Preview of MCA show- Bent Bliptronic, new Drumbots
posted in: Circuit bending, drumbot by Michael Una on January 19, 2010As the date of my performance at the MCA draws near and my set matures, I thought I’d share a brief preview of some of the new devices I’ll be using during the show.
First, I got some time to circuit-bend a Bliptronic 5000. There’s a pitch bend control courtesy of the Getlofi Precision Oscillator kit, and another bend I found between some points on the IC that creates a nice harmonic drone. A Highlyliquid MD24 translates a MIDI signal from Ableton Live to sync the Bliptronic with the rest of my gear.
Circuit bent Bliptronic 5000 from Michael Una on Vimeo.
Also joining me will be four MIDI-controlled solenoids which strike an african drum, some finger cymbals, and a woodblock in the shape of a frog. Again, the MD24 is providing the MIDI-to-voltage conversion that lets me trigger the solenoids from beats programmed in Ableton Live.
Drumbot jam from Michael Una on Vimeo.
Could you provide instructions on how to actually replace the crystal with the getlofi oscillator? I think I know just enough to turn the whole thing into a brick. It’d be nice for a step by step as I think it really adds to the bliptronic. Thanks!
Heya Lincoln. It’s actually really easy. The X1 on the Bliptronic circuit board is clearly marked, it’s the small silver cylinder-looking thing. Power off your Bliptronic and carefully remove it.
Attach the power and ground leads to the precision oscillator kit so it’s got power, then try attaching the precision oscillator’s output to one of the holes where the crystal used to be. If that doesn’t do anything, try the other one. I monkeyed around until it worked and nothing was damaged, so you’ll be okay.
The one thing I found was that I needed to have an additional resistor in series with the precision oscillator’s potentiometer, so that the resistance doesn’t drop below a certain level because it’ll make the Bliptronic crash. The magic number is a 25k resistor, or thereabouts.
You can do it. You have the power!