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Circuit bending is the practice of creatively mangling old toys and other electronics to create new instruments.
Besides resulting instruments, the Circuit bending is best described as an art form in itself. The bender attributes to the instrument in an artistic manner already while (re)building the instrument, so the creative process actually starts at the workbench, and the performance can be viewed as the artistic conclusion to the creative work.
Some circuit bent instruments are artfully decorated by their creators while other benders prefer to leave the toy as is. Even others put the creation in a new cabinet ("rehousing") to make an etirely new aestetic.
The instruments are used in many types of contemporary music. From high-brow progressive art performances to outright pop.
Playing a circuit bent instrument is challenging at best! The original toys were never intended for professional musical use, and the modifications, while enhancing the creative potential, usually makes them highly unstable and prone to breakdown.
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