Wednesday 25 November 2009

S-Video to Composite Converter


so I got an adapter today in a junk shop it had square 5 s-video sockets on there and at 43p each from rapid I think that was 65p well spent 


here is my attempt at a neat little test jig for finding good bends on the s-video to composite circuit found here see Karl Klomps very nice version here. I can swap in different caps and pots to give me some interesting effects. video coming soon...

Electrocraft Colouriser

I just got this colouriser (or more commonly known colourizer or even colorizer ) for 99p. It gives some pretty dramatic effects but the image is giving me and un-synced scrolling effect. It also puts out some cool patterns on its own. I need to work out all the ins and outs because it requires a reference signal (possibly pure sync as I tried outputs from my mixer) the insides are very neatly wired and all the pots are on a separate board perfect for bending! It is however mains powered so Im going to have to be careful. Cool piece but because of the difficulty of use I wouldn't pay over £10 if you see one.






Thursday 19 November 2009

THE BIG BENT NES POST

so there are quite a few NES/famicoms out there that have been bent for audio reactivity here in decending order are Pixel Form, Kaseo, Casper Electronics and Collapsicon
more to come






Wednesday 18 November 2009

Friday 13 November 2009

New Video by Bildheinzer

here is the latest of his RGB audio reactive effect units 

Elite Video Processor

Elite Video Processors often pop up on ebay US 
and they also have the unusual "flesh tone" control

Subvertigo demotape 1993


Here is an amazing video of some VJs working in 1993
Taken from TomEllard's description on youtube


This isn't a Sevs clip. Subvertigo was an Australian VJ team busy in the early to mid 90's at raves and warehouse parties. They used modified video hardware (e.g. the Panasonic MX10), VHS and cameras to make the live mix. The effects here are the kind that inspired current VJ software. This is part of a longer demo VHS that was used to get gigs, which I have archived. I asked permission of a member to share this with you.

Circuit Bent Video Self Portrait

Here is an nice video from youtuber Psychenaturadatura check out more through the link



Thursday 12 November 2009

EMS Spectron/Spectre

famous British video synthesizer sold around 1974 more info here



Sans Soleil or Sunless by Chris Marker (of La Jetée fame) is an amazing film and also uses a spectron for some effects and here is a video made with a Fairlight CVI and a EMS Spectre by youtuber WarrenABurt
imagine running one with a VCS3!

Tuesday 10 November 2009

JVC JX-C7 video correction unit

The JVC JX-C7 is another pretty standard video correction unit
more details here

Monday 9 November 2009

Video Feedback

here is a shot from some of my video feedback experiments

Little 1-bit Video Synth

Little 1-bit Video Synth via Flickr by Tristan Perich more info here




Sunday 8 November 2009

Vintage Archer Analog Video Processors

Super chilled out video from a man named Kevin demoing some analogue video correctors that can get a little glitchy and interesting at the far end of the potentiometers

Thursday 5 November 2009

Sansui AV-77

The Sansui AV-77 is a fairly common AV unit that has a few video effects and some useful video features. picked up a unit in perfect condition the other day and had to look to see what I could find on the net www.audioinfo.net has some useful info and some screen shots of the device in action

while this unit has some cool retro colorizing effects I would not advise it as your first or only effects unit purchase. I also would not advise buying one with a view to circuit bending due to the fact it runs off an internal transformer so there are mains voltages running inside YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Where this unit comes in to its own is as a source switch (that also contains a few effects). I plan to use mine with a few of my other old bits of video gear (before going to one channel of my mixer).

Monday 2 November 2009

Atari Video Music

One of the most readily available (if still relatively rare) video synthesizers is the simple but effective Atari Video Music. It has appeared in many music videos and on many blogs. It is poplar with VJs, synthesists and hifi buffs.












It is however as far as I know only available in NTSC not PAL and only rarely do they turn up in Europe. Even if one did you would need a converter. Of course the UK has its own vintage music visualizer the Chromasope.

However both of these are expensive and hard to find. Help is at hand if your in the mood for some DIY with The Pixelmusic 3000 designed and built by Tarikh Korula based on the Parallax Propeller and detailed in Make issue 14! The code is for NTSC but I think it can be altered for PAL. Also see gadgetgangster for a kit based of the Pixelmusic project.















I may give it a go!