NAME:
"THE BOOM-A-RING
(The Electronic Didgeridoo of The Future)" DATE CREATED:
December, 2016
DESCRIPTION:
It's an electronic didgeridoo with the illumiringer
effect built into it. There is only one in the world,
some will say that's a good time... some might not. :)
You can expect nothing less from a one of a kind
prototype. The video is longer than I would have
liked it to be, but I had a lot of ground to cover.
Feel free to skip to the middle when the real demo
action starts. Enjoy!
NAME:
"DR
BLANKENSTEIN'S ATARI PUNK
CONSOLE 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY VIDEO" DATE CREATED:
December, 2015
DESCRIPTION:
The 3RD YEAR ANNIVERSARY of my version of the
ATARI PUNK CONSOLE! Since uploading that video I have
sold HUNDREDS of units to countless talented musicians
and art collectors from all over the globe. This video
is a kinda thank you to all those people, giving you a
FAST GLIMPSE of all the work that went into your little
video game sounding drone synth. When people say "hand
made synth"... they usually don't get much more hand
made than what you see here. I am excited to share that
experience with all of you. I really do hope you enjoy.
NAME:
"CUSTOM
STEREO R.C.A. ILLUMIRINGER BUILT FOR AD-ROCK (ADAM
HOROVITZ) " DATE CREATED:
October, 2014
DESCRIPTION:
A stereo R.C.A. version of the Illumiringer effect.
This way it could easily be used with turntables or a
sampler (two things Adam Horovitz is no stranger to). I
like the idea of the effect being stereo, this will
allow Adam to turn on one channel (left or right) of the
effect or both. That way the end result of a beat /
record would be a combination of both, giving the final
sound some really cool texture. Adam was excited
to receive it, the video includes picture of the hand
off.
NAME:
"ENDEAVOUR - SPACE
LINE GENERATOR" (DB146) DATE CREATED:
April, 2013 DESCRIPTION:
We are excited to finally be showing this BEAST off to
the world! What we have here is a 10 Step
Sequencer of sorts. The reason for the "sorts" is
there is no external or internal sync... this unit was
designed for stand alone use. There is another
completely different sequencer in the works as well...
designed to play nice with other control voltage gear,
but for now we generate SPACE LINES! The Endeavour is
equipped with three independent control sections, SPEED,
PITCH and FILTER. Each control section can be
controlled via Knob, Light Sensor or Touch Points!
What we are left with at the end.. is a machine that
will ALWAYS create new and exciting sounds... not
something you can get board of playing with very quickly
(that's for darn sure). It's a sample artists or
live experimental music performers dream come true.
Check out the video below for a full on demonstration /
explanation. Make sure to Subscribe (link is at
the bottom of this page) to the Dr. Blankenstein channel
to see all the new prototypes.
NAME:
"STAR WARS
(JEDI VS. SITH) GUITAR FX PEDAL - ILLUMIRINGER V1.4
DEMO!" (DB130) DATE CREATED:
February, 2013 DESCRIPTION:
Well folks, after almost a years worth of
experimenting.... the moment we have all waited for has
arrived! The first real demo of the ILLUMIRINGER concept
pedal in action! As I am sure you have noticed by now,
it's LONG! Please understand this has been a lot of work
to get this pedal to where it is.. it's EXTREMELY
VERSATILE.. and there is a lot to show. Also, once you
get going on a Star Wars theme... it's hard to just
leave it at that ;)
NAME:
"RASTA /
REGGAE CIRCUIT BENT DUB SIREN" (DB116) DATE CREATED:
December, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
This synth / fx processor starts out rather simple with
3 animal noises (elephant call, monkey screams, and lion
growl) you can play from the sound bank. Each sound is
looped and can easily be played from the red momentary
switches. The sounds can then be pitch shifted by using
the control knob in the "Pitch Kontrol" section.
Located next to the pitch knob is TWO body contacts,
touch the first one and add a low frequency oscillation
to the sound.... touch both and also control the pitch!
Next we have the "JAH EFFECTS" section, turn it on and suddenly an entirely new sonic palette
is opened up for the sound banks samples. The effects
filter can be controlled by clicking the control switch
to "TURN" and using either the knob or set of body
contacts to change the amount and pitch of the filter.
Click the control switch to "WAVE" and you activate the
motion / light sensor! You can then use your hand or a
light source to change the fx filters depth / pitch.
For a added bonus there are even 1/4" and 1/8" inputs to
run other instruments through the effects section.
NAME:
"ATARI PUNK
CONSOLE V2.0 - The APC 2600" (limited
edition) DATE CREATED: 2013 DESCRIPTION:
Atari Punk Console Deluxe v2.0... Pretty much a super
Atari stylized APC with a TON of tricked out features.
