Added: 5 years ago
From: carpeteria
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  • lol. its like a little kids dj sampler.

  • How on earth can you get this sounds from a toy computer? Let it look like a modular system, put some cabels in it and people will pay thousands for it! :)

  • Nicely done! :-)

  • its always fun to take toys from when you were little and circuit bend them and get silly sounds!

  • sounds like a video game.

  • MOOORE DISTORTION!!!!!

  • here is apple's technology in a few years...

  • Haha this is awesome! Nice work!

  • I don't understand the point in this.

  • im concerned that nobody made a mac joke yet

  • I know, right? Almost four years on here, and nothing. Come on, Youtube!

  • hmm, i was playing with the circuit on mine, nothing more than touching points together and it stopped working all together! any idea how i can fix it? the batteries are good, i checked...

  • Hi there - odds are good, unfortunately, that if the batteries are good, and it's not responding at all, that you fried the circuit. One way to possibly fix it is to hook a wire to one of the battery leads and touch around the board very quickly - don't stay on any points too long. Sometimes that can kick a dead circuit back to life (but sometimes it can make it worse, so be careful). If nothing else is responding, it's a good last ditch effort. Good luck - it's a really tricky circuit.

  • @carpeteria THAT WORKED! amazed...trouble is its only play sound if i connect one point to the red battery cable. strange. thinking of drawing a small map, as some spark!

  • Awesome! Like I said, it's a last ditch fix, as it can damage the circuit even more. Sounds like you may have damaged the original battery lead connection, so finding another spot to connect to might be a permanent fix - if you do that, however, I'd highly suggest adding in a regular switch for a new on/off control (or rerouting it through the button on the toy), as it might continue to drain the battery, even if it appears to be "off" - good luck!

  • This is the greatest bent toy that I have seen! Nice work!

  • Thanks very much!

  • I just got one of these at Goodwill. Do you have a picture of the board with the bend points?

  • Hey - I don't have a picture, and I can say honestly that it's a really difficult bend to do, because it's a toy that has been knocked off by a lot of companies. Even within VTech, the CB changes, so finding consistent glitches is pretty hard. I got lucky with this one, really. One of the things I can suggest to get the sounds I did here is trying capacitors of various sizes between glitch points, which causes it to sort of stretch out the sounds. Good luck to you!

  • @carpeteria Thanks for replying, but I fried it the day after I posted this comment. Thanks, though.

  • Oh, bummer - sorry to hear that, and sorry I took so long to respond. Hope you can find another one to mess around with - it's a lot of fun to play with if you can get it going. Good luck!

  • This is so fun to listen to when you're high! :D

  • Once circuit bent, can toys keep their original sound as well? I'm just getting into these, and I want to make sure I have to option of playing them how to were meant to be played, as well.

  • Absolutely - there's no reason they cannot, unless in the bending process you disrupt or "injure" the original workings of the toy (which can commonly occur, actually). If you are careful to keep the toy's circuitry intact while making new connections, it should work as "factory" when your bends are off or not activated. Good luck - it's a really fun hobby!

  • @carpeteria Awesome, thanks so much. I'll try posting a vid sometime this summer with my creation(s)

  • Sounds great - looking forward to it. VTech toys from the early 90's tend to work very well (look for their older logo as seen in the apple toy above), though I'll say that this particular toy (alphabet apple) is a very tricky and difficult bend to get good results from. I got lucky with the one in the video, for sure. Good luck!

  • @carpeteria @carpeteria Thanks for the advice. I'm purchasing a Speak N' Spell and a Speak N' Math off of ebay, but I'm going to Value Village (cheap secondhand store) today to see what I can find. Hopefully a VTech :)

  • Oh, great - any of the TI "Speak &" toys are a lot of fun to bend, and pretty easy to put together.

  • just when you thought chucky was the most evil kids toy secondt o firby that ever existed well think again.

  • this is a really good bend.

    also im pretty sure they used a circuit bent one of these at various point in fantomas's "suspended animation" album.

  • Thanks! I know Fantomas, and I know Mike Patton is into bending - it's possible he used this one, though a lot of VTech bent toys sound a bit similar.

  • hey i had one of those when i was little but i couldnt make it do that !!!

  • That's because it wasn't circuit bent. xP

  • This is sweet how do people do this

  • Search around for "circuit bending" - you'll find plenty of information out there. It's really not that difficult.

  • Nice Polish beatbox!

  • This is the best apple bend I've ever seen.

  • Thanks very much!

  • sounds like a Mac and a PC are having a conversation on ACID!!!

  • Killin it on the bends! This thing sounds awesome!

  • Many thanks!

  • mine did it by its self after i bleached it with strait bleach

  • the future is alphebet apple!

  • Who is doing this? Obi-wan? (Check out those sleeves)

  • Yes, it's true. I'm a Jedi Wizard of circuit bending.

  • Well, only a Jedi Master would use an Apple. The other's are for the Darkside!

  • softdev1, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard from reading a comment!

  • that is incredible...!! I've been working on this toy for a weeks, I can't get it to sound anywhere near that cool!

