I've always loved gear that spoofs interfaces. My first job was with a company making add ons for old telephone exchanges that worked that way. The exchange thought it was just grabbing stuff from its ferrite core memory (very old tech) but it was being manipulated in real time by an alien being like those parasitic barnacles that make male crabs female so they nurture the baby barnacles.
Paul at Circuitbenders is a total dude. He MIDI retrofitted my Roland TR-77, and can also retrofit pretty much any of the classic 70's drum machines from the likes of Ace Tone and Roland.
My lifelong habit of bending audio gear circuits was finally cured when I fried something I couldn't afford to replace. For the tenth time. This looks relatively safe, so say we, "ROCK ON!!!"
I circuit bent my own casio keyboard and yeah it mostly does this when activated. As in mostly noise. But it can sound dirty as hell for when you need that sort of thing. Another great video, get better soon!
Cool to see Circuitbenders UK being reviewed. Another cool product they offer, which requires soldering, is the Audio 2 Trigger. So you can send like an audio rim shot or short percussive sound from your DAW or drum machine from a separate output and Audio 2 Trigger will convert it to a Eurorack gate. Useful for syncing a drum machine to eurorack.
Yessssss, that r8 was just itching to be circuit bent. I would also suggest having the SR-16 bent if you still own it. It does involve soldering the PCB but it's one of the coolest, easiest and most musical sounding bends of all time. There are some really cool sounding demos on CZcams, none of which are as noisy or harsh as the R8. (Provided, it has to be labeled as 16-bit and not 24-bit on the front panel. The 24 bit version is unbendable.)
Not to mention the Alesis HR-16 and HR-16B. These are particularly worthwhile because of their weird 8bit data turned into 16bit audio via bitshift trickery. If you "bend" those, it results in utter awesomeness and sounds very powerful. They're also electronically simple enough to make your own custom sound ROMs using a standard EPROM burner. There are tutorials online about how to recreate and use the bitshift pseudo-16bit trickery. Fun and worthwhile!
Circuit bending is a work of art and a great way to dip one's toes in building instruments and engineering for that matter. Look up "Look Mum No Computer" and you are in for such a treat!
I know of a U-110s and U-220s that have been sitting dusty, unloved and unwanted in a 2nd hand gear shop near home. At budget friendly prices too. I've resisted so far but if I could my hands on this ... The possibilities. Thanx as always. B.
Brutal, on our speakers too. I question the remaining lifetime of my tweeters after this. Also I'd like to extend your warning about circuit bending (as an old Electronics Service tech and enthusiast): Please Do Your Research before attempting circuit bending. Just randomly opening a device and randomly trying to short various solder points in the electronics will most likely lead to destruction of your device as various (especially older) chips will potentially get exposed to overvoltage and parts will be shorted which can result in instantly damaged components. Here's a tip for the potential Circuit bender - please acquire a schematics for the device, check out the chips datasheets and specifications on what voltages it can handle, and have at least BASIC knowledge of electronics - this is not hard to learn, fortunately electronics is very simple to learn and you don't need a ton of math. Just learn a little Ohms laws basics, how capacitors, transistors, diodes and resistors work before you do it. It's well worth it for you all, youtube have plenty of beginner electronics tutorials. And to encourage you to learn: Remember... An electrolytic capacitor CAN EXPLODE and it's not fun to get Metal-Shards from a capacitor or Glass Pieces from a Diode in your eyes - stay safe - stay informed!
I feel like I broke my wow a long time ago. Cheers to the return of Better - so get better soon so we can return to shoveling out the poop on the other end of this channel.
Be soooo careful with soldering them though, TI used oversized holes for the ICs so solder can drip through the board and melt the chips. Did that once. :c
@@gelatinous6915 - I've always found that the oversized holes make modding easier. Once I find a good mod with probes I can heat the pad/pin and slide another small wire right into the hole. Much more robust than tacking fine wires into pins like in my TR-707. But yeah, a few broken devices tend to be part of the learning curve.