There are two photo Theremin style motion / light
sensors to control the sound, as well as a control
switches to use a classic APC knob setup. Each light
sensor can be turned on and off independently. To add
even more weird control to this sucker I have added SIX
BODY contacts that allow for some pretty cool sound
manipulation (see video below). Two of the body contacts
are running through a specially designed Germanium Diode
circuit that you will ONLY find on Dr. Blankenstein's
APC Deluxe V2.0.
NAME:
"HR GIGER STOMPER
DRONE SYNTH / DUAL THEREMIN" (DB117) DATE CREATED:
December, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
This is a new one from the Dr. Blankenstein lab. The "Giger
Stomper" dual oscillator analog synth sports two
separate volume controls for each of the tones, pitch
control for each oscillator, TWO motion / light control
pitch sensors, static on / off power switch, momentary
on / off switch... a special sound twisting capacitor
circuit and of course epic H.R. Giger inspired graphics.
(oh yeah, don't forget the grill and headlights! ;)
NAME:
"Sonic
Crusher" given to Squarepusher (Tom Jenkinson) @
Moogfest 2012 (DB112) DATE CREATED:
October 24, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
This piece was specifically designed for drums and bass
master / bass guitar god
Squarepusher (Tom
Jenkinson). My plan (which proved successful)
was to build an effects processor that both looked and
sounded like his music and give it to him at Moogfest
2012. I met up with Tom backstage just before his
MIND BLOWING set and handed this sucker off to him.
Not before snapping
this picture and asking him to kindly send me an
email with some feedback when he had a free moment... he
agreed. All and all it was a complete and total
success!
It was a pleasure and an honor to both build and give
this piece to a man who has been such a positive
creative influence to me for almost 15 years now.
Tom, if you are reading this... hope you are enjoying
the Sonic Crusher, thanks again... don't forget to
write brother ;) (I wasn't kidding about the epic
NYC pizza)
NAME:
"Modified
Fender Stratocaster Guitar" With 6 STRINGS! ;) DATE CREATED:
October, 2012 DESCRIPTION: Another
demo of the modified Fender Strat, this time with six
strings, and some delay added. There are more
videos of this going up VERY SOON, and a KIT COMING OUT
by the middle of NOVEMBER 2012. Stay tuned for
more info...
NAME:
"Hal 9000 2001 A
Space Odyssey" Circuit Bent Drone Synthesizer (DB-NA) DATE CREATED:
November 2012 DESCRIPTION: Case
is hand framed in wood, top and button layered in plexi-glass,
covered in a "movie set perfect" design of Hal 9000's
eye, 1/8" mono output jack, momentary on / off stutter
switch, pitch adjust knob, and two hidden touch points
which can be used to distort and change the pitch of the
sample. Hal's eye flickers and strobes to the changes in
the sound.
NAME:
""Zen Portal"
Circuit Bent Disney Baby Einstein Baby Toy (DB119) DATE CREATED:
December 2012 DESCRIPTION:
This little baby toy plays some really cool
aquatic sounds... but it's ALL ABOUT the tranquil
soothing music setting! I have added two knobs to
control the pitch which are wired in series. This allows
for really low / high pitch tweaking. There are also 4
touch points which will either add a warble to the
sound, change the pitch or return it to it's natural
pitch. It can be played from it's internal speaker or
from the added 1/4" mono input jack. The graphics on the
back final by the fun house mirror were custom designed
and added by me. There are also some custom graphics on
the back where it used to say "Disney Baby Einstein".
This is a numbered... one of a kind piece. :)
NAME:
"Modified
Fender Stratocaster Guitar" First Ever Demo! DATE CREATED:
October, 2012 DESCRIPTION: This
video features a modified Fender Strat in it's (I'm too
excited to string it) single guitar string demo!
Actually that is a good thing to keep in mind while
watching it, notice how many octaves I am able to get
out of it... the string in the video is a high E
string... strung at where the D string should go (ahhh
who cares, this is a rock n' roll test after all). It
has the ILLUMIRINGER Motion Controlled Ring Modulator
built directly into the guitar under the pick guard!
I will be putting up more videos of this mod, including
one with delay and distortion... as well as six strings.
:)
NAME:
"The
GoogaMooga" (DB111) DATE CREATED:
September, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
Top 3 in this years
Moog Circuit Bender Challenge! This years
challenge was to build a sampler from another device
that had been circuit bent, then to sample sounds from
the wildly popular Bob Moog 78th birthday (MiniMoog
style)
Google Doodle. This process was to be video taped,
uploaded to YouTube and emailed to Moog for review.
