GetLoFi - Circuit Bending Synth DIY

(Tim Kaiser @ Bent Festival 2008 MN photo by Stephen.Squared)

While we all wait for Dr Rek’s HD recordings of every performance to be put on-line here are some snap cam shots to hold you over.

Eraser

Caly McMorrow

Datura 1.0

Igloo Martian

The above videos barely scratch the surface of the insanity. Dr Rek will turn this all upside down very soon.

One of the many things that I love about the Intermedia Arts Center is their 30+ foot projection screen! Each artist was able to have the creative control over the video that was displayed while they played and in case they didn’t have one, the old standby “wireless cam” was called into action. For some unknown reason it glitches on its own. Maybe its the WiFi interference or cell phones, however the visuals generated tend to flow with the music and the general mood of the room. Most everyone had a DVD or a VJ present however. To me personally the video goes hand in hand with the sound. I guess I’m a little spoiled to expect 2 or 3 beamers going at the same time during every show. Enjoy.

( From Left: Igloo Martian, Circuit Ben, Datura 1.0, TC, Eraser, Jar from Beatrix*Jar )
Written By: Rodney Clark

Here I am three days after getting back from Bent Fest MPLS 2008 and I’m still a buzz. Once again I made the journey with my brother (Igloo Martian) whom I picked up in route in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He was slated that same night to open the festivities for MPLS with a performance at 8pm. It was the start of an endless assault of bent madness. Every single performer, Installation artist, and workshop host, gave it their all and none fell short of amazing. There were 3 installations, 5 workshops, 1 BBQ, and 18 live performances. Notables this year were all of the international friends I had a chance to make. In the Midwest we were graced with artist such as, Eraser from Italy, Dr. Rek from Japan, and The Circuit Ben Reaction along with DJ Tendraw from the UK. All of whom were the coolest cats east of the pond. I spent most of the down time chillin’ with the European crowd, taking to them about thrifting. The look on their eyes… as they walked into the thrift shops, was that of a child on his or her 6th birthday. It was altogether the greatest gift to these guys… just to walk into the places we seldom celebrate, due to our lack of any shortage of thrifting in the USA. They were all quick to let me know they have nothing like it in their countries and were stoked to be able to score a few good possible bends on the cheap. Beside the international crowd, there were a few other national benders I had wanted to meet for a while. So that too was a huge pleasure, not to mention all the old friends and faces from past gatherings I was able to reconnect with. All in all a great weekend full of bending. (Oh…and somewhere during the weekend I sold a couple CD’s and fit in a performance of my own, under the preforming name Life as Number Five.) In closing…probably the biggest thing I took away, was the fact that the art of Bending is spreading. With the influx of regional and international artist’s only verifies the fact that this is no longer an American monopoly of a talent pool. Rather we need to branch out to Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, Africa, and yes if need be, the Antarctic. We should work on getting a fest to populated bent areas of the globe. Travel cost hold many back whom would like to be a part of the festivities. Maybe a festival…even if not under the name “BENT FEST” for a location / destination in my opinion would work out fine. As long as it’s an event organized to gather and spread the word of the art, that is quickly gaining a crowd. Until next year my friends!

DJ Tendraw - Photo by Stephen.Squared

Dr Rek. - Photo by Stephen.Squared

Wow, is all I can say after the Minneapolis stop of the Bent Festival 2008 put on by the Tank and executed by the Beatrix*Jar Duo from the Twin Cities along with the help of the staff at the Intermedia Arts Center and all the awesome volunteers from as far out as Indianapolis.

The quality of this event was unbeatable, so much raw talent present made it mind blowing.

The artists traveled from near and far to be at this event: Circuit Ben Reaction and DJ Tendraw all the way from U.K; Eraser - Italy, Brian McKenna from Amsterdam, Dr. Rek - Japan, Loud Objects - NYC, Ron S. - Denver, Sounds Happy - Chicago, Memory Selector - Chicago/Minneapolis Trio, Creme Dementia - DeKalb IL, Albino Ghost Monkey Rice Lake WI, Igloo Martian - Le Crosse WI, Life as a Number Five - Madison WI, Tim Kaiser - Duluth MN, Talking Computron - CR IA, Datura 1.0, Caly McMorrow, Beatrix*Jar - Minneapolis.

The pictures are slowly trickling online. So far the best quality can be seen in this flickr stream by Jeremy Pavleck. Unfortunately he was not able to make the Friday, but what he took rest of the time looks pretty amazing.

Stay Tuned for more, this is only part one.

Finally the last stop of the Bent Festival 2008. If you are in or around the Minneapolis area or don’t mind traveling there, please stop by the Intermedia Arts Center Thursday May 1 through Saturday May 3rd to check out the finest experimental artists Mid West has to offer in one place. Along with international performers that traveled specifically for this event. Workshops will begin on Friday with tutorials on HighlyLiquid’s MIDI kits and on Saturday there will be a wide range of classes for every skill level. I will be conducting the 555 timer workshop along with Mike Una and providing some exclusive GetLoFi 555 kits to everyone attending. Each night there will be Music and beverages of choice. For full lineup check out the Bent Festival website here or keep reading.