I've yet to hear a circuitbent version of an instrument that I've liked, this being no exception. The R-8 sounds great as is, and the circuit bending just sounds... Well, let's say "not for me." Thanks for the video though, it's always interesting to see and hear new ways of using old gear.
I circuit bent an old Akai S01 a few years back. Sample some vocals and drum loops/hits and it weirdly combines the two. Lots of glitchy madness but also some more musical results.
@@AudioPilz Your videos are one of the highlights of my week, regardless of whether or not I like the particular piece of gear. Your ability to come up with different ways of using all these different instruments, in a short amount of time, quite frankly boggles the mind. Keep up the good work :)
The 1st sounds you've made with this thing reminds me of my experiments with the Volca Beats and the WMD Geiger Counter. R.I.P. WMD - you'll be missed!
@@bengencarelle7881 A couple of weeks ago they said on their website they couldn't produce any longer due to chip shortage. But now this text has gone. So let's hope for the best. I'm still hoping to get a Geiger Counter Pro one day.
I got the same sounds out of a zoom mrt-3b drum machine that I circuit bent. I only stopped circuit bending because I went through a string of bricking the f*** out of everything I bent. It really is a great and fun and easy Hobby
I’m huge into industrial so with a mininova, Cycles elektron, microfreak, and a circuit bented portasound 270 (using the Roland arp from a sh-1 engine and with 3 eproms from an1x and this thing) i love the great risk and the high reward of working with circuit bending you get mr. Oizo, errorsmith and idm sounds out of it
@@AudioPilz ever since the editing process of the waveRex sample import card didnt really work for me, the R8 has been sad and quiet. this is delirious and noisy.
More Better Gear!!!!!! Imagine if the Chicago Industrial scene had this, back then! I bet everyone would be using one. When Lead Into Gold formed, they would almost definitely have used it.
This is like the drum machine version of when your NES malfunctions because the connector is dirty and every character in Super Mario Bros was actually represented by a brick.
Nice unit. If I could go back in time to a TR-505 that I got tired of, I would use some sort of piggyback method on the sample roms to clean my job up a bunch, and also use these proper patch bay sockets instead of the thick RCA ones I got from cheap thrift store equipment. It got a lot more useful and interesting the way it ended up, could still work with its defaults sounsd and act as a sequencer, just had far too much wiring inside to properly stay screwed together.
Had a couple of R8s over the years. Both wrecked, I had to import a key membrane from Japan to fix the first one, and the second was so bad I used it as spares for an R5.
@@AudioPilz as I remember, I had to dismantle the whole damned thing to get at the key membrane, layered circuit boards with stuck connectors. Worth it in the end, but I never "gelled" with the R8.
What a refreshing episode… the idea of using the Rom card to short circuits is genius… Love the the start and end clips with the korg M1 00 universal program … 👍☢️
I'm not saying I'm going to buy a setup like this. But I'm certainly going to price and fret about whether I can or should. I've been doing a lot of non-input synthesis lately and it's a lot of work to try and get actual musical use out of the results. This seems a lot more practical.
Ooh this is the thing I always thought about when researching circuit bending, I have a ton of stuff that I'd like to bend but don't have the heart to Frankenstein my gear, very cool!
Don't know what's going on? czcams.com/video/mk2eXZxsn3s/video.html
Full Tracks, Extended Jams, Sample Packs: www.patreon.com/audiopilz
Hope you're feeling better soon :)
Get well!
Get well soon, Florian! Although Better Gear is always much appreciated, a Friday without proper Bad Gear episode is only a fifth day of the week :(
Thank you!!! Trying to get back to the traditional schedule asap
@@AudioPilz
Stress is an underlying factor for balding.
Dont stress your recovery, just plan a BAD GEAR - health recovery special :)
This is so sick, incredibly industrial sounds straight out of a NIN record!
