From Cal to Robert:

oh dude, i'll share with you some words of wisdom on the art.
First, im sure you have a couple toys in mind that your little siblings dont use anymore or wont miss (or will miss :P)- hopefully they dont contain microcircuitry, by this i mean super nano'd out complex and small circuitry. Normally if everything is super small then your fucked, cause its way to complex to work with and bending will easily ruin it because there is such a delicate balance of electricty with in the thing. One thing to do if this is case is to flip the board over and see if it looks a little less complex on the back side. It doesnt matter which side you work with, its all the same. Usually one side has solder points and one side has all the components, but this is not allways the case.

Ok, so you have your toy. Its opened up, your solding iron is hot, and your ready to go.

*one thing to remember is to hunt for all the bends, then install all the outside components on the case first and then connect the wires from the board to the components. trust me on this one

1. Look for *body contacts* first, they're the easiest to find. You dont even need any tools, just lick the end of your fingers and start touching everything on the board. Basically a body contact is sending electricty from the board through YOU then back to the board like a variable resistor. These often times allow you the most expression in a bend.

If you here something change, mark that point with a sharpie (very good habit to get into cause often times you'll forget where things are. Just a simple dot or line will do fine) If you find something that affects the sound you'll have to solder a wire to that point and some how figure out how to connect it to a screw or bolt or something to touch after you've assembled it. I'd suggest looking at this pict:
http://www.wallsnake.com/p roduc5.jpg
the thing on the bottom left (eyelet) is great to use, solder the wire to the eyelet and fasten it with a nut to the screw to be used as body contact

2. *switches* next is to look for simple switch bends. Hunt around with a wire or test lead (you can buy em or make em) and find a connection that changes things. If you do, you can hook a switch to it! Check this image:
http://www.texastimers.com /helpful_hints/photos_hint s/Soldering/switch%20solde ring%20photo.jpg
Check out the connections of the switch. The middle solder point will connect to the the upper or lower ones depending on the position of the switch. So just connect wires to two adjacent solder points and you'll be able to turn the connection on and off. I highly suggest against rectangular switches like the one in the photo, use round ones.
http://www.allelectronics. com/cgi-bin/item/MTS-5/700 /SPDT_ON-OFF-ON_MINI_TOGGL E_SWITCH_.html
the one shown here will much much much easier to mount to the casing.

3. *pots*
http://mv.lycaeum.org/EBS/ potentiometers_trimmers.jp g
pots are variable resistors. They have a wiper connected to the middle solder point which runs across a resistor strip controlled by the knob. So, the farther the electricity has to move through the strip, the more resistance it encounters. Anywhere you could put a switch or a body contact, you could try a pot. Pots have all sorts of resistances built into them, just try as many as you can and choose the best of the lot. Just connect one wire to the middle solder point and another wire to the one next to it. If you chose to use all 3, you'll be mixing electricity through all 3 of them at once

*trimmers- some pots are super tiny and can be used as trimmers. Lets say you find a pot connection that lowers the pitch of the sound, but when you move the knob all the way it crashes the circuit and you have to turn it on and off again. Heres where a trimmer comes in handy: Wire it between the outer connection and move the main pot all the way to one side, then on the trimmer fix it so it allows the circuit to not crash. Simply, it will trim the current from your main pot so it cant put out full resistance even at a full turn, effectively 'trimming' it- get it?

4. Optic sensors are totally tight. There hard to find but maybe you'll get some. There just like pots but they open/close resistance depending on the amount of light that falls onto it, consider those outdoor lights that turn on when the sun goes down.
http://img.alibaba.com/pho to/11285760/Cds_Photocondu ctive_Cell_Photoresistor_L DR.jpg

5. Buttons- basically one shot connections.
http://www.made-in-china.c om/image/6f3j00NUEaTkQtUrb tM/company-colazhao.jpg
When you push the button down you activate the connection and when its released the connection is broke. Some times buttons have the opposite function, they always have the connection open and when you push it, they close.
*these kinds of buttons are great for...

6. Kill switches- when you circuit bend, you'll often kill the thing. and some times the on/off switch on the unit wont revive it and you'll have to take the batteries out and put them back in. An easier way to do this is to put an 'always open/push to close' button between the positive connection from the battery unit to the board. this will let you easily restart the circuit with a quick press of a button so you dont have to take the batteries out all the time.

7. Line outs- this will let you move the sound from the speakers to an amp. Just unsolder the wires from the speakers and touch them to the ends and find out which combination works.
http://www.allelectronics. com/cgi-bin/item/PHJ-S/190 /MONO_CHASS._MT_W_NC_SW_1_ 4%22#34;JCK_.html
they dont have to be quarter inch outs, they can be phono (rca), mini or what ever.
*Often times when you do this you'll get really louder poppy crackly output which means it just needs to be TRIMMED down a bit with a trimmer or a resistor. if theres still pops: cut all the wires to the LED lights, when they flash they often send audio pops to the amp

8. reviving a dead circuit- if your toy dies, try turning it on and off. Then try taking out the batteries. Then maybe some fresh batteries. Then try randomly connecting things and maybe you'll get lucky. But sometimes, capacitors fill up with to much power from bending and you'll just have to wait till they discharge themselves and then maybe, hopefully, it will revive.
*And stay away from computer (IC) chips, they'll often be much to sensitive to work with and will easily fry. (But you know, i still poke at em...)
one thing to try is to get an exacto knife and cut into the silicone board. follow the connection to the chip/IC pin and carefully slice gently into the protective layer and solder to that point. its the same as soldering to the pin itself!


Eventually with practice you'll get better and better, and more complex. The circuits themselves will teach you.

Short Check list of things to get:
1. solder + solder iron
2. wire clippers, strippers
3. Pots (10 meg, 5 meg, 2 meg, 500k, 100k, 10k, ect)
4. ROUND switches of all sorts
5. photoresistors
6. 1/4, 1/8, phono output jacks
7. alligator clip test leads
8. lots and lots of wire
9. eyelets and big bolts and screws for body contacts
10. buttons
11. smaller trim pots, dont forget knobs!
12. all sorts of screwdrivers (precision too)

good luck with your bends and i hope this helps
-cal

(Dictated but not read)