    So when you install an 1/8" out, you just solder it to the speaker wires? Also, how do make a 'reset' button...?

  • Thanks! As you can see from the other comments I've made here, it's a very tricky toy to bend, as it doesn't seem to work the same way with every version. I suggest playing with capacitors between bends. For a 1/4 or 1/8 out (or any output jack), the simplest way is to solder to the speaker connections, either on the speaker itself or the board connection. A reset button is really easy - just put a NC button between one of the battery wires. It will interrupt the battery and "reset". Good luck!

  • Thank you..! When I tried to hook up the 1/8" out the speaker gave distortion and for a while the toy wouldn't turn on, even when I installed/hit reset and took out the batteries... so I got scared. Maybe I'll try again later. I just wish I could've gotten some more fullness and range out of it (I love your space-age sounds) but mine turned into a cruncher/croaker...!

  • such great glitch bends

  • Thanks!

  • That is not a real VTech Alphabet Apple - It's a cheap Chinese pirate copy that has only half the functions that don't work properly and is built of cheap plastic. Get the real thing for a much better bending project.

  • No, that's an actual VTech apple. I've seen some of the knockoffs as well, and they're quite different. In its "normal" mode, all of the functions of this particular toy work quite well. Thanks for the note, though.

  • Comment removed

  • Of course you mean that in the nicest way possible. And I thank you for your kind words.

  • this is easily the coolest sounding bent device i've seen. good work.

  • Thanks!

  • LOL funny meeting you here

    and that was awesine

  • Many thanks.

  • ahh thank you so much you saved my life!

  • could someone please give me a refrence on where i could learn to circuit bend it's something that i've been pursuing for a while now and want to incorporate into my music

  • Look up Reed Ghazala on Amazon - his Circuit Bending book is one of the best for beginners, and he's considered the "father" of bending, so it's a good source to go to. It's a lot easier than it looks - good luck!

  • what caused that hum at 0:48? it looked like one of the led buttons did it

  • That was a reset button. Sounds like it sort of jogged the glitch back into place.

  • i think your apple bend is the best apple bend i have ever seen :)

  • Many thanks! I'm proud of it too, and when I've tried to duplicate it, I've been amazed that this one works as well as it does, because I can never quite replicate the same effects. Keep trying, and post a video if you get some good stuff out of yours!

  • well if you wanted to duplicate it youd have to open it up. Try looking at the date/model on the back battery compartment, then youll know if it will work or not. Im thinking of adding some power starving pots on mine to achieve the "bleepy glitch"

  • I did that long ago, and did exactly the same bends/connections, but it didn't do the same things, unfortunately. It's an enigma!

  • it may have not done the same things because of the battery supply/model, do you have a dc port added to yours? it saves lots of batteries :)

  • As far as I know, they were the same model. I gave away the other one, so I can't check. I don't use an adapter, but the batteries I've had in it for a couple of years now are still the same, so it's been a good toy for power usage.

  • may i ask what happens if you just hold down the "led tone glitch" button? It sounds like it stops making sound completely but its hard to hear

  • It pretty much just raises the pitch up a bit while sort of stretching it out, if that makes any sense.

  • ok i tried bending it, i found nothing but crashes....is there any way you can check where the capacitors attach?? im confused

  • It's a really tricky toy to bend. I'm weary of opening mine up, but I'll be trying to bend a new one soon, and I'll take photos if I can find anything similar. The best advice I can give is to just keep poking around and use different values of caps as you go. Good luck!

  • did the leds have anything to do with it, or was it a double pole pushbutton?

  • The LEDs may have helped in the spots where they are, but the main glitches do not have any LEDs attached. They're hooked up to a three-way slider switch that I scalped off of an old air humidifier, and it's just capacitors and points on the board.

  • So capacitors cause glitches? Cool i will try them. I also heard that shorting the pitch resistor causes a glitch, do you happen to remember trying that?

  • They don't necessarily cause glitches, but they can affect glitches that exist from point to point, often delaying or building up the sound.

  • where do you attach the capacitors? im sure one pin goes to pitch resistor?

  • Honestly, I don't know. It was a very random bending that I did about two years ago now. I do know that I tried to replicate it exactly with another VTech apple, and it didn't do the same thing - it's a temperamental toy, for sure. Poke around with it and see what you can get! I've seen other people bend this toy even further, so there are definitely options in there somewhere.

  • what are those button phase effects?? pitch jumps or something??

  • Do you mean the buttons with the LEDs? If so, yes, they're connected to capacitors, and they cause speed interruptions which affect the pitch. All three buttons do the same thing, but each has a different color of LED.

  • cool, what about the glitch, where is that connected?

  • It has a couple of glitch points, which are also connected through capacitors. I don't know exactly where they're on the CB, but the black three-way switch and the two-way switch next to it both control the glitches with different combinations. It's pretty random, actually, as I've tried to replicate the same bends without success. Nature of the beast....

  • happen to remember what type of capacitors?

