All the cool kids are coaxing crazy sounds from old electronic toys and synthesizers via the process of “circuit bending,” so we thought we’d give it a try. Circuit bending is the deliberate violation of all the careful electronic design by a device’s original creators in the name of finding interesting new audio effects. As our bending target, we used an SK-5, a 1980s-vintage Casio keyboard. We opened it up so we could wire up connectors to the sound synthesis chips and the key matrix. Then we made an external patch box to ground or cross-connect the pins of the synthesis chips, plus an Arduino Mega controlled switch box to play pre-programmed tunes.
Read more: How to Bend a Vintage Casio Keyboard
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