Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKIDokPVqvc

and its on ebay right now....

http://cgi.ebay.com/circuit-bent-e-mu-mp7-command-station-emu-mp-7-px-xl-/290434223336?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item439f3a8ce8


I thought it couldn't be done.... and whats all this about midi controlled bending?!?!!? I love the future....

On Wed, 12 May 2010, joeyjoejoemagee wrote:

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKIDokPVqvc
=============

i'm highly suspicious. knobs on a command station doesn't mean that the 
command station is bent; only that knobs have been added. i think the 
knobs are controlling a box that sits next to the command station... in 
which case, why not put the knobs on the other box? it seems like they've 
drilled holes in a command station to mount knobs for their home-made 
effects box... this should only *decrease* the value of both units, since 
they become partially useless without each other.

if that's not the case, i'd be interested in hearing a rebuttal.

also, they refer to their module as being an "mm1 midi module", but the 
picture shows something that looks like a DB-25 connector, not MIDI... 
this implies that the knobs are just connected to their kit with long 
wires... further limiting usefulness and flexibility because it requires 
both units to get functionality from their unit[1]. a better approach 
would be putting all knobs on their unit, and then using it with *any* 
synth.

maybe their knobs are also wired "in parallel" with the command station's 
knobs... in which case it would again be better to keep all knobs on their 
unit and send MIDI to the command station to represent knob movements.

i've got nothing against garage mods, but this one seems like it's not 
being represented accurately. i'd stay away based on lack of details, and 
what i can infer from their info isn't looking good.

no thanks...

1) loose or beak the command station, and either you loose the knobs to 
control their box or you're stuck with a very big and heavy control 
surface. loose or break their box and you're left with a command station 
that has a lot of useless knobs.


-- 
         ...atom

  ________________________
  http://atom.smasher.org/
  762A 3B98 A3C3 96C9 C6B7 582A B88D 52E4 D9F5 7808
  -------------------------------------------------

 	"The VCR is to the American film producer and the American
 	 public as the Boston Strangler is to the woman alone."
 		-- Jack Valenti, MPAA

On Wed, 12 May 2010, josh loughrey wrote:

> The knobs on his command station do not send to the control box; in fact 
> it works the other way around. The control box is essentially an 
> expansion for his circuit bent devices. In the first segment of the 
> video, he's not using it (though it is plugged in); all the knob twists 
> and manipulations are on the modded command station.
=====================

if the box is required for this to work, i still have to ask: why drill 
holes in a command station? why not put the knobs on the box? the fact 
remains that if it's a two-part kit; either part getting lost or broken 
renders the others part of little or no value.


> Anyway, neat bit of kit. I'd like to know more about exactly what he's 
> doing with these, and how he's doing them. Anyone here know much about 
> circuit bending?
======================

i'm also interested in knowing more, and i can't claim to have any 
authoritative knowledge on this particular bit of kit... but i can infer 
quite a bit from the info provided. although after checking out the demo, 
the results don't seem any more impressive than running the outputs 
through a kaoss-pad or similar (which i would do long before drilling 
holes in a command station and connecting a box that claims to "circuit 
bend" the CS).

also there's a certain romanticism about "circuit bending" and no info 
about whether they're bending or doing something more intentional. having 
a background in electronics i would say it's cool and fun to bend a 
speak-n-spell or a casio that you found at a garage sale for $1... but 
bending (as opposed to intentional modification of) a command station... 
that's just dumb. intentional modification should never result in broken 
gear; circuit bending is the dismissal or disregard of electronic 
principles in favor of "random exploration" and often results in broken 
gear.

when i modify gear i study the circuit that i want to modify, plan and 
understand what i want to happen, then start experimenting. circuit 
bending is more "lets connect these two pins and see what happens"; often, 
what happens is the machine dies with a puff of smoke.


-- 
         ...atom

  ________________________
  http://atom.smasher.org/
  762A 3B98 A3C3 96C9 C6B7 582A B88D 52E4 D9F5 7808
  -------------------------------------------------

 	"The difference between common-sense and paranoia is
 	 that common-sense is thinking everyone is out to get
 	 you. That's normal -- they are. Paranoia is thinking
 	 that they're conspiring."
                 -- J. Kegler