Freakenspeak Circuit Bent Speak & Spell

Next stop on Califaudio's circuit bending ride is the Freakenspeak, a circuit bent Speak & Spell. If you're not familiar with the educational electronic toy made by Texas Instruments in the late 1970s, check out a virtual Speak & Spell or the circuit bent Speak & Roil online.

The Freakenspeak has all kinds of ways to make the toy sound nothing like the ones the kids were playing with 30 years ago.

On the top left, there are two bend switches that glitch out the vocal synthesizer, twisting out noisy blips, bleeps and squelches. In certain modes, just flipping one or both of these switches can start an endless stream of electro weirdness.

The top right two switches activate loop mode. You can get a groove going by flipping the top right switch and then engaging the bottom one to add more chaos to the mix.

The left switch under the speaker activates the photo cell (to the right under the speaker) which lets you play the pitch by waving your hand up and down over it without touching it like a theremin. You can go crazy and use other light sources, like a flashlight or laser pointer, on the light sensor for a more dramatic effect.

The Freakenspeak's pitch can also be adjusted by:

• high/low pitch switch - next to the photo cell switch
• swirly ball knob - bottom left
• brass ball body contact - the more of your hands that touch it, the lower the pitch
• holographic label - also lowers the pitch the more contact you have with it
  

The bottom right switch turns on a steady tone you can alter by pressing the keypad and using any combination of the pitch controls. Next to that, there's a reset switch.

With all the bend switches off, the Freakenspeak functions exactly like a normal Speak & Spell.

Sound comes out of the built-in speaker or 1/8" mono out. It takes 4 "C" batteries and can run on an optional AC adaptor (6V, 200 mA, center pin positive).

There are two bright LED lights on the sides which are great for live performance.

The holographic eyes are a cool bonus. Depending on surrounding light, you can see the spooky eyeballs or the vacuum fluorescent display or both.


The Freakenspeak circuit bend mod was done by David R. Barnes AKA Dr.FREAKENSPEAK of Gourd Studios in Victoria B.C. Canada. If you want to buy one of his circuit bent creations, search for seller slapstix1 on ebay.

Califaudio Freakenspeak Circuit Bent Speak & Spell mp3 demos:


freakenspeak alphabet : mp3 download
this track is unavailable until june 13, 2013.


slow freak : mp3 download
this track is unavailable until june 13, 2013.