Afternoon Workshops

Exertion Instrument construction workshop

Saturday from 2PM to 6pm - the Exertion Instrument construction workshop will take place! Register early to secure a seat- Kits are limited to the first 8 to sign up. Noah Vawter will be teaching 8 students how to build a working, prototype Exertion Instrument. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with the instrument by looking at the Exertion Instrument Web at http://exertion.pbworks.com. Advanced registration is required. First come, first serve. Limit is eight participants: Register for the Exertion Instrument Construction Workshop

Circuit Bending Class

Saturday from 2PM to 6pm - Jimmie Rodgers will lead this class on circuit bending. The class will be comprised of three different workshops: the Staples Easy Button, a buddhist chant box, and the Saw record and play box. The purpose is to provide a well rounded introduction to Circuit Bending. The workshop price includes all the toys, components, and tools needed to finish them (feel free to bring any fun cases you might want to put any of the toys into). You will also receive a circuit bending exploration pack, which will give you all the basic tools you'll need to explore toys well after this class.

Each workshop will be about an hour and a half, which should give enough time for each toy to be finished, and even allow for a break. The hardware area will be open till the end of the event, so if you are not able to finish a toy, you can stick around for as long as you like.

2:00-3:30 Staples Easy Button

The Easy button is a great first circuit bend. It teaches you the basics of timer circuit modification. It is also large enough to fit in an audio output jack, potentiometer, body contacts, etc, but small enough that you have to work for it. While this may look like a simple toy, you can get a surprising range of sounds out of it. We will be going over the basics of finding points and what to do with them.

3:30-5:00 Buddhist Chant Box

I picked these up on a recent trip to China, and they are a ton of fun. These aren't as straight forward as the Easy Buttons, so this is a good next step. There is already an audio output jack and volume control, so that saves you a bit of space. Touch contacts and photo resistors will bring out a ton of crazy sounds with this little toy. Each one has 2-7 chants of varying length. We will be going over further exploration, and you will be encouraged to use your tools and find some fun bends. This case is too small to fit much more than body contacts, but additional modifications can be brought outside of the case.

5:00-6:00 Saw Record and Play

This is a quick and fun toy that can be modified for audio input. You can record and then play back sounds at a modified speed. We can even make the toy loop and do some fairly crazy stuff. This is a great introduction to some slightly more advanced circuit bending. We'll be going over switching jacks, input, output, and more.

If you are not finished with your toys, you may stick around afterwards to finish them up, or to further modify them. If the class is not full, you may join at the event, or join any of the individual workshops for , which will include all of the parts needed for that workshop. Additional bending exploration packs and circuit bending tools may also be purchased the day of the event.

Register for Circuit Bending Class