JALEO

Team

La Banda del Patio: Ana Lozano Martinez, Minnie Pangilinan, Nicolò Baldi

Introduction: Circuit Bending

JALEO is a research on Circuit Bending, the act of modifying existing, often discarded, electronics to give them new life.

The first step was to collect raw materials: we looked around for unused, non-working, discarded digital cameras, toys and monitors. Some of these electronics were gifted by friends, many picked up from trash or bought cheaply at Dels Encants.

Then it was time to get hands-on: the process of circuit bending is a delicate balance between freestyle experimentation and reverse engineering. Our process involved freely searching for glitches, new features, and distortions in the original hardware, while at the same time preserving and not damaging the original components. It is a trial-and-error procedure that can yield unexpected results, both in terms of unlocking new features in the device and potentially breaking it completely.

This unpredictability is precisely why we are fascinated by this technique and find it unique: it dances on the spectrum of possibilities and experiments and designs over something that already exists, creating a methodology based on adaptability, hacking, reusing — concepts difficult to find and apply in other contexts. This vision also requires care and attention, creating a magical tension between what the artifact could or could not become.

People

The project emerged from and thrived thanks to a vibrant group of people who organically came together during our research. We started by connecting with sound experimenting communities and artists in Barcelona: we visited their spaces and studios, attended their performances, jammed together, grabbed coffees, and simply shared our experiences.

It was amazing to see how willing and open these individuals were to share their perspectives, stories, spaces, and knowledge with us. The best part for me was that all these relationships developed very spontaneously, only driven by a shared passion for experimenting with soundscapes. Some connections even happened randomly, but eventually formed a solid group without which this project would never have been possible.

All of these people were incredible inspirations, and some eventually actively collaborated in our project development and performance. We would truly love to share our appreciation to this people and their energy, kindness, sincerity and patience. <3

Sound and Visual Instruments

VALENTINO

Valentino is our first accomplished instrument, an experiment that passed away and came back to life multiple times due to its fragility, but eventually turned into a powerful sound and beat-making instrument. You can find the full documentation of the making of Valentino through this link.

CASIO GLITCHED TOY KEYBOARD!

This toy keyboard, initially not working, has been purchased in Dels Encants for 7€, and after analyzing the electronics, me managed to add 3 extra features that radically change the sound of the instrument. It has a Gain Mode, in which the sound is boosted in a very powerful way through a button, a Light Mode, in which the sound is distorted through a photoresistor making it light-sensitive, and a Glitch Mode, in which through a potentiometer, the piano plays random samples.

LA ROCA

La Roca was developed in collaboration with Anthuanet Falcon and Enric Aranda during the Workshop: Installació Sonora, organized by Mutan Monkey. The goal was to explore the concept of sound installations, a world I hadn’t known existed before, and to focus on the immense potential of amplified primitive sounds.

La Roca amplifies the sound of a motor hitting a rock at various speeds through a piezo microphone, creating a blend of metallic, industrial sounds with the natural reverb and texture of the rock.

AIRBOOSTER

The Airbooster is an airplane toy that we reassembled to host a Booster (Pre-Amplifier) effect. The need to build a Booster arose from our use of Piezo Microphones, which capture physical vibrations but typically produce very low signals. To address this, we built a pre-amp circuit based on a clone of the Super Hard-On by Z.Vex guitar pedal, available online. We also reused and reinvented the toy’s original case and LEDs.

EL MATADOR

El Matador is a combination of different metallic materials, trash cans, bolts, nuts, power supply cases, a soldering iron structure… It is a playground in which the Piezo Microphone can amplify different materials in order to get a variety of sounds depending on where it is placed. For instance, we got a very deep and echoing sound by using the soldering iron structure as a spring and placing the microphone directly on it.

RORSCHACH

Rorschach was literally a “SpiderMan Infrared Toy Gun”. After disassembling it and experimenting with its sounds, we decided to amplify it through a Jack Output. We also found out the the motor used for the vibration effect of the toy was giving an interesting sound if amplified by a Piezo Microphone.

OSCILLOSCOPE

Fascinated by the idea of visualizing our sounds in real-time, we looked for a way to build our own oscilloscope. Through various tutorials, we discovered that it was possible to convert old CRT screens into analog oscilloscopes.

For doing this, we decided to repurpose the old intercom used by Minnie in the Machine Paradox Seminar: we added a jack input to receive the sound signal and reinvented the interface by reusing other discarded materials such as old components from a discarded 3D printer and metal structures from power supplies and computers.

AUDIO REACTIVE THERMAL PRINTER AND TAXI LIGHT

We had a thermal printer available in class and an unused Taxi Light kindly gifted by our taxista de confianza, so we immediately thought: why not making those devices audio reactive?

Compared to other parts of the project, this phase involved the most interaction with digital tools, particularly software like Pure Data and the Arduino IDE. However, our main focus remained on maintaining a physical and analog element as much as possible. This is why our thermal printer was set to print the intensity of the soundwave in real-time. The taxi light also activates when a certain threshold is exceeded.

You can take a look of our documentatiion of the thermal printer printer project through this link.

GLITCHING VIDEO THROUGH RCA VIDEO TXRX ON DISASSEMBLED MONITORS

We kindly got gifted by Charity and Ricard a RCA Video Transmitter and Receiver, which basically act as a primitive Bluetooth Device: they uses two antennas to send and receive the video signal from a source and display it into another.

We used this instrument to display our live performance live recorded from a security camera into two disassembled monitors, while glitching the video in real-time by phisically moving and twisting the antennas. We wanted to empahsize the possibility of glitching in analog instruments, usually more accessible and also driven by a hands-on process.

LILY

Lily is a cyborg doll created by Clara Teresa, born by the idea of combining toys with E-Waste. The head has been 3D printed in resin and combined with an assembly of metal and electronics components.

Alquimia

JALEO has been officially presented during the event Alquimia in SSuave3000, on the 12-06-24.

This event has been organized by part of the MDEFest 2024, the collective presentation of all the projects developed by this year’s Master in Design for Emergent Futures Programme.

Concept

We are liv*ing* in-between as be*ing* a presence in the present: stay*ing* in between is a process of Transform-Action, a dynamic happen*ing* of alchemy. It’s oscillat*ing* across dichotomies to find rebirth, the rebirth of mean*ing*, experienc*ing*, feel*ing.*

The Transform-Action itself is a a process of rebirth*ing*.

The presence in the present is a gathering space to feel safe and take care (of), where choosing and imperfections are allowed because it is ever-changing. It’s a humble and hopeful belief that this space can grow exactly here in symbiosis.

Being in-between does not mean to find a margin and choose a point on this line, but mov*ing* freely in a grey area not clearly defined. It’s not only guided by knowledge and rationality, but also by instinct, feel and sense.

The start*ing* point to reach this grey area is material, tangible, but at the same time ready to be reconsidered through virtuality.

Open Collective Jam

After an intense prototyping phase, we wondered how to best communicate and share our project with others. Reflecting on our process, we realized that the instruments we built differed significantly from traditional musical instruments. These devices can be played without rules, creating an interaction where there is no clear right or wrong. This free experimentation allows anyone to play sounds, offering a unique and approachable interaction compared to traditional instruments, which can be intimidating due to their interface, architecture, and cultural background. We also believe that the design itself of these artifacts, shaped by an open structure and a lack of point of reference makes our instruments accessible and without the need for specialized knowledge.

This is why, for our presentation, we organized what we called “Open Collective Jam”. This was a moment in which all of our instruments were available for everyone to play with, creating a gathering for collective jamming. The objective was to let the collective sounds, noise, and process of discovery arise as protagonists, rather than the individual musical skills. Everyone was invited to experiment with the different sounds generated by our bizarre creations, and it was delightful to see people’s reactions to the open interfaces and electronics, discovering simply by putting their hands on them.

Live Performance: JALEO

After this moment of co-creation, we also wanted to share our personal process of experimenting with the instruments that we built and show their potential by designing and performing an Audio/Visual Live Performance of JALEO.

We designed the set to reflect our process by including every artifact we built as part of the performance. Although the performance was mostly improvised, we strategically included and distributed our tools and their features throughout the performance to highlight their unique aspects. Each instrument had its own role, mirroring its importance to us during the prototyping phase.