Concert 1 - Thu, May 01, 7:00 PM

(Intermedia Arts) - $10
7:00 Bent Festival Reception / Listening Party (Lobby)
8:00 Igloo Martian (Wisconsin)
8:40 Datura 1.0 (Minneapolis)
9:20 Caly McMorrow (Minneapollis)
10:00 Brian McKenna (Amsterdam)
10:40 EraSer (Italy)
11:20 Beatrix*JAR (Minneapolis)

Workshop - Fri, May 02, 7:00 PM

(Intermedia Arts) - Free - First Come First Served 7:00
Mike Una (Chicago)
Highly Liquid Workshop with Michael Una - Intermedia Arts Lobby Highly Liquid (www.highlyliquid.com) has donated 12 MSA-R MIDI-to-relay kits to Bent Minneapolis. Artist Michael Una will be showing people how to assemble them, how to apply them to control circuit bends via MIDI, and other applications like mechanical drum machines.

Concert 2 - Fri, May 02, 8:00 PM

(Intermedia Arts) - $10
8:00 Ronald J. Schleper (Denver)
8:40 Life as Number Five (Wisconsin)
9:20 Talking Computron (Iowa)
10:00 Sounds Happy (Chicago)
10:40 The Circuit Ben Reaction (UK)
11:20 Loud Objects (NYC)

Workshops - Sat, May 03, 11:00 AM
(Intermedia Arts) -
11:00 Intro to Circuit Bending
Beatrix*JAR (Minneapolis)
Dan Demchuk (St. Paul)
Class Limited to 75 | FREE | First Come First Serve
A great opportunity for kids of all ages to learn circuit bending! Bring an old battery powered electronic toy that makes noise to work on.

1:00 555 TIMER APPLICATIONS WORKSHOP with
Mike Una (Chicago) and
Alex Dyba (IA)
Class Limited to 15 | $3.00 Supply Cost + | Click Here to Register
Learn how a simple 555 timer circuit can open up a world of opportunities, like pitching down unbendable toys and adding a tremolo like effect on pitch resistors. During the workshop we will show you how to create a Theremin like synth and use 555’s square-wave oscillations for injecting into the data lines to create randomness and glitches.

3:00 Circuit Bending Drum Machines
Ronald J. Schleper (Denver)
Class Limited to 15 | FREE | First Come First Serve
Learn how to creatively modify your 1980’s PCM and analog drum machines. Some of the best rhythmic noise can be had from the Yamaha RX series and DD series, Roland TR series, Alesis HR and SR series, and Kawai R-50 as well as many kids toy drums. A brief primer on digital logic and analog circuits will be offered, and detailed instructions on my personal favorites, the Yamaha RX-17 and Roland TR-505, as well as instructions for other models as needed.

3:00 Analog Sensor Devices
Mike Taylor (Dekalb)
FREE | Lecture Based
This workshop covers the basics of building and working with analog sensor devices. It will also cover the basics of physical computing by looking at some inexpensive ways to interface sensors with computers. I/O platforms will include the Arduino and CreateUSB interfaces. We will also look at software like PD, Max/MSP, Jitter, and Processing. After an overview of the basic hardware and software, the workshop will cover building basic sensors and the electronics theory for analog signal conditioning. We will look at resistive voltage dividers and direct voltage output types of sensors. I will demonstrate my 3D accelerometer ball, magnetic shaker ball, 3D light sensor, and a really easy to build ribbon controller. If time permits we will also look at some software programming for computer interfacing.

5:00 Bent BBQ
Concert 3 - Sat, May 03, 8:00 PM

(Intermedia Arts) - $10
8:00 Crème De Menthia (Illinois)
8:40 Memory Selector (Minneapolis/Chicago)
9:20 Albino Ghost Monkey (Wisconsin)
10:00 Tim Kaiser (Duluth)
10:40 DJ Tendraw (London)
11:20 Dr. Rek (Japan)

The lineup is Solid! See you all there.

The Bent Festival’s leg of the East Coast is over, leaving only 1 event remaining in the Mid West, the Minneapolis, being held Thursday May 1st-Sunday 3rd. I had fun and it would take me hours if not days to talk about everything that happened during the Event. So for now I will leave you with the fine media produced by the Get LoFi photographer Austin Cliffe, whom had the burden of lugging around the enormous digital camera that seemingly took the only good pictures from the event.

…And back home Alex Inglizian was documenting the monumental trans-Lake Michigan Roth Mobot NYC Eco-Friendly Skype HD performance at the K-Town Moon Base production Facility in Chicago.
The transmission went on without a hitch and was a fantastic success! Thanks to the hard work of Roth Mobot agents in NYC and Chicago.

The GetLoFi Gallery also contains some candid shots of the backstage performer area and equipment used.

Some snap camera videos are also up from several users on youTube. But if you are in no hurry, I highly recommend pre-ordering the Festival Documentary, which is constantly being filmed by Dr. Rek at every event in crisp HD. Now I am off like a jet to get ready for Minneapolis. Thanks for reading!