Unfortunately, I could not be present for this weekly nerd as I got very sick the previous night, which is a bummer because I was very enthusiastic about the topic. It's not much to do with what we do at the minor but that didn't mean it wasn't interesting to hear about how somebody else utilises electronics to suit their goal. Or rather, how they bend it in its regular state.
Rosa told a lot about circuit bending, and so I did some digging into this topic to get an idea of what she was talking about.
Circuit bending
What is it?
Described as futuristic by utilising old electronics originating in the 1970s, circuit bending is considered a music form using electronic devices by breaking apart old toys and synths to get new, experimental sounds.
A good example of circuit bending, although maybe a bit of an extreme one, I'm not sure - is Sam Battle, also known for his project 'Look Mum, No Computer' in the circuit-bending community. Some of his creations include a furby organ and a musical flamethrower!
Sam describes circuit-bending as 'taking machines and toys and cheap things from usually the past and making them do things that they're not intended to do.' He says its about opening it up and looking at what different sounds it can make when you use it in the way you're not supposed to, like a change in pitch if you touch the ground with one finger and touch a part of the chip. It turned very quickly from something fun to something musical.
I was very surprised to find that Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails used circuit-bending before, I've listened to their music myself and I always wondered where they get their crazy sounds from, though I'm not actually sure it's been utilised in their music I am very curious about the prospect of having listened to some circuit-bending myself.
Sam takes it to the next level with circuit-bending: take fourty-four furbies, all circuit-bent in sequence! Something Sam planned for seven years before realising it in two weeks after gathering all of the elements.
I felt like this gave me enough of an idea of what circuit-bending entailed, but I wanted to know what Rosa was trying to tell us about it.
Source
Rosa's message
Something I'm noticing as I look further into circuit-bending and its community is that the people who partake in it started once just because they thought it would be fun, but it quickly evolved into something more. Rosa said she also felt this. After asking around a bit about this talk, I found two things; she mentioned that breaking the norm is what is really sought after in circuit-bending which I could admire, but also that she mentioned something more directly linked to development that I could relate to.
She mentioned that frameworks did not inherently matter. Whether you use React, Svelte, Vue.js, whatever it be - it's about what you make of it, it's about the places where you intern being enjoyable and comfortable - something that she apparently really emphasized - and something that is so relevant to us now that we are also applying for internships and trying to find what works for us. Circuit bending can be such a great metaphor for web development practices, though you'd probably never have thought of it before. You have to find your own way.
This is a hilarious video I found while researching this topic, albeit a little horrifying as well..
The conclusion
I'm kind of reminded of teacher Vasilis van Gemert as I think about circuit bending in the sense of the web. Adding nonsense. That's essentially what this is, no? I'm sure there is someone out there who makes music by breaking the web or something similar. I'm not sure that it really applies to me in the literal sense, despite my personal fascination by what Rosa and people like herself do. At first I thought, maybe this could be something of an inspiration to myself to keep adding nonsense! Because it doesn't always have to remain as nonsense; sometimes you'll find something actually sounds pretty good, pun completely intended! This was proven partially to be her point, but really, what she said about the type of framework you use being irrelevant and that it's about what we learn and the people and work we surround ourselves with. It's about making this journey as enjoyable as possible for ourselves. And that is really inspiring, especially as someone who is so actively trying to find out what it is that really motivates me to create as a developer, which is why I'm trying to experiment so much right now.
