Bert and Ernie never sounded so twisted.
This is a circuit-bent Sesame Street All Star Band. I love this thing, because even the raw sounds are just awesome. There are a few mallet-like percussive sounds, a trumpet blare, and some wicked warped bass tones. You choose the sound by touching one of the big star shaped buttons. The 8 note keyboard makes this a very useful musical toy. Once you get it plugged in to an amp instead of using the tiny speaker, the sounds are rich and full.
There is also a row of buttons on the bottom left that play preset songs (twinkle twinkle, mary had a little lamb, etc) and those circular buttons that have a few sound effects (car horn, whistle, clashing garbage can lids).
I’ve added a pitch knob, pitch lowering body contact, and pitch raising opto-theremin (photo resistor). You can bend the pitch from low grinding mechanical sound up to perky, plinky highs.
There are four glitch switches that mess up the notes of the preset songs and the notes of the keyboard (sometimes splitting sounds across the keys).
Also, a looping circuit with a sample momentary and hold toggle switch.
It’s an amazing drone machine, if you get a good loop going and then mess with the pitch via the knob, body contact, or photoresistor.
Add a “hammered” bronze paint job with shiny silver keys and blood splattered buttons and you’ve got one hell of a machine.
Creme Dementia has a good rundown of the insides of this machine on my favorite circuit bending blog Get LOFI. If you’re into circuit bending, Get LoFi is a great resource for news, ideas, and tips.