DIY hardware isn’t just for abstract and noise musicians any more: visualists are getting in on the act. While on the subject of glitchy visuals from bent gaming hardware, GetLoFi reports this week on several new DIY projects to delight the eyes.

The EX PMX is a homemade analog video synth that … does … something. Something with lasers. And stepper motors, for sequencing audio and video. Good grief, I think you can actually create whole rhythmic sequences just by mechanically switching video inputs. (And as regular readers know, it’s rare that I’m completely stumped on what something does, meaning this gets extra cool points.)

EX PMX homemade video analog synths [GetLoFi]

For fans of glitchy, distorted visuals, Tokyo, Japan was just host to a whole workshop on creating visual bends from toys, Famicom game systems (the original NES, as shipped in Japan), and more. Details again at GetLoFi:

Visual Bending Workshop in Tokyo, Japan [GetLoFi]

You can watch the event in photos and videos at this Japanese site:

Visual Bending Workshop [Photos, Videos, Japanese-language description]

For those new to this, GetLoFi is definitely the best site to watch for circuit-bending, musical and visual. Now back to programming ActionScript, though it sure would be nice to have some hardware to hack, too — controllers and switchers should keep even those who dislike glitchy aesthetics in their own work plenty busy.

[tags]hardware, hacks, DIY, synthesis, video, circuit-bending, Japan[/tags]

Circuit bender Gijs Gieskes does work that can be seen as beautiful kinetic sculptures as much as instruments and synthesizers. That’s certainly the case with his Sega MegaDrive2: watch as he reroutes patch cords via magnetic connections in a lovely tangle of wires, or listen to the mechanical sounds of the device in operation. (This bend isn’t intended as a musical instrument as some of his previous work has been, but the incidental noise of it running sounds great, anyway.) He’s designed the whole thing to pack into a small, wooden suitcase for on-the-go visuals.

And, while we’ve seen distorted and broken video output from game consoles, here the patches create a rhythm of glitchy images. That, and there’s something strangely satisfying about watching Yogi Bear run through a dystopian snowstorm of analog static.

GIESKES.NL/CIRCUITBENDING/SEGAMEGADRIVE2 [Artist site; photos and description]
Bent Sega MegaDrive2 in action [QT Video]

[tags]circuit-bending, hacks, gaming, glitch, synthesis, oddities[/tags]

Philip Stearns is recycling a yard sale computer as glitchy art. While we’ve been covering the rebirth of the Commodore 64 as a musical instrument over on Create Digital Music, this project turns vintage Texas Instruments TI-99 series computers into a live visual performance tool:

“Gently Modified” TI-99s Project Page with eBay sales info, photos, and video

Unlike the C64 projects, which lovingly restore the intended synthesis capabilities of the hardware, this is a true circuit bending project: the creator has “gently” added additional circuitry and short-circuited existing circuitry to deconstruct the graphics output. The clever part is the addition of optical sensors, the objects in front of the screen shown here. These feed input back into the machine in a loop.

The results are compelling, but I wonder if it’s long before people start using vintage computers to output results as they were intended, just as musicians have returned to 8-bit sound. Anyone for a VJ set with an early release of Macromind Director and QuickTime 1.0?

Via the master of retro and odd video projects, Video Thing, via Data as Nature