closed

as you may have noticed, it's been 2 years since the last update. i'm not (directly) interested anymore in circuit bending. i'm focusing on music, sound design and, as always, a bit of diy.

i don't know if benthack and its content will remain online, if you like something, i suggest you to save it on your hard disk.

if you are interested in my works, check out my new site http://www.carlocastellano.cc/ or http://www.facebook.com/CarloCastellano.cc.

jumpstart synth jam

videos:

setup: korg dw8000, novation xiosynth, roland pc-200, kurzweil k2600r, jen sx1000 and macbook with logic express

yamaha pss6 - circuit bent

i've circuit bent my last toy-keyboard, a yamaha pss-6. i've found an overdrive and a pop effect searching on the IC3 (smaller). the IC2 (bigger) is for totally random noise effects, but too often crashes the toy. i had to replace the speaker with a smaller one to put the two potentiometers for the bends.

schematic:


specifications:
overdrive
pop effect
line-out

audios:
pss6_1.mp3 (815 kb) - ovedrive
pss6_2.mp3 (965 kb) - pop effect + ovedrive

photos:

casio sk-1 - video out

after reading this get lofi article thanks to pC=na, i've started making my casio sk-1 video out bending. i've followed the schematic of gieskes but i've found another way to get the video out from the casio sk-1.

schematic:


specifications:
rca video out
contrast potentiometer

videos:


photos:

benthack photos #3

photos:

homemade keytar

a friend gave me an old master keyboard, a roland pc-200. i decided to transform it into a keytar, a strap-on keyboard. i've used two guitar/bass knobs for strap and two buttons (bending up and modulation) and one swich (for permanent modulation). it's easy to do bendings with the joystick (even if it has no neck like other keytar) but with the button it's nicer.

specifications:
bending up button
modulation button
modulation switch (on/off)

photos:

my analog synths

videos:

jen sx1000 (analog monophonic synthesizer)


crumar performer (analog strings-machine/brass-synth)

jen sx1000 modded

about two months ago i bought this analog synth. a poor man's moog produced in italy at the end of 70ies. now i'm using it with some behringer stomp boxes (flanger, chorus, tube overdrive). i've searched infos and schematics to add a sub-oscillator to get a more typical moog sound. with this mod i can have a -1 octave square added to the original oscillator. if you want to do that with your jen sx1000 read this (i haven't found the author). i also added a power jack instead of the built-in power cable and re-coloured the knob caps.

specifications:
sub-osc (square -1 octave)
power jack

audios:
jensx1000_1.mp3 (730 kb) - nice lead with some effects
jensx1000_2.mp3 (633 kb) - sub-osc misc sounds
jensx1000_3.mp3 (518 kb) - sub-osc misc sounds

photos: