Circuitbenders Forum
Circuitbenders Forum => Circuitbending discussion => Toys => Topic started by: goldenbaby on November 18, 2008, 04:59:54 AM
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So I have officially developed the habit of regulating the shelves at the local thrift store every week.
I bought something new last week. This is the Drum2:
(http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v373/92/97/572677266/n572677266_1519556_9366.jpg) (http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v373/92/97/572677266/n572677266_1519557_9590.jpg) (http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v373/92/97/572677266/n572677266_1519558_9813.jpg)
Other than being made in China, there's no manufacturing or company info on it. I can't find any information on it on the Internet. I think I remember it being sold by Real Canadian Superstore 6 or 7 years ago, and I used to have the keyboard toy that got issued side by side.
So far I haven't found any bends, but the presets are pretty fun and the pads actually work for beats (though they sometimes cut each other off, courtesy of China). If nothing else I will just throw a 1/4" output jack and maybe a starve pot, because it's been doing some freaky stuff at times with the lights flickering, etc.
There is a jack on here, but I put both my headphones and my iPod into it, to no avail. The only thing left to guess is that it's a mic jack, but it should have at least made a noise when I plugged in my iPod.
I need to order some parts...3 toys and I haven't even started yet.
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There is a jack on here, but I put both my headphones and my iPod into it, to no avail. The only thing left to guess is that it's a mic jack, but it should have at least made a noise when I plugged in my iPod.
Not opened it up yet? You might find that it's a power socket, if you trace the connections back.
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I found some crazy noise and frantic beats in one of these, but never actually got past probing it. Too many toys in line ahead of it, but there's definitely some cool VERY noisy stuff to play with in here.
good luck and keep us informed.
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Not opened it up yet? You might find that it's a power socket, if you trace the connections back.
I have probed around 2 times already, but didn't trace it back. I figured since it's a jack for 1/4", it wouldn't make any sense for it to be a power jack. I could be wrong, I don't know hoards about electronics. I majored in electronics in high school, but I am surprisingly dumb about it by now.
3rdness: I'm in Canada. Where did you find yours, if you can recall?
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My brother picked it up for me at a yard sale for a dollar or so. The power switch was broken, so it didn't turn on. I'll add a new switch when I get around to tweaking this mutha sucka.
anyhoo....
-noam
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I actually meant which country you found it in, but the profiles appears to tell me you live in MAine, or MAssachusetts(sp?...er...sic)
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Maine is ME, for whatever reason. Massachusetts is MA.
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massachusetts.
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Just stumbled across the video on YouTube, and it's the Drum2! The bender doesn't even know what the toy was called, but the control panel is very recognizable. Anyways, this apparently cheap-O boards is actually one of the nicest things I have ever seen. I'm definitely digging this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYe1fGIbI0o
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I found out after writing that post, that some other toy has been merged with it.
I poked around a little more seriously on this one today, and I got no sounds I can't get by hitting the drumpads. I was able to shorta chip to get some distortion on the beats, but they only sound good on some of them. An LFO would probably be nice in here though, triggering the preset loops repeatedly.
I tried to install a phono out jack, but it was way louder than my guitar. I threw in what was probably a 500k resistor, and though I could pull the volume down, it also began to sound muddy, the highs disappeared. And then, with the instruments output lowered, I heard the high frequency noise it was producing. I'm accepting defeat on this thing. It just sucks that I won't be able to amplify this guys awesome preset beats.
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I managed to find a bend across a resistor that raises or lowers the pitch and tempo as the resistance changes.
As the machine crashes if I go to high or too low, there are certain limits. Since there is a resistor in their normally, how can I get the upward and downward pitch change with just one resistor? Or will I need to use two? Should I even keep the original resistor in there as a default setting?
I worked out a simple schematic where a SPDT in one position goes to the original resistor, and another pot to add resistance and lower the pitch, and in the other positions goes simply to a pot the equivalent of the normal resistor so that I can lower that resistance and get a higher pitch. But it feels like there should be an easier way.
What do you suggest?
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Use two resistors in series. One resistor sets the "low" end, the other sets the high end. For instance, if you found a 2k2 resistor had a useful range of 1k to 5k, put a 1k fixed resistor in series with a 3k3 or 4k7 variable resistor. With the variable resistor at minimum resistance, it will all be down to the 1k resistor. You could use two fixed resistors, with the switch shorting the "second" resistor for a cleaner, glitch-free changeover.
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I tried to install a phono out jack, but it was way louder than my guitar. I threw in what was probably a 500k resistor, and though I could pull the volume down, it also began to sound muddy, the highs disappeared. And then, with the instruments output lowered, I heard the high frequency noise it was producing. I'm accepting defeat on this thing. It just sucks that I won't be able to amplify this guys awesome preset beats.
In attempt to finish this CBO off, I wired this jack up again with the 500k ohm pot, and the only thing it does is shape the sound a bit....absolutely no volume drop. Oh what am I to?
I wired the switching jack before the speaker, and the pot between the negative of the speaker and the board. I also tried it between the board and the positive terminal of the jack, and nothing changed. Is this all wrong? The pot changes the volume of the toy's speaker, but not the volume going into the switched jack...seems very odd to me.
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Is it bad etiquette to bump my thread after 3 days?
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You can bump this thread all you want, if nobody has an answer it won't help you any ;)
Theres a few threads on this board about getting output volumes down to managable levels. Try with the positive speaker output going to the middle pot tag with one side of the pot going to the jack positive and the other going to ground.
UNless of course its just way to early in the morning and i don't know what i'm talking about, in which case that may not work or i could be answering a completely different question. :)
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You can bump this thread all you want, if nobody has an answer it won't help you any ;)
Theres a few threads on this board about getting output volumes down to managable levels. Try with the positive speaker output going to the middle pot tag with one side of the pot going to the jack positive and the other going to ground.
UNless of course its just way to early in the morning and i don't know what i'm talking about, in which case that may not work or i could be answering a completely different question. :)
So are we bending or bumping :D
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Theres a few threads on this board about getting output volumes down to managable levels. Try with the positive speaker output going to the middle pot tag with one side of the pot going to the jack positive and the other going to ground.
Do it the other way round, with the speaker across the ends of the pot and the wiper going to the output. That way when the volume is all the way down it doesn't short out the power amp.
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im thinking that this toy probably employs a a transistor or two to amplify the sound before it goes to the speaker. ive noticed that in a lot of cheaper toys like this, the speaker is connected to the singnal out from the transistor on one end, and the positive voltage on the other rather than the ground. if this is the case you should be able to connect the signal from the transistor to the tip and the shield to the toy's ground. as long as the speaker is still connected, this should fix your problem. then you could go about adding a volume pot to the signal to the output jack. if you wanted to get rid of the speaker, you'll want to add a 10ohm pull up resistor to keep it working.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/bendies/out.jpg)
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Argh, I think I'm getting stupider with each bend.
Try with the positive speaker output going to the middle pot tag with one side of the pot going to the jack positive and the other going to ground.
So, disconnect the wire going to positive terminal on the speaker, put it to middle tag of pot, wire one side tag of pot to jack positive and the other side tag of pot to ground...(is ground gonna be what was connected to the negative terminal on the speaker? I don't know how speakers are wired, I guess).
Do it the other way round, with the speaker across the ends of the pot and the wiper going to the output. That way when the volume is all the way down it doesn't short out the power amp.
I want to control the volume of the jack. Were you referring to the output of the jack? If so, what should I do with the negative/ground of the jack.
im thinking that this toy probably employs a a transistor or two to amplify the sound before it goes to the speaker. ive noticed that in a lot of cheaper toys like this, the speaker is connected to the singnal out from the transistor on one end, and the positive voltage on the other rather than the ground. if this is the case you should be able to connect the signal from the transistor to the tip and the shield to the toy's ground. as long as the speaker is still connected, this should fix your problem. then you could go about adding a volume pot to the signal to the output jack. if you wanted to get rid of the speaker, you'll want to add a 10ohm pull up resistor to keep it working.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/bendies/out.jpg)
I know nothing about signals and shields of transistors. I'll do a search or something tomorrow.
Forgive me, guys, I post a lot and am still pretty brutal at bending. Apparently anti-theory is not quite enough afterall. :\
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You need to have the "open" end of the variable resistor grounded, otherwise that won't work properly. You should also have a capacitor between the output tranny and the variable resistor to block the DC, which might damage things if the volume was all the way up.
You're spot on about the load resistor if you take the speaker out, though.
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You need to have the "open" end of the variable resistor grounded, otherwise that won't work properly. You should also have a capacitor between the output tranny and the variable resistor to block the DC, which might damage things if the volume was all the way up.
your right, grounding say a 5-10k log pot would be the proper way to attenuate the signal. hmm, i never thought about the capacitor. that makes sense though. i'll have to try that out next time.
So, disconnect the wire going to positive terminal on the speaker, put it to middle tag of pot, wire one side tag of pot to jack positive and the other side tag of pot to ground...(is ground gonna be what was connected to the negative terminal on the speaker? I don't know how speakers are wired, I guess).
do you have a multi tester? i dont know what your circuit looks like, but i think that the speaker is connected to the positive voltage(+6volts), and a transistor. the transistor side would be the output and the positive voltage side would not be connected to the out put jack. the "tip" is the output side of the jack and the shield is the ground side. the shield should be connected to the "-" side of the batteries. a multi tester would let you know if the positive voltage was in fact going to the speaker, or not. this is all a lot easier than it seems. sorry if it sounds confusing.
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After 3 months of not touching any of my circuits, I just hooked up the jack alone, plugged it into my amp, and it sounded good. It doesn't sound particularly "hot," though it probably is still louder than my guitar would be. Would it really be destructive if I didn't cut down the signal? How can I measure the strength of the output signal with my multi-meter, and how low should the signal be?
I find this question important, because although I have a soundboard and guitar amp to run gear though, I would like the option of plugging my CBOs directly into my Macbook (and y'know, I'd hate to blow the line inputs on that).