Yeah, probably the most hifi circuit bend I'm aware of
NIN used the R8 quite a bit allegedly
Yeah, It feels like something NIN would use.
I've always loved gear that spoofs interfaces. My first job was with a company making add ons for old telephone exchanges that worked that way. The exchange thought it was just grabbing stuff from its ferrite core memory (very old tech) but it was being manipulated in real time by an alien being like those parasitic barnacles that make male crabs female so they nurture the baby barnacles.
Still a better love story than Twilight...
Paul at Circuitbenders is a total dude. He MIDI retrofitted my Roland TR-77, and can also retrofit pretty much any of the classic 70's drum machines from the likes of Ace Tone and Roland.
Legend!
My lifelong habit of bending audio gear circuits was finally cured when I fried something I couldn't afford to replace. For the tenth time. This looks relatively safe, so say we, "ROCK ON!!!"
It's almost too convenient - such a clean solution
I mean... wow! So, Roland can produce good sound, but it was hidden from us!
Lol, shots fired;)
Hope your feeling better mate, all the best.
Thank you!!!
I circuit bent my own casio keyboard and yeah it mostly does this when activated. As in mostly noise. But it can sound dirty as hell for when you need that sort of thing. Another great video, get better soon!
Sounding loud, clear and relatively crackle free.
The circuit-gadget-thingymajig sounded pretty good too. 😁
That was recorded pre-illness but thanks;)
@@AudioPilz I guessed as much. Get well soon, bro.
Get well soon dude, and thank you for another awesome episode!
Thanks for watching!
Cool to see Circuitbenders UK being reviewed. Another cool product they offer, which requires soldering, is the Audio 2 Trigger. So you can send like an audio rim shot or short percussive sound from your DAW or drum machine from a separate output and Audio 2 Trigger will convert it to a Eurorack gate. Useful for syncing a drum machine to eurorack.
Their bends are the best!
Yessssss, that r8 was just itching to be circuit bent. I would also suggest having the SR-16 bent if you still own it. It does involve soldering the PCB but it's one of the coolest, easiest and most musical sounding bends of all time. There are some really cool sounding demos on CZcams, none of which are as noisy or harsh as the R8. (Provided, it has to be labeled as 16-bit and not 24-bit on the front panel. The 24 bit version is unbendable.)
Yeah, heard about the unbendable 24 bit version
Not to mention the Alesis HR-16 and HR-16B. These are particularly worthwhile because of their weird 8bit data turned into 16bit audio via bitshift trickery. If you "bend" those, it results in utter awesomeness and sounds very powerful.
They're also electronically simple enough to make your own custom sound ROMs using a standard EPROM burner. There are tutorials online about how to recreate and use the bitshift pseudo-16bit trickery. Fun and worthwhile!
@@AudioPilz wouldn't be surprised if I was the one who mentioned it sometime before, I have the memory of a soggy piece of pickled fish.
Circuit bending is a work of art and a great way to dip one's toes in building instruments and engineering for that matter.
Look up "Look Mum No Computer" and you are in for such a treat!
LMNC is a bending master!
Circuit bending is so much fun! I just did it to my Yamaha RX-17 and it's made it soooo much better :)
Nice!!! RXes are ideal for that
Gotta love non-destructive circuit bends.
Yeah, really like the concept of this one!
Eureka you’ve done it again! Better gear is a great idea
It was about time! Thanks!
Dude that makes it sounds SOOOOO sick this is so badass
Yeah, that thing is unique!!!
How rad is this? I just sold my R8, but seeing this use of the machine makes me happy.
😀😀😀
We're learning about this sort of thing in school right now! How timely!
Nice!!!
I know of a U-110s and U-220s that have been sitting dusty, unloved and unwanted in a 2nd hand gear shop near home. At budget friendly prices too. I've resisted so far but if I could my hands on this ... The possibilities. Thanx as always. B.
Totally get the U220 - great strings!
Great content! We need more better gear episodes, all of them are a joy!
Thank you!!!
Industrial heaven. Was not expecting to want this so much.
Yeah, I instantly knew I needed it;)
Ooooh, yeah, I'm gonna have to get this. Will be keeping a close eye on that etsy page.
Just write them a message, there's usually a waiting list
Very cool, sounds great! I was jamming with my circuit-bent HR-16 earlier today, by coincidence! I'll post a vid of the jam later :D
Nice! HR16 is a circuit bending classic!
I killed one of the channels on mine whilst probing about - any idea of a fix?
Had to go straight to the jams for this one. Soz Introduction and friends.
😥
Brutal, on our speakers too. I question the remaining lifetime of my tweeters after this. Also I'd like to extend your warning about circuit bending (as an old Electronics Service tech and enthusiast): Please Do Your Research before attempting circuit bending. Just randomly opening a device and randomly trying to short various solder points in the electronics will most likely lead to destruction of your device as various (especially older) chips will potentially get exposed to overvoltage and parts will be shorted which can result in instantly damaged components.
Here's a tip for the potential Circuit bender - please acquire a schematics for the device, check out the chips datasheets and specifications on what voltages it can handle, and have at least BASIC knowledge of electronics - this is not hard to learn, fortunately electronics is very simple to learn and you don't need a ton of math. Just learn a little Ohms laws basics, how capacitors, transistors, diodes and resistors work before you do it. It's well worth it for you all, youtube have plenty of beginner electronics tutorials. And to encourage you to learn: Remember... An electrolytic capacitor CAN EXPLODE and it's not fun to get Metal-Shards from a capacitor or Glass Pieces from a Diode in your eyes - stay safe - stay informed!
I feel like I broke my wow a long time ago.
Cheers to the return of Better - so get better soon so we can return to shoveling out the poop on the other end of this channel.
Thank you❤️❤️❤️
I have one of their last modded MB33's! great stuff from circuitbenders
Nice!
Get better Florian, love from the States
Thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️
I’ve been keeping an eye out for a cheap R8 for a while now just so I could get one of these. I’m glad you got one!
Funnily enough it seems like they're a bit cheaper than usual atm
Omfg the circuit Alesis HRb is amazing....
Alesis stuff is ideal for that too
Waw, i think my U-20 and U-220 are going to come back in my productions !!!
Yeah, I really want to try it with these two as well!
yes! Phinelli, signature drumsound!
True that!
Feel better soon!
Thank you!!!
AUDIOPILZ IS FINALLY RUNNING OUT OF BAD GEAR, REJOICE FRIENDS! REJOICE
Dream on;)
glad to find your second channel:)
This mod is just beautiful, everything about it.
😀
Get well soon!!!
Thank you!!!
That mod box makes the sounds totally brutal!
Yeah, one of the most hi fi circuit bending sounds I've ever heard
Circuit Bending is finally going mainstream! Time to break out all my Speak & Spells I've been hoarding!
You're talking about your pension fund?;)
Be soooo careful with soldering them though, TI used oversized holes for the ICs so solder can drip through the board and melt the chips. Did that once. :c
@@gelatinous6915 - I've always found that the oversized holes make modding easier. Once I find a good mod with probes I can heat the pad/pin and slide another small wire right into the hole. Much more robust than tacking fine wires into pins like in my TR-707. But yeah, a few broken devices tend to be part of the learning curve.
Roland Patch box will be on my Christmas Wish list
I had to join a waiting list, maybe order it now;)
I've yet to hear a circuitbent version of an instrument that I've liked, this being no exception. The R-8 sounds great as is, and the circuit bending just sounds... Well, let's say "not for me."
Thanks for the video though, it's always interesting to see and hear new ways of using old gear.
I agree , it mostly sounds awful. Just plugging it into guitar pedals would sound better
I circuit bent an old Akai S01 a few years back. Sample some vocals and drum loops/hits and it weirdly combines the two. Lots of glitchy madness but also some more musical results.