  • Unfortunately, no. I usually buy those large packets of random caps from Radio Shack, and it was some from that big selection. Usually, I'll just put two alligator clips between a bend and swap out different values of caps between the two wires to see what happens. Often, it will be sort of a slow build up of noise as it flows through the caps. The "Baby Ball Box" bends I did do that quite a bit.

  • oh ok thanks, i think i will try that, btw i meant what kind of capacitor as in the radial (cylinder shaped ones) and those ceramic disc (orange) ones thx :)

  • Ah, gotcha. I used the cylinder shaped type (electrolytic).

  • im guessing one side was connected to the pitch resistor? the other possibly ground or something? i always find connecting the pitch resistor to the speaker out produces amazing effects

  • dude that makes some great noises, i want to get intoi curcuit bending, ive just always seem to buy soo cheap there unbendable toys lol

  • Thanks - sometimes the cheapest toys make the best sounds, so don't give up!

  • 2:09 Hart Fart

  • excellent job.

  • Thank you kindly.

  • Great bend! wish I had some toys and solder..

  • Thanks! It's easy to do - not expensive at all.

  • SO Many Toys So Little Time..Cool Bends!!!

  • thanks! i know exactly what you mean....

  • i recall 0:46 from a Garrys mod random movie i saw once

  • Hi, I'm about to bend one of these as my second ever bending project. I wonder if you might give me a few pointers as to how yours turned out to be so good?

  • Hi, and thanks. This is a tricky one. A lot of this one was luck, as I've tried to bend more with the same connections but with no success. One thing that really opened it up, however, was using capacitors between bends - try different values to see which reacts the best, and don't be afraid to experiment around. Be sure to test the different "games" on the side, as well, as they may react differently to different connections. Good luck!

  • My sister used to have that toy XD

  • thanks! it's a good one, for sure.

  • for troubleshooting, call our customer care hotline....

  • The cross fader worm :)

    Not exactly, but a great scentence anyway :D

  • Yeah, definitely! That's exactly how it works, actually.

  • Hello. I hope u can gimme some advice.

    I found a childhood toy of mine it's a "vtech pc genius" ages 7-10

    i found it as i was tidying my room i'm 17 now, and i'd like to do something fun with it instead of chucking it out, got ne ideas ?

  • 3:04: "Cum Skeet" lmao!

  • it was 3:05 but ur right... dat was funny

  • "find the letter vrichsays"?

  • I circuit bended one of these- well... tried... I completely fried the circuit and it wouldn't work anymore.

  • sorry to hear that - they're incredibly volatile toys, unfortunately, but if you can get one to work, they're totally worth it.

  • It might be a fuse. If you find a resistor with some plastic coating, try bypassing it, it should work.

  • thanks!

  • Really nice. I've just got one of these to bend.

  • Thanks - good luck with it. They're a little tricky - see my comments below for tips.

  • by circuit bend...do you also mean to hack by messing around with the components?

  • yes, it's basically making new connections on the existing boards and wiring in components to control them. it's a very simple thing to do once you find interesting bends.

  • thats cool...do you think i can make one with an RC car by changing some transistors and resistors?

  • does the car make sounds/noises? pretty much any circuit-based, battery operated toy can be bent in some fashion.

  • yea actually it also has an LED that i think if i remove i can create an oscillation with a multivibrator...

  • cool- good luck with that.

  • thanks...and again nice vid!

  • thank you!

  • i'm attacking one of these today. seems like i have an older model with a girly voice. Wish me luck!

    M V F K ;)

  • Good luck - they're a little tricky. Use capacitors!

  • Another thing you can do on this toy is over-clock it. The one I had would crash when a small resistor (I'd say 10k or less) was momentarily connected between the clock point, and +volts.

    There's a sound sample on my soundclick page (jftl), it starts at about 1:16.

  • Thanks for the tip - at this point, I'd be afraid to do too much more to this one, as it's a pretty fragile connection as it stands. I've actually tried to duplicate the same bends I have on this one and it hasn't worked the same way, so there's some kind of connection that I don't have a handle on with this one outside of my random wiring that I'm keeping in place so far.

  • I wondered why my kid spoke funny ;)

    Only smokin' nice bending

  • Thanks!

  • this is pretty sweet i wish the vtec apple i had was this insane haha but im not that good at bending

  • My suggestion with this one is to play around with capacitors - I couldn't get it to do anything but a pitch bend without them. Most of those effects are through caps. Go buy a package at Radio Shack and put them between bends. Something will come up, guaranteed. Good luck!

  • desu

  • Vtech just kicked in yo

  • Oh, thanks. You explain it much better.

  • VTech just kicked in YO.

  • Hmm... yes, I suppose so.

  • desu

  • Just kicked in YO!

  • Not sure what that means, exactly, but thanks!

  • An internets fad. Actually is VTEC JUST KICKED IN YO!111!!, referring to the VTEC system in Honda engines.

    It feels great when I'm driving full speed and then I sense how VTEC just kicked in YO!!!!

  • Ahhhh... well I'm glad it's not just some random thing. Thanks for the clarification. Yo.

  • very fresh sounds.

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