NAME:
"The Man Machine Synthesizer" (DB104) DATE CREATED:
April, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
This is the piece that was created for German electronic
music legends KRAFTWERK. It was given to Ralf
Hutter of Kraftwerk at their 8 show RETROSPECTIVE in NYC
this April. The show was at New York City's Museum
of Modern Art (MoMA) on Dr. Blankenstein's behalf
by representative of Volkswagen. The entire epic story
was later mentioned by writer / reporter Mike Ruben in
Rolling Stone magazine.
Read more about this wonderful Kraftwerk adventure
HERE
NAME:
"The James
Brown Keytar Synth" (DB106) DATE CREATED:
August, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
This is the circuit bent "James Brown Keytar Synth"..
ok, well the synth isn't really a keytar.. BUT it has a
picture of James Brown and his MOOG Liberation Synth
(now Page McConnell's from Phish) on it! It's really a
circuit bent greeting card.
This piece sports two body contacts, pitch control, warp
button and a mono output... this thing is weird, fun and
actually pretty versatile with it's limited'ness. ;)
NAME: "THERE-MAN
- Optical Theremin" (DB107) DATE CREATED:
July, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
This
piece was built just before the Illumiringer using a
similar style Dr. Blankenstein "Light Tube" design.
The main oscillator comes from an original 555 chip
design, which is combined with a ring modulator circuit
(same circuit used on the Illumiringer pedal). Together
mixed with excited and original control features such
as; extra large momentary on/off switch, steady on/off
switch, 2 sets of body conductive circuit contacts,
volume control, ring modulator on/off switch, and a
Control Voltage (CV) input which can be used with a
sequencer... and of course the light sensitive Dr.
Blankenstein "Light Tube" controller.
This will most likely become DrBlankenstein.com's first
publicly sold kit. Please stay tuned for more kit
details, and updated version demo videos and
information.
NAME: "Atari Punk Console (APC) / Module DELUXE
V1.5" (DB108) DATE CREATED:
Aug, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
Leons
getting larger! ;)
NAME: "Atari Punk Console (APC) / Module DELUXE
V1.0" (DB103) DATE CREATED:
March, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
Where it all began....
NAME:
"Illumiringer V1.0" (DB109) DATE CREATED:
August 14, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
Our world's first MOTION CONTROLLED RING MODULATOR
guitar effects pedal. This new invention from Dr.
Blankenstein allows the user to control it's eerie alien
sounds by moving objects in the 2 foot sensor area.
Read more...
You can see this
piece and many other
at my booth at this years
WORLD MAKER FAIRE at the New York Hall of
Science September 29th and 30th.This is an
event you do NOT WANT TO MISS!
NAME:
Early Illumiringer Breadboard Design (DB N/A) DATE CREATED:
April, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
Below is
a short video demonstration of the "Illumiringer" in
it's earliest breadboard circuit form. It's a cool
little video that shows the continuing progression of
the Illumiringer as it's develops, grows and changes.
NAME:
Early Illumiringer Breadboard Design
plus Distortion Circuit (DB N/A) DATE CREATED:
April, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
This is
a very quick cell phone video taken by a friend who just
could NOT WAIT to see the ILLUMIRINGER in action. What
is interesting about it, this version of the circuit
included the distortion option with will be featured on
the next V1.5 version of the pedal.
Check out how sensitive the pickups become when it's
engaged, it turned the body of the guitar into a really
space age meets Jimi Hendrix kinda percussion
instrument. Just a little taste of what is to come
with future version of the ILLUMIRINGER!
NAME:
"Britney Spears -
The Circuit Bent AM / FM Vintage Radio" (DB N/A) DATE CREATED:
Jun, 2012 DESCRIPTION:
This
piece has almost nothing to do with pop legend Britney
Spears. It's name come purely from the fact that
when building it a "born on" date (meaning the date it
was completed, inspected and left the assembly line) on
the inside. The date it read was 12/02/1981 (it's
wrong in the video below lol), of course it was looked
up immediately on WikiPedia.com. You guessed it
(maybe), it's
Britney Spears's birthday!
But enough about it's name, this is a 1981
Sanyo RP 5115 FM/AM Solid State radio. Just by
itself it is a great find, but this one has been modded
with a Light Dependant Resistor (LDR)! Just click
the added switch on the side and the volume control
knobs turns into a pitch control for the Theremin style
control sensor. This sensor creates a sort of
distorted lowpass filter effect in some light and
distance, and Theremin oscillator kind of sound /
control in other light. Check out the video below
for a quick demo... it's not that innocent.
NEW DR. BLANKENSTEIN CREATIONS
ADDED WEEKLY, PLEASE CHECK BACK SOON!