Circuit bending is indeed an acquired taste. Thank you!!!
@@AudioPilz Your videos are one of the highlights of my week, regardless of whether or not I like the particular piece of gear. Your ability to come up with different ways of using all these different instruments, in a short amount of time, quite frankly boggles the mind. Keep up the good work :)
The 1st sounds you've made with this thing reminds me of my experiments with the Volca Beats and the WMD Geiger Counter.
R.I.P. WMD - you'll be missed!
Always wanted to have one of these!
what happened to WMD?
@@bengencarelle7881 A couple of weeks ago they said on their website they couldn't produce any longer due to chip shortage. But now this text has gone. So let's hope for the best. I'm still hoping to get a Geiger Counter Pro one day.
@@strelokknoize a lot of folks have gone under. Sucks.
Hope ye feel better dude 🖤
Thanks! Getting better by the hour!❤️❤️❤️
I got the same sounds out of a zoom mrt-3b drum machine that I circuit bent. I only stopped circuit bending because I went through a string of bricking the f*** out of everything I bent. It really is a great and fun and easy Hobby
The "I brick everything" phase is something every bender needs to go through obviously;)
Beautiful man! Thanks! For a second I thought I was going to have withdrawals from my favorite gear channel.
Thanks!!! Don't worry;)
I’m huge into industrial so with a mininova, Cycles elektron, microfreak, and a circuit bented portasound 270 (using the Roland arp from a sh-1 engine and with 3 eproms from an1x and this thing) i love the great risk and the high reward of working with circuit bending you get mr. Oizo, errorsmith and idm sounds out of it
Portasounds are great circuit bending victims!!!
A lot of this reminds me of the music from the club scene in Robocop.
Needs more orchestra hit;)
Great card!! Great instruments!! TB-3!!😁👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼🔥🔥🔥🤟🤟🤟
❤️❤️❤️
Sounds incredible. Simple as.
Yeah, so dirty!
As someone who listens almost exclusively to industrial, I like this one a lot.
Ideal for that genre!
Jam 1 slams! I had to switch from laptop speakers to bluetooth speakers to give it justice. Feel better.
Thank you!
Another great vid. Thanks.
Thanks for watching!!!
Yeah!!!! Bad..Now Better…Fantastic!
😀
I love that scene in T2
Just recently watched T2 in 70mm❤️❤️❤️
That first demo sounded so much like classic Chemical Brothers!😮
Thank you!!!
Thats pretty awesome! And very cool that you don't have to permanently alter the hardware.
Yeah, love the concept!
im crying i need this
I feel you
@@AudioPilz ever since the editing process of the waveRex sample import card didnt really work for me, the R8 has been sad and quiet. this is delirious and noisy.
That thing is rad I no longer have to buy casinos at the swap meet
;)
i likw it Audiopilz bad gear is awesome but a bit of better gear is a bonus
Thank you so much!!!
Brilliant.
😀
More Better Gear!!!!!!
Imagine if the Chicago Industrial scene had this, back then! I bet everyone would be using one. When Lead Into Gold formed, they would almost definitely have used it.
They could have just shorted contacts in the ROM slot;)
@@AudioPilz Yup. Instead they just used distortion, and such, externally.
It adds an appreciable degree of kaputtness to the R-8! 👍😀
Agreed!
This is like the drum machine version of when your NES malfunctions because the connector is dirty and every character in Super Mario Bros was actually represented by a brick.
Aren't there actual NES circuit bends out there?
this thing sounds very addictive
I liked that one quite a bit😀
Very cool! It is like a Skinny Puppy - VIVIsectVI - shake-and-bake DYI kit box.
True that!
