Circuit Bent Projects
Circuit Casio SK-5 with Midi
This one is not of my own creations. It was done before I began my circuit bending hobby by Robert of Alien-Devices. I felt it was still worthy of showing everyone because it is truly a work of electronic art. Here are some of the capabilities…
Poly Dials - Turn to the right to fade out each of the 4 steps of polyphony. These work well with noisescapes (loops) to contain the chaos. Dial 1 will fade the first note you press, Dial 2 will fade the second note you press, etc.
Reset Buttons – Hard Press in case of a lockup that cannot be reset. This will kill the power Soft Press in case of a lockup to quick reset. Usually you can flip the offending switch off first and then if the keyboard still doesn't respond you can press one of the two (or both). Each one works with different types of lockups.
Degen On- Flip up to turn on the Degenerator (bent voice changer circuit) The Degen runs off of a 9v battery which is in the small side compartment (this battery also powers the LFO). If you need to replace the battery simply take out the 4 screws on the side compartment and pop a new 9v in.
Dial- This changes the "tone" of the Dengenerator
Type- This changes the type of the Dengenerator effect
Input/Output- The Degenerator input and output jacks are on the back of the case. The Degen is not integrated into the SK-5 so that it can be used as a separate effect. The Main SK-5 1/4" output is the outer jack with the switch underneath. The middle (inner) jack is the Degen input and the other jack is the Degen output. To use the Degen with the SK-5 simply patch the SK-5 output to the Degen input by plugging a cable into the jacks and flipping the switch below the SK-5 output jack to disable the speaker and enable the SK-5 output. Then just plug a cable into the Degen output and into your mixer or pre. Flip the Degen on and tweak away.
Pitch Dial- this changes the pitch of the sounds.
Drum Kill Switch- this mutes the drums in case you want to use the internal songs as a source for aleatoric patterns.
Drum Pitch- this changes the pitch of the drums sounds (at its extreme settings it can introduce noise into the main mix so keep it centered when not in use).
LFO On- flip up to turn on LFO to the Degen Circuit or Flip down to turn on LFO to the SK-5's pitch. The LFO runs off of a 9v battery which is in the small side compartment (this battery also powers the Degen). If you need to replace the battery simply take out the 4 screws on the side compartment and pop a new 9v in. Dial- turn to adjust the rate of the LFO (the LFO depth can be affected by the pitch dial or Degen dial. For maximum LFO effect turn the dial down)
Body Contacts- Tap both for vibrato like effects
Main Output- The left most jack on the back of the SK-5. Flip the switch below the jack outwards to disable the speaker and enable the jack (This output is mono. The 1/8" output is also available and is "stereo")
Glitches- Glitches are arranged by voice for maximum stability (see control diagram). Many of the glitches can be used with other voices and will be somewhat more stable going from left (most stable with other voices) to the right (least stable with other voices). If a sample resides in memory can have an effect on the sound and stability of some glitches.
Sample Input- Flipping the switch underneath the jack to toggle between the internal mic and the 1/4" jack. Flipping it inwards receives from the internal mic or outwards from the jack. The MIDI LEDs also work as sample indicators.
Dog Kill - The 1st switch in the dog group changes the dog sound to an organ sound This can be handy if the dog sound overwhelms an otherwise interesting loop.
MIDI- the MIDI board is powered by the SK-5 main power. Turn the SK-5 on first and then flip the switch on the back to power up the MIDI board. The MIDI channel is set to 1 as requested. The LEDs will give you on status and incoming note status.
