Circuit-Bending Build Your Own Alien Instruments

433 Pages·2007·10.31 MB·English

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Circuit-Bending
Build Your Own Alien Instruments
Reed Ghazala
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Circuit-Bending
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Circuit-Bending
Build Your Own Alien Instruments
Reed Ghazala
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Circuit-Bending:Build Your Own Alien Instruments
Published by
Wiley Publishing,Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard
Indianapolis,IN 46256
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing,Inc.,Indianapolis,Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN-13:978-0-7645-8887-7
ISBN-10:0-7645-8887-7
Manufactured in the United States of America
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1MA/QU/QY/QV/IN
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ghazala,Reed,1953-
Circuit-bending :build your own alien instruments / Reed Ghazala.
p.cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13:978-0-7645-8887-7 (paper/website)
ISBN-10:0-7645-8887-7 (paper/website)
1. Electronic musical instruments—Construction. I.Title.
ML1092.G5 2005
786.7'192—dc22
2005010349
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theUnited States and other countries,and may not be used without written permission.ExtremeTech and the ExtremeTech logo are
trademarks of Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings,Inc.Used under license.All rights reserved.All other trademarks are the property of
theirrespective owners.Wiley Publishing,Inc.,is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
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About the Author
Qubais Reed Ghazala(Cincinnati,Ohio,1953) was first
instructed in painting,theatre,and classical piano as a
young child (including preschool art courses at the nearby
art academy).By the time Ghazala reached the age of
twelve,his interest had turned to experimental art (mazes,
luminous painting,mirror assemblage,freezing liquids
within expandable envelopes—winning awards in local
exhibitions for his cubist sculptures).Ghazala soon aban-
doned formal schooling in favor of his interests,becoming
self-taught in his fields.
Author and Moonbear outside Besides circuit-bending,Ghazala also pioneers work in pho-
The Anti-Theory Workshop tography (lens-less imaging with dye-migration materials;
time exposure with cross-axis polarization and aperture
shift),magnetic assemblage (kinetic timepieces,anti-gravity sculptures),and aeronautics (an oper-
ative flying saucer;various kites,aircraft,and solid fuel rockets).Ghazala’s further experimental
arts include electronic smoke and liquid/gel chambers,lenticular art,plasma chambers,laser and
neon chambers,film and computer animation,video documentary,3-D drawing and photogra-
phy,program bending (chance data entry),rubber stamps (as a sampling medium to alter),
andwoodland art for only forest animals to observe (natural mobiles and interlocking keystone
sculptures).
Ghazala is the author of numerous articles on electronics and experimental musical instru-
ments (including the seminal 20-article circuit-bending series in Experimental Musical
Instrumentsmagazine,1992–98).Ghazala is one of the Web’s most influential cyber-professors,
also teaching in person via public workshops and one-on-one apprenticeship programs (circuit-
bending and Japanese suminagashi,an ancient chance art).
Although Ghazala is primarily a music composer and instrument designer,he continues to
work as sculptor,photographer,visual artist,and author,and in his spare time pursues hobbies
of theory-true designing/hacking,building toys,robots,and things that fly;designing mobiles
and kinetic electro-lumia;working in optical lens construction;practicing kitchen and deep
woods cooking;designing/building home additions;canoeing;hunting mushrooms;studying
entomology,mineralogy,and meteorology;star gazing;compiling a home library;exploring
natural incenses and resins,psychedelic and experimental music,unusual lighting,rare musical
instruments,antique postcards,home-designed postcards,strange medical devices,parlor and
stage magic,ESP,unusual natural phenomena,and the collecting of unidentifiable objects.
Ghazala’s work has been covered in all the world’s major press (including,in the United States,
the New York Times,the Wall Street Journal,the Washington Post,The Smithsonian,and
WIRED);his work is kept in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art,the
Guggenheim,and the Whitney in New York City;and his instruments have been designed
forsome of the planet’s best-known and most influential musicians (including Peter Gabriel,
Tom Waits,the Rolling Stones,King Crimson,Faust,Blur,and many others).
Ghazala is recognized as the father of circuit-bending and is credited with launching the first
grassroots electronic art movement.
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Credits
Executive Editor Project Coordinator
Chris Webb Erin Smith
Development Editor Graphics and Production Specialists
Ed Connor Karl Brandt
Jonelle Burns
Copy Editor Kelly Emkow
Susan Christophersen Denny Hager
Stephanie D.Jumper
Production Manager Clint Lahnen
Tim Tate Lynsey Osborn
Melanee Prendergast
Editorial Manager Brent Savage
Mary Beth Wakefield Amanda Spagnuolo
Vice President and Executive Group Quality Control Technicians
Publisher Leeann Harney
Richard Swadley Jessica Kramer
Carl William Pierce
Vice President and Publisher Dwight Ramsey
Joseph B.Wikert
Proofreading and Indexing
TECHBOOKS Production Services
Cover Design
Anthony Bunyan
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To artists working in new fields everywhere
and struggling against all odds.