Method to bending?

[zephler]

I recently may have lost a SA-5 because of my technique that I use so I wanted to ask others what their technique is.  WHen I bend, I make the two connections wire up the switch, and then just push it to the side and go on with the other bends.  At the end of a project I end up with a huge jumbeled mees of wirees, switches and buttons, that I usually need to untangle, mount the switches, and then reconnect.  Reflecting on this messy technique - I think that I may be causing a dangerous situation because of all of the wires and siwtches crossing, this may cause something that is not good (i.e. death to the device).  So I am asking, how do you go about wiring up a device?  DO you wire each switch and then mount one at a time?  ANy tips or suggestions?

[Dylan]

I usually mark where all the bends are before wiring. When I find all the bends I like, I mount switches/pots/etc and then I solder everything.

[Bogus Noise]

Probably more of a question for the Tips or General section!
But when I was starting out I did it like that - it's fun for instant gratification, but yeah, can be dodgy in some cases, and is harder to work with once you've put a few controls in.
Nowadays I'm more methodical with my methods, and work through the points on a board systematically, writing down any that sound interesting or crash it. I'll go back through them afterwards to see what control type is best and then work out where to mount them all.

[manufactured zero]

Likewise i used to do a bend at a time and wire them in. It's ok until you realise there's no more room and have to start desoldering one bend to make way for another. These days i take a photo of the board and open it in photoshop. Then i just mark what i find on the image with a brief description of what it does and what is needed to make it do it. Then once i think i've found all i can i decide which ones make for the most varied set and go from there. What i keep or ignore is usually relative to how many controls i can fit. There's not much point in three very slightly different drone distortion mods when you've got two other totally different bends but ony enough room for two more controls. Another good lesson i quickly learned is not to try to put everything you find on there. Decide what you'd most like it to do/sound like and pick the best bends for that. Sit down with some paper and sketch out a few designs for controls based on what you've found. You'll find you get a much better idea of how the layout can be logical rather than a selection of random knobs and switches all over the place.

[Circuitbenders]

There's not much point in three very slightly different drone distortion mods when you've got two other totally different bends but ony enough room for two mote controls. Another good lesson i quickly learned is not to try to put everything you find on there. Decide what you'd most like it to do/sound like and pick the best bends for that.

Thats the problem you'll find with 90% of the stuff you see on ebay, mainly because everyone does it when they start out, but theres plenty of experienced circuitbenders that make the same mistake of just jamming in as many bends as possible regardless  of if they are actually any use.

This leads to the problem of some machines made with the 'stick every bend in regardless of how usefull it is' technique selling for absurd amounts of cash because they look more impressive, when a similar machine with half the number of bends, but bends that are carefully selected to actually be usefull sell for half the price.

[Gordonjcp]

Thats the problem you'll find with 90% of the stuff you see on ebay, mainly because everyone does it when they start out, but theres plenty of experienced circuitbenders that make the same mistake of just jamming in as many bends as possible regardless  of if they are actually any use.

This was a problem I ran into with one of my first synth plugins, which was an eight-operator FM synth with all operators cross-connected in all possible ways in a modulation matrix.

It sounded shit.

Most of the matrix settings - especially ones that had feedback loops incorporating two or more oscillators (a loop around one oscillator is fine, the Yamahas have that) which broke into unstable oscillations.  Basically 99% of the patches acheivable were just really *really* loud splattery white noise.

Keeping the control system simple is the key to good, useful sounds.  Compare a Moog modular with a Minimoog - if the modular layout is *that* good, why was the Mini so popular?  Because nearly everything it did was useful perhaps?

[manufactured zero]

Someone tell me how the quote function works 

I'm with you on the modular front. I owned a yamaha cs10 & 15 but sold them both (sadly before the analogue doubles in price boom) and later picked up an ms20. To be honest i really dislike it. Until i found a few video guides on youtube the patchbay was more of a pain than a help. And don't even think about using the korg legacy vsti presets as a guide. The vsti is not an ms20. It does things the real one can't. Even now i'd rather have my cs's than the ms20. All hard wired but just as rich sounding and apart from self triggering madness could take the ms20 on in the ring any day. Apart from the fact i bought it for £600 then a year later i see them going for £1200. What's that all about? Anyway, you've hit the nail on the head there. A bent machine thrown together with even all the crap mods thrown in just because they're there is not only a bitch to get the hang of but often ends up feeling like something that's gonna' die at any second. I have an sa1 here with just about everything i could think of on it. But it's awful. The random patch select crap and a couple of others do nothing other than make it overly complicated to figure out when it hasn't been used for ages. I think the trick to an enjoyable bent machine is to try to make it a varied bit of kit but a straightforward one too. Rather than add something that's there just because, try adding an lfo or diy distortion. You've instantly doubled it's potential with either rather than added a few knobs to increase sale value.

[Dylan]

Someone tell me how the quote function works 

Quote button at the top right of their post.

[manufactured zero]

Someone tell me how the quote function works 

Quote button at the top right of their post.

Like this?

[manufactured zero]

yep!

[MAGTIG]

I've found it helps me to work faster and better to take notes as I go in Illustrator, since my circuit bending desk is also my computer desk.

Here's a pic of a project I started on yesterday. Off to the right are debris from the previous project. Eventually I'll clean it up and make a template with a bunch of button/toggle/switch/pot/resistor, graphics, matrices, etc off to the side for quick copy and pasting. It might seem like a lot of work, but it saves soooo much time in the end, and you wind up finding things more easily because everything is so clearly laid out.

/my two cents

[jamiewoody]

coming from humble beginnings  i found, while bending that hing hon keyboard, my methodology was the following:

probe for crock-jumper for glitches and groovy sounds. when i find a bend, turn off keyboard, and go ahead and solder wires in place. tie wires nicely, so they will fold down while unit is closed. this way, since the 2 wires are tied together, i know they go to a switch or pot.

[YashN]

machines made with the 'stick every bend in regardless of how usefull it is' technique selling for absurd amounts of cash because they look more impressive, when a similar machine with half the number of bends, but bends that are carefully selected to actually be usefull sell for half the price.

Very good point. Give me the useful bends any day.