A fan-blog for Brian Duffy, his Modified Toy Orchestra, and related endeavours.

"Brian Duffy, award winning sound artist and creator of the Modified Toy Orchestra, has been at the forefront of a world wide underground movement called circuit bending which involves rescuing childrens electronic toys from car boot sales, and converting them into new strange and wonderfully sophisticated musical instruments. Taking them apart, he finds new connections hidden within each toys circuits that reveal new sounds, exposing the surplus value of redundant technology. The toys are then reassembled including switches and dials with which to control this surplus value. The results of this process can be shockingly beautiful, funny and extreme and have led to Brian being labelled a genius, a madman, and a national treasure."

15 May 09

MTO playing Future of Sound, Gateshead

Future of Sound Tour 2009
Saturday 23 May 7:30 pm
Venue: Hall Two, The Sage Gateshead
Tickets: £7

An international collective of vanguard musicians, animators, visual artists and digital masters is brought together in interactive ‘edu-tainment’ presentations hosted by Martyn Ware, founder member of The Human League and Heaven 17 and pioneer in electronic music. The show - part presentation, part performance, part audience interaction - explores the latest innovations in experiential art and sound. The line-up features the Modified Toy Orchestra; The Sancho Plan; Mouthful; Andy Huntington; Tilly Automatic (AKA Sarah Nicolls); and filmmaker and graphic artist Tal Rosner.

Details and tickets here