Circuit bending is the art of short-circuiting children’s toys or other electronic low-voltage devices for the purpose of generating new sounds, which can then in turn be used in composing music. There is a strong element of randomness and experimentation with this process in that the resulting sounds created by the toys are largely unknown.
Modified Toy Orchestra, lead by sound artist Brian Duffy, creates music in this vein. Their philosophy centers around the idea of, “finding the surplus value in the seemingly redundant.” Toygopop, their debut album, was five years in the making. – It took two years to make the instruments and learn how to play them and an additional three years to compose the songs.
What’s surprising about Toygopop is its accessibility. In my observations, musicians with the mind to experiment to these sorts of lengths usually end up making music that falls under the category of noise. And unless you like to ask yourself questions like, “What is music really?” you’re likely to be put off. But Toygopop, as indicated by its name, is essentially an electronic pop album. An extraordinary electronic pop album.
The combination of playful melodies and the slight familiarity of the distorted sounds used to produce them is an aesthetic which is thoroughly unique and a joy to listen to. I wanted to showcase the song A Grand Occasion, but I couldn’t resist putting this concert video up. It is too cute and funny to pass up on. Here you get to see the toy conductors play their instruments to the backdrop of a short love story involving two stuffed animals.
