Paul Slocum emailed to say he appreciated the post on his work but perhaps isn't so happy to be slapped into the "circuit bending" category: Is my work really
circuit bending? key differences: (1) that traditional circuit bending has
more of a chaotic element to it (placing wires without knowing exactly
what's going to happen) where my stuff is mostly deliberate and
calculated. And (2) while traditional circuit bending doesn't require much
technical expertise, my work requires a ridiculous amount of geeky
programming knowledge. (3) That my work really falls into the realm of
software modification much more than hardware modification. All of my
devices can easily be returned to their original state either by removing a
cartridge or EPROM. Not so of circuit bend items. My stuff's like
"Circuit Folding" or something.
In your blog, you are usually pretty unforgiving of redundant art. Does
circuit bending deserve a bit of a thrashing here? Reed Ghazala thoroughly
explored the idea what, like 25 years ago? And wasn't Nam Jun Paik kind of
a bender as well (long before that)? I love that bending is accessible to
so many people, but in many cases the audio results are totally
unlistenable. The process and concept is the interesting part, and that's
been so explored. It seems like it's time for something beyond a confused
Speak & Spell and croaking SK-1. I'm kinda torn about the whole thing. I described the genre as "emerging" but Ghazala says in the interview linked above that he started using found consumer electronics to make sound in the '60s. But the "instruments as sculpture" aspect of the trend perhaps isn't so interesting. The Nautical Almanac machines posted earlier intrigue because they look like form following function, whether that's actually true or not. (Genuine bricolage as opposed to self-consciously arty bricolage--though the guitar body is pushing it.) Similarly, just because one rewired a consumer device doesn't make the sound interesting. Again, I liked NA the times I heard them as much for the mic-swallowing, pushing-the-limit intensity of their live act--and complex, hybrid analog/digital sounds I didn't think I'd heard before--as the tweaking of instruments. The question here is whether circuit-bending is a big or well defined enough field to incorporate Slocum's light, software-based interventions into existing equipment and Cory Arcangel's hacked Nintendo cartridges. Maybe that is the evolution of the genre, rather than something completely different. Which is not to say I'm not guilty of indulging in a facile journalistic hook.
Who knows, maybe I haven't seen the right stuff. But as you can imagine, I get emailed links to circuit bending related stuff all the time. I really do love the concept of circuit bending and think it has potential. I'd love to see something that really blows me away, but most of the work I've seen in the last few years has been kinda boring -- performances, recordings, and devices. Definitely my favorite bends are the ones for the Fisher Price Pixelvision video camera.
Circuit bending just doesn't seem very useful for making music. A lot of those toys and keyboards sound crazy and awesome whether they're modified or not. In my previous band we used most of the same kinds of stuff people bend, but unmodified. They still sounded kickass. We used the Atari 2600 back then too -- just stuck a mic on the TV, grabbed a joystick, and played Pitfall to the beat!
Circuit bending makes useful audio material if you have a well 'bent' machine which when in the hands of an experienced bender is mostly calculated as well.
That said, circuit bent machines' random nature are also an asset. They can provide phrases of sounds that just could not be made up in one's head.
I do think the distinction made between circuit bending and folding is interesting but one is not necessarily better than the other.
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Paul Slocum emailed to say he appreciated the post on his work but perhaps isn't so happy to be slapped into the "circuit bending" category: I described the genre as "emerging" but Ghazala says in the interview linked above that he started using found consumer electronics to make sound in the '60s. But the "instruments as sculpture" aspect of the trend perhaps isn't so interesting. The Nautical Almanac machines posted earlier intrigue because they look like form following function, whether that's actually true or not. (Genuine bricolage as opposed to self-consciously arty bricolage--though the guitar body is pushing it.) Similarly, just because one rewired a consumer device doesn't make the sound interesting. Again, I liked NA the times I heard them as much for the mic-swallowing, pushing-the-limit intensity of their live act--and complex, hybrid analog/digital sounds I didn't think I'd heard before--as the tweaking of instruments. The question here is whether circuit-bending is a big or well defined enough field to incorporate Slocum's light, software-based interventions into existing equipment and Cory Arcangel's hacked Nintendo cartridges. Maybe that is the evolution of the genre, rather than something completely different. Which is not to say I'm not guilty of indulging in a facile journalistic hook.
- tom moody 11-30-2004 5:01 am
Who knows, maybe I haven't seen the right stuff. But as you can imagine, I get emailed links to circuit bending related stuff all the time. I really do love the concept of circuit bending and think it has potential. I'd love to see something that really blows me away, but most of the work I've seen in the last few years has been kinda boring -- performances, recordings, and devices. Definitely my favorite bends are the ones for the Fisher Price Pixelvision video camera.
Circuit bending just doesn't seem very useful for making music. A lot of those toys and keyboards sound crazy and awesome whether they're modified or not. In my previous band we used most of the same kinds of stuff people bend, but unmodified. They still sounded kickass. We used the Atari 2600 back then too -- just stuck a mic on the TV, grabbed a joystick, and played Pitfall to the beat!
- paul 11-30-2004 8:23 pm
Circuit bending makes useful audio material if you have a well 'bent' machine which when in the hands of an experienced bender is mostly calculated as well.
That said, circuit bent machines' random nature are also an asset. They can provide phrases of sounds that just could not be made up in one's head.
I do think the distinction made between circuit bending and folding is interesting but one is not necessarily better than the other.
- j 12-01-2004 3:21 am