Below you can find several DIY projects I have built. If you are interested in having me repair or build a custom project for you, please feel free to contact me.
Misc Circuit Bent/ Synth
Casio SK-5 Keyboard
Circuit benders know the Casio SK-5 as one of the most fun units to modify. This sampling keyboard is cool enough in it's stock form, but adding bends can bring this bad boy into a completely different realm. As far as I'm concerned, this is quite possibly the mother of all circuit bent Casio keyboards. I've implemented almost too many bends and mods to mention.... but I will try. There are 3 main modules: the patchbay in the center is wired to 27 different bend points within the SK-5 circuit and it has several mults to combine or make one point available for several functions. The switch matrix on the left allows the user to patch in several bend points to be connected via toggle switch or momentary push switch with pots to control the strength of the connection. The left most switch bank allows for a light sensitive connection and it useful for controlling pitch with theremin-like hand movements. The main control module on the right of the unit has several awesome features. There is an 8 step sequencer to allow connection of patch points in a variably timed sequence of 8 steps. There is also an LFO with variable speed, shape and depth. I've also built in a new timing circuit to allow for dramatic pitch bends. I also, incorporated a MIDI circuit to allow MIDI triggering of the keyboard keys. The SK-5 is known for it's awesome sampling features which allow the users to record their own samples and map them to the keyboard in pitch with each corresponding key. I've expanded the sampling memory from the stock 4 samples to 16 banks of 4 samples (64 samples total) via the bank select switch on the left side of the keyboard. Top it all off with a custom paint job and you have a very unique unit with an endless possibility of strange sounds. SK5- Loop Jam by Jordan SobolewSK5- Sample Jam by Jordan Sobolew
Fat Man Synth
The Fat Man is an excellent dual oscillator analog synth kit provided by PAIA. To add to the synth's stock functionality, I implemented several mods. I added two square wave sub-oscillators, providing one and two octaves down from either of the two VCO's. I also built in a switch to hard sync the two original VCO's- providing subtle tonal variations. I also included a switch to toggle the filter type between the original low-pass and a new band-pass filter. The ring modulator is one of my favorite effects so I built one into this synth. The user can switch to ring modulate the two VCO's against either each-other or the two sub oscillators while mixing in the depth of the effect. The Fat Man by itself is an incredibly simple yet versatile synth. With the addition of a few mods, tweaking this thing can take you on a fantastic ride through the cosmos.
Texas Instruments Speak and Math
The Texas Instruments Speak and Spell line produced some of the most bend-worthy toys in existence. They are essentially voice synthesizers, which allow for some pretty bizarre sounds when tampered with. I went wild with this Speak and Math unit and added so many bends and mods that I had to house them in an external control box. Along with glitches, stutters, distortions, loops, and body contacts, I added an LFO to modulate pitch and several bends. I also built in a custom MIDI circuit to trigger fragments of noise and speech via MIDI notes. I even went as far as implementing an Atari joystick to trigger glitches and loops. This is madness. Speak and Math by Jordan Sobolew
Alesis HR-16 Drum Machine
With this Alesis HR-16 drum machine, I unlocked 35 bends that provide distorting, bit crushing and bizarro effects. This guy can go from Aphex Twin style affected drum tones to straight wild noise pretty quickly as you start layering bends on top of each other in nearly endless combinations. I couldn't help myself with the glow in the dark custom paint job. HR-16 Tones by Jordan SobolewHR-16 Noise by Jordan SobolewHR-16 Beat by Jordan Sobolew
Grillo Parlante- Italian Speak and Speak
This Italian Speak and Spell is a pretty strange and rare toy. It's much like it's English counterpart in function, however, being that it speaks a foreign language to begin with, bending this unit can create some truly weird noises. I went with simplicity on this one. I implemented a few standard glitches, loops and distortions and then built in a MIDI circuit to allow triggering of speech fragments via MIDI notes. Grillo Parlante by Jordan Sobolew
Yamaha PSS-270
This was a commissioned piece built for a client of mine out of his Yamaha PSS-270 keyboard. I added a patchbay of bend points, a pitch modulating LFO, distortion and and pitch controls. This unit is great at stacking built-in patches to get new sounds and creating strange atmospheric landscapes from the electronic netherworld. Yamaha PSS-270 by Jordan SobolewYamaha PSS-270 Drone by Jordan Sobolew
MIDI Casio VL Tone
The Casio VL Tone is a well loved mini keyboard and drum machine that produces some fun tones and beats. It's probably best known for contributing the drum machine and keyboard tracks in the obscure German band, Trio's song "Da Da Da" which oddly enough became a hit in the states. If you're an 80's kid, no doubt you're heard it. I simply added a MIDI circuit to this already tightly packed keyboard, to give it MIDI functionality for external controllers and sequencers.
Cardboard Optical Theremin
The theremin is an early electronic instrument created by Russian inventor Léon Theremin in 1928. The instrument is traditionally played by the waving one's hands in front of the two antennas to control the pitch and amplitude of an oscillator. It is known for being one of the most difficult instruments to master and often just used as an effect (that eirie tone is old-school sci-fi movies and even The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations.") This little guy built into a cardboard box doesn't look like much, and well... it isn't. This is a very simple optical theremin that produces what sounds like a saw-tooth wave to me, controlled by how much light is hitting it's optical sensor (see that hole poked in the top of the box?) In a similar fashion to the original theremin, the user can wave their hands in front of the device to control the pitch of the oscillator. This can get real fun when combining the output with several effects. Read about the theremin instrument on wikipedia.Opto Theremin by Jordan Sobolew
