An Ethnography of Circuit-bending: Reuse, Chance, and Collaboration with the Living Instrument

Abstract

Circuit-bending is a folk expression of randomly conceived analog electronic music. The reconstruction and recontextualization of discarded or unused analog sound toys is achieved by altering the circuit board by soldering switches or dials into the electrical circuit path; these connections are found through a process of random testing. The father and initial propagator of the craft, Reed Ghazala, posits that through this random process a circuit-bent device becomes a “living instrument” with a unique lifespan and disposition. Circuit-bending also serves as a commentary on the digital age of sound generation; the corporate-influenced homogeneity of digital loop and sequencer composition is contested by the fertile dialogue between a circuit bender's will and the variant responses of their living instruments in a context of improvised performance. Inherent in the craft is the recontextualization of scavenged materials; bent toys will either be kept in their original housing to make this reuse apparent, or rehoused in other reused cases. I conducted ethnographic research about the culture that ties Midwest circuit-benders together from October 2009 to February 2010, in Minneapolis and in Dekalb and Chicago, Illinois. I discovered that although the community is sparsely distributed in a geographical sense, its tight-knit nature is maintained by internet correspondence and publicity, and periodic gatherings—both of which serve to keep the cultural identity intact and keep cultural knowledge current.