circuit-bending is a chance art form pioneered by Reed Gazala in 1966. Combining art, sonic artistry and creativity, and altering the internal circuitry of electronic devices such as keyboards, drum machines, and children's toys, circuit benders produce new sounds not intended in the original design. This year, Moog’s circuit bending challenge was to take a battery powered device and circuit bend it into an instrument capable of creating new and unique sounds. Three finalists have been selected to attend Moogfest where an overall winner will be chosen. Take a look at them here:

In this video the contestant show the process of modifying a Yamaha PSS-140 keyboard with pitch adjustment, FM data line modifications, low pass audio filter, and echo controls while staying under the $70 budget limit.

Vola V-System is a video game inspired sequencer with sound cartridges made from toys. The actual bends are simple, but the concept makes this machine really flexible. It can be a beat machine, "sampler" or toyinstrument. It all depends on what cartridge you use.