Nice unit. If I could go back in time to a TR-505 that I got tired of, I would use some sort of piggyback method on the sample roms to clean my job up a bunch, and also use these proper patch bay sockets instead of the thick RCA ones I got from cheap thrift store equipment. It got a lot more useful and interesting the way it ended up, could still work with its defaults sounsd and act as a sequencer, just had far too much wiring inside to properly stay screwed together.
TR-505 hacks are legendary!
Had a couple of R8s over the years. Both wrecked, I had to import a key membrane from Japan to fix the first one, and the second was so bad I used it as spares for an R5.
Yeah, some of these have seen quite some use over the years
@@AudioPilz as I remember, I had to dismantle the whole damned thing to get at the key membrane, layered circuit boards with stuck connectors. Worth it in the end, but I never "gelled" with the R8.
Hell yeah! 💥
😀
I swear I could hear Ron Morelli's neck make a 180º turn at 3:48 from a distance
;)
I can tell you had a blast and couldn’t help to smile 👾
Yeah, that thing is super fun to use!
Cheezus!!!!! I have to order the Behringer Superfuzz immediately!!!! lol
Lolz
Excited to see this. Love all your content! This spin on bad/better is great. Dope info for the masses,
Thank you!!!
At the second glance this item is switching all the switches.
True that😂😂😂
Jam 2 sounds like splatoon story mode music (in the best way possible)
😀Thanks!
What a refreshing episode… the idea of using the Rom card to short circuits is genius…
Love the the start and end clips with the korg M1 00 universal program … 👍☢️
Thank you!!! Love that preset!
of course!!! why wait to ridding modular gear!!!Thanks
Modular gear is just too addictive;)
Get well soon!
Thank you!!!
Amazing !!!
❤️
I have one with a u220..had it about 2 years..pretty cool.
Nice!!!
It’s been too long a wait for a better gear episode, sad it only took you getting Ill to make it happen. ;)
I had originally planned to release it next week on Wednesday but it totally came in handy in this situation
The Chemical Brothers sample in the intro is awsome!
And in the outro is awsome too! :)
That's actually a Korg M1 preset;) Thanks!
Hot damn that R-8 sounds good.
So brutal, love it!!!
cool episode thanks :D
Thanks for watching!!!
That jam number 2 is awesome, man, you could make a ham sandwich sound like gold.
Thank you so much!!!
I'm not saying I'm going to buy a setup like this. But I'm certainly going to price and fret about whether I can or should. I've been doing a lot of non-input synthesis lately and it's a lot of work to try and get actual musical use out of the results. This seems a lot more practical.
Ooh this is the thing I always thought about when researching circuit bending, I have a ton of stuff that I'd like to bend but don't have the heart to Frankenstein my gear, very cool!
Yeah, the concept of this is just too nice!
i just subscribed again even when i was subscribed to audiopilz hahahah
😀
Better Gear? Not Bad Gear?! Woahhhh *mind explodes* Great idea, tbh, I was wondering what you would do when you ran out of bad gear to review 🤟
Thanks!!! Running out of Bad Gear isn't a thing as long as there's Roland;)
@@AudioPilz haha 😘
get better soon!!
lg aus wien 😎
Danke dir!!!❤️
Better Gear is always on Sunday. This makes it holy lol
Amen!
Now I see why you recommended this hahah. Breakout boxes are cool.
😀
Get well soon
So clever to use the card slot. 😲
Left me mind blown too!
Wow, this thing is pretty slick if you want to make music like Autechre or Squarepusher
Agreed!
That is really cool!
😀😀😀
Oh cool.....I must have one!
Much recommended!
@@AudioPilz It's like very complex, gear-specific distortion pedal. I wonder if it would work with my D-50?
good stuff, I've been looking at that CB box for a while 🙂
I really liked that one!
2.10 onwards sounds like something building up in a Deathchant records release. Love it
😀
@@AudioPilz ha, sorry.... Meant 1.52, the moment when you just stabbed the two hardcore techno rods into into the sonic vortex
Awesome stuff!
😀